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Earth, My Footstool

[Posted May, 15, 2015]

The interesting thing about a footstool is the various functions it can perform. A footstool can be a place of rest, a stepping stool and some sturdy footstools can even be used to stand on completely.

The study today is inspired by the Lord due to some events which have taken place in my heavens that brought home the concept of the Lord speaking about “footstools” in scripture.

We are going to discuss various spiritual applications of the footstool in scripture in hopes of broadening our understanding of who we and others are in Christ Jesus and to get to know Jesus Christ and God the Father a little more.

“Step On Up”

The inspiration for this study starts with the phrase “earth, my footstool” taken from Acts 7.

Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

When looking at the word “footstool” in its original language, there are only a handful of scripture that mention this particular word. Each of those instances reveals what the Holy Spirit inspired to be written for our admonition.

What and where heaven is has been covered many times throughout various studies, so we’re going to briefly cover the comparisons of heaven and earth to try and determine the spiritual significance of what we are being told. However, we must look at the scripture as a whole to figure out the message the Lord is giving us.

David adds an interesting dynamic to speaking about the footstool.

1Ch 28:2  Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:
1Ch 28:3  But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.
1Ch 28:4  Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel:
1Ch 28:5  And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.
1Ch 28:6  And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

There is great insight to be had about who David is in relation to his “many sons” and having a particular son be “chosen out” of those sons to “sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord.”

In this type and shadow of our relationship to God the Father, and how we relate to the footstool, we see two men being talked about here. We see the old man type and the new man type.

• David, in type, is the “old man” who is a man of war and has shed blood.

Gen 9:6  Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

1Ch 22:8  But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.
1Ch 22:9  Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.
1Ch 22:10  He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Rom 3:13  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Rom 3:14  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Rom 3:15  Their feet are swift to shed blood:

Shedding of blood is representative of the primal and carnal nature that is in us all just as it was in Cain who received it from his parents. The first Adam is from the earthy, earthy.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Notice, the earth is the Lord’s footstool. However, heaven is His throne, and here is the contrast.

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

And:

Luk 11:47  Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
Luk 11:48  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Where is it that the blood goes to perish?

Gen 4:10  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the GROUND.
Gen 4:11  And now art thou cursed from the EARTH, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
Gen 4:12  When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Who and what then is the earth in this type and shadow?

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

Jer 19:3  And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

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

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

With the earth being the footstool of the Lord, what then are we to make of the following verses?

Mar 12:35  And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?
Mar 12:36  For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

And:

Heb 10:9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Heb 10:10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb 10:11  And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
Heb 10:12  But this man, AFTER he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, SAT DOWN on the right hand of God;
Heb 10:13  From henceforth expecting till HIS ENEMIES be made his footstool.

See, scripture that we have just covered clearly state that the earth, earth, earth is clearly the footstool of Jesus. We also just read that the footstool also represents the ENEMIES of Jesus.

You might ask yourself how this can be?

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Like David in type, we all are called to be kings. Like David, we represent the people of God, the church of God which has children/sons. Out of those sons, we have one son who is “chosen out” to carry on the work of building God’s temple. In type, this is who Solomon represents.

The ONLY method by which this building of the temple can be accomplished is to recognize that the VERY CHURCH God has established is the same BODY from which God tells His faithful bride to COME OUT OF.

Therefore, the ENEMY of God is “earth, earth, earth”.

Look at the “cup” we must all drink from and compare it to the statement made in Matthew 23.

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Why are these being contrasted and compared?

The cup, which is the New Testament in His blood, is SHED for us. We know that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice which was made which also was a sacrifice that was made with Jesus Christ never having been guilty of sin.

Everything that makes humanity “of the earth, earthy” is the enemy, the footstool of God. The footstool is cutoff in its negative application.

Lam 2:1  How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
Lam 2:2  The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.
Lam 2:3  He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.

However, the wonderful good news of the Gospel is that there is positive application of the footstool which all of humanity is moving towards.

Mat 23:39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

That is to say…

Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

We are able to sit down and being seated with Christ, in type just like Solomon, when the NEW MAN in us is born.

1Ch 28:5  And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.
1Ch 28:6  And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

Another positive attribute of a footstool is that it is a place of rest. Feet represent the walk we have with the Lord.

A footstool or footrest is used to prop one’s feet up for rest. So when the enemy of the Lord is put under His heel, then we can see that it is the very thing with which DEATH is conquered.

Look at these two spiritual concepts.

Mat 8:20  And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Jesus wasn’t telling the multitudes that He didn’t have a place to sleep at night. Foxes and birds represents spiritual things just as the Son of MAN represents having a HEAD which has nowhere to REST.

What is in a HEAD? Is it not a MIND? Where is HEAVEN? Is it not ABOVE? Where is the throne of God? It is in HEAVEN. Where are we seated? We are seated with Christ in in heavenlies. What did Christ come to do? He came to do the WILL of GOD.

Act 7:47  But Solomon built him an house.
Act 7:48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

And…

Act 7:54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

The rest I speak of is:

Heb 3:10  Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11  So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.
Heb 3:12  Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

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.

COME BOLDY unto the THRONE of GRACE and find REST with your HEAD who has gone before you like a child being born into the world HEAD FIRST.

When Jesus Christ made the statement He had nowhere to lay His head, He was still walking this earth. When He went onto perfection, He FOUND a place to LAY His HEAD…HIS FATHER.

Here then is the Lord using His place of rest in a positive application. It’s negative for the old man which must die, but positive for the new man which WILL LIVE!

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2Co 12:11  I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

Do any of you have infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions and distresses? What is the difference in these things being worked in us and in the rest of the world?

It is the FRUIT that is BORN. It is the FRUIT of the SPIRIT that springs forth into newness of Life.

Mar 14:24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the FRUIT OF THE VINE, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
Mar 14:26  And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Let us sing a hymn, and be merry and of good cheer. We head toward the mount of Olives, to BECOME the OLIVE TREES. We will BECOME just like our MASTER.

Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Here is our race and the reward for running it:

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
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.

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Do you possess the power to SHUT and OPEN heaven?

Do you possess the power of the Word of God, the washing of water by the WORD, to turn that water into LIFE given BLOOD, which was shed and is now being used to CLEANSE and SAVE all of humanity in God’s timing?

Yes!

Let us SMITE the EARTH with PLAGUES, the same footstool of God, which will later produce His True Church of God.

Have lips and praise of thanksgiving and be of good cheer, for the Lord loves you!

Amen and Amen