Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty Fri, 16 May 2025 02:20:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-headerlogo-32x32.png Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com 32 32 “The Wisdom of God, and the Power of God” Part I (Pro 13:9-14) https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-wisdom-of-god-and-the-power-of-god-part-i-pro-139-14/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-wisdom-of-god-and-the-power-of-god-part-i-pro-139-14 Thu, 15 May 2025 04:26:49 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33091 Audio Download

“The Wisdom of God, and the Power of God” Part I (Pro 13:9-14)

(Aired on May 15, 2025)

Pro 13:9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
Pro 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
Pro 13:11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
Pro 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Pro 13:13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
Pro 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

The study with the remaining verses of chapter 13 will be broken into three parts, and tonight we will look at the first section only, titled “The Light of God’s Word”. Whether it’s “good understanding” we are seeking or how we can “leave an inheritance to our children’s children”, the way we are going to obtain those things will always be by “the wisdom of God, and the power of God”, which is “the light of God’s word” that is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path (Psa 119:104-106).

Psa 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psa 119:106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

Part 1: The Light of God’s Word
Part 2: Good Understanding Gives Favour
Part 3: How Do We Leave an Inheritance to our Children’s Children

Our title, “The Wisdom of God, the Power of God”, is comprised of two phrases that are used very regularly in the bible, and it is by God’s word, the holy scriptures, that we will be able to be made wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus, as we read here in these verses (2Ti 3:12-17):

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
2Ti 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (Joh 8:31-32, Mal 3:10, Psa 26:2)
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Gal 2:20, Psa 119:104-106)

Before we get into the specific verses we’re studying, here are some poignant verses regarding the words “power and wisdom” that will help set the stage for this study (1Co 1:24, 1Co 2:4-6, 2Co 4:7, 2Co 13:4, 1Pe 1:5, 2Ti 1:8):

1Co 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

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.
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2Co 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. (1Jn 4:17, Gal 2:20)

1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

These verses regarding “wisdom and power” remind us of the importance of knowing what we have been freely given of God who gives us the power (Rev 11:3), so that after having done all, we can stand in this life as His witnesses of these things (Luk 24:48). Our life is profitable in Christ, and all glory and honour belongs to God for the wonderful works that are being accomplished in the body of Christ, so we can say assuredly that we are unprofitable servants who did that which was expected of us (Luk 17:10) seeing it is Christ who has done the works within us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom of God (1Jn 5:4-5, Eph 6:13, Luk 12:32).

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (Gal 2:20)
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (Col 1:27)

Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

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

Our inheritance is in the Lord, and that inheritance is sure and not fading like the wisdom of men, or the supposed power of man that, as Christ told Pilate, he had no hold over Him except that which our Father had ordained (Joh 19:11, Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28, Act 4:27-28).

Joh 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: (Eph 1:11) therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

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:

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.

Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. (Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28)

Let’s consider now the power of God and the wisdom of God as we go through these proverbs and cast not away our confidence in that power, which God tells us that if we are blessed to be bound to the altar, it will lead to a great recompence of reward (Heb 10:35-36, Heb 10:30, Psa 118:27, Joh 2:15, Ecc 4:12). The altar is the cross and being bound to that altar is what is required of God’s children to live by the faith of Christ which will save us (Gal 2:20, 1Jn 5:4).

Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Psa 118:27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, [“Pontius Pilate, (Joh 19:11) with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together”] he drove them all out of the temple, (1Co 3:16) and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Ecc 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Rom 5:10)

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (Rom 8:31)

The Light of God’s Word

Pro 13:9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

The light of Christ, our hope of glory within, causes us to rejoice as we go from glory to glory and become convinced through Him that we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:33-37). The lamp of the wicked within us must be put out and the positive lamp of God’s word is to be trimmed and kept burning brightly in this life, day by day as we die daily (Mat 25:3-10).

Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. (Php 2:12-13, Rev 3:13)
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

The lamp shines forth in the lives of those who are being judged in this life (1Pe 4:17) as typified by the events of this battle of Gideon’s army (Jdg 7:19-21, 2Co 4:7). We go from glory to glory, or obedience to obedience through much tribulation in these earthen vessels (2Co 3:18, Act 14:22), but those who are not judged in this life will be judged in the great white throne judgement, which is where the light of Christ will break forth through the hearts and minds of all of humanity via the refining process of judgement in the lake of fire (Rev 20:5).

Jdg 7:19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
Jdg 7:20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.
Jdg 7:21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

Pro 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

We’re being told that Christ who is our wisdom (1Co 1:28-31) gives us victory over our pride-filled hearts that are naturally contentious. God made us that way, wretched miserable, poor and blind so that when the day of evil becomes evident in our lives (Pro 16:4) and we are convicted of our own pride, we will cry out to God and be delivered every time. Praise and thank God for that (Rom 7:24-25).

1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. [God gives us the power to go from glory to glory (2Co 3:18)]
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Pro 13:11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

If we are God’s workmanship in this life (Eph 2:10), our labour will not be in vain as Christ works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). It is only those who are blessed to have the faith of Christ that causes us to labour in this life to the glory of God and who shall see increase that comes from our Father in heaven (1Co 3:6-8).

1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (Heb 6:3, Rom 11:20, 1Jn 5:4)
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

Pro 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

When our light is darkness, how great is that darkness (Mat 6:23). When the bridegroom is seemingly taken away from us in this life, how sick it makes our hearts feel, bringing us to our wits’ end and compelling us to fast and pray (Mat 9:15). God allows for those very trying, and depressing moments in our life of which Christ can identify having been sorrowful near unto death (Mat 26:38), His flesh forsaken of God while on the cross (Mat 27:46, Gal 2:20). That is how all of God’s children are going to be received of God (Heb 12:6-7), and once we are brought to our safe haven in Christ, after the storm, it is “a tree of life”, a desired haven, He brings us to (Psa 107:30, Joh 6:44)

Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them (Joh 6:44) unto their desired haven.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Pro 13:13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

If we turn from what we have been given and despise the truths that God has shown us that will lead to our salvation, that will be a work of God (Heb 10:29) as much as it will be to keep us bound to the altar. Our prayer for one another is ‘Lord take not away your spirit from us, and let no man take our crown (Rev 3:11). Cause us to fear you so that we move together with fear unto the saving of our souls (Heb 11:7)’.

Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

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.

Pro 13:14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

The “law of the wise” is the “law of Christ” (Gal 6:2-3) that tells us to lay down our lives for each other, and when we are granted to do that, then rivers of living waters will flow from within us as a fountain of life (Joh 7:37-39, 2Co 1:2-4), which represents the life of Christ within us who gives us the power to “depart from the snares of death”, by losing our lives for one another.

Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

2Co 1:2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

These last verses demonstrate that it is in our suffering that God will be glorified through us as He makes a way for us to be comforted through the holy spirit (1Co 10:13) so that in turn we can be a comfort, or a joint that supplies in love toward each other what the body needs. God’s plan of salvation is being manifest in the lives of His people by means that is hidden from the world, and that will one day be revealed to the world as the wisdom and power of God.

In our next couple of studies, we will focus on the other two parts of our reflection with these verses in chapter 13 of Proverbs:

Good Understanding Gives Favour:

Pro 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.
Pro 13:16 Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.
Pro 13:17 A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.
Pro 13:18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.
Pro 13:19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
Pro 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Pro 13:21 Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.

How Do We Leave an Inheritance to our Children’s Children:

Pro 13:22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Pro 13:23 Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.
Pro 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Pro 13:25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

 

 

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The Six Days of Creation; Physical Acts and Spiritual Meanings – Days 3 and 4 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-six-days-of-creation-physical-acts-and-spiritual-meanings-days-3-and-4/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-six-days-of-creation-physical-acts-and-spiritual-meanings-days-3-and-4 Tue, 13 May 2025 15:36:32 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33087 The Six Days of Creation; Physical Acts and Spiritual Meanings – Days 3 and 4
[Study Aired May 13, 2025]

Review of Days 1–2: Setting the Stage for Life

The first two days of creation reveal God’s initial acts of ordering the world. On Day 1, God speaks light out of the darkness—not natural light from the sun, but divine light, symbolizing truth, understanding, and the coming of Christ, the true Light (Genesis 1:3–5; John 1:9). Day 2 introduces the firmament, dividing the waters above from the waters below, creating the heavens (Genesis 1:6–8). This separation reflects God’s sovereignty and hints at the spiritual divide between heaven and earth, which Christ will one day reconcile. These early acts lay the foundation for the structured world to come—light distinguished from darkness, and heaven distinguished from the lower waters—preparing for the visible life and spiritual fruitfulness that begin on Day 3.

Day 3: Land, Seas, and Sprouting Life – Resurrection and Fruitfulness

Physical Creation: On the third day, God performs two creative acts. First, He commands the waters below the firmament to gather, revealing dry land:

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:9-10).

For the first time, solid land emerges from the watery deep—what was submerged now rises, forming continents above the oceans. Then God speaks again:

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12).

The land is instantly covered with grasses, herbs, and fruit trees—each reproducing “after his kind,” revealing divine order and design. Though plants are not “living souls” (nephesh chayyah) like animals or humans, they are living organisms that grow, reproduce, and prepare the earth for what’s to come.

Thus, Day 3 transitions the world from barren to fruitful, from inanimate to animate. It also completes the forming phase of creation—light and dark (Day 1), sky and sea (Day 2), and now land and vegetation (Day 3). The filling of these realms begins on Day 4.

On Day 3, God speaks two distinct commands—first to gather the seas and reveal dry land, then to bring forth vegetation. Each command is followed by the earth’s response and God’s affirmation: “And God saw that it was good.” This double declaration of goodness highlights both the formation of the earth’s structure and the gift of life upon it. Together, they prepare the way for the creatures and image-bearers who will soon inhabit the world.

Spiritual Symbolism: The events of Day 3 carry a rich spiritual symbolism of resurrection and fruitfulness. The emergence of dry land from beneath the waters paints a picture of life rising out of death or chaos. On this day, the earth was effectively “baptized” under water and then emerged by God’s word —foreshadowing future acts of deliverance and resurrection, including several that explicitly occur on the third day.

When Israel fled Egypt, they were trapped by the Red Sea—until God parted the waters:

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left” (Exodus 14:21–22).

The apostle Paul connects this to baptism:

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1–2).

Like the land on Day 3, Israel emerged from a watery grave into new life—while their enemies were swallowed by the deep. Likewise, Jonah was raised from the depths on the third day:

“Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land (Jonah 2:10).

Hosea spoke of the third day as a time of revival:

“After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” (Hosea 6:2).

Hosea’s “us” speaks of God’s people—those He will raise up to live in His sight. This call to revival is echoed in the cry of the prophet Jeremiah:

“O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” (Jeremiah 22:29).

The triple repetition is striking. It speaks not of the physical land, but to the people of the earth—God’s covenant nation and, by extension, all who are called to hear and live. Just as the dry land appeared on the third day and just as Christ rose on the third day, so also the “earth”—God’s people—will be raised up to spiritual life through the Word of the LORD.

All these foreshadow Jesus Christ:

“And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day (Luke 24:46). “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

As early Christians saw, the dry land emerging on Day 3 prefigured Christ rising from the tomb. Just as the earth rose from the deep and bore fruit, so Jesus rose in power and brought “life and immortality to light”:

“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).

Jesus Himself used the image of a seed:

“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).

Day 3 literally introduces seeds and plants springing up. Spiritually, it proclaims that life comes from death and fruitfulness from sacrifice. Paul uses this image to explain resurrection:

“Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be… But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him” (1 Corinthians 15:36–38).

The gathering of the waters also points to God’s power over chaos. In biblical imagery, the sea often represents turmoil or death. By commanding boundaries for the sea, God displays His sovereignty:

“Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth” (Psalm 104:9).

In the Flood, those bounds were temporarily removed. Then God reversed the judgment:

“And God remembered Noah… and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged… The fountains also of the deep… were stopped, and the rain… was restrained; and the waters returned from off the earth continually” (Genesis 8:1–3).

This reset points forward to Christ. As Jesus said:

“But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” (Luke 12:50).

At the cross, the flood of judgment fell on Him. Afterward, the “dry land” of a new covenant appeared, ushering in the flourishing kingdom of God.

The vegetation of Day 3 also reveals God’s provision. Plants were made to nourish life:

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed… and every tree… to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth… I have given every green herb for meat” (Genesis 1:29–30).

God provides before man even exists—an act of grace. As Psalm 104 says:

“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth” (Psalm 104:14).

This parallels God’s spiritual provision: His Word and His Son as the bread of life. Jesus frequently used agricultural images—seeds, soil, harvest—first seen on Day 3. Every plant bearing seed “after its kind” reflects divine order and multiplication. The Word of God is seed:

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11).

Fruit-bearing is expected. Believers are to be fruitful:

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water… his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3). 

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD… he shall be as a tree planted by the waters… her leaf shall be green” (Jeremiah 17:7–8). 

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me… bringeth forth much fruit… Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit” (John 15:5, 8). 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…” (Galatians 5:22). 

“Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit… since the day ye heard of it” (Colossians 1:6).

Day 3 declares: life multiplies by God’s blessing. Every seed and tree whispers of a greater harvest—souls redeemed and virtues grown by His Spirit.

Christ and Redemptive Themes: Day 3’s themes of resurrection and fruitfulness converge perfectly in Jesus Christ. Not only did Christ rise on the third day, but He is also called:

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

The term “firstfruits” refers to the first portion of a harvest offered to God, signifying more to come. Christ’s resurrection guarantees that a full harvest—the resurrection of all believers—will follow:

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming (1 Corinthians 15:23).

Jesus also likens Himself to a vine and believers to branches:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away… Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine… I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:1–5).

Just as the land on Day 3 could only bear fruit through God’s command, we, too, can only bear fruit through Christ, the living Word. He brings life to our hearts, the “soil” of the Spirit.

“And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred” (Mark 4:20).

The Kingdom of God is also pictured through agricultural imagery. Jesus said:

“Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it” (Mark 4:30–32).

Isaiah prophesied how God’s Word works like rain to bring life:

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud… So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please” (Isaiah 55:10–11).

The Tree of Life first mentioned in:

(Genesis 2:9) “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight… the tree of life also in the midst of the garden”.

It appears again in the new creation:

“On either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits… and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

This tree—planted on the Day 3 earth—points to Christ:

“She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her” (Proverbs 3:18).

Early Christians even saw the wood of the Cross as poetically linked to Day 3’s trees, bringing healing:

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Where the first tree brought death, Christ’s “tree” brought life. Day 3, overflowing with vitality, foreshadows Christ’s life-giving work: He is the seed who died and rose, the firstfruits of the new spiritual man, the vine in whom we bear fruit, and the source of living bread and water.

This promise reaches beyond personal resurrection—it points to a new creation in Christ, not of flesh but of spirit. What was once cursed now yields righteousness and praise by the power of God. As Isaiah foretold:

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree… and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 55:13).

“For as the earth bringeth forth her bud… so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations” (Isaiah 61:11).

Thus, Day 3 stands as a witness to God’s eternal work in Christ: from death, life; from emptiness, abundance; from the dust, a new creation. In Him, the curse gives way to fruitfulness, and righteousness blossoms forever in the kingdom of God.

The first three days of creation establish the foundational structure of the world; the next three will fill those realms with purpose and life. Day 3 brought the forming phase to completion, as land emerged, seas were gathered, and the earth sprouted vegetation. Now, on Day 4, God begins the filling phase by appointing luminaries in the heavens. This orderly pattern—first forming, then filling—reveals divine wisdom and design. While Day 3 introduced physical life that grows, bears seed, and perishes, Day 4 introduces the lights that govern times and seasons and point to greater spiritual realities. The focus shifts from earth to heaven, reminding us to look beyond temporal provision to eternal purpose. As Paul exhorted the Colossians: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1–2). Just as creation moves from the sprouting of plants to the shining of stars, so God leads us from natural understanding to spiritual wisdom.

Day 4: Sun, Moon, and Stars – Governing Lights and Signs of Seasons

Physical Creation: On the fourth day, God appointed specific luminaries to inhabit the heavens and serve as vessels to reflect the divine light introduced on Day 1:

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14).

Before these light-bearers appeared, Scripture tells us:

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:3–4).

This original light, created before the sun, moon, or stars, was not natural sunlight—it was divine in origin. God’s sovereign command alone brought illumination, showing that He rules over light and darkness even without created vessels. Scripture affirms:

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

This light points us to Christ:

“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).

“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” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

So from the beginning, the gospel was proclaimed in creation. Christ, the true Light, preceded the sun. The physical luminaries of Day 4—sun, moon, and stars—were created to reflect that divine light and govern the physical realm:

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16). 

“And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth… and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:17–18).

These bodies now served distinct purposes: regulating time (days, seasons, years), distinguishing day from night, and providing signs for sacred events. The Hebrew word for “lights” (ma’ôr, מָאוֹר, Strong’s H3974) designates them as vessels of illumination—unlike the original light of Day 1. These are appointed rulers, not sources of light in themselves.

Importantly, the text avoids naming them “sun” (shemesh, שֶׁמֶשׁ, Strong’s H8121) and “moon” (yareach, יָרֵחַ, Strong’s H3394), referring instead to them functionally as the “greater” and “lesser” lights. This narrative restraint appears deliberate. The Hebrew language clearly includes these names, as seen in later passages like Genesis 37:9 “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.”, but Genesis 1 omits them. This stylistic decision reflects the purpose of the passage: to present the sun and moon not as deities or autonomous forces—as many surrounding cultures believed—but as created instruments in God’s service.

Later Scripture reinforces this distinction. God explicitly warns against worshiping the host of heaven:

“And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven” (Deuteronomy 4:19). If there be found among you… one that hath gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven…” (Deuteronomy 17:2–3).

By withholding their names and emphasizing their function, Genesis affirms that these lights are neither eternal nor divine. They are appointed by God, not to be worshiped, but to serve. Psalm 19:4 says, “In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,” portraying the heavens as a sacred space where the sun moves by God’s command. Psalm 104:2 adds, “Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain,” evoking the imagery of a temple. Just as God commanded the placement of lamps in the earthly tabernacle (Exodus 25:37), He appointed the sun, moon, and stars to shine within His cosmic sanctuary—ordered, purposeful, and subject to His glory.

These celestial lights also carry spiritual meaning. Their anonymous titles in Genesis reinforce the point: they derive their identity not from what they are, but from God’s purpose for them. The sun, the “greater light,” symbolizes Christ:

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2).

“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

The moon, the “lesser light,” pictures the Church, reflecting Christ’s glory in a darkened world:

“Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

“But we all… beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed… from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

These lights do not shine by their own power but serve by God’s decree. They are types and shadows—Christ as the source, the Church as the reflector. Joseph’s dream reveals this symbolic connection: “Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (Genesis 37:9-10). Likewise, Revelation presents a heavenly image of the faithful people of God: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12:1). The sun, moon, and stars point forward to Christ’s reign, the Church’s witness, and the saints who “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

Thus, Day 4 completes the pattern begun on Day 1: the light now has ordained bearers, time has sacred rhythm, and the heavens are filled with God’s order and beauty. The first four days of creation show God’s unfolding plan: He introduces what he is creating, the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), separates light from darkness (1:3–5), divides the waters and establishes the firmament (1:6–8), gathers the seas and reveals dry land while clothing it with vegetation (1:9–13), and now on Day 4, appoints heavenly rulers to govern light and time (1:14–19). With the sun, moon, and stars now ordained to rule the day and night, the heavens no longer stand as a silent expanse but as a finely tuned instrument of God’s design. The simple statement, “He made the stars also,” speaks volumes—revealing a Creator whose power needs no embellishment. God saw that it was good. The evening and morning, the fourth day.

As we move into Days 5 and 6, the focus shifts from forming and ordering the world to filling it with more life. The seas and skies—formed on Days 2 and 3—will now be inhabited by living creatures, and the earth will bring forth beasts and, ultimately, mankind. Each new creation will reflect God’s purpose and glory, and in mankind especially, being made in His image. The foundation laid in the first four days prepares for the dynamic activity of the next two—where the creation bursts forth with breath, motion, and dominion under heaven’s light.

 

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Matthew 10:1–15 Freely you Have Received, Freely Give  https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/matthew-101-15-freely-you-have-received-freely-give/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=matthew-101-15-freely-you-have-received-freely-give Mon, 12 May 2025 18:40:44 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33071 Study Audio Download

Matthew 10:1–15 Freely you Have Received, Freely Give

[Study Aired May 12, 2025]

The study for today deals with the calling of the twelve disciples and the ministry the Lord gave to them. Our study today also goes into details about how we should conduct ourselves when we are ministering to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  

The Twelve Apostles

Mat 10:1  And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. 

The twelve disciples represent the Lord’s elect. As we are aware, the number twelve is the number of foundation and of Christ. 

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

As these twelve disciples represent the Lord’s elect of every generation, the work being carried out by the elect therefore serves as the foundation for the building of the temple of the Lord within every elect first in this age. In an age to come, the Lord’s elect’s foundational work of Christ will give rise to the New Jerusalem whose dimensions are based on the number twelve. 

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 
Rev 21:12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 

In order to carry out the foundational work of Christ, we must be endued with power. This power is the pouring of the Holy Spirit on us as exemplified by the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.    

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 
Act 2:3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

In verse 1, we are told what this power, which is the Holy Spirit, does in the lives of the disciples or the elect and what our ministry entails. Firstly, this  power causes us to have dominion over unclean spirits and to cast them out. Spiritually, the unclean spirit represents false doctrines. Having power over the unclean spirit means that the false doctrines of the devil shall not hurt us. If the false doctrines of the devil will not hurt us, then it implies that we, His elect, are being given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. 

Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. 

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. 

It is the truth that dispels the lies of the evil one in our hearts and minds. Casting out the unclean spirit therefore means that it is the hail (the truth) that will destroy the refuge of lies perpetuated by the devil in our lives and that of those that we minister to. 

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

Sickness or all manner of disease represents everything that makes it impossible for us to function properly as children of God. We know from the word of the Lord that it is our flesh that makes it impossible for us to please the Lord with our lives.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

The disciples being given power to heal all manner of sicknesses means that we, His elect, are being given power over our flesh. To be given power over the flesh means the destruction of the flesh in our lives. This entails being judged of our old man or flesh by the Lord in this age. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

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.

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 (being judged) 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. 

Mat 10:2  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 
Mat 10:3  Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 
Mat 10:4  Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

The names of the disciples reveal to us the characteristics of the Lord’s elect and the role the Lord has given to us. ‘Peter’ means a rock or stone. In the Bible, we, the Lord’s elect, are living stones for the building of a spiritual house. That is to say that we are called to the office of an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to the Lord.  

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 

‘Andrew’ means manly. This implies that as the Lord’s elect, we have the qualities and characteristics expected of men. In other words, we are mere men that the Lord has exalted by giving us this office of being a royal priesthood. 

Act 14:11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 
Act 14:12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 
Act 14:13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 
Act 14:14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 
Act 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:  

‘James’ means supplanter. A supplanter is someone who takes over or takes the place of someone else, usually on purpose. We, the Lord’s elect are supplanters in the sense that we are being shown mercy through the unbelief of our brothers and sisters in Babylon or the churches of this world. This calls for us to be humble since it is not because we are wise but that God in His purpose caused many not to believe so that He will show mercy to us.

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. 

This issue of being supplanters is clearly demonstrated by the story of Jacob and Esau, especially their conception and birth.

Gen 25:21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 
Gen 25:22  And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
Gen 25:23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. 
Gen 25:24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 
Gen 25:25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 
Gen 25:26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. 

Esau coming out red means that he was of the earth or earthy. Esau therefore represents all those who are being controlled by the flesh. In the Bible, lifting up one’s heel against someone shows the enmity exhibited by the one who raised his heel against his brother. We know that our flesh is at enmity against the Spirit that the Lord has given to us.

Psa 41:9  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  

Jacob’s hand holding Esau’s heel therefore signifies Jacob’s victory over his brother Esau’s enmity. This demonstrates that we, His elect, have been given victory over the flesh as supplanters. As indicated in the struggle in the womb of Rebekah, we shall become stronger through the power of God as possessors of our flesh (earthy).

Hos 12:3  He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God.

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

‘John’ means Jehovah is a gracious giver. The Lord has indeed given us all we need to become overcomers in this life.

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 
2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  

‘Philip’ means lover of horses. In the Bible horses represent war. As the Lord’s elect, we are in a time of war against our flesh which is powered by the devil. 

Pro 21:31  The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. 

The good news is that we know that the outcome of this war is in our favor. We are more than conquerors!! We are therefore lovers of this war against our flesh in league with the devil knowing that we shall come out victorious through the enabling power of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
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.   

‘Bartholomew’ means son of Tolmai. It is not clear what the name Tolmai means. We shall therefore not go beyond what is written.

‘Thomas’ means a twin. In the scriptures on a positive note, twins signify our fruitfulness. This implies that as the Lord’s elect, we shall surely be fruitful in the fullness of time as we bring forth the whole of the human race as children of the Lord.

Son 6:6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof everyone beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

‘Matthew’ signifies the gift of Jehovah. The Lord’s gift to the church is His ministers. The purpose of this gift is for the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ. 

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 

‘Lebbaeus’ or ‘Thaddaeus’ means large hearted or courageous. As the Lord’s elect, we must be strong and courageous in order to possess our inheritance. 

Jos 1:6  Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 
Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

‘Judas ‘means He shall be praised. Our role as the Lord’s elect is to appreciate what the Lord has done for us and as a result, praise Him. Our praise should not be just praising Him with our lips, but that we should offer our bodies as living sacrifice to the Lord in view of His mercies toward us. 

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.  

Jesus Sends out the Twelve Apostles

Mat 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 
Mat 10:6  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

In these verses, the Lord is showing us the focus or the boundaries of our ministry as the Lord’s elect. We are admonished not to go into the way of the Gentiles. The Gentiles here signify the people of this world who do not care about the Lord. We must not spend time with them trying to make them understand the gospel of Jesus. In a similar vein, we must not focus our attention on the Samaritans, who in this case represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon, or the physical churches of this world, who are serving another Jesus. 

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.       

Our priority as the Lord’s elect is to go after the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who represent the Lord’s elect. Our ministry is to the body of believers represented by those who have left the churches of this world or Babylon in search of knowing Christ. In the parable of the shepherd that left the ninety-nine sheep in search of the lost sheep, the Lord is showing us that it is the elect who are the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Mat 18:11  For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 
Mat 18:12  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 
Mat 18:13  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 
Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. 

It is the Lord’s elect who are the focus of our ministry as shown in the following:

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 
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 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. 

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 

The kingdom of Heaven is not a tangible or visible kingdom. It is a spiritual realm where God’s will is done in our lives as the Lord’s elect, as we live in obedience to His will and purpose. This kingdom of Heaven is therefore within the hearts and minds of the Lord’s elect. 

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 

In the fullness of time, this kingdom shall be outward as it embraces the whole of the human race as every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.  

This kingdom of Heaven could not be realized in the life of an elect without the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ and the filling up of that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for His body’s sake.  

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 Lord instructing the disciples to preach that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand is therefore to let us know that Jesus’s sacrificial offering as a lamb of God has drawn near to pave the way for the establishing of the kingdom of Heaven for a people called and chosen by God. 

Our ministry as the Lord’s elect is to heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead and cast out devils. As indicated earlier, sickness represents everything that makes it impossible for us to function properly as children of God. We know from the word of the Lord that it is our flesh that makes it impossible for us to please the Lord with our lives. Healing the sick therefore implies showing our fellow brothers and sisters how to overcome our flesh through the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh. 

In the previous study, it was established that a leper signifies one who is dominated by the flesh. The cleansing of the leper involves the judgment of the Lord which brings about the cleansing, that is, learning righteousness. 

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

Being dead symbolizes our spiritual poverty when we are not walking in line with the word of the Lord. The raising of the dead means the Lord coming to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to cause us to become obedient to His words.

Casting out the devil implies destroying the false doctrine in our heavens with the truth of the word of the Lord. 

The ministry of the elect must be governed by the fact that freely we have received the Lord’s gift and freely we must give. In other words, we must not put the Lord’s people under financial pressures to support our ministry. Our Lord who is sending us knows how to take care of our needs.

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.   

Mat 10:9  Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Mat 10:10  Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 
Mat 10:11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 

If we are to understand what the Lord is telling us, we must know that the words of the Lord are spiritual. As we are aware, it is the spirit that gives life, the letter of the word profits nothing.

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. 

We know from the word of the Lord that gold and silver represent the word of the Lord as shown in the following verses:

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

When gold, silver and base metals are mentioned together, they signify the purifying work of the Lord in burning out all the dross and impurities of our earthen vessels, just as these metals must be taken out of the earth and refined through fire. 

Num 31:22  Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 
Num 31:23 Everything that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.  

The Lord telling His disciples not to take gold, silver and brass in their purses in verse 9 is to tell us that it is not within our domain to make one holy. It is the work of the Lord to purify our hearers. Our portion is to preach the word.

The scrip is a leather pouch for food. In verse 10, we are admonished by the Lord not to journey with scrip, two coats, shoes and staves (walking stick). Physically, all these items are things that we need for our ministry. The reason the Lord does not want us to focus on them is that He is our provider and therefore, we must have confidence in Him as a father who cares for His children.   

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. 

Spiritually, the scrip represents the word of the Lord. The Lord does not want us to worry about what we are to say. Even in the time of persecution, the Lord does not want us to focus on what we are to speak.

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. 
Mat 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 

The coats are the same as garment which signify righteousness. Here the Lord is making us aware that we should not be burdened by thinking that we must be righteous before we can serve as witnesses to the lost sheep of Israel or the Lord’s people. Some of us think that we must be without blame before we can preach the word of the Lord. Inasmuch as we must be holy as we present ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord, we are a work in progress that the Lord is making into another vessel as it seems good to Him.

Exo 39:27  And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, 

Rev 19:8  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.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.  

The shoes represent our feet which signify the preparation of the gospel of peace. The Lord is telling us that we do not have to prepare to speak the word to those He brings to us. In other words, we must always to ready to speak the word.

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  

Staves here refer to walking sticks. It refers to our walk with the Lord. We do not have to worry about our walk with the Lord as to whom we are to minister as we journey here on this earth. The Lord Himself will direct our walk with Him to the people He had designated for us to become a blessing to us and those to whom we are to minister.

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 

The one who is worthy is someone who the Lord has prepared to be receptive to our message of peace. As we go about our mundane duties, the Lord Himself will direct our walk to those He has prepared.

Mat 10:12  And when ye come into an house, salute it. 
Mat 10:13  And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 
Mat 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Mat 10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. 

Here the Lord is warning us that there are times that our message of peace will not be received by our audience. In that case, we are to depart as we shake off the dust of our feet. The following verse shows us what it means to shake off the dust from our feet:

Isa 52:2  Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 

Shaking the dust off our feet means loosing ourselves from the bands of wickedness of our earthen vessel or flesh. As humans, our natural tendency when we are rejected is to become revengeful or morose. For example, James and John reacted according to the flesh when they asked the Lord to consume the Samaritans who rejected Jesus with fire from heaven.

Luk 9:51  And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 
Luk 9:52  And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 
Luk 9:53  And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 
Luk 9:54  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 
Luk 9:55  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 
Luk 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. 

Shaking the dust off our feet if we are not welcomed means putting to death the sinful deed of our flesh or old man who may want to react to our rejection. In verse 15, the Lord is telling us that our rejection will be addressed in the fullness of time. 

May the Lord continue to put to death the sinful deeds of our flesh as we continue in Him. Amen!!

]]> Rev 18:9-14 – In One Hour Thy Judgment Is Come, Part 2 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-189-14-in-one-hour-thy-judgment-is-come-part-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-189-14-in-one-hour-thy-judgment-is-come-part-2 Sat, 10 May 2025 19:11:21 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33058 Rev 18:9-14 – In One Hour thy Judgment is Come, Part 2
[Study Aired May 11, 2025] 

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Introduction

Our last study of the judgment of this great harlot within us was concerned with what the holy spirit called “the kings of the earth” who committed fornication with her. In this study our concentration will be upon that part of this great harlot which the holy spirit calls “the merchants of the earth” who are made rich by “their merchandise” which we no longer appreciate nor value as our eyes and ears are being opened to the adulterous ways of this great spiritual harlot.

Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Why would anyone ‘buy’ into the false doctrines of an immortal soul being tormented for all eternity for sins committed in a life that is a vapor which appears for a moment and vanishes away after they learn that Christ did not come to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved?

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Consistent with all the rest of scripture, James is teaching us that our perception of being able to freely choose what we will do is in reality just an illusion, and our will and all our actions are in fact a work of the Lord which we unwittingly are performing “after the counsel of His own will”:

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:

That God is working all things after the counsel of His own will is a doctrine which ‘the merchants of the earth’ despise and have replaced with the false doctrine that God has given mankind a will that is completely free of His influence. That bit of ‘merchandise’ flies in the face of this Truth, which is also consistent with all the rest of scripture:

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.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

For many years, while in the clutches of this great harlot, I quoted Philippians 2:12 as scriptural proof of the fabled doctrine of mankind having been given a will which was free from any influence from God. I was shocked when the Lord finally opened my blinded eyes to see that the reason we are to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” was “for [G1063: ‘gar’, because] it is God that [was] working in [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

Our ‘will’ and our ‘do[ing], our actions, even “the answer of our tongues”, good or evil, are “from the Lord.” That is the Truth which is consistent with all the rest of the Word of God:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

What this verse is telling us is that when we begin to form a thought, “the preparations of [‘our] the heart” for good or for evil, we are being influenced by the Lord, and therefore “the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” and not from our fabled ‘free will.’

Why would anyone buy into the misery-producing doctrine which teaches that most of our loved ones who have died are at this moment writhing in excruciating pain in literal flames of eternal, never-ending fire, when the Truth is that Christ has stated plainly that He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of The Truth:

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The blinded carnal mind subconsciously makes that verse to say that the Lord ‘desires’ that all men should be saved, but our free will prevents Him from accomplishing His ‘desire’ to “have all men to be saved.” Is that true? Is Paul simply telling us that God’s futile desire is for all men to be saved? Allowing that 1Timothy 2:4 should read ‘Who desires all men to be saved’ it turns out that none of the Lord’s ‘desires’ are futile desires, but are certain to be done. We know this is so simply because the Lord tells us it is so:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Unlike many who turn this knowledge that God intends to save all men into the licentious and lascivious doctrine of ‘greasy grace’, the True doctrine of Christ is that “grace chastens us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts” and to live righteously in this world:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’ chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;  

“The seven last plagues” which will “fill up the wrath of God” upon Babylon within us are that ‘chastening grace’ which prepare us to be able to begin “enter[ing] into the temple.”

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Christ is our temple, and we cannot begin to enter into Him or into His rest until we have begun to fulfill these seven plagues of the seven angels.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. [aorist tense, being fulfilled]

When the seven plagues are beginning to be fulfilled within our life, then we hear these words, “It is done.” Before “it is done… great Babylon must come in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”

Giving Babylon within us “the cup of the wine of the fierceness of God’s wrath” is the great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.“ This earthquake is accompanied by “a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent”:

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found[The false doctrines of Babylon which dominate our beast].
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed [Aorist tense] God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Oh, yes, we do blaspheme God by simply believing that God is a monster who will torment His creatures in eternal fire. The verb ‘blasphemed’ is in aorist tense meaning it is a simple fact without regard to any particular tense. Even the apostle Paul “was a blasphemer”:

1Ti 1:12  And I [Paul] thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
1Ti 1:13  Who [Paul] was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Revelation 15:1, Psalms 107 and 2 Thessalonians 1, are all referring to the judgment of the seven last plagues. “All our persecutions and tribulations” are described as “a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God”, which ‘judgment’ is a “great and marvellous” work of the Lord’s judgment upon the beast we all are by virtue of being shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin:

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3  And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodnessand for his wonderful [“Great and marvelous… seven last plagues”] works to the children of men!

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble [vs 6].
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful [“Great and marvelous” (Rev 15:1)] works to the children of men!

What does this “hail out of heaven… the weight of a talent” accomplish? Here is what spiritual hail will do in the life of the believer.

Exo 9:19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

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.

What does a spiritual earthquake accomplish?

Isa 29:4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Isa 29:5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
Isa 29:6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquakeand great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Act 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquakeso that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Babylon is our prison. Let us see what this great earthquake such as was not since men were on the earth accomplishes within us, and let’s see why a plague of hailstones the weight of a talent is needed to accomplish within us what has not to this time been accomplished. Let’s see now how this event brings us to “lose the desire of our souls.”

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

We have seen that “the kings of the earth” are our carnal desires which are all based upon the lies of Babylon which have ruled our lives. They are seven “heads, mountains, and kings” simply because they complete the hold which Babylon has upon us. As is revealed in Genesis, “the dream is one”, and these three symbols all symbolize just one beast. In reality Babylon’s judgment is the judgment of these “kings of the earth” whose loss is so severe that they are pictured as distancing themselves from Babylon within us, “standing afar off for fear of her torment”, saying “That great city… in one hour is thy judgment come.” The truth is that Babylon’s judgment is the judgment of these seven kings.

“One hour” indicates that these things all happen quickly and are not done over an entire age. These seven last plagues all fill up God’s wrath within us. Therefore they are our judgment, and while it seems like an eternity, it really lasts but for “a small moment.”

Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

“In a little wrath…” These plagues are “the seven last plagues which fill up the wrath of God”, which is “for a small moment” before “He will with everlasting kindness have mercy upon us.”

The remainder of this study will concentrate on the merchandise of the merchants of Babylon, and why we stop buying their merchandise:

Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Let’s read again what has taken place within us when the seven angels have poured out their plagues within us and we have begun fulfilling the seven plagues of the seven angels. Here is what then takes place within us:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Now we know why Christ did not reveal to us the day of His birth in a body of flesh and blood, and we are told that we are to “know no man after the flesh.” These are, without question, just a part of “the fruit our souls desire.” All the celebrations of the flesh are now known no longer within us. “The merchants of the earth” are now completely robbed of a market for their merchandise, and now “no man buys their merchandise any more.”

As a “new man” our desires and priorities have all been changed. We are no longer focused on the things of this earth. We will, in our own time, come to appreciate these words.

2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

“All things are become new” most certainly includes the ‘merchandise’ we now ‘desire.’ If we do not know Christ Himself after the flesh, then we certainly are not going to be celebrating the birth of His flesh which was resurrected and “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” so as to keep it from corrupting.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Spirit is a realm which is outside of time with all of its limitations. It is a realm which is abhorred by the realm of the flesh to which we are to be crucified with its affections and lusts.

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Now let’s examine the ‘merchandise’ which “the merchants of the earth” have to offer:

Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

There is no need to repeat all the things which “are departed from [us]” which are listed in these three verses. I have underlined those things which are found in abundance in Babylon which are also used to build upon the foundation of Christ:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
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.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The “gold, silver, and precious stones… the pearls… and fine linen, and the fine flour” of Babylon all appear to our carnal mind as the “gold, silver and precious stones, and the fine linen and fine flour” which signify the materials we are to use to build upon the foundation of Christ and clothe and feed His elect. See what we are told about the gold and silver of Babylon:

Jas 5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

“Eat your flesh as it were fire” are the very words used to describe what we do to this great harlot when we first come to see how she has deceived and has taken advantage of us:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

James 5:2-3 are addressed to “ye rich men”:

Jas 5:1  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

Notice where Revelation 18 tells us these rich men gain their wealth:

Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

That the rich men to whom James speaks are the same as the merchants who are made rich by Babylon’s merchandise is made manifest in that Revelation 18:13 tells us that part of the merchandise of this great whore is “slaves and the souls of men”:

Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Is that not exactly what holding back wages, and “killing the just” amounts to:

Jas 5:4  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Jas 5:5  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Jas 5:6  Ye have condemned and killed the justand he doth not resist you.

Verse 14 sums it all up. These are the symbols of “the fruits [our] soul lusts after.” These are the symbols of all the merchandise of the “merchants of the earth” who pedal their goods in this great harlot system which claims to be teaching the doctrines of Christ:

2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking. (LEB)

Anyone who charges you a penny for “the things of the spirit” is “peddling the Word of God” and is not yet in fellowship with the Christ of the gospel of God. The ‘gold, silver and precious stones, and pearls’ of such ‘peddlers’ are the “cankered” gold and silver of:

Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

It is spiritually cankered gold and silver, spiritual abominations with which Babylon the great appeals to our souls. “All things which were dainty and goodly.” All the songs and celebrations of all that Babylon has to offer.

However, the merchandise of “the merchants of the earth” who have gotten rich by peddling their cankered gold, silver and precious stones and moth eaten ‘linen’ to us for so long, have taken all these things and turned them into idols and have committed fornication with their own idols, “images of men” idols of the heart. This is what Ezekiel has to say about this very same harlot:

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Eze 16:16  And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
Eze 16:18  And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.
Eze 16:19  My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them [the images you made of My gold and My silver (vs 17)] for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:20  Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them [these false doctrines] to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

The gold, silver and precious stones, and the fine linen and fine flour are the very things with which we are admonished to build upon the foundation of Christ and with which we are to be clothed and fed.  Babylon has taken the Lord’s gold and silver and has used them to form idols of her heart, made to appear as the Lord’s Words. Babylon has taken the Lord’s clothes and His food and used it to make the idols of her heart appear to be the Word of God. Her fine flour is also being used to feed  her idols to whom she has sold herself. Such perversions of the Lord’s Words are never to be mixed in with His “gold, silver and precious stones” when we are building on the foundation of the Christ and serving Him in His tabernacle:

1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ [but not after the flesh].
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stoneswood, hay, stubble;
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.

God’s fire burns up all the wood, hay and stubble, but gold, silver and precious stones are only purified and are created by this heat and this fire. The gold, silver and precious stones all symbolize the things which are to be found in the temple of God. Babylon has used these things to form idols of men, meaning lies with which she has made all her dainty things and together they are “odors and ointments” which our flesh, in and of itself, simply cannot refuse. These are all expressed “not in words which man’s wisdom teaches.”

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.
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

These symbols of these verses of this revelation of Jesus Christ are “the hidden wisdom, which God has ordained before the world unto our glory.” These words of “hidden wisdom” are the exact opposite of “the fruits your soul desires.” These words of “hidden wisdom” are “the power of God.” What is this “hidden wisdom”?

Job 28:20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
Job 28:21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
Job 28:22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
Job 28:23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
Job 28:24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
Job 28:25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
Job 28:26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Job 28:27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The mind that has wisdom knows that these seven kings, seven mountains and seven heads of this beast on which the great harlot sits and rules are the same ‘beast’ whose number is 666. The mind that has wisdom knows that number is the number of all mankind who all, by nature, are in rebellion against the law of God:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind [of wisdom] calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six.

The mind that has wisdom knows that the waters on which the whore sits are measured by God, and can do nothing more or less than He decrees. The mind that has wisdom “trembles at the word of the Lord” and knows that the fear of the Lord is wisdom. This is the goodness of God. This is the gospel of the kingdom of God, and this is the revelation of Jesus Christ within His Christ.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdomThe seven heads are seven mountainson which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will see that the beginning of the destruction of Babylon necessitates the destruction of the merchants who are the purveyors of the lies of Babylon, and who are made rich by her lies and deceits which no longer hold us in their snare. We will be reminded of what ‘the sea’ signifies and who has ships in ‘the sea’, and who is “made rich by reason of her costliness.”

Rev 18:15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

 

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Rev 18:9-14 – In One Hour Thy Judgment is Come, Part 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-189-14-in-one-hour-thy-judgment-is-come-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-189-14-in-one-hour-thy-judgment-is-come-part-1 Fri, 09 May 2025 16:23:18 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33056 Rev 18:9-14 – In One Hour Thy Judgment is Come, Part 1
[Study Aired May 9, 2025]

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Introduction

These verses of today’s study symbolically list all the things and doctrines of the churches of this world which appeal to our rebellious carnal minds during that part of our life when we subscribe to, believe in, and live by this great harlot’s many lies and false doctrines. “The fruits that your soul desires are departed from you and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from you, and you will find them no more at all” is a statement which signifies and reveals the change that takes place in our lives when we are dragged to the point of having to acknowledge that everything we once believed is a lie. That is a monumental loss in the life of our old man. Everything we once valued has now been burned up and destroyed by the brightness of the Truth which the Lord has given our new eyes to see and  understand, and the new perception of our new ears. We suddenly see that everything we have ever believed was a lie, and now everything we are coming to see so very clearly is new and very different from what our Babylonian eyes thought they had seen and what our Babylonian ears thought they had heard. In a relatively short time, we come to see that the Lord has taken away from the churches of this world “the whole stay of [spiritual] bread and the whole stay of [spiritual] water”, and now we see everything in an exciting and refreshing new light, the light of The Truth:

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,

If the Lord has not yet given us to believe that verse of scripture, then that is because we have not yet been given the repentance which the holy spirit requires of the seven churches which are signified by these “seven women”:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread [signifying our own Babylonian doctrines], and wear our own apparel [signifying our own way of life]: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

The “one man” dominated by these “seven women” is our old man, the beast on which the “great harlot” is seated. The “seven women” of Isaiah 4:1 signify the seven apostate churches of Asia who signify this great spiritually unfaithful harlot.

“All things are new” when we come to know the true Christ and we are given to obey His doctrines.

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her” typify those false doctrines which are most immediately affected by the destruction which the Truth of Christ’s doctrines inflict upon the blasphemous doctrines of this great spiritual harlot. The false doctrine of an immortal soul, with the false doctrine of an eternal hell where that ‘immortal soul’ will be forever tormented with no hope of ever being delivered, are but a couple of examples of these ‘kings of the earth’ who bear rule over this ‘beast’ which all men are:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

These “kings of the earth” signify the spiritual principles and false doctrines which bear rule over our thoughts. These are the ‘kings of the earth’ within us who are losing everything their soul has always desired. All the approbation by society for all our good works is taken away because we insist on being obedient to Christ. All the celebrations of the flesh are now gone, and we are now regarded by our families and friends who are still in the churches we once attended as being apostates who are worse than a pagan. Our families and friends and associates who still attend the churches of Babylon and still believe all the lies this great harlot teaches are signified by these “kings of the earth” who celebrate the things of the earth, just as we ourselves did only yesterday. Our families and friends, now signify our own old man who has the most to lose because we were once invested in the doctrines and customs of this harlot system. These “Kings of the earth” are all the false doctrines which are signified by these ‘seven heads’ of our beast which are called “seven mountains which are seven kings” in chapter 17:

Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdomThe seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

“The mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her” and “the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits and there are seven kings” all tell us that this woman and this beast with seven heads which “are seven kings” are inseparable. The beasts we are is always associated with this harlot. Truly “the dream is one” and all of these symbols are also one apostate beast which signifies our own apostasy and the hold which society and the churches of Babylon have on us at this part of our “experience of evil” which is this life we all must live in this world. It is all by the Lord’s “own will” and by His own design:

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

This life is “the day of evil”, and we are each “shapen in iniqutity, and conceived in sin” for the express purpose of enduring our own “day of evil” and repenting of our evil ways:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

All these verses are just a part of “the brightness of His coming” (2Th 2:8), which destroys our “man of sin… the wicked… made… for the day of evil”, which ‘wicked for the day of evil’ signifies this beast with seven horns being ridden by and dominated by this great harlot. ‘The dream is one, and the Lord is showing us what He is about to do in our lives.

The loss of “the fruits your soul desires” is the great loss felt by these seven kings which are within this beast, when this great harlot is finally unveiled to us for what she really is. The loss of “the fruits your soul desires” is signified by a “great earthquake”. “The fruits your soul desires” signify all the lies and false doctrines which are an integral part of this harlot system. Through the experience of coming to “know the Truth” she is being destroyed within us, along with all she has to offer this beast which we are by nature. This spiritual beast which is dominated by a spiritual harlot mourns the loss of everything we have ever worked for, and at the same time our new man rejoices at what our old man is losing. No natural human being enjoys being “hated of all men”:

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.

The trials we are told to expect are signified by ‘fire’ which signifies the pain of our suffering as we come to discover that everything we have ever believed is a lie:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

This ‘hatred by all men’ includes our own families which makes the heat of our “fiery trials” even more ‘fiery’:

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

The past four years here in the U.S. I have been expecting this website to be taken down. The laws being passed had already made the proclaiming of the Truth a federal crime, and I fully expected that it was just a matter of time before I would be prosecuted and imprisoned for simply telling the Truth that a man is not a woman and a woman is not a man.  That is the extent to which this nation has forsaken the Truth of Christ Who IS the Truth:

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus did not ‘say unto him, I know the truth.’ What Christ said was, “I AM the Truth”, and He even went on to say, “No man comes to the Father, but by Me.” Wow! What a claim! Yet Christ’s entire life proved that He really was “the Son of God” and the Savior of this world who fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy concerning a coming Messiah who would ‘bear the sins of Israel’:

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men [until this very day]; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrowsyet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa 53:9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

What does all of this experience of Christ have to do with us. It has everything to do with us because:

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.

This verse therefore applies to us:

Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men [until this very day]; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

With Christ we, too, will be ‘despised and rejected of men’. With Christ we will ‘not be esteemed… of men… because as He is so are we in this world.” That includes the statement that “the world through Him [through us as Him] might be saved”.

Christ taught:

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Yet this great harlot, the great Babylonian ministers of this great harlot system, the Pope, Billy Graham, Robert Schuler, John Hagee, and many other so-called ‘Christian ministers’ deny that “No man comes to the Father but by Me [Christ].” That is right, every one of those ministers will tell you that if you are true to the tenets of your faith, be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any other religion, you will go to heaven and be with the Father when you die.

That is just a single example of just how far from God the Christian Church is. “The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water” has indeed been taken away from His own people by the Lord Himself. There is not one doctrine of Babylon which has not been tainted with her false doctrines and her lies and her heresies:

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,

It is all a work of God in our lives, but we still must be brought to our wits’ end and brought and dragged to repent of the wickedness which the Lord has worked in our lives. That repentant spirit comes only through His punishment for the sins of our “day of evil” which the Lord Himself has ordained for each of us:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked. What we sow is what we will reap. Our repentance does not mean that the Lord is not a just God who will repay us double for our sins:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

It is the punishment for our sins with which all the seals, trumpets, and vials of this revelation of Jesus “Christ within you the hope of glory” is concerned.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generationsbut now is made manifest [revealed] to his saints:
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:

This seventh vial and the fall of Babylon within us does not happen at “the beginning of sorrows” when we suffer multiple “earthquakes in different places” within our lives.

Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? [G65, ‘aion’, age]
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end [The “it is done” Rev 16:17, the 7th vial, the fall of Babylon within us] is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom [spiritual warfare which never seems to end]: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. [This is not the “great earthquake” of the 7th vial which produces the fall of Babylon]
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
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?

Our beast is restored to power within us in a really miraculous way which leads us to worship him, and in doing so to worship the dragon, who empowers our wild beast:

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

Christ puts it this way: “Many will come in Christ’s name and deceive many; You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There shall be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in different places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Neither Matthew 24:1-8 nor Revelation 13:3-4 refers to the seven last plagues of our study today.

Contrast those words at the beginning of Matthew 24 with this statement in Rev 16.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This is the last of the “seven last plagues.” This is not “the beginning of sorrows, [or the] healing of a deadly wound.”

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

We will pause our study at this point and rejoice in knowing that the Lord is in the process of dragging us out of the clutches of that great harlot system. If that is the case, and our presence here proves that it is, then we can indeed rejoice in knowing that these seven last plagues have already begun to be poured out upon us because no man can begin to enter into the house of God until the seven vials of the seven angels has begun to be poured out:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to [begin to] enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were [being] fulfilled.

In this study we have concentrated on who ‘the kings of the earth’ signify, and what their fornication with this harlot signified. In our next study we will concentrate our attention upon the merchants of the earth” who are made rich by the merchandise they sell to us and what that ‘merchandise’ signifies. It will become apparent that “the dream is  one” and the ‘kings of the earth” are an integral part of “the merchants of the earth”, but in coming to understand that all these symbols signify the nature of the one beast and the one harlot, we will come to see that they both signify who we are and what  appeals to  us in this part of our experience of evil” which the Lord has ordained this life to be in order to humble the wild beast He has first made us to be:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

]]> Pro 13:6-8 “The faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/pro-136-8-the-faith-of-christ-the-righteousness-which-is-of-god-by-faith/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pro-136-8-the-faith-of-christ-the-righteousness-which-is-of-god-by-faith Thu, 08 May 2025 04:35:17 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33024 Study Audio Download

Pro 13:6-8 “The faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith”

(Aired on May 8, 2025)

Pro 13:6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
Pro 13:7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.
Pro 13:8 The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

This section of proverbs thirteen is about the value of the true riches that God has given us through Christ who is our sufficiency (2Co 3:5-6, 2Co 3:13-14).

2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;(Php 3:9)
2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

2Co 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. [our sufficiency of God through Christ]

(The letter is what accommodates our self-righteous flesh that uses the law in a controlling way to its own fleshly sufficiency, making us think that we’re better than others because we’ve kept the law (Luk 18:12), when in reality the law is just the schoolmaster that, if used correctly (Gal 3:24-26), prepares us to live under the law of Christ, the law of the spirit of Christ (Rom 8:2) that gives life and brings us unto maturity in Him. Sinful flesh is just the means to an end and it will not inherit the kingdom of God (Joh 6:63).

The law of Moses is for the lawless (1Ti 1:9) and God uses that to ultimately bring us to see how wretched, miserable, poor and blind or lawless we are, until the mind of Christ (the law of Christ) that is so much higher that the law of Moses and all those carnal commandments, is given to us (how it is given to us Eph 2:8-9).

Receiving God’s spiritual counsel and direction in our life (Rom 8:14-16) is only possible by being given eyes that see, and ears that can now hear the instruction of our Father (Mat 13:16). We are only wise sons because God has given us a wise Saviour who is saving us from ourselves in this life if we are His (1Co 1:30, Rom 8:9, Col 1:27))

It is only when our self-righteous hearts are exposed for what they really are that we can start to read, hear (comprehend) and keep the sayings of the prophecy (Rev 1:3) throughout God’s word with the rest of the saints (Eph 3:18-19), and this is when we start to gain great spiritual wealth or insight into every aspect of God’s word [“the sum of your word is truth”]. That wealth comes about as a result of our being given the right mindset, the mind of Christ, that Lord willing will be ours, and is typified by these verses regarding Moses’ attitude toward the reproach of Christ (Eph 2:8) in his life (Heb 11:26-27). [Moses in type and shadow had the keys of the kingdom of God, but like all prophets and kings, we remember Christ’s own words regarding their lives in these verses: (Luk 10:24, 1Pe 1:12)]

Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

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.
Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Our goal in this life is to be found without spot before God, having been made ready as the bride of Christ who has come to see that her own righteousness is as filthy rags before Him (Isa 64:6-7) and that only Christ can be Christ.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isa 64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

When we are brought to see that true condition of our existence by God’s favour, we all weep much at first (Rev 5:4), until God brings us to see that He alone can open up the seals, the trumpets and the vials which must be poured out upon us if we are going to cease from sinning in this life (2Pe 2:14, 1Pe 4:1) and mature through the fiery trials (Eph 2:8) He has ordained for our growth from the foundation of the world (1Pe 4:12, Act 14:22).

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:

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;

The proverbs we’ve been looking at can be a great encouragement in directing our hearts to be content whether we have a little or a lot, as we forget what is behind us and press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ, toward the only thing that matters most in this life and the next (Php 3:13-15, Php 3:20-21, Php 3:8-9).

Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:(Php 3:14-15)
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, (day by day as we die daily 1Co 15:31, Luk 17:10) that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself (Php 1:6).

Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Pro 13:6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.

Only Christ can keep us in the way, because he is “the way”, the truth and the life (Joh 14:6) and if He is residing within these earthen vessels as a pearl of great price (Col 1:27), He is there for the express purpose of overthrowing the sinner and the wickedness that dominates all flesh at first (Joh 8:36, Joh 2:15).

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:

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple (1Co 3:13, 1Co 3:16), and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Pro 13:7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

In Babylon, we make ourselves supposedly spiritually rich (Jas 5:3), but in reality we have nothing, no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1, Mat 13:12). Then, by the grace of God, we are called out of her my people (2Co 6:17-18) and we sell all that we have and come and follow Christ. This is the positive use of ‘poverty’ that we’re looking at in this proverb, which leads to great riches (Mat 19:21, Heb 11:26).

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.

Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

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.

Pro 13:8 The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

When we wholeheartedly present our lives “The ransom of a man’s life”, a living sacrifice unto God (Rom 12:1), we are promised spiritual riches (Mat 6:33) along with promises that are exceedingly great and precious, keeping us with a peace of mind that passes all understanding (Php 4:4-7).

Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

These blessing are all contingent on our not despising God’s goodness that leads us unto repentance (a tree is known by its fruit, or the condition of the fruit Rom 2:4, Heb 12:15, squeezed, Mat 24:12).

Growing weary of His correction (Pro 3:11) results in our not hearing the rebuke of the Lord, and we end up being corrected and don’t even realize the Lord is correcting us (Heb 12:3-10). We are like a hardened criminal, spiritually speaking, whose heart needs a great earthquake that will be forthcoming if we are His in this age (Rom 5:20-21).

Pro 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Heb 5:7-8, Eph 5:30)
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [“but the poor heareth not rebuke”]
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

[What if we’re not sinning? Will we still be chastened and scourged of the Lord? (Heb 5:8, 1Jn 3:1, 1Jn 4:17). Christ never sinned (Heb 4:15) and was not learning obedience by the things he suffered because he was sinning, but because he was in sinful flesh that needed to learn obedience.

God’s elect are like Christ in that we also learn obedience by the things that we suffer, being in this sinful corruptible flesh, but also suffer and are corrected by God for the sin in our life that He causes to manifest to His glory, causing us to stumble and completely fall seven times (Pro 24:16), which failing was not given to our Saviour.]

Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace (God’s favour toward his children whom He receives through chastening and scourging) did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

That “Grace can reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” of (Rom 5:21), is the same as saying, “The faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” of (Php 3:9).

Knowing and believing in that grace and the Almighty Hand of God that is performing this operation is the most comforting thing we can consider, giving us peace that passes all understanding. That peace which can be ours is confirmed in these last verses of our study (Rom 8:30-39):

Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? (how the fruit is made sweet Rom 8:17-29) If God be for us, who can be against us?

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
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.

 

 

 

]]> Matthew 9:1–38 The Harvest is Plentiful but the Laborers are Few https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/matthew-91-38-the-harvest-is-plentiful-but-the-laborers-are-few/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=matthew-91-38-the-harvest-is-plentiful-but-the-laborers-are-few Mon, 05 May 2025 20:40:35 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33013 Study Audio Download

Matthew 9:1–38 The Harvest is Plentiful but the Laborers are Few

[Study Aired May 5, 2025]

Introduction

In today’s study, we will look at the healing of the paralytic, the call of Matthew, the question about fasting, a girl restored to life and a woman with the flow of blood healed, the healing of the two blind men and the man unable to speak, and finally, how the laborers are few but the harvest is plentiful.  

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Mat 9:1  And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 
Mat 9:2  And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 

The Lord’s own city is Capernaum. In the Bible, cities represent churches. For example, the city of Jerusalem signifies Babylon, and the Jerusalem above represents the church of the firstborn.  

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 

Capernaum therefore represents the church of the elect or the New Jerusalem which is the center of the focus of the Lord’s ministry here on earth. As indicated in the previous study, it is in Capernaum that many miracles were performed. Palsy or paralysis is a disease which makes us unable to move part or all our body. Spiritually, palsy therefore signify our inability to please the Lord while we walk in the flesh. 

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.   

In the Book of Luke, we are given further information about this man with paralysis. He was carried by four men, and it was these men that Jesus commended them for their faith.   

Mar 2:3  And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 
Mar 2:4  And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 
Mar 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 

We know from the word of the Lord that it is when faith comes that we come out of the law of Moses to enter the assembly of the elect. Therefore, these four men represent the whole of the elect who are identified by their faith. 

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 

When faith comes, the first thing that the Lord does on our behalf is to forgive us our sins. This is because we cannot walk in Him when we are overburdened with the guilt of our sins. We must first believe in the work that our Lord Jesus has done for us.  

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  

Mat 9:3  And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 
Mat 9:4  And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 

The scribes represent us, His elect, during our time in the churches of this world or Babylon. Since Christ had not been revealed to us during this period of our walk, we end up blaspheming against our Lord Jesus. This is what Paul, a symbol of the elect, about how we blaspheme against the Lord:

1Ti 1:12  And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 
1Ti 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

As Jesus indicated in verse 4, blaspheming against the Lord is a sign that there is evil in our thinking. This evil shows that our old man or flesh sits in the throne of our hearts and minds. 

2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.  

Mat 9:5  For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 
Mat 9:6  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 
Mat 9:7  And he arose, and departed to his house. 
Mat 9:8  But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. 

Verse 5 therefore shows us that for our sins to be forgiven is the easy part of our walk since we only have to believe what the Lord has done for us. However, to arise and walk means that we have to take action based on our belief in the words of the Lord, which is more difficult to achieve. That is what distinguishes between those who are just called and those who are called and chosen (the Lord’s elect). If we are called and chosen, then we shall be given the power to take action and walk in this newness of life the Lord has given to us. The Lord saying to the palsy to arise, take up his bed and go to his house is the Lord coming to us with His judgment so that we can learn righteousness as we overcome the flesh. 

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.

In verse 7, the man getting up and going to his house is another way of saying that what the Lord has started, He is able to bring to completion. We all start our walk with Him by believing that our sins are forgiven. However, if we are His elect, then we shall be given the power to arise and walk in this newness of life that He has given to us.

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: 

In verse 8, we are being told that in the fulness of time, the multitude, representing our brothers and sisters in Babylon, shall marvel and glorify God because of the power that He has given to His elect in the Lord’s plan of salvation.

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  

Jesus Calls Matthew

Mat 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. 
Mat 9:10  And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 
Mat 9:11  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 
Mat 9:12  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 
Mat 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

Matthew here is the author of the Book of Matthew and one of the disciples of Christ in His life here on earth. The name Matthew means ‘gift of God.’ The Lord’s gift to the church is His ministers. The purpose of this gift is for the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ. 

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 

We can see that Matthew was minding his own business as a tax collector when the Lord called him. This shows the pattern of the Lord’s calling. All of us were called when we were taking care of our own business. 

Isa 65:1  I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 

Our calling came just like Matthew when we heard the Lord’s words commanding us to follow Him. That was when we left everything to follow Him just like Matthew left the receipts of custom to follow Christ.  

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 
Mat 19:29 And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

It is worth noting that Jesus intermingled with the publicans and sinners in Matthew’s house. In Jesus’ time, publicans were essentially tax collectors, specifically those who worked for the Roman government. They were often Jews who contracted with Rome to collect taxes, particularly on goods transported or imported. Publicans were generally despised by their fellow Jews, often viewed as traitors and corrupt, because they collaborated with the Roman occupiers and sometimes exploited their positions for personal gain. Jesus’ fellowship with publicans and sinners together with His disciples did not go down well with the self-righteous Pharisees, who represent us during our time in the churches of this world. As He is, so are we. We must feel free to have fellowship with the people of this world including our brothers and sisters in Babylon. 

When Jesus came to know what these self-righteous Pharisees were saying, He made a statement about how we can become citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. When we think we are righteous, then what we are saying to our Lord the physician is that we are not sick spiritually and therefore we do not need His intervention in our lives. It is only those who consider themselves sick or falling short of the Lord’s standards to whom the lord comes with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness. 

In verse 13, the Lord is telling us that it is His mercy which causes Him to intervene in our circumstances and not our sacrifices. Mercy is shown to those who know they fall short of the Lord’s righteousness (sinners) and not those who consider themselves righteous. This is the problem with our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world. They consider themselves righteous or born again, and therefore the Lord’s mercy eludes them. 

Lam 3:21  This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 
Lam 3:22  It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  

A Question About Fasting

Mat 9:14  Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 
Mat 9:15  And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. 

Spiritually, fasting means denying ourselves of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, in order to walk in Christ’s righteousness. This becomes clear from the following verses: 

Isa 58:5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 
Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 
Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 
Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

In Isaiah 58:6, loosening the bands of wickedness or undoing the bands of the yoke to let the oppress go free in our lives entails going through the Lord’s judgment which results in the dying of our old man or flesh. That is when we are free to walk in the newness of life of the new man after the image of Christ. In this way, we are able to give our bread (the word we have received) to the hungry (those in need of the word). Bringing the poor that are cast out to our house means bringing those who have started to know the truth to become part of the church of the firstborn or the heavenly Jerusalem. 

Heb 12:22  but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, 
Heb 12:23  to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled 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 a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.

Covering the naked in Isaiah 58:7 is a process which starts with feeding those who are under the dictates of the flesh with the truth of the word of the Lord. As they pay heed to the word, they are judged, resulting in the gradual destruction of the deeds of the flesh. That is when nakedness is covered. Not hiding ourselves from our own flesh means coming to know the capabilities of our flesh and the strength it receives from the devil to bring us into bondage.  

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? 

We can see therefore, that fasting is a lifestyle just as giving alms and praying is a lifestyle. As indicated, fasting is walking in the spirit and not fulfilling the desires of the flesh. Walking in the spirit is to live by the word of God. As we all know, it is the spirit that profits, the flesh or doing things according to the letter does not profit us. This means that living a lifestyle of obeying the word of the Lord is what fasting is all about, spiritually. 

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. 

As Jesus said, fleshly fasting is also needful in a particular circumstance, when the bridegroom is taken away. This is what the Lord told the disciples:

Mat 9:14  Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 
Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. 

The question is when is the bridegroom taken away? When we were in the physical churches of this world, we were told that the time Jesus ascended to heaven was when the bridegroom was taken away, and therefore we must fast. This is what happened on the ascension day:

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 
Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 

When Christ was taken up, He ended up being hidden by a cloud. We know from the word of the Lord that clouds represent the Lord’s elect as witnesses. 

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, 

What this means is that Jesus is hidden within His elect and therefore the bridegroom is still with us.  However, when we go through certain situations, it appears as if our bridegroom has been taken away. Under such circumstance, we can fast, and in this care, the objective is to afflict the soul. An example is when Jesus was being crucified. It was as if the bridegroom (God) has been taken away.

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 

Another instance was when Paul experienced a storm lasting for several days while on a ship to Rome. It was as if the bridegroom has been taken away from Paul. 

Act 27:20  And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 
Act 27:21  But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. 
Act 27:22  And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. 
Act 27:23  For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, 
Act 27:24  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 
Act 27:25  Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. 

Act 27:33  And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 
Act 27:34  Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. 

Mat 9:16  No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 

Here in verse 16, the Lord is saying that we do not put a piece of new cloth unto an old garment. Spiritually, what the Lord is telling us is that the righteousness that comes from the new life in Christ (new cloth) is different from the righteousness of the law of Moses (old garment). The righteousness that comes from the new life in Christ is Christ’s righteousness imputed on us. This righteousness is not earned but received by faith, and it sustains us throughout our lives as we continue to trust in the Lord. 

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 

The righteousness resulting from obeying the law is earned. If we try to incorporate the righteousness by faith in Christ into the righteousness coming from obeying the law, we end up becoming worse off in our relationship with Christ. This is because we have rejected Christ’s righteousness and all His sacrifice on our behalf in favor of earning our own righteousness which is devoid of the power of His resurrection. 

Mat 9:17  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.    

The new wine represents the teaching of Christ which is the truth of His words, and the old bottles signify our heart and mind devoid of the spiritual understanding of the word of the Lord. Putting new wine into old bottles is therefore trying to understand the truth of the word of the Lord with our old mindset of the law of Moses. The result is that we reject the truth, which is the meaning of the wine running out, and so we become worse off signified by the bottles perishing.

Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 

As indicated by our Lord Jesus Christ, if we are to receive the truth of the word of the Lord, then our heart and mind must be prepared by the Lord. The prepared heart is the new bottle, and the new wine is the truth of His word which is received when the Lord opens our understanding.

We must understand that these examples which the Lord gave regarding putting new cloth on old garments and putting new wine in old bottles are regarding the issue of fasting. What the Lord is telling us is that physical fasting is good if we want to afflict the soul when we think our bridegroom (Christ) has been taken away. However, spiritual fasting is more important than physical fasting since it is a lifestyle of presenting our bodies as living sacrifice to the Lord. In other words, if we focus on only physical fasting, we miss out on the spiritual reality of Christ and His words and we end up being worse off. 

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.   

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

Mat 9:18  While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 
Mat 9:19  And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. 

In the Book of Mark, the ruler here is identified as Jairus who was one of the leaders of a synagogue. Coming to worship the Lord is to show us that it is from Babylon or the churches of this world signified by the synagogue that the Lord calls us to come and worship Him. 

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.  

Mar 5:21  And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. 
Mar 5:22  And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
Mar 5:23  And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

We do not know what the problem was with the daughter of Jairus, but the symptom was that she was almost at the point of death. Spiritually, being dead or at the point of death means that we are dominated or overwhelmed by the flesh. The daughter of Jairus represent the elect during our time in Babylon where we were spiritually dead. Our situation was such that unless the Lord intervenes in our circumstance, we would have continued to be spiritually dead.

Mat 9:20  And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
Mat 9:21  For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 
Mat 9:22  But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. 

On the way to heal Jairus’ daughter, Jesus encountered this woman with the flow of blood for twelve years. The number twelve is the number of Christ. As we are aware, women represent either the church of the firstborn or Babylon. This woman symbolizes the elect during our time in Babylon when we were oozing blood before Christ came. In the Bible, blood represents life, and therefore the woman with the flow of blood signifies us wasting our lives in the churches of this world before Christ came to us.

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. 

In verse 21, the woman came to believe that if she could touch the Lord’s garment, she shall be made whole. In the Bible, garments represents righteousness. Therefore what this means is that we, His elect, we do not have our own righteousness and that we are made whole (become righteous) by faith in the Lord’s righteousness. In other words, our faith in the Lord’s righteousness will always be rewarded by being made whole through Christ’s righteousness.

Rom 3:21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 
Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 

Mat 9:23  And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 
Mat 9:24  He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 
Mat 9:25  But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 
Mat 9:26  And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. 

The crowd that gathered at the ruler’s house represents our brothers and sisters in Babylon. The minstrels is one category of the crowd which is found in almost every physical church. They praise the Lord with their mouths, but their hearts are far away from Him.

Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.   

To our brothers and sisters in Babylon we are dead, but to the Lord, we are sleeping in this world. That is to say that we are not involved in the matters of this world. At the right time, the Lord will call and we shall answer him.

Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 

The people must be put outside before the Lord can come to us. In other words, when we are with the multitude or the physical churches of this world, we will never have an encounter with the Lord. We must therefore leave Babylon. 

Rev 18:4  I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, so that you do not participate in her sins and suffer from any of her plagues (GW)

It is when we leave Babylon that the Lord comes into our lives as He takes us by the hand to become overcomers. The Lord taking the church of the firstborn (signified by Jairus’ daughter) by the hand implies that the Lord will uphold us through thick and thin to the very end. 

Isa 43:1  But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 
Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

Mat 9:27  And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 
Mat 9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. 
Mat 9:29  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. 
Mat 9:30  And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. 
Mat 9:31 But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. 

As we are aware, the number two signifies a witness. Therefore, the two blind men represent us, the Lord’s elect, who serve as the Lord’s witnesses. Before Jesus came to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness, we were spiritually blind. That is to say our eyes had not been opened to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. It is only through the mercies of the Lord that we are given the keys of the kingdom. The mercy we are receiving is because of the unbelief of our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world. In the fullness of time, they also shall receive mercy.

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 Lord in His mercy has given us a measure of faith to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. The Lord charging the two blind men not to let anybody know about this is to let us know that the work He is doing in us in this age is secret. That is to say that it is not for public consumption. However, in our youthful enthusiasm that we can understand spiritual truth, we broadcast what the Lord has done for us, attracting persecution. Even through this error, the Lord’s fame is spreading. That is to say that the Lord’s will and purpose is being achieved in this world.

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: 

Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak

Mat 9:32  As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. 
Mat 9:33  And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. 
Mat 9:34  But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.   

As the Lord’s elect, we must be able to speak on the mysteries of the kingdom when given the opportunity. However, in our initial walk with the Lord in the churches of this world, we were dumb because we were possessed by a devil. As we indicated in the previous study, being possessed by the devil means being filled with false doctrine. In our immature state (childish) in our growth in Christ, we cannot speak because we were filled with false doctrines. Even when the Lord starts to open our eyes and ears to the truth of His words, we think we are inadequate as was the case with Jeremiah. However, the Lord who knows our frame will surely cause us to speak the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven to whosoever He sends us to at the right time.  

Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Jer 1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

Mat 9:35  And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 
Mat 9:36  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 
Mat 9:37  Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 
Mat 9:38  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

The cities and the villages that Jesus went teaching represent the New Jerusalem or the church of the firstborn. The synagogues in this case has a positive application. That is, they represent the assembly of the Lord’s elect. It is in the gathering of the saints that the Lord through what every joint supplies preaches the gospel of the kingdom to us. This gospel of Christ is what heals us of every sickness and disease. Being healed of sickness and disease is both physical and spiritual. That is to say that the Lord is healing us of all our sickness and diseases physically so that we will have the presence of mind to focus on Him. Spiritually, the Lord is cleansing us of all unrighteousness through the fire of His words which is His judgement of our old man or flesh.

Psa 103:1  A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psa 103:2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 
Psa 103:3  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 
Psa 103:4  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 
Psa 103:5  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 

The multitude in verse 36 symbolizes our brothers and sisters in Babylon or the physical churches of this world. The Lord is compassionate regarding our brothers and sisters in Babylon as they are scattered like a sheep without a shepherd. This is to let us know that the Lord will surely attend to them in the fullness of time in the lake of fire age because of His compassion, which never fails. As we are aware, it is through the churches of this world that the Lord selects His elect. There are still a significant number of the elect trapped in Babylon that through our message, they are to leave and join us. We, His elect are few but with the Lord, the few can accomplish a lot more than many. Our prayer is to ask the Lord to prepare each one of us when the opportunity arises, to present His word to His people trapped in Babylon.

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 

2Ti 4:1  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 
2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 
2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 
2Ti 4:5  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.    

Amen!!

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Rev 18:5-9 – I Sit a Queen and Shall See no Sorrow, Part 2 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-185-9-i-sit-a-queen-and-shall-see-no-sorrow-part-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-185-9-i-sit-a-queen-and-shall-see-no-sorrow-part-2 Sun, 04 May 2025 05:11:53 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33007 Study Audio Download

Rev 18:5-9 – I Sit a Queen and Shall See no Sorrow, Part 2

[Study Aired May 4, 2025]

Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

We concluded our last study with the understanding that this 7th verse of Revelation 18 is speaking to us about us as this harlot which we all are while we are dominated by her and her self-righteous false doctrines. We resume our study with this 7th verse of the 18th chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ within each of us:

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

It is we who have said these words in our hearts while we took comfort in the lies of this great harlot to whom we are all slaves in our own time. This harlot is the same as the church of Laodicea, because she has said these same words in her heart.

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 clothedand 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.

“Be zealous therefore, and repent.” What will lead us to repentance?

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?

It is few Christians indeed who realize that “the goodness of God” is His chastening grace, as it is described for us in Psalm 107.

Psa 107:8 Oh that [men] would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Psa 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psa 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodnessand for his wonderful works to the children of men!

That is what we are being told concerning the wonderful works of God when this great harlot within us “contemns the counsel of the most High” within us. Only then is this harlot within us judged. The Lord’s judgment ‘brings our hearts down with labor and there is none to help.’

The Lord continues to describe the judgment which is needed to extricate us from the clutches of this great harlot who dominates the beast we all are.

Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

“Her plagues” are the seven last plagues of chapter 16. “In one day” is a scriptural term for the short work which the Lord is working in us all as we are being judged and perfected in these vessels of clay. The “death, mourning and famine” are all accomplished through the Words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God. Babylon has been suffering a famine of the word all along; she simply is not aware of that fact. Speaking of “the faithful city which has become a harlot” (Isa 1:21), Isaiah makes this statement:

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,

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isaiah 3:1 speaks of the famine to which Amos refers in this verse:

Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

We will all endure this famine before we are granted to have this great harlot and her doctrines within us judged and “burned with [the] fire” of the Word of God within us.

Here is what “the Lord God who judges her” is doing in that judgment.

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

The only way to avoid being “condemned with the world” is to have this harlot within us judged and destroyed in “this present time.” If we are granted to “suffer in this present time”, we will be privileged to be “the sons of God” for which the whole creation is waiting:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Only if we “lose our lives” through “the sufferings of this present time… for Christ’s name’s sake” can we ‘find’ our lives by being given a part in that blessed and holy first resurrection:

Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Losing this life, and the comforts and ease of fitting in with the doctrines and traditions of men, is very hard on the ‘kings’ within us who have ruled over our flesh for so long. When Babylon within us is being judged, those ‘kings’ will distance themselves from us in the same way Job’s friends and comforters distanced themselves from him, self-righteously falsely accusing Job of “infinite” sins:

Job 11:4  For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
Job 11:5  But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
Job 11:6  And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

Job 22:5  Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
Job 22:6  For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
Job 22:7  Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
Job 22:8  But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
Job 22:9  Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Job 22:10  Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

It is our self-righteousness while we are in Babylon which leads us, “the kings of the earth”, to “bewail… and lament” the departure of anyone from our domination as the great harlot which we are at that time:

Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

“The kings of the earth” are all our families, friends and acquaintances with whom we were so comfortable as we all agreed with all the false doctrines of the great whore whose doctrines we all accepted as truth for so long. It is against all doctrines and traditions of Babylon which constitute the principalities and powers of this world against whom this “war in the heavens” is being waged within us. Ours is not a physical battle. Rather, it is a spiritual battle which must be waged every day.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Eph 6:12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark nightagainst the spirits of evil in the heavens.  (BBE)

Our warfare is “not against flesh and blood.” The heavens where this war is taking place are the heavens of our hearts and minds where the principalities and powers of that realm struggle to keep us under the domination of our flesh and the false doctrines of the great harlot. Only those who are waging this “war in heaven” are granted to “turn to see the voice behind them” and realize just how great and important it is that we win this battle and know just how great the loss of this battle is to “the kings of the earth” who have for so long ruled the doctrines of our heavens and maintained our prominence in this earth. These “kings of the earth” have been nourished within us by the false, self-righteous doctrines of this great harlot. “The smoke of her burning” is a terrible loss to the kings of our flesh, who are said to “lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning.” It  is only “by fire” and the smoke of  her burning that any of us are saved:

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.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

“The way of the tree of life” is guarded by the fiery sword of God’s Word, and the only way to eat of that tree is to go through the flames of that fiery sword.

As our Lord has told us:

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled [in the lives of His elect]?

‘Babylon the great’ signifies our life lived in accord with the lying doctrines of that great unfaithful religious system from which we must be extricated if we hope to find our life in this present time. Babylon is our way of life, in opposition to the ways and mind of our Lord. What Babylon is, is just as much a “mystery” to us while we are in her, as is the mystery of Christ being in us. Look at the contrast of these two mysteries.

Here is Babylon:

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.

Here is the end of her work and her ways within us.

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.

Rev 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Abel was “slain upon the earth”, and in its broadest sense, ‘Babylon’ encompasses all of mankind who are living their lives in rebellion against their Creator from Abel to Noah and from Noah to Abraham. Babylon’also has a narrower application after God chose Abraham and his seed to come out of Ur of the Chaldees into a land He would show him. From that time God has had a special people whom He is calling out of the land of Babylon. Abraham and his seed signify all men who are called to know the name of Christ. Those who know His name are now His own special people above all the other people who are also His creatures.

That Babylon signifes God’s own apostate, spiritually adulterous people is beyond question when we place these verses beside the words of our Lord concerning the church of His time.

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [doth gather] her brood under [her] wings, and ye would not!

It is, and always has been, those who at first believe on Christ who are also the first to want to kill him. Christ has made this fact crystal clear:

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you

Until this very day “many believe on [Christ].” Nevertheless, it is very few who are given to “continue in [His] word” and become His “disciples indeed”, as our Lord demonstrated with His parable of “a certain king which made a marriage for His Son”:

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
Mat 22:5  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
Mat 22:6  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
Mat 22:7  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Mat 22:8  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Mat 22:9  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

It is the Lord’s own people, who come in multitudes to hear His parables and to eat of His loaves and fishes, who are the first to be invited to the wedding of the Son of the King. It is the Lord’s own disciples who “are not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” who have “entreated spitefully and slew” those who were sent to invite them to the marriage of the Son of the King. Those “Jews which believed on [Christ], and at the same time wanted to kill Him because  His doctrines, His “words have no place in them”, signify this great harlot in whom is “the blood of all them that are slain upon the earth”:

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heavenbut 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 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

“The sorceries” of Babylon are her lying, self-righteous doctrines, which deceive the whole world and kill Christ within us. The mystery of Christ destroys Babylon within us and brings to us “the hope of glory”, which glory cannot be experienced while living in the pleasures of Babylon. The inward nature of this struggle is revealed in these words.

 Eph 3:4  Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

Col 4:3  Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

Which “mystery of Christ” is made clear by the apostle Paul to all those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear the mysteries of the  kingdom of heaven:

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christin my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
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:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

“The gospel… which was preached to every creature under heaven” signifies ‘the heavens’ which dominate ‘the creature, the beast’ within us which Babylon has deceived and ruled over for so long. There are 24 verses in this 18th chapter, and they are all dedicated to demonstrating to us just how deeply Babylon has permeated our lives. It is in Babylon that we live until she begins to be destroyed in the day of our judgment. That day for a few is right now, and the fire of that judgment is “already kindled.” It is unquenchable fire which will burn until the fuel for that fire is spent and is destroyed.

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17 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?

We are to “keep the things written in this book” (Rev 1:3). Therefore the fact that the fiery trials of life are “already kindled” in our lives is not “some strange thing.” It is rather “a manifest token of our salvation”, and it is also a “great and marvelous work” just to know that our fiery trials are all the work of the fire of our Lord’s words which are already kindled within our lives “in this present time” (Rom 8:18) while we are yet in these clay vessels. This is “His goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men.” Oh, that we can learn to praise the Lord for this “great and marvelous” work He is performing within us.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Psa 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
Psa 107:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

The death and destruction and torment of the kingdom of our old man is the life and edification and comfort of our new man, Christ in us the hope of glory (Col 1:24-27).

In our next study we will see even more of the depths from which His goodness and His wonderful works have delivered us out of the wilderness that is our journey in Babylon, and we will see just how much our old man has lost. What we will see is that Babylon is filled with every tradition and way that is valuable to our natural man, including the very building materials with which we are told to build upon the foundation of Christ. Babylon, even with the proper building materials, is not built upon the foundation of Christ, because His words have no place in Babylon. In our own time it is Christ’s words and His doctrines which cause us to want to kill Him by rejecting His words and His doctrines, all the while claiming His name and proclaiming our own righteousness.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye [Jews that believe on me (vs 30-31)] are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Christ’s Words are twisted and replaced with the ‘cankered gold, silver, and precious stones’ of the great harlot from whom we must be delivered through the pain and torment of the seven last plagues. It is the smoke of our torment which turns those who are still in Babylon against us, as Job’s comforters distanced themselves from him (Job 11:5; 22:5)

We will continue in our next study:

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. [“upon the house of God” (1Pe 4:17)]
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

]]> The Book of Haggai – Hag 2:1-23 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-haggai-hag-21-23/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-haggai-hag-21-23 Sat, 03 May 2025 16:26:48 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33011 The Book of Haggai – Hag 2:1-23 

[Study Aired May 3, 2025]

The book of Haggai concludes abruptly in chapter two, presenting the concept that the seal of God’s approval, His “signet” in Zerubbabel, is the instigation for rebuilding the physical Temple; the Elect of God see the end from the beginning in the hidden spiritual perspective.

Hag 2:23  In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel [sheh-al-tee-ale’ = I have asked God], saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Isa 46:9  Remember the former things of old [In this case, the former Temples]: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 
Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure

In the first chapter of Haggai, we saw the Lord’s inspiration in the sixth month on the first day of the month for Haggai to conceptualise rebuilding the Temple wall in Jerusalem. The Lord urged the builders to complete the job in fifty-two days, emblematic of the short work He spiritually does in us, the equivalent of rebuilding His Temple within.

In chapter two, the Lord galvanised Haggai to further inspire Zerubbabel about the former glory of Solomon’s Temple and, paradoxically, how this new Temple will be far superior to Solomon’s. Only the Elect of God today can fully appreciate that concept since it is spiritually discerned in the seventh month, our sabbath rest day in Christ, the builder of His Bride. The seventh day/month typifies Christ’s work on His Temple, which was built without man’s hands, off-site (As was Solomon’s temple) to be presented to Him as finished work — left behind are the five foolish virgins in the quarry, marred irregular, imperfect, cracked, not suitable to be elected to be dragged to the Temple’s construction site.

Lev 23:23  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Lev 23:24  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Lev 23:25  Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

The Feast of Trumpets in the Seventh Month was a glorious gathering of the Lord’s people, its hazily understood meaning celebrating the imminent coming of the Lord. Preceding it in the same month was a solemn assembly, the Day of Atonement, for serious self-introspection of one’s heart being in the Lord. It all culminated in the First Resurrection, the dedication of the Temple, and the Feast of Tabernacles, representing the one-thousand year reign with the rod of iron. 

Lev 25:9  Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 
Lev 25:10  And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 
Lev 25:11  A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 
Lev 25:12  For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 
Lev 25:13  In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

The Lord’s Elect are prophets, given that name by their inspired understanding of Christ’s word. Hence, before continuing in the book of Haggai, we already know the resulting mind of the people building Zerubbabel’s Temple without the holy spirit, physically destined to yet another dissolution. It all foretells that flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven, just as Abishag’s supreme dedication of her beautiful, virginal mind and body to King David could never resurrect the dying Old Covenant. Harrowingly, to Jephthah’s daughter and Abishag, their perfect virginal sacrifice, as good as flesh can be, was insultingly rejected as unclean. The two girls, hopefully, we can, and will, delightedly comfort in the Resurrection to Judgment (Jdg 1:29-40, 1Ki 1:1-4 Hag 2:11-13,14).

Only by the mind of Christ, can one see that Zerubbabel’s temple physically was a particularly dismal image of Solomon’s Temple, causing Haggai in 2:9 to give His Elect today, the “peace” in understanding His words. He says: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.” 

The following verses of Zechariah portray our former nature, as it was in Old Israel without the holy spirit, extending to Babylon and Orthodox Christianity today — it all being a sumptuous feast for us, ravished, looking behind and to our future.

Zec 7:4  Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me [Zechariah], saying, 
Zec 7:5  Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast [in spirit] unto me, even to me
Zec 7:6  And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves
Zec 7:7  Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? 
Zec 7:8  And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 
Zec 7:9  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 
Zec 7:10  And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
Zec 7:11  But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 
Zec 7:12  Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. 
Zec 7:13  Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: 
Zec 7:14  But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate

Subsequently, after the introduction, we now have a good overview of the second and final chapter of this very short book of Haggai.

Significations:

The Coming Glory of the Temple

Hag 2:1  In the seventh month [Trumpets and Atonement], in the one and twentieth day [Witness to the building of the spiritual Temple within] of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying, 
Hag 2:2  Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel [sheh-al-tee-ale’], governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, 
Hag 2:3  Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

Verse 3 makes the Lord’s Elect shiver with excitement since,

Luk 8:10  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 

All of Haggai chapter two caused Zerubbabel to deeply consider the pitiful number of labourers, the quality of materials, and the formidable task ahead of rebuilding the Temple, let alone Jerusalem, compared to Solomon’s Temple. So, too, is the material the Lord has at His hands with His rag-tag dung of the world people to recreate them the New Adam in Him; a “nothing” people; worms like Jacob.

Job 17:13  If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
Job 17:14  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. 
Job 17:15  And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 

Isa 41:11  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
Isa 41:12  Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought
Isa 41:13  For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 
Isa 41:14  Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men [The remnant Elect] of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 
Isa 41:15  Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff [In the one thousand Years and Resurrection to Judgment]. 

Continuing in Haggai, we clearly see that all references in the flesh represent the Lord’s Elect in spirit today, with every noun identifying us.

Hag 2:4  Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech [Yo-dawk], the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: 
Hag 2:5  According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. 

Even though the holy spirit had yet to come, the prophets and other elect of the time assuredly did have enough to understand dimly. Comparable to Christ, we, too, see dimly, though vastly brighter than our ancestral contemporaries. In the downpayment, Christ already sees us as having the full complement of his spirit since we know him.

1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Hag 2:6  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 
Hag 2:7  And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Hag 2:8  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Hag 2:9  The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Because our Lord has given us to know his silver, his word of truth, we are filled with his glory, bringing forth his gold increase. Consequently, we see prophetically within the massive spiritual change of our ‘former house’, outstandingly greater in the “latter house”, the New Man in Christ.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 
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

Blessings for a Defiled People

A tremendous continuity of scripture is scattered throughout the Bible, hiding our Lord’s word. In Moses’ time, the divisions of Israel and its army were ordered in authority, emblematic of the Father, Christ, His Bride, and their children (the world). In each month from the first to the twelfth, the order of captains and leaders of tribes was officiated and documented in 1 Chronicles 27. The number 9 always represents the process of judgment, and 20 (2+10+4) is witness to Israel, beginning with the Elect, and signified by Benjamin.

1Ch 27:1  Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand. 

1Ch 27:12  The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anetothite, of the Benjamites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand

Hag 2:10  In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year [witness] of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 
Hag 2:11  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, 
Hag 2:12  If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 
Hag 2:13  Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 

There is NO WAY the non-spiritual person can fathom those last four verses without knowing their symbolisms.

Haggai is driven by the holy spirit to ask the priests of Israel concerning the ‘fleshly’ Law, insinuating why they have been perplexed since Sinai about why they cannot keep their Lord’s commands, resulting in endless chastisements.

The concept is that if part of a thing is holy, the entire component is holy, whether it is flesh or, after the cross, spiritually conceived.

Rom 11:14  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 
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 [becomes] holy: and if the root [Christ and his Christs] be holy, so are [become] the branches [the world].

If Christ’s word leavens us, the entire Body becomes holy, just as the wild yeast of Satan’s word makes us unclean.

The ‘holy flesh in the skirt of our garment’ signifies our spiritual virginity, not receiving unholy seed in the signified form of ‘pottage, wine, oil and meat.’ Our skirt or clothing is either spiritually righteous or unclean, depending upon whether Christ or a false Jesus ravishes us. Accordingly, if we lie with a doctrine other than Christ’s, we have committed adultery. It all subtly points to the New Covenant wife’s aversion to returning to the weak and beggarly elements of the Old Covenant, which her ‘father’s wife’ valiantly tried to keep but miserably failed, branding her a harlot, even ‘the mother of harlots’ as seen in Revelation 17:5.

Deu 27:20  Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. 

In the resurrection to judgment, upon finding the way to escape their torturous chastisements, the world will gladly take hold of the Lord’s Elect, His wife, begging at her feet (Rev 3:9) to teach them the Lord’s spiritual Commandments. They will thus be made clean.

Zec 8:23  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

In the meantime for Israel, she hazily sees that her skirts are up around her face (Jer 13:26), a veritable whore.

Hag 2:14  Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean
Hag 2:15  And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the Temple of the LORD
Hag 2:16  Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. 
Hag 2:17  I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. 

Those verses signify that the Temple at Jerusalem was rebuilt on a shoestring by a remnant people, unlike the massive support of skilled workers and craftsmen on Solomon’s Temple. Yet, and again for us, it depicts our Lord’s work in His base and contemptible little flock, out of which comes a spark of the holy spirit, lighting a raging inferno; even as a flood coming forth from the little cloud on the horizon following Elijah’s prayer to break the drought (1Ki 18:41). It all symbolises small beginnings, but prophetically for the future building of the spiritual Temple within the Lord’s Elect with Christ as the foundation stone, where spiritual moths, rust and mildew don’t corrupt.

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;
Rev 3:8  I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 
Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee
Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 
Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 

Twice now in Haggai with the next verse, we are told to ‘consider from this day and upward.’ For the remnant rebuilding the Temple in Old Jerusalem couldn’t help but consider only physically the hope of being able to keep all the Feast Days and the Lord’s commands. Hidden in those considerations, only the Lord’s Elect observe most ecstatically that it is Christ building the New Temple within them beginning on the emblematic twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. They are the seed in the Lord’s barn, even the vine, fig tree, pomegranate and olive tree bringing forth all kinds of spiritual fruit to fill the Lord’s storehouse.

Hag 2:18  Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S Temple was laid, consider it
Hag 2:19  Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you

Eze 47:12  And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. 

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. 
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The following is the fourth time the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twentieth day of the month,, signifiying the whole thing to be “considered”, yet for Haggai and Israel, only physically.

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

I apologise for the seeming overemphasis on the following verses. It starkly differentiates that the Lord is performing His workmanship on rebuilding the Old Temple so that we can reflect upon His recreating the New Temple and the New Man in His Elect.

Hag 2:20  And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, 
Hag 2:21  Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth
Hag 2:22  And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother
Hag 2:23  In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. 

“That Day” is any day since the cross to the beginning of the one-thousand Year rule, that a prospective Elect is given eyes that see and ears that hear the shaking of his heavens and earth within. It is the Lord overthrowing and destroying the strength of the kingdoms within us. He utterly destroys the chariots, meaning the vehicles, being the many harlot ideologies ruling us centralised on one Great Whore, the Mother of Harlots we formerly sat astride ruling the Beast of humanity treacherously deluding them with doctrinal lies. Consequently, it was we who slew our brother Abel with every deception against the word of God, and their blood figuratively cries out from the ground (Gen 4:8-10).

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they [Old Israel and us in Babylon] 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 [to our heavens within]
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.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire. 

The Elect of God know that the sum of His word commands; hence, other prophets have built upon Haggai’s foundational beginnings of the physical Temple directed by Zerubbabel, alongside the much later detailed construction of the spiritual Temple in the Lord’s Bride, the Body of Christ. 

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Rev 18:5-9 – God Has Remembered Her Iniquities, Part 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-185-9-god-has-remembered-her-iniquities-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-185-9-god-has-remembered-her-iniquities-part-1 Fri, 02 May 2025 19:45:01 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=33005 Study Audio Download

Rev 18:5-9 – God Has Remembered Her Iniquities, Part 1

[Study Aired May 2, 2025]

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Introduction

These are words we are to “read, hear, and keep”:

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.

They are not addressed to physical Babylon in Iraq. Neither are they addressed to spiritual Babylon in physical Rome or Jerusalem. These words are all addressed to “He that hath an ear”:

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

If we are granted “ears to hear and eyes that see”, then we will want only to know ‘How do I “keep the things written therein”?’ As we are about to see, ‘Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots is first within each of us as God’s own backslidden wife. We must first be in Babylon before we can “come out of  her My people” (Rev 18:4). As King Solomon demonstrated for us in 1 Kings 10, it took time for us to become the slave of all that Babylon has to offer. King Solomon, a type of us having lost our first love (Rev 2:4), had 700 wives and 300 concubines, who were all daughters of the nations surrounding Israel. That is one thousand women, signifying churches, each with its own false doctrines.  The number 1,000, is ten to the third power, signifying the church in bondage to the carnal mind, and “the traditions of men” (Col 2:20) to the third power, signifying the process of our judgment. Solomon’s one thousand wives signify “the mother of harlots” riding our beast. This ‘beast’ signifies “the son of David, the king of Israel, a type of you and me, in the process of being judged. It was the traditions of his wives which were a snare to King Solomon.

1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their godsSolomon clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Christ had twice appeared to King Solomon and had made him both rich and wise. Nevertheless, our Lord had somewhat against King Solomon because he had “left his first love”, his own God, and “His wives [had] turned away his heart after other gods.” Solomon’s wives signify this “great whore… sitting upon a scarlet colored beast.” She is “the mother of harlots, and abominations of the world”, and she who “sits upon [the] many waters” of the many false doctrines and ungodly traditions which are typified by the 1000 wives and concubines of King Solomon. The apostasy of King Solomon is the Old Testament type of the seven churches who had apostatized while the apostles were still alive. The apostasy of King Solomon, in attempting to please his many pagan wives, demonstrates how this world rules over us when we ought to be ruling over the land of Israel. Instead of being rulers over the land of Israel, we have placed the gods of outsiders above our God, and we are ruled by these 1000 wives, “Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the Earth.”

This 18th chapter tells us how our Lord judges this harlot within us to save us from her bondage. This harlot has the same mind as the church of Laodicea which we all read, hear and keep at our own time.

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.

The seals, trumpets and vials are our judgment. The seven last vials of God’s wrath, are called the “great and marvelous” work of God in our redeeming judgment. This 18th chapter of Revelation gives us the details of the seventh vial of God’s wrath, which is poured out upon us ‘day and night’ (Rev 14:11) for the express purpose of destroying the “man of sin” (2Th 2:8), the beast we are, and the influence of this harlot over that beast within us.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before Godto give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This last vial is poured out into “the air”, signifying the realm of the spirit, in which “the four winds” blow. So let us take on the spiritual mind of Christ, and view all seven vials as the “great and marvelous… wonderful works of God to the children of men” which they are. That is how God sees His work of our judgment which He is performing for us. Here is how Christ is judging the business of this harlot who is “sitting on many waters” within us:

Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The Hebrew word translated ‘great’ in verse 23 is the word ‘rab’. It is most often translated as ‘many’, as in this verse in which it first appears.

Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many  [Hebrew: rab]days.

Psalm 107:23 can also be translated ‘They that… do business in [the] many waters… on which the whore sits.’

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

This harlot within us is being judged and is being destroyed. What is the outcome of it all?

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

It is through “receiving double for all of our sins”, that “our warfare is accomplished and our iniquity is pardoned.” Here is the “double for all her sins” of Isaiah 40:2 in this book of Revelation:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Truly these seven last plagues of God’s wrath are “great and marvelous… wonderful works to the children of men” by our God within our lives, because “we have this treasure in earthen vessels”.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure [Christ] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

The Lord has revealed that our sins are His work via evil spirits to give Him the “occasion He is seeking” to destroy our worst enemies just as He did with Samson:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Samson typifies us. He knew very well the Lord had forbidden Israel marrying the daughters of the nations :

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
Deu 7:5  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Samson’s story signifies our time being dominated by this great harlot:

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Our judgment via the pain we endure “in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb” is a wonderful work in our lives. This is what we were told at the introduction of the pouring out of the seventh vial into the air of our heavens.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before Godto give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This, our judgment, is the greatest work God will ever do in “the earth” which signifies our lives. It is a work “such as was not since men were upon the earth”, and here is why that is so.

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.

Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

The power of this verse comes from the book of Isaiah which gives us the glorious outcome of having the cup which we have filled, filled to us double.

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Let us acknowledge that it is through “receiving double for all of our sins” that “our warfare is accomplished and our sins are forgiven and our iniquity is pardoned.

Here is Isaiah 40:2 in this book of revelation.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

When “it is done”, we have fulfilled the seven plagues of the seven angels, have gotten the victory over the beast, and we are now worthy to stand with the overcomers upon the sea of glass mingled with fire.

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fireand them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Let us never deny the justice of our God. He will indeed “double to us all double what injustices we have fulfilled:

Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

This is the seventh of the seven last plagues of our judgment.

As we have glorified ourselves and pleased ourselves and our families and our communities at the expense of our Lord and at the expense of our brothers, our own flesh, so much torment and sorrow we will receive. The very idea that Christ died for us so we need not die daily (1Co 15:31), be crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) and present our own bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1) and fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of our Lord (Col 1:24) and suffer with Him (Rom 8:17) as the damnable false doctrine of “substitutionary atonement” teaches, is a lie which flies in the face of all those scriptures. It is the Truth which will destroy all the  lies of Babylon with the brightness of the coming of our understanding these words:

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

It is a false and an insidious and damnable doctrine which teaches that the teaching that “mercy rejoices against judgment” contradicts “whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap”. God’s enduring mercy in no way impedes His justice in judging our sins:

Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

What this verse is telling us is that we will be judged with the judgment with which we judge, and therefore we will do ourselves a great favor to be merciful in our judgment of others. That is a far cry from thinking we are not to judge anyone’s actions at all as Matthew 7:1 is twisted to say:

Mat 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

King David had no mercy at all on the rich man who stole his poor neighbor’s sheep to feed his guest:

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5  And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

King David typifies each of us. We self-righteously cannot imagine anyone being so cruel as to steal from the poor to give to others, while we ourselves are in the process of doing just that when we steal the Lord’s glory, and as an adulterous wife we give that glory to others who we want to please more than we want to please our Lord who we claim as our spiritual husband:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women [seven churches of Asia] shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread [believe our own doctrines], and wear our own apparel [live in sin]: only let us be called by thy name [claim we are Christians], to take away our reproach.

Upon learning that that callous and self-centered rich man was King David himself, who had committed adultery with the wife of one of his captains, Uruiah, and then had Uriah killed by the Ammonites, again, as a type of who we are, threw himself upon the Lord’s mercy and the Lord was merciful where the law of Moses was not:

Deu 22:22  If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
Deu 22:23  If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
Deu 22:24  Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

In time we all come to see that “[We] are the man” who is worthy of death for our spiritually adulterous ways. The Lord spares us but only on the condition that His spiritual ‘sword’ will never again part from our house:

2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

We are so quick to say “He shall have judgment without mercy, that showed no mercy” while we are thinking of some other man who “had no pity.” Like King David, we are so quick to forget that it is we who are “chief of sinners” and who must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and we forget that it is our own house from which “the sword [of God’s Word] will never depart” if we are blessed to that degree in this life.

So “mercy rejoices against judgment” is true, but that Truth in no way denies the justice or the judgment of God in our lives. Our Lord, who is the Truth, gives us His mind concerning His judgments in these words:

Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripesFor unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

“All things come alike to all men” (Ecc 9:2) does not mean that the details of our experiences are all the same. What it does mean is that Christ has just one way of doing the work of His Father upon this carnal earth, and that one way is “the… fiery sword… way of the Tree of Life.” The way of Christ is the way of His Father. That being so, it is a fiery way, because ‘our God is a consuming fire’:

Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fireeven a jealous God.

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 You and I are “the earth” on which Christ has come to send the fire of His Word to purify us and to make us worthy to stand with Him on that sea of glass mingled with fire, and to make us worthy to enter into the temple in heaven.

We will pause at this point, and we will resume our study with the realization that this 7th verse is the  perfect description of our self-righteousness while we live with confidence in all the lies of this great harlot.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

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