How does the kingship of Saul and David relate to the natural-then-spiritual pattern?
Saul represents the natural, coming first in the scriptural pattern; David represents the spiritual, coming afterward. This fits the consistent biblical order where the natural precedes the spiritual, as seen from Adam to Christ, Cain to Abel, Esau to Jacob, and ultimately Antichrist to Christ.
Les teaches that Scripture consistently follows the order of first the natural and then the spiritual. He points to verse 46, where that which is spiritual is not first, but that which is natural. In that pattern, King Saul is the natural, and David is the spiritual. Les places this alongside other examples: first Adam, the natural, then Christ, the spiritual; first Cain, then Abel; first Esau, then Jacob; and at the end time, first the Antichrist, then Christ. He also applies it to believers, who begin as natural with no spiritual life, and as believers become spiritual.