Awesome Hands – Part 141: “The treasure of the Lord”

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Awesome Hands – part 141

“The treasure of the Lord”

September 9, 2018

 

Our last study has us looking at and reviewing the phrase and concept of “the Lord of the sabbath”.

Our study today continues to the next chapter in Deuteronomy to once again tell us just how important we are to the Lord and to the process He has placed all of mankind under.

We find that it is a common theme with the Lord that He points out to anyone reading His words that His people are very special to Him.

There are three verses in chapter 7 of Deuteronomy that we are going to cover in this study which deal with the word hand, and how the mighty hand of the Lord once again is mentioned pertaining to His people.

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

These first few verses set the foundation of what the Lord expects of us when we go in to possess the land that He has prepared for us. We have been prepared for the Lord to have the old man and

His ways conquered and destroyed within ourselves, so that the new man is increased in us more and more daily.

This concept is one that plays itself out throughout all of scripture.

I have been asked personally who it is that we are talking about when we talk about things happening to us. Are things happening to Steven or to Christ the new man in me? Is it the old man or Steven who are being decreased as the new man increases?

How can “we” be the land, and the land is conquered? Who is being conquered?

If a giant is in your land, and it is slain, who then is slain? Is it a GIANT or is it Steven? Who remains? Is it Steven or is it Jesus Christ? If an evil spirit causes me to commit sin, is it I that do the sin or is it the evil spirit in me? Of course, I do the sin, but I was tempted and the sin that is in my did what it was designed to do. Does that mean then that I cannot understand that there are two entities involved …. myself and an evil spirit or seven?

This concept is very easy to understand for those who are given spiritual eyes to see the Truth of this concept.

If I am a tool, and I am used, I can be used in many different ways. Let’s take a cup as an example. A cup is formed in the hands of the potter to be used.

A cup can be filled up, and that same cup can be emptied. Yet, the cup is still a cup.

Now, take that cup and rename it Steven. I can be filled up or I can be emptied. However, I can be filled up with lots of different things as Steven the cup. I can be filled up with evil spirits sent of the Lord, or I can be filled with His Holy Spirit.

As a result, when I am filled with these different spirits, I can be USED in a different way. Let’s take a practical example. Maybe I am filled with milk. I can have the milk drank from me as a cup or it can sit there and dry out over time and curdle up.

I can also have water placed in me and then I can be used to water plants. There are many uses for a cup, just like there are many uses the Lord can use the cup named Steven for.

At the Lord’s discretion and will, I can be filled with milk, water, alcohol, wrath or you name it. In spiritual terms, He can fill me up with whatever He desires whether it is with evil spirits or His spirit.

Then, He can cause different things to happen with that CUP so that those ingredients, evil spirits or His spirit, are used in different ways.

Now, I can be used to sin and commit evils because an evil spirit has been sent to me or I can be caused to bring, love joy and peace to others all at the Lord’s discretion.

As a cup, I am simply a TOOL. This may seem a bit inhumane to call my self a tool in the hand of the potter, but that is exactly what I am. I am also a cup who is able to witness and “record” what I have been used for. I am a cup who is given the ability to experience the things I am use for, but just because I can experience the events I am used for doesn’t make me suddenly more powerful than the hand holding me.

This concept can be seen in John 8.

Joh 8:13  The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
Joh 8:14  Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.
Joh 8:15  Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
Joh 8:16  And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
Joh 8:17  It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

I have always seen these verses as only speaking about two physical men, but what if Jesus was giving us a spiritual clue into what He was about to reveal in the rest of John?

What if the testimony of both the old and the new man is NEEDED to bring about TRUTH?

Getting back to my question about being asked personally who it is I am talking about in these scenarios, I am talking about myself as BOTH the OLD man and the NEW MAN in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is a head and body. I am His body. Therefore, I am Jesus of Nazareth because I am in Him and He is in me. This is not a play on words when it comes from Jesus Christ’s mouth. Whether a person believes those words or not is a matter of Faith freely given or not given from the Lord.

I am also “of my father the devil” when I am a cup filled up with evil spirits. Jesus Christ says He judges no man, and it is WE who judge after the flesh, but He goes on to say “YET IF I JUDGE, my judgment is true”.

Here is how Jesus truthfully judged the Pharisees that tried to trip up Jesus in “word play”.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

So, does Jesus DENY what they are saying, “we be Abraham’s seed”? Let’s see what Christ does while remembering that we too are Jesus of Nazareth:

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

When you understand what Jesus is answering them with, spiritual words, then it is quite easy to see what is being said.

You are one of two seeds. One seed is of the bondwoman and one seed is made free. When one seed is “of your father the devil” it is in BONDAGE to that DEVIL … and we KNOW that devil has EVIL SPIRITS that He uses, at the DIRECTION of the LORD, which are SENT TO US to do EVIL.

We also know there is another seed. This seed is referred to as a CHILD of ABRAHAM. These children are from the “the father of us all”. Anyone reading this must consider what is being said here. One seed is different from the other, but the CHILDREN of God are BOTH SEEDS at their appointed times.

That is why REPENTANCE is so important. At times we are UNFAITHFUL, and we are that “cup Steven” who has an evil spirit, while at other times I am that “cup Steven” who is GIVEN the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Faith. Since it is a gift, any righteousness I have is JESUS CHRIST IN ME.

If I DECREASE, and He INCREASES, then this event is HAPENNING at the same time!

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

What then does any of this have to do with our study today? Well, those that are the children of Abraham, are VERY SPECIAL to the Lord. They are His treasure!

Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
Deu 7:5  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
Deu 7:8  But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

The king of Pharaoh had his heart hardened over and over by the Lord because that was what the Lord desired and willed. Was it Pharaoh the man that was hardened or was there a SPIRIT in Pharaoh that was sent to Pharaoh which hardened his heart? The Lord told Moses He would harden Pharaohs heart, but we know from the sum of the Word that the Lord sends evil spirits to do His bidding.

Why are we holy to the Lord? It is because we have been chosen as a SPECIAL people for the Lord.

H5459
סגלּה
segûllâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 8
peculiar, 5
Exo_19:5, Deu_14:2, Deu_26:18, Psa_135:4, Ecc_2:8
jewels, 1
Mal_3:17
proper, 1
1Ch_29:3
special, 1
Deu_7:6

H5459

סְגֻלָּה
segûllâh
seg-ool-law’
Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to shut up; wealth (as closely shut up): – jewel, peculiar (treasure), proper good, special.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

H5459
סגלּה
segûllâh
BDB Definition:
1) possession, property
1a) valued property, peculiar treasure
1b) treasure
Part of Speech: noun feminine passive participle
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from an unused root meaning to shut up
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1460a

Here is how we are “special” to the Lord:

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

Deu 14:2  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Deu 26:18  And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;

Psa 135:4  For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

Ecc 2:8  I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

Did you know that you are a TREASURE to the Lord? That is how special we are to Him. He hides as away and protects us. It’s like finding something so valuable that you do whatever it takes to gain and protect it.

It really changes the meaning of things when you realize that it is first Jesus Christ finds “a treasure hid in a field” and sells all that He had in order to GAIN that treasure. Yes, He showed us the way. Do we really think He was excluded from the same process He tells us we must go through in order to enter into the kingdom of God?

Mat 13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Mat 13:45  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Mat 13:46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Mat 13:47  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
Mat 13:48  Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

How many times do we have to be told that Jesus Christ is the son of man before we realize that He Himself sold all that He had so that He could BUY THE FIELD? I’d say Jesus is the greatest fisher of men to ever exist, yet we are there with Him and He is within us.

That is why we must be on guard to obey the commandments of the Lord. It is the children who obey their Father in heaven and keep His commandments, and when we do not obey we are chastened for it. At no time though during chastening do we consider ourselves orphans!

Can I be a son of God, and still sin? Yes, but I will be chastened and scourged, and that situation is being judged as a result!

Deu 7:9  Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deu 7:10  And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

When the “cup Steven” disobeys the Lord, that old man Steven with his carnal mind of the devil is DESTROYED and decreases while at the same time the new man has a little bit more room in that “cup Steven” to increase into. There is more room because that cup has been emptied a little more of that old man.

Deu 7:11  Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
Deu 7:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
Deu 7:13  And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Deu 7:14  Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
Deu 7:15  And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
Deu 7:16  And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
Deu 7:17  If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
Deu 7:18  Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
Deu 7:19  The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

Listen, these events are always happening in every generation of mankind, both at the macro level and at the micro level. What I mean is, every man, woman and child will experience the old man. Some will be given the new man now to experience, as children of God NOW, while others will have that experience later.

However, children of God NOW will still be contending with the giants in the land which are destroyed, discovered and constantly being fought against. “Giants” or “evil spirits”, pick your poison,  because they are spiritually the same thing being described differently.

The Lord is telling us here in Deuteronomy that He will DESTROY the “nations” in us that oppose Him so just read that again as “giants, evil spirits or nations”. It’s all the same thing.

Deu 7:20  Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
Deu 7:21  Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
Deu 7:23  But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
Deu 7:24  And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
Deu 7:25  The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Deu 7:26  Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

“Gods, kings and abominations” are all different words to describe different aspects of these spiritual things that are happening in our heavens.

If it seems like word play to some, well I am not sure what to say more than I have already said in this study. I am not sure how any of the bible could be considered at all in this time and age, if I have to take it literally to mean that I must now have “kings” delivered into my hand to be considered a child of God as mentioned in Deut 7:24.

Does God need to send physical hornets among the nations each and every time a child of God is named and brought into the household of God? Yes, I speak as a fool to the foolish.

The message of Deuteronomy 7 is a great one for the children of God. We are His treasure. He adorns us as His most precious and peculiar treasure, and we hold a great spot in the bosom of the Lord. The same message is a death sentence to the old man in us all.


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