Studies – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word

“There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise” (Pro 30:24-33)

Tony Cullen — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:43:29 +0000

“There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise”

(Pro 30:24-33)

[Study Aired June 25, 2026]

Pro 30:24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
Pro 30:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
Pro 30:26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
Pro 30:27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
Pro 30:28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
Pro 30:29 There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:
Pro 30:30 A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;
Pro 30:31 A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.
Pro 30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Pro 30:33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

Last week we looked at the seven things that explain the complete state of a yet immature Christian in verses (Pro 30:19-23), and in this last part of proverbs chapter thirty, we’ll look at the seven things that God gives to those who are being dragged out of that immature state described in (Heb 6:1-3) and into a mature mindset that is needed in order to go on and become the woman who represents the bride of Christ in (Pro 31:1-31).

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;(Joh 8:31-32) not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

To recap the first four points last week found in (Pro 30:19), we learned, “Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness” of (Pro 30:20), which represents Mystery Babylon that we are coming out of (2Co 6:17 , Rev 17:5).

Pro 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Then we are shown the fruit of this woman described in these last three points made in (Pro 30:21-23) that make up the complete state of our walk (4+3=7) at that time even while we are in Christ, but not yet a mature Christian bringing forth good spiritual fruit, a process only obtained by abiding in Christ (“The words “abide,” “abideth,” or “abide not” appear a total of 9 times in (John 15:1–27, KJV)”.

Pro 30:21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
Pro 30:22 For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
Pro 30:23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

If we are blessed to continue to abide in Christ, it will lead to the fruit that is going to be described in (Pro 31:1-31). All of this is a miracle of which boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Rom 11:5-22).

Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:(Rom 3:27)
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness:(Rom 2:4 , Heb 12:25 , Joh 15:2) otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Pro 30:24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

God’s little remnant (Rom 11:5) is “little upon the earth” (Mat 22:14 , Luk 17:26 , Mat 24:37 , Luk 18:8), and “exceeding wise” because of the mind of Christ that has been given to them (1Co 2:16 , 1Co 1:30 , 1Co 2:5).

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The “there be four” things that are “little upon the earth” is speaking of the whole body of Christ, those who consider themselves to be alive in Christ and dead to sin (Rom 6:11), hoping to be raised in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye (1Th 4:16-17 , 1Jn 3:3).

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Pro 30:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

The first of the four things mentioned that is exceeding wise in the earth and typifies the elect is “ants” that are likened to “a people not strong” but together “prepare their meat in the summer”. The ant is a symbol of the diligence and unity in the body of Christ (Eph 4:16) which makes it possible to get the work of God done by every joint that supplies in love (Pro 6:6-11).

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Pro 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Pro 6:7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Pro 6:8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. (Php 2:12-13)
Pro 6:9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Pro 6:10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Pro 6:11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

We pray that our flight is not in the winter when nothing is growing (Mat 24:20), but rather that God would give us the spiritual increase that comes from Him and is symbolized by the ant preparing “their meat in the summer”. Part of preparing is laying up store for the winter so that we are not left without oil in colder darker times coming upon this earth (Mat 24:12). All this is a work of God that demonstrates His mercy toward the elect who will be made ready by the grace and faith of Christ (Mat 25:4 , Heb 6:3 , Luk 12:32 , Eph 2:8).

Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Pro 30:26 The conies^H8227 are but a feeble folk^{H3808 H6099}, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

Pro 30:26 The rock badgers are not mighty creatures, yet they make their houses in the rock; (AFV)

The second exceeding wise creature mentioned in the earth [the church, the body of Christ (Col 1:24)] is, “The conies^H8227 are but a feeble folk^{H3808 H6099}, yet make they their houses in the rocks”.

The elect are being likened unto this creature that takes refuge in the rocks, which symbolizes our being hidden in the Lord who is the rock of our salvation (Psa 95:1-2 , Mat 16:18 , Rom 12:5). Notice it is plural “rocks” which infers that we are hidden in Christ together and make up those rocks with His life within us (Heb 10:25 , Job 5:23).

Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

Is “the cony” a rock badger, a rabbit, a guinea pig, I don’t know, there are a lot of theories out there, but for our purpose today it is more important to understand what we can learn from this creature’s behaviour that symbolizes a maturing body of Christ. The “feeble folk” is a reminder that the world’s perception of God’s elect is that we are the weak of the world (1Co 1:26), and yet what is not seen is the strength that is ours through Christ who is our wisdom and strength. We trust in the Lord and hide in Him (Isa 26:21-22 , Psa 32:7), and this is what makes this “feeble folk” exceeding wise in God’s eyes (Joh 6:44).

Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
Isa 26:21 The LORD will come out to punish everyone on earth for their sins. And when he does, those who did violent crimes will be known and punished.

Psa 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Pro 30:27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands^H2686;

There is a positive and negative way of looking at having rulership over us, and in this case locusts that “have no king” is a positive statement that reminds us that we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12-13), and yet because we have the same spirit (1Co 12:4) the same king ruling over each of us in our heavens, we can “yet go they forth all of them by bands^H2686” in harmony, in unison, with the same mind (Php 2:2).

1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

The bands^H2686 represent arrows or the word of God that the elect hold fast to, not thinking above what is written (1Co 4:6), and that preserves us in our battle against the fiery darts of the wicked one (Eph 6:16). God’s word is likened unto children, and an arrow, as seen in these verses (Psa 127:3-5 , 1Sa 20:37)

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Psa 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psa 127:4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Psa 127:5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

1Sa 20:37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?

“bands” H2686 châtsats khaw-tsats’
A primitive root (compare H2673); properly to chop into, pierce or sever; hence to curtail, to distribute (into ranks); as denominative from H2671; to shoot an arrow: – archer, X bands, cut off in the midst. Total KJV occurrences: 3

These locust are another representation of the exceedingly wise way that God is working within the body of Christ. It reminds me of the centurion who had the faith to see the connectivity of God’s power to all things, and with the faith of Christ came humility and acknowledgement of His greatness and ability to command from afar, although He is not far from any of us (Mat 8:5-13 , Act 17:27-28).

Mat 8:5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Mat 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Mat 8:7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Mat 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Mat 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 8:13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Pro 30:28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

The fourth creature that is likened unto the elect and is exceeding wise, is the “spider”. As always there is a negative and positive use of virtually every word in the bible. The spider is negatively likened unto the churches of Babylon in these verses (Isa 59:5 , Job 8:14) however in this proverb we are looking at the positive use of a spider who is abiding in the “kings’ palaces” which typifies Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26).

We are fishers of men with Christ’s mind (Mat 4:19), and the net that God has given us to construct, is like a web that needs God’s power to bring forth any spiritual productivity, fish in the boat (Joh 21:5-6).

Joh 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

Babylon has a web of lies that captures the unconverted simple souls that we are at first, yet being guided by a self-righteous spirit, however if God shows mercy to us in this age we become unentangled from that web through the destruction of that man of perdition who makes up that web (2Th 2:3-8), to then be able to rightly divide the word and become true fishers of men, using the word of God via the power of God and not by the self-righteous wisdom of man’s power which we naturally trust in at first (1Co 2:4-5 , Rom 3:4).

1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Pro 30:29 There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:
Pro 30:30 A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;

The mention of three in this verse, “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going” is to remind us that it is by the judgement (3) of God upon us in this age that we can be comely and see things go well in our goings (Pro 13:24) that are then likened unto the beasts detailed below, who typify the life of Christ within God’s people.

Pro 30:29 Three, things there are which step along well, ye, four, which excel in going: (Rotherham)

We can endure all things by Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13) and overcome the adversary with the faith of Christ, and so it is Christ in us our hope of glory (Col 1:27) who makes it possible for us to fulfill this verse, “A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any”. We are more than conquerors through Him and are learning day by day as we die daily, that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:38-39 , Mat 10:19).

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Mat 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

Pro 30:31 A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.

Here are the numbers on “a greyhound”^{H2223 H4975} and “an he goat”^H8495.

“a greyhound” H2223 H4975

H2223 zarzı̂yr zar-zeer’
girded, girt, alert, used with 4975 in Pro 30:31
perhaps an extinct animal, exact meaning unknown

H4975 môthen mo’-then
From an unused root meaning to be slender; properly the waist or small of the back; only in plural the loins: – + greyhound, loins, side.

greyhound, 1
Pro 30:31

loins, 41
Gen 37:34; Exo 12:11; Exo 28:42; Deu 33:11; 2Sa 20:8; 1Ki 2:5; 1Ki 12:10; 1Ki 18:46; 1Ki 20:31; 1Ki 20:32; 2Ki 1:8; 2Ki 4:29; 2Ki 9:1; 2Ch 10:10; Job 12:18; Job 40:16; Psa 66:11; Psa 69:23; Pro 31:17; Isa 11:5; Isa 20:2; Isa 21:3; Isa 45:1; Jer 1:17; Jer 13:1; Jer 13:2; Jer 13:4; Jer 13:11; Jer 48:37; Eze 1:27(2); Eze 8:2(2); Eze 21:6; Eze 23:15; Eze 29:7; Eze 44:18; Eze 47:4; Dan 10:5; Amo 8:10; Nah 2:10

side, 4
Neh 4:18; Eze 9:2; Eze 9:3; Eze 9:11

strong, 1
Nah 2:1

“an he goat” H8495 tayish tah’-yeesh
From an unused root meaning to butt; a buck or he goat (as given to butting): – he goat.

goat, 1
Pro 30:31

goats, 3
Gen 30:35; Gen 32:14; 2Ch 17:11

Both represent Christ and the strength of His life within His body, as well as “a king, against whom there is no rising up”.

Humanity has been rising up against Christ from the beginning of creation, and will do so right until Gog and Magog (Rev 20:8). As the “King”, Jesus Christ keeps showing flesh that there is “no rising up” that will not be put down, and that is especially true for God’s elect today, within (1Jn 4:4 , 1Jn 3:1 , Joh 8:36).

The qualities described below of the greyhound and the goat explain to us the zeal of our Lord and King who will be consumed for His house which we are (Joh 2:17). Christ is likened unto a goat as are the elect with His life abiding within us in (Gen 30:35-43).

Gen 30:35 And he [Jacob] removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
…Gen 30:39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
…Gen 30:41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

The greyhound is connected to the word “loins” which refers to the area between the ribs and the hips, including the lower back and reproductive organs. It is also used in a symbolic way to represent strength, having children, and being ready to act. Christ has ‘girded up his loins’ for us, and because we are more than conquerors through him we will be His inheritance who will be girded with power as well (Eph 1:18 , Rev 19:15-16). The loins and the thigh are referenced together in these verses (Exo 28:41-43) and point to rulership.

Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
Rev 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Exo 28:41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
Exo 28:42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:
Exo 28:43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

Pro 30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Pro 30:33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

These last two proverbs admonish us to remain humble in our walk with the Lord knowing that He who has begun this good work of faith within us will finish it (Php 1:6).

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

What do we do “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil”? We repent and don’t despise God’s goodness that brought us to that point (Rom 2:4 , 1Jn 1:9 , Jer 3:13), we “lay thine hand upon thy mouth”.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

Inevitably, if we do not humbly walk together, “the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife”. These verses are an admonition for the body of Christ to walk in harmony, and to be at peace with each other, otherwise we won’t be able to “see the Lord” (Heb 12:14) and go on to become the woman described in the last chapter of proverbs 31.

Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Abraham typifies Christ for us today and the first instance of the word “strife”^H7379 in the bible shows us how he dealt with a potentially “strife”- filled situation (Gen 13:7-9).

Gen 13:7 And there was a strife^H7379 between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
Gen 13:8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strifeH4808, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
Gen 13:9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

We can strain at a gnat and swallow a camel if we are not looking to the Lord (Mat 23:24), but when we do look to him for the strength and maturity we need in our walk, we can truly be at peace with all men and have holiness in our lives. Without that right perspective we become the blind guides who cannot “see the Lord”, meaning to perceive His wisdom and His mind, which will always bring peace that passes all understanding when it is granted (Php 4:7).

Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Samuel 22:1–23 David at the Cave of Adullam

Ato Barnes — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:44:43 +0000

Audio Download

1 Samuel 22:1–23 David at the Cave of Adullam

[Study Aired June 22, 2026]

The study for today provides two contrasting characteristics. We have the Lord’s elect, represented by David, his family and all those distressed and burdened, on one hand, and the other being our brethren in the church system of this world or Babylon, signified by Saul and Doeg, his accomplice. While David’s reliance on the Lord was growing as he sought refuge in the cave of Adullam, king Saul was in a downward spiral of tyranny and wickedness, culminating in the murder of the priests at Nob.

David at the Cave of Adullam

1Sa 22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.
1Sa 22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

From the previous chapter, we saw that David had to behave like a madman to escape from king Achish of Gath, when the people recognized David and his exploits during the war of Israel and the Philistines. David therefore had to escape from Gath to the cave of Adullam in Judah of Israel. As indicated in the previous study, Gath means ‘winepress’ and it symbolizes the Lord’s judgment on David or His elect. Adullam means ‘justice of the people.’ Therefore, David escaping from Gath and coming to the cave of Adullam implies taking refuge in Christ, Who executes justice for all who are oppressed, even when we are under His judgment.

Psalm 103:6 “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed”.

Psalm 140:12 “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and will execute justice for the needy”.

Luke 18:7 “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?”.

Taking refuge in Christ also involves coming to the assembly of the Lord’s elect or the heavenly Jerusalem or the church of the firstborn. In the case of David, his coming to Adullam made it possible for him to be gathered with his brethren and all of his father’s house, which signify the assembly of the Lord’s elect.

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

In addition, all those in distress, in debt and discontented gathered together with David as their captain at the cave of Adullam. The four hundred men (400 = 4X10X10) who were gathered together with David represent the whole of the Lord’s elect, who will serve as witnesses of Christ as they take refuge in Christ. As we are aware, the number four signifies the whole of the matter under discussion, and the two tens denote being witnesses. We all come to the assembly of the Lord’s elect, full of the flesh (the significance of the number ten), before the Lord judges us to learn righteousness. Here in Hebrews 12:26-27, above, we are told that it is in the assembly of the Lord’s elect that our earth and heavens are shaken to remove everything of the flesh. In other words, it is through the Lord’s judgment that we learn righteousness.

Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

When the Lord came to us, we were in distress. In other words, we were in extreme anxiety, not knowing what to do, when Christ came to us and brought us to the church of the firstborn.

Rom 5:6 While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation] at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. AMP

As shown in verse 2, we were also indebted to Christ, and there was no way that we could repay Him. However, in His mercy, He forgave us our debt.

Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Before we became part of the assembly of the Lord’s elect, we were also discontented, which showed itself in our anxiety over what to eat, drink and to be clothed with. However, through the Lord’s mercy, we are now content with what the Lord is doing in our lives.

Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

We see here in verse 2 that David became the captain of all those gathered. Jesus being the son of David, represents David. Therefore, it is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the captain of our salvation.

Luk 18:38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

1Sa 22:3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.
1Sa 22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

Mizpeh means ‘watchtower’ and Moab denotes ‘of his father.’ David going to Mizpeh of Moab therefore means that being in Christ is being kept safe in the watchtower of our Father, God. On a positive note, David sending his parents to the king of Moab signifies David committing his parents to the protection of the Lord, who is our refuge and fortress.

Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psa 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

In another perspective, David’s father here signifies all the men of faith who lived their lives in Christ. David’s mother represents the church of the Lord’s elect. Therefore, David’s father and mother being secured in Moab in verse 4 shows us that we, His elect as men of faith, representing the church of the firstborn, are fully secured in Christ.

Psa 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

David making a statement in verse 3 that he is committing his parents to the care of the king of Moab, until he figured out what the Lord would do for him shows us that David was maturing in his walk with Christ. This is because he recognized that all that he was going through was of the Lord. It also demonstrates the confidence that David had in the Lord that He will show up or deliver him from all that he was going through.

Psa 56:8 You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in your bottle and counted each of them.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1Sa 22:5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

The Lord, through one of His prophets, advised David not to stay in the cave of Adullam or the hold, but rather go to the land of Judah. Hareth means ‘forest’ and therefore the Lord wanted David to hide in a forest. As we are aware, a forest is a large area covered with trees. In the Bible, human beings are described as trees as shown in the following verses:

Mar 8:24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

Jdg 9:8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

Therefore, David coming to the forest of Hareth means that because the Lord is our refuge, we can hide in the midst of the people of this world. It is significant to know that when the people wanted to kill Jesus, He hid in the midst of the people.

Luk 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him (Jesus) out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

Saul Kills the Priests at Nob

1Sa 22:6 When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;)
1Sa 22:7 Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;
1Sa 22:8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

The situation of Saul at Gibeah in verse 6 is worthy of mention. He was under a tree in Ramah, having a spear in his hands, and all his servants were standing about him. As indicated earlier, trees symbolize men, and Saul under a tree signifies being under the influence of men, as we see many of our brothers and sisters in Babylon under the influence of men who claim to be sent by the Lord. In previous studies, we indicated that Saul’s spear denotes the false doctrines which darken our understanding of the word of the Lord. Just as Saul had his servants around him, many of the leaders of the church system of this world or Babylon are surrounded by brethren who work for their leader as servants, instead of co-laborers of the vineyard of the Lord.

1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

In verses 7-8, Saul lamented about how all Israel had conspired against him by not telling him about how his son Jonathan had stirred up David against him. Here Saul was behaving as typical of the leaders of the church system of this world whose message are always centered about themselves, but not Christ. These leaders always demand their congregation’s loyalty and not about their loyalty to Christ.

2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1Sa 22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
1Sa 22:10 And he enquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

Doeg being an Edomite means that he was a descendant of Esau and therefore was not part of the commonwealth of Israel. It also shows that Doeg was of the flesh or dominated by the flesh. As we can see here in verse 9, he occupied a key position in Saul’s regime where he was head over the servants of Saul. This demonstrates how the leadership of the church system of this world or Babylon, signified by Saul’s regime, is dominated by those who are full of the flesh and do not have an inkling of life in the spirit. Doeg, therefore, represents these men who take control of silly women or the church system of this world or Babylon, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Doeg wanting to please Saul signifies many who have their conscience seared such that they prefer to please men for an advantage, instead of pleasing the Lord.

1Sa 22:11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king.
1Sa 22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.
1Sa 22:13 And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?
1Sa 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?
1Sa 22:15 Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

Although Ahimelech thought he was ministering to the needs of the Lord’s elect, by ministering to David, Saul accused him of helping David to rise up against him. When we minister to the spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters in Babylon, whom the Lord brings our way, the leadership of Babylon thinks that we are usurping their authority. If you can remember, the chief priests and the elders of the people questioned the authority which Jesus had regarding the good work He was doing in ministering to the spiritual needs of the people. However, the Lord, being full of the wisdom of God, exposed their hypocrisy.

Mat 21:23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
Mat 21:24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Mat 21:25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
Mat 21:26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
Mat 21:27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

1Sa 22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house.
1Sa 22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.

As indicated in the previous study, Ahimelech, together with his father’s house of priests, represents the church of the Lord’s elect. Saul and the people gathered around him, on the other hand, signify our brethren in the church system of this world or Babylon. Saul requesting the footmen that stood about him to kill the priests shows us how our brothers and sisters in Babylon consider us as spiritually dead in the street of Jerusalem or the corridors of Babylon.

Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Just as Pilate and his wife did not want to have anything to do with Jesus’ death, because he was innocent, in a similar way, these footmen were just like Pilate and his wife, who did not want to have anything to do with the death of Ahimelech and his father’s household of priests.

Mat 27:17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
Mat 27:18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
Mat 27:19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

This shows us that as He is, so are we, His elect, in this life. In other words, what the Lord Jesus passed through in His life here on earth is not different from what we are going through. Because Jesus went through what we are going through, He is touched by our feelings of infirmities, and therefore He is able to show us mercy and grant us grace in our time of trouble.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1Sa 22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
1Sa 22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

Doeg, who was the head of Saul’s servants, killed all the eighty-five priests of the household of Ahimelech’s father. In addition, he killed all the men, women, children, sucklings and their animals. This is to show us that the devil’s enmity against us through our brothers and sisters in Babylon, does not only affect us, His elect, but it extends to our family, our resources and even the works of our hands. We must remember that when the devil came to sift Job, he laid his hands not only on Job, but also his children and his resources.

Fortunately, the Lord takes care of everything that we have – our children, resources, work, etc.

Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Php 4:20 Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1Sa 22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
1Sa 22:21 And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD’S priests.
1Sa 22:22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house.
1Sa 22:23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

Although Doeg murdered all the people in Ahimelech’s father’s house, Abiathar was able to escape, as he fled after David. On a negative perspective, we can say that all the priests who were killed by Doeg represent the many who are called but not chosen. On the other hand, it was only Abiathar, which means ‘my father is great’, who escaped and joined David’s men. Abiathar in this case signifies the few (the Lord’s elect) who are called and chosen.

Jer 44:28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Verses 20 – 23 therefore signify our escape from the church system of this world or Babylon to the church of the Lord’s elect or the heavenly Jerusalem. As shown in verse 23, it is in the assembly of the Lord’s elect that there is safety, as we abide under the shadow of the wings of the Lord.

Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

Thanks be to the Lord who has helped us escape the snare of the fowler. May His name be praised. Amen!!

“The Heir, as Long as He is a Child, Differeth Nothing From a Servant” (Pro 30:19-23)

Tony Cullen — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:43:12 +0000

Audio Download

“The Heir, as Long as He is a Child, Differeth Nothing From a Servant”

(Pro 30:19-23)

[Study Aired June 18, 2026]

Pro 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
Pro 30:21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
Pro 30:22 For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
Pro 30:23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

Last week we talked about the horseleach who has two daughters who represent Aholah and Aholibah. Here again is the quote from one of Ato’s studies with the book of Ezekiel that we quoted last week (iswasandwillbe.com/ezekiel-2326-49-aholah-and-aholibah-part-2/), repeated here in order to help us consider the first few verses we’ll look at tonight, in (Pro 30:19-23), which represent our time in Babylon after Christ’s first coming.

“In order to understand the study for today, we have to go back to the earlier verses to understand the context. There were two sisters – Aholah and Aholibah. Aholah was the elder, and she played the harlot with Assyrians who invaded the ten tribes of Israel. As we indicated in the previous study, the two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, represent the church of the Lord in different dispensations. Aholah represents the church when it was under the law of Moses, and Aholibah signifies the church after the coming of Christ. That is to say that Aholah represents our walk when we did not know Christ and walked in the churches of this world (Aholah) according to the law of Moses. Aholibah signifies our walk when we were still in the churches of this world when Christ started coming to us. The Assyrians represent the false apostles who come in the name of the Lord but are wolves in sheep’s clothing.” [end of quote]

In this section of proverbs we’re looking at, we see them being spoken of as “two daughters, crying, Give, give” of (Pro 30:15). (Pro 30:19-23) represents the second dispensation when we are Aholibah in the church systems of this world after the first coming of Christ.

Pro 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.

The question or subject at hand is what we did when we were still in the church systems of this world when Christ started coming to us, to drag us out of her my people (Joh 6:44 , Hos 11:1 , 1Jn 4:17 , 2Co 6:17). Remember we were just told in verse eighteen that “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:”(Pro 30:18). This statement is a declaration of our complete immaturity (3+4=7) at this stage in our walk. And now in verse nineteen, the eagle (1), the serpent (2), the ship (3) and the maid (4), all together symbolize the whole (4) status of our yet carnal minds represented by beasts that have not yet been brought properly into subjection unto “a man” who represents Christ the bridegroom of that maid (2Co 11:2 , Joe 2:16).

The “way of a man with a maid” in other words, although a mystery and hidden from the world, is clear to us as we are hidden in Christ (Col 3:3). It is a mystery that is being revealed to the body of Christ through Judgement (1Pe 4:17 , 1Jn 4:17) that is upon the bride so that she can grow unto maturity in this life (1Co 15:51-52 , Eph 5:31-33).

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

“The way of an eagle in the air” represents the elect who are typified by those eagle’s wings that symbolize the strength that God is going to give us to come out of her my people, a coming out that is typified by the exodus of Israel, only now speaking of the “Israel of God” (Gal 6:16) whose exodus is from sin (Exo 19:4 , Isa 40:31 , 2Co 6:17).

Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

In this instance “the way of a serpent upon a rock” represents the yet immature Seraphim who will mature into the Seraphim spoken of in (Isa 6:2-6). It is when we are raised in heavenly places in Christ (Eph 2:6 , Eph 1:20) as Christ was raised (Joh 3:14 , 1Jn 4:17) that we can then begin to become that mature serpent upon a rock, which “rock” is Christ. God’s word tells us we have to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour (2Pe 3:18) in order to become that mature servant upon the rock, which growth happens in the church (Col 1:24), the body of Christ, by God who gives that increase through Christ, via every joint that supplies in love (Mat 16:18 , 1Co 3:6 , Eph 4:16).

Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Christ’s maturing bride is also described as “the way of a ship in the midst of the sea”. Noah represents Christ and His body, who moved with fear, as God’s elect are moving (Rom 8:14-16) to the building up of the body of Christ in love by each joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16).

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The church is typified by “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of Noah’s ark (Eph 3:18) that was built to the saving “of his house” which house we know can only be built by Christ (Psa 127:1).

Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

That house typifies the few elect, typified by eight souls [symbol of the new man] in Noah’s day who are on that ark that symbolizes the body of Christ or the firsts fruits of God, His little remnant and flock (Heb 5:7 , Heb 11:7 , Luk 17:28 , Luk 18:7-8). The wisdom needed to build this ark comes from Christ alone (1Co 1:30) who has the words of eternal life that we are told if we are blessed to continue in will set us free (Joh 8:31-36 , Php 2:12-13).

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him(Heb 5:7 , 1Jn 4:17) , though he bear long with them?(Luk 21:19)
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily(Psa 46:1). Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Everything we’ve been discussing is “the way of an adulterous woman”. In other words when we are yet carnal Christians we are shifting around a lot on that rock like a serpent would (Gen 49:4 , Jas 1:8 , 2Pe 2:14 , 2Pe 3:16) and we get buffeted by every wind of doctrine like an eagle in the air (Eph 4:14). Our way with Christ is found wanting, and because He loves the bride, the maid, God’s elect are chastened and scourged in this age (Heb 12:6 , Tit 2:11-12) which, if we’re given the power to endure such suffering, will prepare us to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Act 14:22 , Heb 12:7 , 2Ti 2:12 , Rev 20:6)

Gen 49:4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

2Pe 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Our initial relationship with Christ is shallow and does not have any great depth, although we may think differently of ourselves. That is why these words are spoken of the adulterous woman who represents God’s elect who are yet in bondage to sin, “the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness”. If we are granted to continue in the truth and speak the truth in love, it will be by God’s grace and the faith of Christ that this is accomplished (Eph 4:14 , Eph 2:8).

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Pro 30:21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:

Again we see another proverb that aligns these numbers, “three” and “four”, together. ‘Three’ represents judgement, and so when the earth is being judged, “the earth is disquieted” because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord (Heb 10:31 , Heb 5:7).

Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

The earth is the church that is being judged through a process that is effective upon us only if we are of the remnant who are “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Rev 1:3 , Jer 22:29 , Isa 66:2).

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Disquieted H7264 râgaz raw-gaz’
A primitive root; to quiver (with any violent emotion, especially anger or fear): – be afraid, stand in awe, disquiet, fall out, fret, move, provoke, quake, rage, shake, tremble, trouble, be wroth.
Total KJV occurrences: 41

At first we cannot bear what God requires of us because we are yet carnal and think that it depends on our strength and not God’s. The strength of the rich young ruler of (Mat 19:20-21) was in his riches which represents his self-righteous spirit that uttered words that confirmed that his confidence was in what he had done throughout his life (Mat 19:20-21). What was required of him was not possible without his being dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44).

It is when we come to the point where we know that unless the Lord opens the seals, the trumpets and the vials in our lives to judge us (Rev 8:6), we will remain hopeless and helpless against the beastly flesh were in (Rev 13:4).

God’s judgement [3] disquiets our earth, “For three things the earth is disquieted”, upon the whole of our life [4] that could not bear that judgement without the faith of Christ, and so the complete man [3+4=7] is going to be formed through the judgement that can and will be endured by the faith of Christ that is upon the whole body of Christ (Luk 22:32).

Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Pro 30:22 For a servant^H5650 when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;

The immature carnal Corinthian is each one of us in our appointed time, who is liken unto “a servant when he reigneth” (Gal 4:1-5), or a fool who has the meat of the word but is yet a babe and not able to rightly divide that meat of the word (Heb 5:13-14). Again we’re talking about the bride of Christ, and these are the stages that God brings all of His children through, via Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith.

servant H5650 ‛ebed eh’-bed
From H5647; a servant: – X bondage, bondman, [bond-] servant, (man-) servant.
Total KJV occurrences: 800

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Pro 30:23 For an odious^H8130 woman when she is married; and an handmaid^H8198 that is heir to her mistress^H1404.

Pro 30:23 A hated woman when she is married; and a servant-girl who takes the place of her master’s wife. [BBE]

odious H8130 śânê’ saw-nay’
A primitive root; to hate (personally): – enemy, foe, (be) hate (-ful, -r), odious, X utterly.
Total KJV occurrences: 146

handmaid H8198 shiphchâh shif-khaw’
Feminine from an unused root meaning to spread out (as a family; see H4940); a female slave (as a member of the household): – (bond-, hand-) maid (-en, -servant), wench, bondwoman, womanservant.
Total KJV occurrences: 63

mistress H1404 gebereth gheb-eh’-reth
Feminine of H1376; mistress: – lady, mistress.
Total KJV occurrences: 9

This last proverb we will look at today is again speaking of our immature relationship with our husband that demonstrates our hatred toward God by the way we keep his words saying ‘Lord, Lord, but not doing the things that He commands us to do’, being yet slaves to sin (Luk 6:46 , Mat 7:21 , Rom 2:13).

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.(Php 2:12-13)

Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

God has plans for that odious woman who is hated, and it is Esau who is typified by her (Rom 9:13), and it is Jacob who represents our hope of glory Christ within, who God loves, and who is also within her.

This is all telling us that we can be yet carnal and betrothed to Christ as a woman who is hated as Esau was, or be as a handmaid which is the same as saying yet a child even though we are an heir to the throne (Gal 4:1-5). So it can be said that the mistress typifies Jacob, or the maturing bride who will be made ready by God’s mercy shown upon her in this age (Rev 19:7).

Rom 9:13 Even as it is said, I had love for Jacob, but for Esau I had hate.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad with delight, and let us give glory to him: because the time is come for the Lamb to be married, and his wife has made herself ready.

The last section of proverbs chapter thirty that we will look at next week, Lord willing, sets the stage for the last chapter of proverbs, and is very hope-filled as it describes the humility and power and strength that God has given to the maturing bride so that she can, by the grace and faith of Christ, go unto perfection on the third day through a process of judgement in this life (Luk 13:32).

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Charity Covers a Multitude of Sins, Part 2

Aaron Lohman — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:43:38 +0000

Audio Download

Charity Covers a Multitude of Sins, Part 2

[Study Aired June 16, 2026]

In Part 1 of this study, we examined 1 Peter 4:8 in its context and established the foundational categories: to be carnally minded is death, to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6), and the carnal mind cannot be subject to God’s law — it must be destroyed, not reformed (Romans 8:7). We found that Peter’s word for “fervent” (ἐκτενής, ektenes G1618) describes love stretched to full capacity — love that does the hard work, modeled on Christ’s own agony in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). We traced the meaning of “cover” through the Hebrew (kasah, H3680) and Greek (καλύπτω, kalupto, G2572), and found through the companion proverb (Proverbs 17:9) that covering is not concealment that ignores sin but the hiding of what has been dealt with — transgression carried away, righteousness put on (Psalm 32:1, Romans 4:7). We then followed the thread of clothing through Scripture, from the fig leaves that failed to the fine linen granted to the bride, and saw that the covering is always God’s work, always requires death, and always results in the garment of righteousness — which is Christ Himself (Galatians 3:27, Colossians 3:14).

Now we turn to the question that sits at the heart of the tension: What is the process by which sin is addressed so that charity can cover it? If love does not ignore sin, how does it deal with it? And how do the scriptures that demand correction, discernment, and even rejection fit within a love that covers all?

Christ’s Blueprint: The Corrective Process

Before examining what the apostles teach about correction, we must begin where all correction begins — with Christ’s own instruction. In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus lays out the process that governs how the Body handles sin:

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” (Matthew 18:15-17)

Every stage of this process is designed to restore. The goal at each step is stated plainly: “thou hast gained thy brother.” Not punished. Not shamed. Gained. The entire structure is love in action — fervent, stretched-out love doing whatever it must to bring a brother back.

The first stage is private. Go to him alone. Tell him his fault between the two of you. This is love covering — keeping the matter as contained as possible, giving the brother maximum opportunity to repent without public exposure. If he hears, the matter is resolved. Charity covers the transgression (Proverbs 17:9). It need never be spoken of again.

The second stage widens the circle only when the first has failed. Take one or two witnesses, “that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15). This is the discernment and testing that the apostles would later apply — trying the spirits (1 John 4:1), not laying hands suddenly on anyone (1 Timothy 5:22). The facts are established. The matter is examined carefully. Love does not rush to judgment. It establishes truth through witnesses.

The third stage brings the matter before the church. The sin has now been privately confronted and confronted again with witnesses. Repentance has been offered and refused. The matter becomes known to the Body — not for gossip, but because the individual’s refusal to hear requires the full weight of the fellowship.

The fourth stage is removal. “Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” This is the most severe measure — the rejection that Titus 3:10 commands, the delivery unto Satan that Paul exercises in 1 Corinthians 5:5. Love has done everything short of this. Now love escalates, not because it has given up, but because the leaven must be purged for the sake of the Body and because the severe process of flesh-destruction must begin for the sake of the individual.

Notice the progression: each stage is an expression of love, each stage gives opportunity for repentance, and each stage preserves the possibility of restoration. The process is not designed to destroy the person. It is designed to destroy the flesh — the carnal mind that cannot be subject to God’s law (Romans 8:7) — so that the spirit may live.

And then, immediately after laying out this process, Christ gives Peter the principle that Peter will carry for the rest of his life. Peter asks: “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” Jesus answers: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22).

Unlimited forgiveness. After the correction has done its work and the brother returns, love covers without counting. This is Proverbs 17:9 from Christ’s own mouth — the transgression is dealt with, and the one who covers it seeks love. Peter heard this instruction from Christ directly, and years later he wrote to the churches: “Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Peter’s command in his letter is the distillation of what he learned from Christ in Matthew 18. Correction and covering are not opposites. They are the two movements of the same love — the same fervent, stretched-out love that Christ taught and Peter lived.

The Judgment That Charity Drives

With Christ’s blueprint established, we can see what the apostles teach about correction as the outworking of the same process.

Paul states the principle directly: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged of the Lord, we are chastened (παιδεύω, (paideuo, G3811) — corrected, disciplined, trained) that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). When we examine ourselves, the external judgment is unnecessary — this is Matthew 18:15 at the individual level, the brother who hears and is gained. But when we do not judge ourselves, the Lord Himself judges — and that judgment is not destruction. It is correction. It is training. Its purpose is that we should not be condemned with the world. The judgment saves us from something worse by dealing with us now.

This is what Peter means when he writes that “judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). God does not wait for the world to be judged before correcting His own. He begins with His people. And the purpose of that judgment is the same as the purpose of the covering: life. Charity and correction serve the same end. Charity is what makes the correction purposeful rather than punitive, and charity is what covers the result when correction has done its work.

What does this correction look like at its most severe? Paul shows us. A man in the Corinthian fellowship was in open sin, and Paul commands the Body to act: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). This is Matthew 18:17 in practice — the final stage, removal from the fellowship. And yet even here, the purpose is stated: the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. The destruction is real, but it is not the destruction of the person. It is the destruction of what must die — the carnal mind that cannot be subject to God (Romans 8:7) — so that what is of God may live.

Paul immediately connects this to the leaven principle: “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). The purging of leaven is not cruelty. It is the protection of the Body and the salvation of the individual at the same time. Leaving the leaven in the lump is not charity — it is negligence that harms everyone. True charity purges, because charity’s aim is a new lump.

Christ Himself gives us the principle that governs this entire process: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). The destruction of the flesh is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of fruitfulness. The seed that refuses to die abides alone — it produces nothing. The seed that dies brings forth much fruit. This is why Paul can command the destruction of the flesh and call it salvation in the same sentence. The dying and the living are not opposites. They are the same process. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25).

John the Baptist declared this same reality in the language of fire and harvest. To those who came to his baptism without repentance, he said: “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8). Repentance is not merely a confession. It must be demonstrated — proven by fruit. And for those who do not produce that fruit: “Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). The axe is at the root. The fire awaits. But what does that fire do? John tells us: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11-12).

The threshing floor separates what grows together. Wheat and chaff grow on the same stalk — every grain has a husk. We all carry both flesh and spirit, the carnal mind and the seed of God. The fan separates them. The wheat — the spirit, that which is of God — is gathered into the garner. The chaff — the flesh, that which must die — is burned. Paul confirms this principle in language that could not be clearer: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). The fire tries every man. What is of God survives. What is of the flesh burns. And the person comes through — saved, yet through fire.

The baptism John describes — “with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” — is a single baptism, not two. The spirit fills the wheat. The fire consumes the chaff. Two operations of one work, applied to the same harvest. This is 1 Corinthians 5:5 in the language of agriculture: destruction of the flesh, salvation of the spirit.

Paul tells the Thessalonians the same truth in yet another image: “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Paul does distinguish between those who face this destruction and the brethren who are children of light — the Body is not appointed to this particular wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:4, 9). But his choice of travail as the image for even the most severe destruction is deliberate, and it is consistent with Scripture’s witness elsewhere. He uses the same image in Romans: “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22) — and what does creation’s travail produce? “The manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19). Jesus uses it: “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world” (John 16:21). And Isaiah declares that God does not bring travail without bringing forth what it produces: “Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God” (Isaiah 66:9).

Travail is not pointless agony. It is the pain that produces life. A woman in labor does not escape the travail — she passes through it, and what comes forth is a child. The destruction is real. The pain is real. But God does not bring to the birth without delivering.

This is the judgment that charity drives. From self-examination to the Lord’s correction, from the private approach of Matthew 18:15 to the delivery unto Satan, from the fire on the threshing floor to the travail that brings forth life — every stage of the process is the work of love. Charity does not cover sins by looking away. Charity drives the process that addresses sin, and then covers what that process has dealt with. The correction and the covering are two movements of the same love, and charity is the bond that holds the entire process together (Colossians 3:14).

The Tension Resolved

With this framework in place — Christ’s corrective process in Matthew 18, charity as the love that drives correction and then covers its results — we can return to the passages that seemed to contradict 1 Peter 4:8 and examine whether any tension remains.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). John commands us to test what is being taught in the Body. This is not opposed to charity covering sins — it is charity in action. If a little leaven leavens the whole lump, then failing to test the spirits is not love. It is negligence that allows the leaven to spread. Trying the spirits is the diagnostic that identifies what needs correction — the second stage of Matthew 18, where witnesses establish the truth. John’s target is the spirit behind the teaching, not the destruction of the person delivering it. The spirit is tested. The flesh is exposed. The correction serves the same purpose as every other stage of the process — the destruction of what is false so that what is true may remain.

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). Christ’s words here are not the opposite of charity covering sins. They describe the thoroughness of God’s corrective process. Every idle word accounted for means every piece of leaven identified. Every careless word brought to light means every element of the flesh exposed for correction. This is what Paul describes: “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5). The judgment reveals. The correction trains. And when the process has run its course, charity covers what has been dealt with (Proverbs 17:9). The accounting and the covering are not in competition. The accounting is how we get to the covering.

“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject” (Titus 3:10). This appears to be the sharpest tension — a command to reject a person from the fellowship. But we have already seen in Matthew 18:15-17 that Christ Himself established this process: private approach, witnesses, church, and then removal. Paul’s instruction through Titus follows Christ’s blueprint precisely: first admonition, second admonition, then rejection. Love is patient. It warns. It corrects. It gives opportunity for the fruits meet for repentance that John the Baptist demanded (Matthew 3:8). But when repeated correction produces no fruit, love escalates — not because it has given up, but because the leaven must be purged for the sake of the Body and because the more severe process of flesh-destruction must begin for the sake of the individual. The rejection is not the failure of charity. It is charity’s most severe instrument — the fourth stage of Christ’s own process.

“Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:19-22). Paul is writing to Timothy about the oversight of the Body — specifically about accusations against elders, the public rebuke of those who sin (verse 20), and the danger of partiality (verse 21). His instruction connects directly to Christ’s process in Matthew 18: you do not skip stages. You do not endorse someone (lay hands) before the testing process has established the truth through witnesses. Laying hands suddenly on someone who has not been tested is not love. It is a failure of discernment that makes you a participant in their sins. The leaven spreads to the one who endorses it. Keeping yourself pure is the discipline that prevents the covering from becoming complicity. There is a difference between covering sins through the corrective process — hiding what has been dealt with (Proverbs 17:9) — and covering over sins by refusing to address them. Paul is warning against the latter.

“If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it” (1 John 5:16). John distinguishes between two categories of sin with two different prescribed responses. This distinction is not unique to John. It runs through Scripture.

For sin not unto death, the response is intercession — pray, ask on his behalf, and God gives life. This is James 5:20 in practice: converting the sinner from error saves a soul from death and hides a multitude of sins. This is the earlier stages of the corrective process, where admonition and intercession succeed. The correction works. The brother repents. Charity covers.

When sin reaches the point John calls “unto death,” he withholds instruction about intercession: “I do not say that he shall pray for it.” John’s restraint here echoes an established pattern in Scripture. God commanded Jeremiah three times to stop interceding for Israel: “Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee” (Jeremiah 7:16; see also 11:14, 14:11). God told Samuel to stop mourning for Saul: “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?” (1 Samuel 16:1). The Torah itself makes this same distinction: sins of ignorance had sacrifice provided (Numbers 15:27-29), but the soul that sinned presumptuously — with a high hand — was cut off, with no sacrifice available (Numbers 15:30-31). The author of Hebrews confirms this in the New Testament: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26).

There is a category of sin — deliberate, knowing, high-handed — for which the normal restorative provisions of intercession and sacrifice are not operative. John recognizes this category and declines to prescribe a response for it. He does not explain why. He does not tell us what happens next. He withholds instruction, and his restraint should be respected rather than filled with a rationale he does not provide.

What we can say is this: God’s judgments, even the most severe, serve His purposes. Isaiah declares: “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). And the very next verse sharpens it: “Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:10). Judgment teaches what grace alone cannot teach the wicked. And even the paradigmatic case of fiery judgment — Sodom, destroyed by fire and brimstone — is not God’s final word. Ezekiel prophesies: “When I shall bring again the captivity of Sodom and her daughters… then thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate” (Ezekiel 16:53, 55). Throughout Ezekiel, God’s stated purpose in judging the nations is that they will know Him: “I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 25:11). The judgment produces knowledge where none existed before.

The sin unto death is real. The withholding of intercession is real. The severity of the judgment is as harsh as it must be. But Scripture consistently testifies that God’s judgments are purposeful — they teach, they reveal, they produce the knowledge of God. How this applies to the sin unto death across the ages is a matter examined in other studies. Here, what matters is this: John’s distinction between sin not unto death and sin unto death does not contradict charity covering sins. It identifies two stages within God’s corrective work — one where human intercession is operative and one where it is not — and both are within the scope of God’s purpose.

In every case, the passages we were asked about operate within the framework of charity, not against it. Trying the spirits, accounting for idle words, rejecting the heretic, keeping pure, recognizing the sin unto death — each of these is a specific expression of the love that addresses sin through the corrective process Christ established. The tension was never in the text. It was in the assumption that covering and correction are opposites. They are not. Correction addresses sin. Charity covers what has been dealt with. And the love that drives both is the same fervent, stretched-out love Peter commands.

The Covering Completed

The process that Scripture traces from Genesis to the present — the covering of sin, the clothing with righteousness, the corrective judgment that destroys the flesh and produces life — is not an endless cycle. It has a destination.

Paul describes that destination in the language of clothing: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). The final garment is immortality itself. The nakedness that Adam feared, the filthy rags that Isaiah lamented, the fig leaves that could not cover — all of it is resolved when mortality is swallowed up by life. Paul told the Corinthians the same thing in different words: “Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). We do not long to be stripped bare. We long to be clothed upon with what God alone can provide.

The bride receives her garment: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:8). Granted — not earned, not sewn from fig leaves or human effort. Given by God. The substance of the garment is what it has been from the beginning: righteousness. From animal skins in Eden to fine linen in the new creation, the covering has always been God’s work, and the garment has always been His righteousness put upon His people.

This is the inheritance of the Body — the firstfruits of God’s purpose. Those who know God now, who are corrected now, who are clothed now, are being prepared for a specific role: “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10). The Body is not merely saved. It is given a position — kings and priests, the bride of Christ, those who share in His reign (Revelation 20:6). This is the promise to the first group, those who come through the corrective process in this age.

Peter told us that judgment begins at the house of God and then asked: “What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). Their end is not the same as the Body’s inheritance — they do not share the role of kings and priests, which is granted to those who overcome in this age. But neither are they beyond the reach of God’s purpose. The scope of what God accomplishes through judgment beyond the present fellowship, including the nature and duration of that work, has been examined in prior studies. What Peter establishes here, and what this study has confirmed, is the principle: God’s judgments teach (Isaiah 26:9), God’s fire refines (Malachi 3:2-3), and even the most total destruction does not stand as God’s final word (Ezekiel 16:53-55).

The process reaches its consummation when there is nothing left uncovered, nothing left uncorrected, nothing left unclothed. Paul tells us when that is: “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). Every enemy subdued. Death itself destroyed. And the final state: “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).

God all in all. The carnal mind — which IS death (Romans 8:6) — destroyed as the last enemy. The spiritual mind — which IS life and peace — filling all things. The charity that Peter commands — fervent, above all things, covering a multitude of sins — is not a small instruction for polite fellowship. It is participation in the very work of God, who is clothing His people in His righteousness through a process of correction, death, and life. What begins in the Body as love among the brethren — the Matthew 18 process of confrontation, witnesses, discipline, and unlimited forgiveness — reaches toward a consummation that only God can bring to completion.

We acknowledge that passages such as Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20:10, and Mark 9:43-48 present complementary perspectives on the severity and duration of judgment that require careful study to understand alongside the restorative texts we have examined. These are not contradictions but areas where Scripture maintains emphases that must both be held with humility, recognizing that some things remain beyond our full comprehension in this age (1 Corinthians 13:12). These complementary truths have been examined in prior studies and remain subjects of ongoing study.

What this study has established from Scripture is this: charity and correction are not opposites. They are two movements of the same love. Christ established the corrective process (Matthew 18:15-17) and followed it with unlimited forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-22). Solomon taught that love covers transgressions that have been dealt with, and that reopening a settled matter destroys fellowship (Proverbs 10:12, 17:9). Peter — who heard Christ’s instruction directly, who witnessed the corrective process in the early church, who knew from experience both the severity of judgment and the depth of restoration — wrote to the churches the distillation of everything he had learned:

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

1 Samuel 21:1–15 David and the Holy Bread

Ato Barnes — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 20:21:07 +0000

Audio Download

1 Samuel 21:1–15 David and the Holy Bread

[Study Aired June 15, 2026]

The study for today can be divided into two parts. The first part deals with David seeking support from a priest at Nob, where he ended up receiving holy bread and Goliath’s sword. The second part focuses on David’s escape to Gath where he feigned madness. As indicated in all our studies, today’s study will highlight what the spirit is saying to us through David’s actions.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

David and the Holy Bread

1Sa 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

Nob means ‘fruit’ and that of Ahimelech indicates that ‘my brother is king.’ It is in the church of the Lord’s elect that we start to produce fruit of the spirit and are promised kingship. In verse 1, Ahimelech the priest is a symbol of our brothers and sisters who are called and chosen by the Lord for the role of being a royal priesthood. Therefore, David coming to Nob to Ahimelech the priest shows our exit from the church system of this world or Babylon to the church of the first born or Heavenly Jerusalem, where we start the process of bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Ahimelech seeing David alone and not with an entourage, made him fearful of repercussions that may arise from aiding him. At this point, David was under the judgment of the Lord as Saul sought to kill him. During these trial times, we become vulnerable like David. However, amid his suffering, David sought Ahimelech, a symbol of the Lord’s elect. Verse 1 therefore assures us that in our times of trials, there is nothing wrong in seeking support from our brothers and sisters in Christ. This verse therefore offers reassurance to us that asking for support is not a sign of weakness, but rather an essential part of overcoming hardship the Lord has brought on us. In other words, the support we receive from our brothers and sisters is the way of the Lord for us to be able to bear the suffering we are going through.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1Sa 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

David lying to Ahimelech the priest that king Saul had sent him on a business and that he had stationed the young men with him at a certain place shows that David was still of the flesh in his walk with the Lord. Thus, the need for his sins to be burnt out of him through the Lord’s judgment. In other words, we need to learn righteousness by the things that we suffer.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Psa 119:67 Before I (David) was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
Psa 119:68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

1Sa 21:3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

As indicated earlier, David coming to Ahimelech the priest is our coming to the heavenly Jerusalem or the church of the firstborn, where we are to receive support from our brothers and sisters or what every joint supplies.

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

David requesting Ahimelech to give him five loaves of bread signifies our need to feed on the word of truth by what every joint supplies by the grace of the Lord through faith (the significance of the number five). This truth of the word of the Lord is like hail that destroys the refuge of lies or the false doctrines in our heavens or hearts and minds.

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

It is important to note that it is while we are being judged that our understanding of the word of the Lord is also enlightened. That is what is happening to us, His elect (David) as we receive these five loaves of bread from Ahimelech or what every joint supplies. It is the same as hearing the voice of the Lord in the midst of the fire. It also implies the Lord coming to us with hail for rain and flaming fire on our land, which is our bodies.

Psa 105:32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.

Psa 148:8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

Deu 4:36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

Deu 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

1Sa 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

It is important to distinguish here in verse 4, the difference between common bread and hallowed bread. The common bread spiritually represents man’s wisdom and tradition which emanates as smoke from our bottomless pit (our hearts and minds), which darkens our understanding of the word and therefore makes it impossible to know Christ and His word. This is what is propagated by the false apostles (locusts) parading in the corridors of the church system of this world.

Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Mar 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

According to verse 4, the hallowed bread, on the other hand, is available only to those who have kept themselves from women. The women here in verse 4 represent the churches of this world. This hallowed bread, which represents the truth of the word of the Lord or the mysteries of the kingdom, is available only to those who have kept themselves from the leaven or the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition of the Pharisees or the church system of this world.

Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mat 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Mat 16:8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

Mat 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

1Sa 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

An easier to understand translation of this verse is shown as follows:

1Sa 21:5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” (ESV)

David’s response to Ahimelech the priest when clarifying whether he and his young men have kept themselves from women is that when they were on a mission, they keep themselves from women and especially in this case, when they were visiting Ahimelech the priest in a temple. Our mission as the Lord’s elect in this life is to become an overcomer. Being an overcomer entails keeping ourselves from women or the churches of this world with their false doctrines, especially when we have become part of the church of the firstborn or the Heavenly Jerusalem. Many of our brothers and sisters who started well in the faith have become victims of these women, collectively called the harlot, who lurks around the corner looking for whom to devour. This is the present danger that we face as the Lord’s elect, as shown in the following verses:

Pro 7:7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Pro 7:8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
Pro 7:9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
Pro 7:10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Pro 7:11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
Pro 7:12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
Pro 7:13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
Pro 7:14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
Pro 7:15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
Pro 7:16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
Pro 7:17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Pro 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
Pro 7:19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
Pro 7:20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
Pro 7:21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Pro 7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
Pro 7:23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

1Sa 21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

The Priest giving the hallowed bread to David signifies our coming to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven through what every joint supplies in the assembly of the Lord’s elect. The Priest here, who represents what every joint supplies, is Christ, who opens our eyes to see and ears to hear. The hot bread before the presence of the Lord in the temple is to remind us that the Lord’s truth cannot be tainted by any false doctrine. It is bread that is taken out of the Lord’s presence and is in the hands of a priest which can be contaminated with false doctrine. However, in our case, it is Christ Himself who is availing to us His truth, just as He opened the understanding of the disciples after His resurrection.

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

1Sa 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

The statement that Doeg was detained before the Lord is to show us that both good and evil are all working according to the counsel of the Lord. This Doeg was the one responsible for killing all the priests in Nod under the instruction of king Saul, as we shall see in the next chapter.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

1Sa 22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
1Sa 22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

The presence of Doeg, who belonged to Saul as his chief herdsman was all of the Lord to show us the enmity of our brothers and sisters in Babylon against us. The killing of the priests under the instruction of Saul shows us, the Lord’s elect, how our brothers and sisters in Babylon consider us as spiritually dead in the streets of Jerusalem or the corridors of the church system of this world.

Goliath’s Sword Given to David

1Sa 21:8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.
1Sa 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

David needed a sword for his protection, and Ahimelech gave him the sword of Goliath. The question is, “What is the spiritual significance of Goliath’s sword in the hand of David?” A sword on a positive note denotes the word of the Lord as shown in the following verse:

Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Goliath’s sword signifies a negative application of sword, and it indicates false doctrines of man’s wisdom and traditions. David taking possession of Goliath’s sword implies that as the Lord’s elect, we are given power over false doctrine such that it cannot hurt us. As the Lord declared, we are given power over serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, such that they cannot hurt us. This power over serpents and scorpions refers to the sting from their mouth or their false doctrines which cannot hurt us.

Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

David Flees to Gath

1Sa 21:10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
1Sa 21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
1Sa 21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

Gath means ‘winepress’, which signifies judgment. It is instructive to note that the name of the king of Gath (Achish) means ‘I will blacken or terrify.’ David fleeing to Achish, the king of Gath, therefore implies David being given over to Satan to terrify him, just as Job was given over to Satan to sift him.

Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he [Job] hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

David thought he could hide in Gath without being recognized. However, the fact that the servants knew who he was, in terms of his conquest, made it difficult for David to continue to hide in Gath. As a result, he became afraid of king Achish. When we are under the Lord’s judgment, sometimes we wonder why things happen the way they do, making us easily discouraged. As a result, we become apprehensive just like David.

2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

The word “perplexed” (from the Greek aporeo) in 2 Corinthians 4:8 literally means to ‘be at a loss’, to be unable to find a way out, or to wonder why things are happening the way they are. However, Paul concluded that God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

1Sa 21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
1Sa 21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
1Sa 21:15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

In this study, David was not matured enough to understand why he was going through such suffering. Being afraid of King Achish, he feigned being mad to escape from Gath. Here in these verses, we can see David depending on his own wisdom of the flesh to escape from the Philistines. However, the Lord in His mercy, overlooked it.

Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

As we mature in Christ, through the Lord’s judgment, we come to see just like Paul, that all things work together for our good. Years later, as David had matured through the Lord’s judgment, he penned Psalm 34 which speaks of His maturity in the Lord as follows:

Psa 34:1 A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Ahimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psa 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
Psa 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psa 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Pas 34:20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Pas 34:22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Amen!!

“The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give” (Pro 30:15-18)

Tony Cullen — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 04:30:04 +0000

Audio Download

“The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give”

(Pro 30:15-18)

[Study Aired June 11, 2026]

In (Pro 30:1-2) that we reviewed last week, we read of the confession of Agur the son of Jakeh, who declared “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man” (1Co 10:11).

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Agur represents all mankind who, in God’s time, will come to put their hands on their mouth, like Job and the apostle Paul, by being brought to see that we are the chief of sinners (Job 40:4 , 1Ti 1:15).

Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

In the following verses we will look at today, this same point of man’s brute beast demeanor (Ecc 3:18) that is further expounded upon, starting with verse 15, “The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough”. The whole of humanity is represented by the “four things say not, It is enough” (Eph 2:1-4).

We will look at those “two daughters” as a representation of Aholah and Aholibah (Eze 23:11) that represent stages in our own yet corrupt unconverted hearts needing to be changed by God’s grace. The rest of the proverbs in this chapter focus primarily on the mystery of iniquity, in parables that are hidden from those who are “accusing or else excusing one another”, while in this life not seeing how these things written were meant to be kept or identified as being what is within all of us (Rom 2:4 , Rom 2:15 , Mat 4:4 , Rev 1:3).

Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

It is a hidden mystery to the world how God is preparing the bride through Christ (natural Psa 139:14 , spiritual Rev 12:5), and this process of judgement that is upon the elect (1Pe 4:17 , 1Jn 4:17) is what gives us confidence and boldness in this life, not for what we can do in our own weak mortal flesh that needs at first to establish our own righteousness (Php 3:9 , Php 3:3), but for what God can do to prepare the bride and make her ready for the wedding supper as He works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom, that is being formed within us by the righteousness of Christ (Rev 19:7 , Php 2:12-13 , Luk 12:32 , Luk 17:21).

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

This section of proverbs helps set the stage for what needs to be changed within us, as we repent of our former conversation (Joh 3:30), and become more and more a representation of the woman of our last chapter of proverbs who represents the bride of Christ (Pro 31:1-31).

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Pro 30:15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

What a word! A horse has power, “horseleach”, and we have power in our flesh that’s given to us of the devil (Rev 13:4) and what we do with that power is suck or “leach” the life of Christ away as we succumb to the slavery to sin that has us quenching the spirit of God (1Th 5:19), until the son of God sets us free (Joh 8:36) from that bondage of “the horseleach that has two daughters”.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.

There are stages to this depravity of spirit which is witnessed by “two daughters, crying, Give, give”. They cry ‘give, give’ defining the vain selfish nature of flesh that cannot be satisfied or say, “It is enough” (Ecc 1:8).

Ecc 1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. (1Jn 4:5-6)

This excerpt from Ato’s study in Ezekiel iswasandwillbe.com/ezekiel-2326-49-aholah-and-aholibah-part-2/ summarizes who Aholah and Aholibah represent, and in this proverb we see them being spoken of as “two daughters, crying, Give, give”

“In order to understand the study for today, we have to go back to the earlier verses to understand the context. There were two sisters – Aholah and Aholibah. Aholah was the elder, and she played the harlot with Assyrians who invaded the ten tribes of Israel. As we indicated in the previous study, the two sisters, Aholah and Aholibah, represent the church of the Lord in different dispensations. Aholah represents the church when it was under the law of Moses, and Aholibah signifies the church after the coming of Christ. That is to say that Aholah represents our walk when we did not know Christ and walked in the churches of this world (Aholah) according to the law of Moses. Aholibah signifies our walk when we were still in the churches of this world when Christ started coming to us. The Assyrians represent the false apostles who come in the name of the Lord but are wolves in sheep’s clothing.” [end of quote]

Contentment is something that can only come by having a right relationship with God (1Ti 6:6), and this happens when we are positively drawn by the grace of God toward living waters found in Christ (Joh 6:44 , Psa 23:1-6 , Psa 1:1-3) that satisfy our souls and bring contentment to us. Babylon on the other hand is that “leach” that is desperately trying to make converts for all the wrong reasons (Mat 23:15 , 2Pe 2:19).

Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Pro 30:16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

The positive grave is the one that we are baptized into, bringing life (Rom 6:3), whereas the negative grave being discussed in this proverb is likened unto “the barren womb” that represents Babylon who has no stay of bread or water, meaning no right doctrine, doctrines which we know are likened unto children of which there is none in Babylon.

The grave, the womb and the earth are all symbols of the churches of this world that have no water, no word of God within them (Isa 3:1 , 2Ti 3:5-7), and “the fire that saith not, It is enough” is just another way of describing the natural state of all flesh, the earth that Christ must be in the midst of if we are ever going to overcome and positively quench this fire “the fire that saith not, It is enough” which represents the lies of the devil (Ecc 1:8 , Mat 12:40 , Eph 6:16).

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, [you can’t quench the fiery darts of the devil if you have no water]

2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Ecc 1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Pro 30:17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

“The eye” represents our perception, and being blinded of our father the devil at that time when we are mocking the spirit, is the first natural default position of all flesh that is “subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” not having had our eyes and ears open yet to the truth (Rom 8:20-21 , Mat 13:16), causing us to “mocketh at father” [God the Father] with such thoughts and actions as described in these verses (Mat 24:48 , Jud 1:18).

Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

Jud 1:18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. (Eph 2:1-3)

This is what Adam and Eve did when they yielded to the lies of the devil in the garden (Gen 3:4). God is not mocked however and what we sow we will reap, and what we sow is what God has purposed we would do according to the counsel of His own will (Gal 6:7 , Eph 1:11 , Rom 9:19-21).

Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Despising the words of the children of God who hold fast to the words of their spiritual mother, Jerusalem above (Gal 4:26), was also prophesied to happen to God’s people by those who “despiseth to obey his mother”(Mat 10:22 , Luk 10:16).

Luk 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me;

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

It is “the ravens of the valley” who represent the false doctrines, which are evil spirits, that are likened unto fowl (Mat 13:32), found in the churches of Babylon, who will pick out our eye, meaning our perception, and the other unclean bird, the eagle, that represents the false ministers of Babylon [represented by the “Pharisees and of the Sadducees”], ‘will have us for lunch’, “dust you will eat” (Mat 16:6 , Mat 23:15 , Gen 3:14).

Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

If we are being worked with in this age, we will be delivered from the bondage of Babylon that God has purposed that all of humanity must go into in order to ‘come out of her’ at an appointed time (2Co 6:17-18). When we come out of her, the process is reversed and we pluck out our own eye, “better for thee to enter into life with one eye”, meaning the removal or plucking out of the perverted Babylonian beam of self-righteousness (2Th 2:7-8), that then gives us the ability to have a singleness of mind in Christ (2Co 11:3 , Mat 18:9).

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572 that is in Christ.

simplicityG572 haplotēs hap-lot’-ace: From G573; singleness, that is, (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking), or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal): – bountifulness, liberal (-ity), simplicity, singleness. Total KJV occurrences: 8

Mat 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

Pro 30:18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

This next section of proverbs is introduced with this comment, “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not”. The “three” represents the judgment of the manchild within the church which is “too wonderful for me”, meaning we are fearfully and wonderfully made, through a process of judgement represented by the number three (Psa 139:14).

Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

The whole process of our growing unto maturity in the Lord is a mystery that is not known to our old man but is being revealed to the new creation that God is forming within His workmanship through Christ (1Ti 3:15-16 , Eph 2:10). The “four which I know not”, confirms this point that the whole [4] process of salvation is a gift from God that is His workmanship from start to finish (Eph 2:8-10).

1Ti 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Christ is the author and finisher of our faith, and the use of the numbers ‘three’ and ‘four’ that add up to seven which symbolizes completeness and assures us that what He has started in us He will finish (Heb 12:2).

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the following proverbs that point to that mysterious work of the Lord within the few who are called in this age to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Mat 22:14 , Rev 20:6).

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Pro 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
Pro 30:21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
Pro 30:22 For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
Pro 30:23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
Pro 30:24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
Pro 30:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
Pro 30:26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
Pro 30:27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
Pro 30:28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
Pro 30:29 There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:
Pro 30:30 A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;
Pro 30:31 A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.
Pro 30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Pro 30:33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

Charity Covers a Multitude of Sins, Part 1

Aaron Lohman — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 23:57:11 +0000

Audio Download

Charity Covers a Multitude of Sins, Part 1

[Study Aired June 10, 2026]

Here is our verse under study.

(1Pe 4:8) And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

I was asked a question recently: How does the command to have fervent charity that “covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8) fit alongside scriptures that call us to “try every spirit” (1 John 4:1), give account for “every idle word” (Matthew 12:36), reject a heretic after two admonitions (Titus 3:10), keep ourselves pure (1 Timothy 5:22), and acknowledge that “there is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:16)?

On the surface, these seem to pull in opposite directions. One tells us to cover. The others tell us to expose, examine, and correct. If we take Scripture seriously — and we must, because the whole Word is truth (Psalm 119:160) and it does not contradict itself — then the tension we feel is not in the text. It is in our understanding.

This study will show that charity covering sins and God’s corrective work in the Body are not competing realities. They are the same love working toward the same end. The correction addresses sin. The covering hides what has been dealt with. Together they form a single process: the love of God working through His people — from admonition to rebuke to the most severe discipline — because the goal of that process has always been life, not destruction. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

To see this clearly, we need to understand the categories Peter is working with, examine what he means by “cover,” trace that concept through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, and understand the nature of the judgment that charity operates through. When we do, the apparent contradiction disappears, and what emerges is a single, unified picture of God’s purpose: clothing His people in righteousness through a process that requires the death of the flesh so that the spirit may live.

The Foundation: What Death and Life Mean

Before we examine Peter’s command, we must establish what Scripture means by death and life, because these categories govern everything that follows.

Paul states the principle directly: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). The carnal mind — the mindset of the flesh — is not merely heading toward death. It IS death. The spiritual mind — the mindset aligned with God — IS life and peace. Death and life, as Scripture uses them, are present states defined by the orientation of the mind.

Paul then reveals why this matters for every corrective measure the Body will ever exercise: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). The carnal mind cannot be reformed. It cannot be educated into obedience. It cannot be disciplined into submission. It is not able — οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται (dynamai, G1410). This is not unwillingness. It is inability.

The consequence: “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).

This is foundational. If the carnal mind cannot be subject to God’s law, then every attempt to cover sin by tolerating the flesh — by letting the carnal mind go unchallenged — is not love. It is futility. The flesh cannot be improved. It must be put to death so that the spirit may live. This is why Paul can tell the Corinthians to deliver a man “unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5). The destruction is not cruelty. It is the only thing that works, because the carnal mind cannot be fixed. It can only be replaced.

With this established, we can hear Peter’s command with the right ears.

The Context of Peter’s Command

Peter’s instruction to have fervent charity does not stand alone. It sits within a sequence of commands for the Body in 1 Peter 4:7-11 — be sober and watchful unto prayer, have fervent charity among yourselves, use hospitality without grudging, minister gifts to one another as good stewards. Every instruction in this passage is directed inward, toward the fellowship of believers. Charity covering sins begins in the Body.

The word Peter uses for “fervent” is ἐκτενής (ektenes, G1618) — stretched out, strained, extended to full capacity. This is not casual affection. The root is ἐκτείνω (ekteinō) — to stretch out, to reach. The word picture is something pulled taut, love under tension, love that costs effort and endurance.

This word family appears sparingly in the New Testament. In Acts 12:5, when Peter himself was in prison awaiting execution, the church prayed for him ἐκτενῶς — fervently, stretched out toward God on his behalf. And in Luke 22:44, the intensified form describes Jesus in Gethsemane: “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly” (ἐκτενέστερον) — “and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

The charity Peter commands operates at the same intensity as Christ’s prayer in His most agonizing moment. This is not passive tolerance. This is not polite overlooking. This is love stretched to its full extension — love that bears the cost of doing whatever must be done for the sake of the one loved. When we understand that the carnal mind cannot be fixed (Romans 8:7), we understand why this love must be fervent. The work it drives — correction, admonition, rebuke, and yes, even the most severe discipline — requires everything love has to give.

The verses immediately before Peter’s command widen the scope beyond the Body:

“Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1 Peter 4:5-6)

Who are “the living” and “the dead” here? At the foundational level, Peter uses a standard phrase. “The quick and the dead” (ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς) appears in Acts 10:42 and 2 Timothy 4:1 in the same form — Christ judges the living and the dead, meaning all humanity, those currently alive and those who have physically died. “Them that are dead” in verse 6 refers, at this level, to people who heard the gospel while alive and have since died. Peter’s point is that even physical death does not exempt anyone from God’s purpose — they were judged in the flesh (suffered physically, died as humans do) but live before God in the spirit.

Peter’s specific contrast — “judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” — carries a deeper resonance when heard alongside Paul’s categories in Romans 8:6. The mind of the flesh is death. The mind of the spirit is life. Peter’s flesh/spirit contrast points to the same reality: those governed by the carnal mind are in the state Scripture calls death, regardless of their physical condition. Those who live according to God in the spirit have passed from death to life (1 John 3:14). The gospel was preached to “the dead” — to those in the state of the carnal mind — so that through the judgment of the flesh, the spirit might live.

Peter tells us that the gospel reaches even those who are dead — and the purpose is stated: “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” The judgment comes first. The life follows.

Peter confirms the order of this process later in the same chapter: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:17-18). Judgment begins with those who know God. The word “begin” (ἄρξασθαι, arxasthai G756) implies continuation — what starts with believers extends beyond them. Peter’s rhetorical force must be heard honestly. He is making a lesser-to-greater argument: if this is how severe judgment is for believers, how much worse for the disobedient? If the righteous barely make it through, the ungodly have no ground to stand on. Peter is intensifying the warning, not offering reassurance about a sequential program.

What begins at the house of God does extend beyond it — but those outside the Body do not receive the same promises as those within it. The Body occupies a unique position as kings and priests (Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6), the firstfruits of God’s purpose. What God does with those outside the Body in His time is His work, examined in other studies. Here, Peter’s concern is the Body, and his command is specific: fervent charity among yourselves.

This is the context in which Peter commands fervent charity that covers a multitude of sins. The Body’s practice of love that covers is not separate from God’s larger work. What God is doing in the Body now — correcting, judging, clothing in righteousness — is the firstfruits of a purpose that reaches further than the present fellowship.

What Does It Mean to Cover?

The word Peter uses for “cover” is καλύπτω (kalupto, G2572) — to hide, to conceal, to veil. James uses the same word: “he which converteth (turns) the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide (καλύπτω) (kalupto, G2572) a multitude of sins” (James 5:20). Peter and James are both drawing from the same Old Testament source — Proverbs 10:12: “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”

The Hebrew word here is כָּסָה (kasah, H3680) — to cover, conceal, hide. Solomon sets up a direct contrast. Hatred stirs up (עוּר, uwr, H5782 — to rouse, to agitate). Love covers. One brings sins to the surface to create strife. The other conceals them. These are opposite motions — but the concealing that love does is not the ignoring of sin.

Solomon gives us the key in a companion proverb that governs the entire discussion: “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends” (Proverbs 17:9).

This verse reveals the relationship between correction and covering that resolves every tension in the passages we were asked about. The contrast is not between covering sin and addressing sin. It is between covering what has been dealt with and dragging it back into the open after the matter is resolved. A transgression occurred. It was addressed — confessed, corrected, repented of. Now the one who covers it — who does not keep reopening it, who does not keep bringing it back up — is the one who seeks love. The one who keeps repeating the matter after it has been resolved is the one who destroys fellowship.

This is the sequence Scripture establishes: sin occurs, correction addresses it, and love covers what has been dealt with. Covering does not bypass correction. Covering completes it. The love that drives the correction is the same love that covers the result. They are not opposites. They are not the same action. They are sequential expressions of the same fervent charity Peter commands.

If covering means hiding, we must ask: hiding from whom, and for how long? Christ tells us plainly: “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matthew 10:26). Everything hidden will be brought to light. So the covering that charity provides is not permanent concealment as though the sin never happened. The sins are revealed — that is what judgment does. We will give account for every idle word (Matthew 12:36). Every deed, every thought, every careless word will be laid bare.

Then what does the covering accomplish? Paul answers: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged of the Lord, we are chastened (παιδεύω, paideuo — corrected, disciplined, trained) that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). The judgment that reveals sin is corrective. It trains. It disciplines. And when the correction has done its work — when the flesh has been dealt with and the fruit of repentance has been brought forth — then charity covers. The sin is not ignored. It is addressed, corrected, and then hidden beneath the love that drove the entire process from the beginning. This is Proverbs 17:9 in action: the transgression is covered because it has been dealt with, and love does not reopen what God’s process has resolved.

David understood this: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1). The Hebrew for “forgiven” is נָשָׂא (nasa, H5375) — to lift up, to carry away to bear. David places two actions in parallel: transgression is lifted and carried away; sin is covered. These are not two separate events. They are the same reality described from two sides. Something is removed and something is hidden at the same time. Paul quotes this very verse in Romans 4:7 “Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” and connects it to the imputation of righteousness — sin covered, righteousness put on. The covering of sin and the clothing with righteousness are one work.

Clothed by God: The Covering from Genesis to Revelation

The covering of sin is not an isolated concept in 1 Peter 4:8. It is a thread that runs from the first chapters of Genesis to the final chapters of Revelation, and it is expressed consistently through the image of clothing — garments put on and garments taken off, man’s failed coverings replaced by God’s sufficient ones.

It begins in the garden. When Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. Their first response was to cover themselves: “they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7). This is man’s attempt to hide his own sin — and it failed. The fig leaves were not sufficient. God Himself had to act: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). The Hebrew for “clothed” is לָבַשׁ (labash, H3847), a word that will appear throughout Scripture for the putting on of garments, including the garments of the priesthood and the spiritual clothing of the New Testament.

Two principles are established in this first covering. First, man cannot cover his own sin. His self-made garments are inadequate — because they are products of the carnal mind, and the carnal mind cannot produce what God requires (Romans 8:7-8). Second, God’s covering requires death. An animal died so that skins could clothe what the fig leaves could not. The seed principle is present from the beginning: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Something must die for the covering to be made.

Isaiah restates both principles. Man’s best efforts at self-covering produce nothing acceptable: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Our righteousness — not our sin, but our very best — is filthy in God’s sight. The fig leaves have not improved. But God’s covering is another matter entirely: “He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). Here both words appear together — “clothed” and “covered” — and the substance of the garment is named: salvation and righteousness. This is what God puts on His people when He removes what they have made for themselves.

The prophet Zechariah gives us this exchange in vivid detail. Joshua the high priest stands before the angel of the LORD clothed in filthy garments, and Satan stands at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD rebukes Satan and commands: “Take away the filthy garments from him.” Then to Joshua: “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment” (Zechariah 3:3-5). The pattern is the same as Genesis 3 — the inadequate covering is removed and God provides the new garment. But Zechariah adds what Genesis only implied: the removal of filthy garments IS the passing of iniquity. The old garment is sin. The new garment is righteousness. To be reclothed is to be forgiven. This is Psalm 32:1 made visible — transgression carried away, sin covered. “A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

David understood this: “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy” (Psalm 132:9). The priests’ true garment is not linen or ephod. It is righteousness itself. And the response to being clothed in it is joy.

The New Testament brings this imagery to its fullest expression. Paul tells the Galatians: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). The garment we wear is Christ Himself. To the Romans: “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). Putting on Christ and putting off the flesh are the same action — the same stripping and reclothing that Zechariah saw.

Paul develops the pattern further in Ephesians: “Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). And again in Colossians: “Ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:9-10). In every instance the structure is the same — the old is removed, the new is given, and the new garment is defined by righteousness, holiness, and the image of God. The old man that is put off is the carnal mind that cannot be subject to God’s law (Romans 8:7). It is not reformed. It is stripped away. The new man that is put on is renewed in knowledge after the image of the Creator — the spiritual mind that is life and peace (Romans 8:6).

What is remarkable about Colossians is where Paul takes this. After instructing the believers to put on the new man, he lists the garments of the new life — mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness — and then crowns the list: “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14). “Above all things put on charity.” This is nearly identical to Peter’s words: “above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” The garment that completes the covering — the bond that holds all the others together — is charity. And charity is not something we manufacture. It is Christ in us. To put on charity is to put on Christ. To put on Christ is to be covered.

Paul tells the Thessalonians the same truth in the language of armor: “Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Love is something we wear. It protects. It covers.

The thread reaches toward its consummation in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. He writes of our present condition: “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). We do not seek to be stripped bare. We long to be clothed upon — covered with what swallows death in life. This echoes Genesis 3 directly: the nakedness that Adam feared is resolved not by fig leaves but by God’s garment that swallows mortality itself.

The final clothing: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). This is the ultimate covering — the putting on of incorruption and immortality. The process that began with animal skins in the garden ends with death itself swallowed by life.

Two final pictures complete the thread. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father does not interrogate the returning son or demand restitution before acting. He commands: “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him” (Luke 15:22). The covering is given before the son has earned anything. This is mercy — God’s garment placed on those who return. But the covering is not without conditions, as Christ shows in another parable. At the wedding feast, a man is found without a wedding garment, and the king commands: “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness” (Matthew 22:13). The covering is granted, but it must be received. You cannot come to the feast in your own clothes — in your own fig leaves, your own filthy rags.

The final word belongs to the bride: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:8). “Granted” — not earned, not self-made. Given. And the substance of the garment is what it has been since Genesis: righteousness. From the skins that covered Adam and Eve to the fine linen of the bride, God has been doing one work — covering His people in a garment they cannot make for themselves, a garment that requires death to produce, a garment that is ultimately Christ Himself.

This is what Peter means when he says charity covers a multitude of sins. The covering is not a human decision to overlook wrongdoing. It is the ongoing work of God, clothing His people in the righteousness that only comes through the death of the flesh and the life of the Spirit.

We have seen what Peter means by “cover” — not the ignoring of sin, but the work of God who removes what man cannot remove and clothes His people in a righteousness they cannot produce. From the skins in Eden to the fine linen of the bride, the covering has always been His work, and the garment has always been Christ. A question remains: if charity covers sins after they have been addressed, what does the addressing look like? How does the love of God bring sin to the point where it can be covered? How do the scriptures that command correction, discernment, and even rejection operate within a love that covers all? In Part 2, we will examine the corrective process that charity drives — beginning with Christ’s own instructions in Matthew 18 — and show that every passage that seems to stand in tension with 1 Peter 4:8 is in fact an expression of the very love it describes.

The Fear of God: From Seed to Delight

Aaron Lohman — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:53:23 +0000

Audio Download

The Fear of God: From Seed to Delight

[Study Aired June 9, 2026]

The Journey of the Fear of God

Scripture reveals the fear of God not as a single, static experience but as a living, growing reality—a seed planted in the soul that progresses from its smallest beginning toward a completion so glorious that the Messiah Himself delights in it. As with every dimension of God’s sovereign purpose, the fear of the Lord begins in its natural, external, elementary form and moves toward its spiritual, internal, completed reality in Christ.

Solomon declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7). The word beginning (Hebrew: re’shiyth, Strong’s H7225) carries the sense of the first, the chief, the starting point. It is the same word used of creation’s commencement in Genesis 1:1—“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” The fear of God, then, enters at the genesis of the spiritual journey, but like everything that begins, it must grow. Isaiah’s messianic prophecy reveals its destination: “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:” (Isa 11:2–3 AMR). The Hebrew rendered “And his delight” is ruwach (H7306), whose root means to smell, to scent—to breathe in as one receives a pleasing aroma. It is the same root used when the LORD “smelled a sweet savour” after Noah’s offering (Gen 8:21). The completed fear of God is not dread but this kind of deep, pleasurable perception of God’s goodness—and Christ, the Last Adam, is the firstfruits who has already arrived at that destination.

As we trace this pattern through the testimony of Scripture, we discover that two qualitatively different fears operate within the believer’s experience: the old man’s fear of death and the new man’s reverential awe of God. These are not the same fear in different measures but opposite dispositions proceeding from opposite natures. The consuming fire of God’s presence terrifies one and gladdens the other—and the journey of the believer is the dying of the first and the strengthening of the second, until love is perfected and the fear that “hath torment” is cast out entirely. “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:2-3)

The Nature of God: Love as Consuming Fire

Before the fear of God can be understood, the nature of God must be established. Scripture makes two declarations that appear to stand in tension but reveal themselves as a single, unified reality. John writes, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), while the writer of Hebrews declares, “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29), echoing Moses’ testimony: “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deut 4:24). That Moses connects the consuming fire directly to jealousy—the language of covenant love—is no incidental detail. The fire is not opposed to love; the fire is love in action, pursuing its end goal with relentless purpose.

What is that end goal? Paul states it plainly: “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). The consuming fire of God’s nature is the burning zeal of His love working toward this completion—the total union of Creator and creation, every shadow consumed, every barrier removed, every carnal limitation yielding to the fullness of His presence. This means that the fire is not a threat to those being conformed to His image but the very means of their transformation. The fire does not destroy the new man; it purifies the new man by burning away the old.

Isaiah confirms this with a remarkable question and answer: “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa 33:14). The expected answer might be “those that are evil,” but Scripture reverses the expectation: “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly” (Isa 33:15). The righteous dwell in the consuming fire. The same truth appears in Daniel’s account, where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walk unharmed in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, and a fourth figure—“like the Son of God” (Dan 3:25)—walks with them in the midst of the flame. Same fire. Opposite experience. The difference is not the intensity of the fire but the relational standing of those within it.

What the Fear of God Is: Scripture’s Own Definitions

Scripture does not leave the definition of the fear of God to speculation. Multiple witnesses provide direct, declarative statements of what it is—not merely what it produces, but its essential nature. The Hebrew yir’ah (H3374), from the root yare’ (H3372), encompasses both reverential awe and moral response. Its semantic range in Scripture is remarkably consistent: the fear of God is bound to the hatred of evil, the pursuit of wisdom, and the turning of the whole person toward God.

Solomon writes, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Prov 8:13). Job’s testimony agrees: “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). The Psalmist teaches it as a way of life: “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. . . . Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” (Ps 34:11, 14). And Moses presents it as inseparable from love and service: “What doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deut 10:12). Fear, love, walk, serve—these are not separate commands arranged in sequence but a unified posture of the whole being toward God.

What emerges from these witnesses across Proverbs, Job, Psalms, and Deuteronomy is a consistent portrait: the fear of God is the disposition of the new man—the hatred of evil, the love of God’s ways, and the growing capacity for wisdom. It begins as a seed and grows toward its completed expression as we read in Isaiah 11:2–3 earlier, where the Spirit of the fear of the Lord rests upon the Messiah, and He delights in it. This gladness is not a different thing from the fear of Proverbs 1:7; it is the same reality, fully mature.

Two Fears: The Old Man’s Terror and the New Man’s Awe

The growing nature of the fear of God cannot be understood apart from the two natures present in the believer during the transition from the natural to the spiritual. Scripture distinguishes two fundamentally different fears—not the same fear in different degrees, but qualitatively opposite postures belonging to opposite natures. Paul identifies both: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15). The spirit of bondage produces fear—the old man’s terror of death, punishment, and judgment. The Spirit of adoption produces a different relation entirely—the new man’s confidence before the Father.

The writer of Hebrews confirms the old man’s condition: Christ partook of flesh and blood so that “through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14–15). This fear of death is the hallmark of the old man’s existence—slavery, bondage, lifelong subjection. Against this stands Paul’s declaration concerning the new man: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). The Greek deilia (G1167), translated “fear” here, denotes cowardice, timidity—the cringing dread of one who expects punishment. This spirit belongs to the old man. The new man receives power, love, and a sound mind—the very qualities that enable the fear of God to mature into joyful reverence rather than remaining in fear.

John’s declaration resolves the apparent tension: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). The fear that perfect love casts out is specifically defined—it “hath torment” (Greek kolasin, G2851, punishment). This is the old man’s fear of death and judgment, not the new man’s reverential awe. The fear of God as wisdom, as hatred of evil, as gladness in His presence—this is not cast out by love but is love’s own companion. When love is perfected, the punitive fear of the old man is gone entirely, and what remains is the pure delight of Isaiah 11:3. These two fears never merge. One dies; the other comes to fullness.

The Seed Planted: From Ignorance to Knowledge

The old man does not begin with partial knowledge of God—he begins in wholesale ignorance. Paul describes this starting condition plainly: “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph 4:18). Peter confirms that ignorance belongs constitutionally to the old man’s state: “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance” (1 Pet 1:14). Ignorance is not an accident of circumstance but the created condition of the natural man—the darkness that precedes the dawn by sovereign design. “The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Rom 8:20).

Into this ignorance, the seed of the fear of God enters. Solomon identifies this entrance: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7). The fear of God arrives at the very start of the process—but in seed form, not in fullness. Christ’s parable of the mustard seed illuminates the pattern: “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs” (Matt 13:31–32). The kingdom enters as the smallest of seeds and grows into the greatest reality. So it is with the fear of God—the same substance from beginning to end, but in vastly different measure. Solomon confirms the growth is not automatic but requires diligent pursuit: “If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” (Prov 2:3–5). The fear of the Lord is not merely the starting point—it is also the destination of the one who seeks.

The trajectory is clear: ignorance gives way to the seed of knowledge, and with knowledge comes the fear of God in embryonic form. This seed must grow, and its growth occurs within the simultaneous dying of the old man and the strengthening of the new. Paul describes this twin process: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor 4:16). Two things happening at once within the same person: one decreasing, one increasing. The outward man—the carnal, natural, Adamic—is perishing. The inward man—the spiritual, heavenly, Christic—is being renewed. Ezekiel prophesied this same reality: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezek 36:26). The stone heart is not reformed or softened; it is removed. The heart of flesh is not developed from within; it is given. A qualitative replacement, accomplished by God’s sovereign work, progressing throughout the believer’s life.

This dying and growing maps directly onto the fear of God. As the old man perishes, the fear of death and punishment diminishes. As the new man is renewed, reverential joy in God’s presence increases. Paul knew both realities simultaneously: “I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind” (Rom 7:22–23). The inward man delights; the members wage war. Both present. Both real. Both ongoing. Scripture speaks of the old man’s death in completed terms—“Our old man is crucified with him” (Rom 6:6)—because God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Rom 4:17), declaring the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). Yet experientially, Paul testifies, “I die daily” (1 Cor 15:31). Hebrews holds both realities together in a single breath: God “hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (Heb 10:14)—perfected (completed action) those who are being sanctified (ongoing process). God’s declaration and our experience are both true from their respective vantage points.

Christ the Prototype: The Fear of God Completed

Every pattern in Scripture finds its substance in Christ, and the fear of God is no exception. He is the prototype who walked through every stage of this journey first and arrived at its completion. The writer of Hebrews establishes that Christ experienced the full process: “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb 2:18). He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). He “learned obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Heb 5:8–9). The word “learned” (Greek manthano, G3129) and the phrase “being made perfect” (teleioo, G5048) both indicate process—genuine progression, not mere appearance.

What enabled Christ to navigate this process without sin? John provides the answer: “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him” (John 3:34). Christ received the Spirit without measure—the full, unrestricted anointing from the Father. This was the enabling agent, not the bypassing of the journey. Hebrews confirms that the Spirit was the means of His offering: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:14). We, by contrast, receive the Spirit as an earnest—a down payment pledging the full amount: “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” (2 Cor 5:5). The Greek arrabon (G728) is a commercial term meaning a deposit guaranteeing future payment in full. Christ carried the Spirit without measure and navigated the process without sin; we carry the earnest and navigate through sin, repentance, and cleansing—but the destination is the same.

And that destination is the completed fear of God: “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him . . . the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD” (Isa 11:2–3 AMR). Christ takes pleasure in the fear of the Lord. This is not the old man’s terror; this is the new man’s fullness. Even at the cross, Christ’s heart was set toward this completion: “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 12:2). The joy was ahead of Him during the suffering, anticipating fullness. He arrived first as our forerunner, and His arrival guarantees ours. Our declared destination is “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph 4:13)—the very fullness that includes gladness in the fear of the Lord.

Addressing Alternative Interpretations

Two significant alternative readings challenge this understanding of the fear of God. Both seem to have apparent scriptural support to many in Babylon.

The first alternative appeals to Christ’s own words in Luke 12:5: “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” This is thought to teach a permanent, terror-based fear of God—a threat of destruction directed at believers. If the fear of God is meant to remain as dread, then the journey toward gladness described above would be mistaken. However, the framework accounts for this passage rather than contradicting it. Christ speaks to those still operating from old man territory—those whose primary posture is toward the carnal and external. For such hearers, the fear of consequences is the appropriate entry point, the seed-level form of the fear of God. The seed must break ground somewhere, and for the natural man, the gravity of God’s power over life and death is where it begins. This is consistent with Proverbs 1:7’s declaration that fear is the beginning of knowledge, not its end. As the new man grows, this entry-level dread gives way to the joyful reverence of Isaiah 11:3. The dread is not the permanent state but the starting form of a seed that is meant to mature.

The second alternative argues from 1 John 4:18 that perfect love eliminates the fear of God entirely. If “perfect love casteth out fear,” then at completion no fear of any kind remains—including the reverential awe we have described. This reading, however, ignores John’s own qualification. He defines the fear being cast out: it “hath torment” (Greek: kolasin, punishment). The fear cast out by perfect love is specifically the fear of punishment—the old man’s fear of judgment and death, identified by Paul as the spirit of bondage (Rom 8:15) and by the Hebrews writer as lifelong subjection through fear of death (Heb 2:15). But the fear of God as defined by Proverbs 8:13 (hatred of evil), Job 28:28 (wisdom itself), and Isaiah 11:2–3 (a Spirit of God resting on the Messiah) has no connection to punishment. The Messiah takes pleasure in it. To claim that perfect love eliminates this gladness would require John to be contradicting Solomon, Job, Isaiah, and the messianic portrait of Christ—a reading that fails the whole counsel of Scripture. These are two qualitatively different fears, and only the one bearing torment is cast out.

The Fire That Perfects

From the darkness of ignorance to the seed of knowledge, from the old man’s dread of death to the new man’s gladness in God’s presence, Scripture reveals the fear of God as a living journey—the same substance throughout, but growing from its smallest beginning toward its glorious completion. This pattern follows the order that governs all of God’s redemptive work: the natural came first by divine design, the spiritual follows as God’s intended goal. The creature was made subject to vanity “in hope” (Rom 8:20)—not in tragedy, not in accident, but in purposeful anticipation of the glory to come.

Christ stands at the center of this pattern as both prototype and destination. He is the Last Adam who received the Spirit without measure and navigated the process to its completion, arriving at pure delight in the fear of the Lord (Isa 11:3). He is the forerunner who passed through the fire and emerged glorified, blazing a trail for all who follow. His consuming fire—which is His love in action—does not destroy those being conformed to His image but burns away the carnal dross of the old man, liberating the new man into the freedom of God’s presence. The righteous dwell in the fire (Isa 33:15). The Son of God walks with them in the furnace (Dan 3:25). The fire is not the enemy of the new man; it is his native atmosphere. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you: but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:12-13)

The Old Testament’s external, ceremonial fear—the trembling before Sinai, the dread of judgment, the terror of the sinner before a holy God—was the natural shadow, the first-stage expression of a reality that finds its substance in the internal, spiritual fear of God that characterizes the mature believer. The shadow was necessary, created by design as the seedbed of something greater. The shadow gives way to substance, the natural to the spiritual, the terror of bondage to the joy of sonship. This is not restoration to a prior perfection; it is the arrival at a destination that was planned from before the foundation of the world.

We who are in Christ are somewhere within this journey—the old man perishing, the new man being renewed, the fear of death diminishing, the gladness of God increasing. The process is real and often painful, as every consuming fire must be. The destination is sure, sealed by the earnest of the Spirit (2 Cor 5:5) and guaranteed by the One who arrived first: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). The joy that was set before Him is now set before us. The gladness that He embodies is becoming ours. And the pattern remains: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor 15:46–47). In Christ, the consuming fire that once terrified the old man becomes the dwelling place of the new—and the fear of the Lord, fully grown, is pure delight.

(Ecc 12:13-14) “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

1 Samuel 20:24–42 Saul’s Anger Against David

Ato Barnes — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 04:08:01 +0000

Audio Download

1 Samuel 20:24–42 Saul’s Anger Against David

[Study Aired June 8, 2026]

In today’s study, our focus will be centered on three areas – Saul’s questioning Jonathan about David’s absence, His anger towards David, when he realized that he had intentionally absented himself from the New Moon feast and Jonathan’s signal to give direction to David regarding what he should do.

The chapter ends with David and Jonathan sharing an emotional farewell as they part ways, while comforting themselves of the covenant they swore to each other in the name of the Lord.

Saul Questions David’s Absence

1Sa 20:24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
1Sa 20:25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.
1Sa 20:26 Nevertheless Saul spake not anything that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.

As indicated in our previous study, David hiding himself signifies David taking refuge in Christ as His protector, redeemer, comforter, etc.

Psa 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psa 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

It is instructive to note that David hid himself in the field which symbolizes the world. This reminds us of our Lord Jesus Christ while he was here on earth. The people wanted to kill him after His sermon in the synagogue as they thrust Him out of the city. However, he escaped by going through the midst of the people. Spiritually, our hiding place is being in Christ. Outwardly, being in the midst of the people of the world hides us from our Babylonian brothers and sisters who want to harm us.

Joh 8:59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Luk 4:20 And he (Jesus) closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luk 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Luk 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Luk 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luk 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Luk 4:27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luk 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way.

Here in verse 24, King Saul sat down to eat meat as part of the new moon festivities. Saul represents our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. Saul, sitting at table to eat meat at the new moon implies that it is the church system of this world which observes days, months, times and years, which is part of the weak and beggarly elements, which disqualify us for the prize of the higher calling of the Lord.

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

It was while Saul sat at the table to eat meat that he noticed that David was missing. Initially, he thought that David’s absence was due to his sinful deeds. This implies that what our brothers and sisters feed on in terms of the word of the Lord, only cause them to regard us, His elect, as being sinful, just as the Pharisees regarded Jesus as being sinful as they accused Him of possessing demons, blaspheming and associating with sinners. As the Lord is, so are we in this life. If the church system of Jesus’ days accused Him of being a sinner, they will do the same with us.

1Pe 4:3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
1Pe 4:4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; (ESV)

Mar 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”

Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Joh 15:21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

1Sa 20:27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?
1Sa 20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
1Sa 20:29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table.

It was on the second day of the month that Saul noticed David’s absence from their New Moon feast. The second day in the scriptures, in the negative context, signifies the time in our lives as the Lord’s elect that we come to see the enmity against us by our brothers and sisters in Babylon, after our escape from Babylon.

Jdg 20:24 And the children of Israel (our Babylonian brothers and sisters) came near against the children of Benjamin (the Lord’s elect) the second day.
Jdg 20:25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

Jonathan, a symbol of the Lord’s elect still trapped in Babylon, tried to explain to Saul, that David asked for permission to visit his family in Bethlehem. It is insightful to note that Bethlehem means ‘the house of bread.’ What this implies is that David’s destination after leaving Babylon was to join the church of the Lord’s elect (Bethlehem) or the church of the firstborn or the heavenly Jerusalem.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

As stated in verse 29, Jonathan told his father Saul that David was going to join his family for a sacrifice in Bethlehem. It is through what every joint supplies in the gathering of the family of the Lord’s elect, that we can offer ourselves as living sacrifice to the Lord.

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Our exit from our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world is what draws out their hatred against us, making us come to see clearly the deplorable state of the church. Their hatred against us becomes obvious as they consider us, the Lord’s elect, as spiritually dead in the streets of the church system of this world or Jerusalem.

1Sa 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?

As indicated, Saul’s anger against his son, Jonathan, who was an elect but still trapped in Babylon, shows us the hatred of the church system of this world against the Lord’s elect. What Saul said in his anger against Jonathan speaks volumes of the church system of this world or Babylon. Saul referred to his son as the son of the perverse rebellious woman in verse 30. This is a concise and clear description of the woman who represents the church system of this world, who rebels against her husband Christ and is a harlot.

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Saul also made a profound statement to Jonathan in verse 30 by saying that choosing David, the son of Jesse, amounts to unveiling his own confusion and his mother’s nakedness. Jonathan’s mother signifies Babylon. This shows why our brothers and sisters in Babylon do not want to recognize us as the Lord’s elect. This is because doing so means bearing witness to their confusion and also unveiling the sinful state of the church system, which is symbolized by Jonathan’s mother’s nakedness. That is why the church system of this world hates us and considers us as dead in their corridors of worship or the streets of Jerusalem.

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

1Sa 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.

Saul’s statement in verse 31 that as long as David lives, he, Jonathan shall not inherit the promise of being established in the kingdom. This is a prophesy that it is the Lord’s elect who shall be established and reign as kings with Christ at the expense of our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. In other words, we, His elect, have obtained mercy at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon in this age, to reign with Christ in the fullness of time.

Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

The fact that Saul told Jonathan in verse 31 that David must surely die attests to the fact that our brothers and sisters see us as spiritually dead in the street of Jerusalem where our Lord was crucified.

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

1Sa 20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
1Sa 20:33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
1Sa 20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

It is at this point that Jonathan came to realize that his father Saul intended to kill David. The throwing of Saul’s javelin to smite Jonathan served as a witness of Saul’s intention to kill David. As indicated in previous studies, the javelin in the hand of Saul signifies false doctrines which comes out of the smoke from his bottomless pit or his heart and mind, which darkens the sun and the air. That is to say that the javelin thrown at Jonathan in verse 33 represents the false doctrines which darken our understanding of the word of truth and makes us spiritually dead while in Babylon.

Although the javelin thrown at Jonathan did not slay him, it was a sign for him to escape Babylon with David. However, unlike Moses, who left the king’s palace in Egypt to suffer with the Lord’s people, Jonathan did not run away with David as he was not ready to suffer with David for the Lord’s sake. As we shall see later in the study, he ended up dying with his father Saul.

Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

In verse 34, Jonathan refused to eat meat on the second day of the feast as he grieved for David. This suggest that Jonathan stopped imbibing the false doctrines spewed in the streets of Babylon and was concerned about the Lord’s elect (David). There are few people in Babylon who are aware of the damnable heresies spewed in Babylon and have come to appreciate the word of the Lord through the Lord’s elect. However, they do not want to leave Babylon because of their strong ties with the brothers and sisters there. Just as Jonathan died with his father Saul, such people run the risk of becoming spiritually dead.

2Sa 1:4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

2Sa 1:11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:
2Sa 1:12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

Jonathan’s Signal to Give Direction to David

1Sa 20:35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.
1Sa 20:36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
1Sa 20:37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
1Sa 20:38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
1Sa 20:39 But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

As shown in the previous study, when Jonathan tells the young lad that the arrows he shot were close by, then it means that David’s life was not in danger. The rationale behind this riddle is that if what we are looking for is close by, then we do not need to exert effort to find it. That is the greasy kind of religion which permeates the church system of this world where we thought we were already saved and therefore did not need to strive for the mastery. The Lord wants us to persevere in our quest to know Him.

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

On the other hand, if the arrows shot by Jonathan are beyond the reach of the young man, it signifies that the judgment of the Lord is at hand and that David must run for his life. It also means that Lord intentionally hides His truths, mysteries, and deep wisdom, and as the Lord’s royals or elect, we must search for it. This searching out is a lifetime pursuit which involves hearing the voice of the Lord in the midst of the fire of our affliction.

Pro 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings (the Lord’s elect) is to search out a matter.

Deu 4:36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

As shown in verses 36 and 37, Jonathan told the young lad that the arrows were beyond him. This implies that the judgment of the Lord is nigh to David and that he must run for his life as a scapegoat let loose in the wilderness to complement the suffering of Christ.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The lad not knowing Jonathan’s signal for David to run away implies that when we were young in the faith during our time in the churches of this world, we did not know about the mysteries of the kingdom as we had not been given the keys of David yet.

Isa 22:22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

1Sa 20:40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
1Sa 20:41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
1Sa 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

Jonathan giving the young lad his artillery in verse 40, to be taken back to the city symbolically shows how Jonathan’s heart is attached to the city, which represents the church system of this world or Babylon. As a result, he could not leave Babylon with David. He was not ready to suffer reproach as we go to meet the Lord outside the camp of the church system of this world.

Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

In verse 42, Jonathan going back to the city as David departed as a scapegoat into the wilderness shows how the Lord separates us for His purpose even from those who have been helpful to us in our earlier walk with Christ. It also shows how David was prepared to suffer in his pursuit of Christ while Jonathan was not ready to leave Babylon to suffer reproach. As the deer pants for the water, so was David’s heart (the heart of the Lord’s elect) focused on Christ.

Psa 42:1 To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Psa 42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

We thank the Lord for how far He has brought us in our walk with Him, and our prayer is that He continues to uphold us in Him to the very end. Amen!!

“We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Pro 30:1-14)

Tony Cullen — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 04:12:25 +0000

Audio Download

“We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do”

(Pro 30:1-14)

[Study Aired June 4, 2026]

The introduction to this thirtieth chapter of proverbs (Pro 30:1-3) does not have a typical feel or style that most of the other Proverbs have.

Pro 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,
Pro 30:2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
Pro 30:3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.

A maturing spiritual mind can see how brutish their own fleshly condition is (Pro 30:2), and sets the stage for the rest of the proverbs that point to the solution to our brutishness being found in Christ who alone can lead us into all truth (Joh 16:13), ascending and descending in our heavens (Eph 4:10) to do this work of grace and faith in this age, in His body (Pro 30:4).

Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Pro 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?

It is with that knowledge and conviction of who we are, that we will, Lord willing, continue to diligently examine ourselves against all the words of God that we are to live by (Joh 9:41, Mat 4:4, Psa 119:160).

Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.

“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh” is a ‘Job-moment’ expressed in (Pro 30:1-2). His language parallels Job’s who puts his hand to his mouth after being greatly humbled in his flesh, and recognizes his nothingness in comparison to our great Creator who has been working all things according to the council of His own will, with the ultimate goal of sanctifying all of His creation in time (Pro 30:2, Job 40:4, Eph 1:11, 1Co 3:13, Joh 17:17).

Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The biblical scholars debate regarding who this “Agur” is, but we know what is important is the message inspired, a profitable word of God (2Ti 3:16) revealing that when we mature in the Lord, we will all come to the same conclusion that Agur did, as Job did, described by Christ toward his disciples in this verse (Luk 17:10):

Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

With this thought in mind, we will look at the first half of the second to last chapter of the book of Proverbs.

Pro 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,
Pro 30:2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
Pro 30:3 I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
Pro 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?

These opening verses (Pro 30:1-4) parallel God’s comments to Job in (Job 40:1-24, Job 41:1-34) and then Job’s comments to God (Job 42:1-17) after he comes to see through the humbling experiences of his life just how little and insignificant he is (Luk 17:10).

Luk 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Agur’s^H94 name means “gathered” and the Lord is going to gather all the nations from the four corners of the world to bring judgement upon the flesh of mankind.

[Gog and Magog typifying how all flesh [4 corners], not just Gog and Magog but every one who has ever been in flesh, will be judged].

Agur’s now correct assessment of what flesh is and is in need of, is typical of mankind’s need for judgement that will come in the order that God has ordained (1Pe 4:17, Rev 20:8, 1Co 15:23). Agur typifies Christ whose Father is Jakeh^H3348 whose name means “blameless”.

Ithiel^H384 is a type of the elect, and his name means “God is with me” (Heb 13:5), and finally Ucal^H401, whose name means “devour”, represents the rest of the world who will be ‘meat’ for the elect at the supper of the Great God (Rev 19:17).

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

There is symbolism in the order and names of these four names mentioned as well. Agur the son of Jakeh, Ithiel and Ucal. The subject has to do with man’s ignorance and inability to hear and see the things of God’s knowledge, and we are being told that this is true of the whole [4] of humanity (2Co 4:4).

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Our hope is in knowing the answers to these questions. It is Christ that “hath ascended up into heaven” and “descended” and “who hath gathered the wind in his fists” and “who hath bound the waters in a garment” and “who hath established all the ends of the earth”. (Mat 8:27).

Mat 8:27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? We are blessed to believe that God will, within the body of Christ that is His workmanship, accomplish all this through Christ who has all power over heaven and earth (Mat 28:18, Eph 2:10, Php 2:12-13, Php 4:13).

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Php 2:12-13), which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [“walk in them” of Eph 2:10 above]
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Pro 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Pro 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

God’s word is a shield unto us as long as we don’t add or take away from it (Deu 4:2, Rev 1:3, Rev 22:19). Our former conversation has us doing just that until Christ comes into our lives to bind those evil spirits and give us victory over our past and present spiritual battles (Mar 3:27, Eph 6:12). So we are going be reproved and found out to be liars if God is working with us in this age, and if we endure that chastening of the Lord, we will be matured and received of God through it (Pro 16:4, Heb 12:6).

Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Mar 3:27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God,[Psa 119:160] that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Pro 30:7 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
Pro 30:8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

This is the cry that God’s humbled elect make every day. It is “two” because it is a witness of Christ who won’t “deny” (2Ti 2:13) himself within us (Col 1:27) of the purpose for which we have been ordained from the foundation of the world to accomplish (Eph 2:10), fulfilling the desires of our hearts that He puts there in this life if we are His elect. These desires and drives will happen “before I die” (Php 2:12-13) so that we can be raised in the blessed and holy first resurrection if this is God’s will (Rev 20:6).

What has to happen in the life of God’s little flock (Luk 12:32) is that “vanity and lies” have to be far removed from us, and we must not be spiritually impoverished by not growing in the grace and knowledge of our Savior (2Pe 3:18). We can only accomplish this by going without the camp with Christ (Heb 13:13, Joh 6:44) so that we can partake of the bullock, the strong meat of Jesus Christ who is represented by the “food convenient for me”. The negative connotation of poverty and riches, “give me neither poverty nor riches”, is defined with these verses (Mat 25:29, Rev 3:17).

Mat 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Pro 30:9 Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

The conclusion of verses seven and eight is telling us that we need to ask God for what we need and don’t ask amiss (Jas 4:2-3). We can’t set our hearts on things that are temporal and passing, but rather must keep them fixed on those things which are eternal, as Christ did himself as our example (2Co 4:18, Heb 12:1-2).

Jas 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we’re “full” in the flesh, eating and drinking and being merry all day long (1Co 15:32), we are not in the house of mourning where we can know the Lord and have His strength in our lives as a result of being baptized into his death (Rom 6:3), mortifying the deeds of the flesh, resulting in our being able to overcome this blinded Laodicean spirit (Rev 3:17-19) that says “Who is the LORD?”, or in other words, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

A spiritually poor soul is one who is robbing God by not presenting our whole lives a living sacrifice unto Him, symbolized by the tithe offering spoken of in Malachi (Mal 3:10). When we withhold our life from being a living sacrifice unto God, we are taking “the name of my God in vain”, or His words which are His name.

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Pro 30:10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.
Pro 30:11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
Pro 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
Pro 30:13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
Pro 30:14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

When we get into the second section of proverbs chapter thirty next week, it will be instructive to look back at these five proverbs (Pro 30:10-14) that set the stage for the rest of chapter thirty.

Christ is our master, and each of us are His servants, so this parable is telling us that we are to work together in unity, and cover each other’s sins and not go to Christ with this condemning attitude of others, lest Christ “curse thee, and thou be found guilty”. (Mat 18:22)

Christ is Christ, whether that is Christ in the “servant” or Jesus Christ our saviour. There is a time [dying daily] when we go to God and groan within ourselves things inexpressible regarding the behaviour of others and ourselves, and God is the judge in all instances through His spirit that works within us (Rom 13:4, in the same breath Rom 2:22).

Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Rom 2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

We always need the Lord to help us to bear all things as love does (1Co 13:7, Gal 6:2), and trust that He already knows all the particulars of that person you may be struggling with, or your own personal struggle. In the final analysis God is able to make them stand or fall (Rom 14:4), and so from that perspective we must always be coming before God with mercy and love, with the hope that we can reconcile any situation by God’s grace and the faith of Christ (Eph 2:16, Col 1:20, Mat 18:22).

Mat 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Everything that follows verse 10 (Pro 30:10) is revealing the corrupt generation that we’re living in, which wants to pick up the stone and start throwing it at others (Joh 8:7), forgetting our own wretched condition (Rom 7:24, Rev 3:17). We all don’t bear the sword in vain (Rom 13:4), but we’re also told to be very circumspect in removing the beam from our own eyes before we consider it needful to go to another brother (Mat 7:5). In other words, there is a time to go (Mat 18:15), and there is a time to patiently let a situation unfold as God himself does with us, giving us time to repent (Rev 2:5).

With these things in mind we can see that “a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother” is speaking of Babylon that is not given to die daily today, to be judged, and as such negatively “curseth their father” as opposed to being cursed to be on a tree with Christ, which is the positive use of the word ‘curse’ (Deu 21:23, Gal 3:13, 1Jn 4:17, Gal 2:20).

The proverbs go on to show us that “a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” is also cursed, reminding us of this verse in the book of Revelation, mentioned a couple of times now in this study (Rev 3:17-19).

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

This “generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” is speaking of the self-righteous spirit within us that, by God’s grace, will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ coming daily into our heavens (Eze 33:13, Php 3:9, 2Th 2:3-5).

The next generation spoken of is “a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up”. Again this is speaking of God’s elect in their appointed time (Mat 24:34), but more specifically regarding the pride of life that blinds us to the reality that we are the chief of sinners, until we are given to see this truth (1Ti 1:15).

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

The last generation spoken of is “a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men”, speaking of the heart of man at the end of the ages when the sins of the Amorites are being fulfilled (Gen 15:16, 2Ti 3:1-5, Rev 20:8). As always, if we are brought to see that this is where everyman starts and believe we are being judged by the Lord in this age (1Pe 4:17), then these words will easily be understood as applying to our own former conversation that we are being dragged out of by the grace of God (Eph 2:1-3)

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation [notice there were 4 generations mentioned in Pro 30:11-14] they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. [The sins of the Amorites being fulfilled at the end of this age before Christ returns]

Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. [sins of the Amorites being fulfilled after the reign of Christ and his Christ]

Next week, Lord willing, will look at the last few verses of (Pro 30:15-33).