The Hope of Glory – Part 2, The Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings and the Prize of Reigning with Him

 [Study Aired November 15, 2026]

This is part 2 of our study of why suffering relates to the hope of glory and reigning with Christ.

7. Grace, Good Works, the Inheritance, and the Prize of the High Calling

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

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

These verses establish an essential foundation for understanding suffering, obedience, and reward.

Salvation is a gift of God’s grace, not a wage earned by our works. We cannot place God in our debt through suffering, sacrifice, or personal effort.

God’s free gift of grace is not the ‘get out of jail free’ card that many believe. The word ‘teaching’ in Titus 2:12 is the Greek word ‘paideuo’, and ‘paideuo’ is defined as ‘chasten’. This is the same Greek word we find in Hebrews 12:6:

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

Because God’s grace chastens us, Paul can also say that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

Grace does not make obedience unimportant. Rather, God’s work in us is the source of the obedience that follows.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For [G1063: ‘gar’, because] we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are saved “by grace through faith… because we are His workmanship.” We are not saved because of our faith. Our faith and His chastening grace “are His workmanship.”

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Scripture speaks of inheritance and reward while also teaching that salvation is by God’s gift of His chastening grace. These truths must be held together.

1 Corinthians 3:13–15 explains that each person’s work will be tested. Those whose work endures will receive a reward, while those whose works are burned up will suffer loss, although the passage also speaks of the person whose works are burned up still being 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 lake of fire”, (Rev 20:11-15)]

Therefore, our works do not purchase salvation, but Scripture does connect faithfulness, the testing of our works, and a promised reward of “inheritance… of a kingdom.”

The apostle Paul defines this inheritance in Ephesians 5:5, warning that no immoral, impure, or greedy person has any inheritance in the “kingdom of Christ and of God.” Similarly, Colossians 1:12-13 credits the Father for qualifying believers to “share in the inheritance of the saints in the light” and delivering them into the kingdom of His Son:

Eph 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13  Who hath delivered [aorist tense] us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [aorist tense] us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Both verbs, ‘delivered’ and ‘translated’ are in the aorist tense. This demonstrates that we are being “delivered” and we are being “translated…into the kingdom of His dear Son.”

Within the interpretation presented in this study, the special calling to reign with Christ is distinguished from the ultimate salvation of mankind. God’s elect in this age are understood to have a particular role in His purpose, including reigning with Christ in the ‘kingdom’ age to come.

This distinction is important to the argument of the study. The reward is not simply personal comfort after a difficult life. It involves a place in God’s purpose for the coming kingdom age.

Pressing toward the prize…

Php 3:13 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. [“Inherit a kingdom”]

This inheritance is described in 1 Corinthians 15:50, which clarifies that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” The inheritance of this purchased possession requires a transformation to imperishable spiritual bodies. The culmination of this promise is found in Matthew 25:34, where Jesus invites the blessed to “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and 1 Peter 1:4, which describes an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven.”

1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption [flesh and blood] inherit incorruption.

Paul did not consider himself to have already attained this prize of an inherited kingdom. He pressed forward toward that “high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
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. [To inherit a kingdom]

This ‘pressing forward’ does not mean that human effort operates independently of God’s grace. It means continuing in faith, following Christ, and trusting God to complete the work He has begun.

Our calling is not fulfilled by boasting in our own strength. We depend upon the One who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure as Paul explained in the previous chapter:

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 [G1063: ‘Gar’, because] it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

The prize of the high calling and the reward of the inheritance must therefore be understood in the context of God’s purpose in Christ. We are not seeking to purchase His favor through suffering. We are trusting Him to accomplish His work in us and to fulfill what He has promised.

8. Does More Suffering Mean a Greater Reward?

Because Scripture connects suffering with reigning with Christ, it is important to avoid the conclusion that more pain automatically means a greater reward.

1 Co 13:3: And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Even an extreme sacrifice cannot substitute for love.

The important question is not merely how much we suffer, but whether we are walking in faith, love, and obedience to God.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1 Corinthians 3:13–15 likewise teaches that our work will be tested. We should therefore be concerned with building faithfully upon Christ rather than seeking hardship as a means of purchasing a reward.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for [‘Gar’, because] 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. [A promised kingdom]
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 proper response to suffering is to seek God, trust His Word, and remain faithful through the trials we encounter.

We must also distinguish faithfulness from the unnecessary glorification of pain. These teachings should never be used to encourage someone to remain in an abusive or dangerous situation… Faithfulness to Christ does not require excusing wrongdoing or refusing appropriate protection and help.

Suffering is not the source of salvation. Christ is. Suffering is not a currency with which we buy the kingdom. God is the One who calls, works, teaches, and prepares His people.

9. The First Resurrection and the Reign of Christ

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

“John sees thrones and those who sit upon them, together with those who suffered for the witness of Jesus and the Word of God.”

“And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

“This is the first resurrection.”

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

This passage identifies a group who reign with Christ and associates that reign with the first resurrection.

Within the understanding presented in this study, this is connected with the special calling of God’s elect in this age.

The connection with suffering has already been established in…

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.

2 Timothy states:

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

These passages bring the present calling and the future reign together. God is working in His people now, and Scripture connects suffering with Christ to being glorified with Him and reigning with Him.

The reward is not merely a promise of personal comfort. It involves participation in God’s purpose for the age to come. It involves having an essential part in bringing about the ultimate purpose of the plan of God, which is for God to be “All in all.”

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe [in this dispensation], according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

We should avoid claiming more than Scripture establishes about every detail of that future rulership. Nevertheless, the connection between present faithfulness and the promised reign is plainly expressed in these passages:

Jas 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Look at that. God has chosen the poor… in spirit… rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love [obey, (1Jo 5:2-3)] Him”. Romans 8 identifies those who love Him as “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” This links the inheritance of believers directly to their status as the ‘huiothesia’, mature sons of God:

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
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.

“The hope of glory” gives meaning to the present calling because what God is doing in His people now is connected with what He has promised to accomplish in all men of all time through those who are His people now and in the future. [Eph 1:23 “…His body, the fulness of Him that filleth All in all”]

10. The Glory to Come is Greater Than the Present Suffering

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.

Paul places our present experience within the scope of God’s eternal purpose.

He does not say that suffering is unreal. He teaches that the glory to come is so great that our present suffering cannot be compared with it.

2Corinthians expresses the same perspective:

2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

This perspective gives us a reason to persevere.

Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

When we are corrected by God’s grace, we can seek the righteousness God desires. When we experience opposition because of our faith, we can remain faithful to Christ. When our weakness is exposed, we can trust His strength.

When we cannot understand why a trial has come upon us, we can continue to trust the God who works “all things” according to His purpose.

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:

Romans 8 connects God’s purpose with the calling of His people and their conformity to the image of His Son:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God  [Obey God, (1Jo 5:2-3)] to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

“The firstborn” necessitates others who are born later at a later resurrection (Rev 20:11-15).

The point is not that we can always explain the reason for every painful circumstance. Rather, we trust that God is able to, and is, working all things according to His purpose and that His work in His people is directed toward conformity to Christ.

This is the difference between merely enduring hardship and living in the hope of glory. The goal is not suffering for suffering’s sake. The goal is the fulfillment of God’s purpose in Christ.

11. Bringing the Whole Study Together: From Christ in Us to Reigning with Him

The entire teaching of all scripture can now be seen as one connected progression.

1…Christ is the hope of glory.

Colossians declares that Christ is in His people, the hope of glory. The hope rests upon Him, not upon our natural ability or strength.

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:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in [you and] me mightily.

2…God is working in us now.

Philippians teaches that God works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. Our obedience, repentance, and growth in righteousness depend upon His work.

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

3…God is bringing us away from the ways of the old man.

Romans 6:6 and Romans 8:13 describe the putting to death of sin through the work of Christ and His Spirit. Trials can expose our weaknesses, while God’s Word and chastening correction teach us to walk in righteousness.

4… The fellowship of Christ’s sufferings is part of following Him.

Philippians 3:10 describes Paul’s desire to know Christ in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. This fellowship involves faithfulness, obedience, and conformity to Christ, even when following Him is costly.

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;

5…Suffering with Christ is connected with future glory.

Romans 8:17–18 connects suffering with Christ to being glorified with Him. The glory to come far surpasses the suffering of the present time.

6… Scripture connects suffering with reigning with Christ.

2 Timothy 2:11–12 and Titus 2:11-12 establish this connection, while Revelation 20:4–6 describes those who reign with Christ in the first resurrection.

7… Our calling involves the character and service of Christ.

Mark 10:42–45 teaches that greatness in Christ’s kingdom is associated with service rather than selfish ambition. God’s preparation of His people is therefore connected with the character of the King they follow.

Mar 10:42  But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
Mar 10:43  But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
Mar 10:44  And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
Mar 10:45  For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

8… The inheritance and prize remain dependent upon God’s grace and purpose.

Ephesians 2:8–10 teaches that salvation is a gift of grace and that we are God’s workmanship, created unto good works. Philippians 3:13–14 calls us to press toward the prize of the high calling, while Colossians 3:23–24 speaks of the reward of the inheritance.

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

These truths belong together, but they must not be reduced to a mechanical formula… We cannot measure a person’s future reward by the amount of pain that person has endured, nor can we determine God’s entire purpose for every trial.

What Scripture establishes is that the present life of faith and the future glory belong to one purpose in Christ:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

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: [Eph 1:22-23]
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in [you and] me mightily.

God is not merely promising His people a future reward. He is working in them now, preparing them according to His purpose.

Conclusion: Christ is Our Hope, Our Example, and the One Who Completes the Work

The central message of this study is that suffering with Christ is connected to reigning with Him because God is preparing His people for the glory and the purpose He has promised to those He has called to suffer with Christ in this present dispensation.

The suffering is not the source of salvation. Christ is.

The suffering does not purchase the reward. God is the One who calls, works, teaches, corrects, and prepares His people.

The trials of this life can expose our weakness, correct our ways, and teach us to depend upon Christ. As we remain faithful to Him, we learn more deeply what it means to live by His life rather than by the desires of the flesh.

We are not called to boast in our suffering, to seek pain, or to assume that every trial has an immediately recognizable purpose. We are called to trust Christ, receive the instruction of His Word, walk in the Spirit, and continue in faith.

The example of Jesus shows us the pattern: obedience to the Father, endurance through suffering, and glory according to God’s purpose. The teaching of Paul connects that pattern with the lives of those who follow Christ.

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Romans 8:17–18 brings the heart of the message together. Those who suffer with Christ are promised to be glorified with Him, and the glory to come surpasses the suffering of this present time.

The hope of glory is Christ in us.

The present work is God’s transforming work in us.

The fellowship of His sufferings is part of following Him faithfully.

The prize of the high calling points us forward in faith.

The promised future is glory with Christ and, reigning with Him in a kingdom according to the passages considered.

The question we should carry away from this study is not how much suffering we can endure to earn a place in God’s kingdom, but whether we are trusting Christ to accomplish His work in us and keeping our eyes on the glory He has promised.

In Summary

Christ is the hope of glory because He is the One working in His people now. Through His Word, Spirit, correction, and the trials of life, God teaches His people obedience, humility, love, endurance, and dependence upon Him.

Scripture connects suffering with Christ to being glorified with Him and reigning with Him.

This does not mean that pain earns salvation or automatically produces spiritual maturity. Salvation is by faith through God’s chastening grace, and God remains the Author and Finisher of both our faith and His chastening grace.

The calling of God’s people is to remain faithful to Christ, put off the old man, walk in the Spirit, serve others according to the character of their King, and press toward the prize of the high calling.

Our present life of faith is connected with the future inheritance God has promised. Therefore, we look beyond the suffering of this present time to the glory that shall be revealed, trusting Christ to complete the work He has begun in us.

 Job 23:14  For He performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Christ is our hope. God is doing the work. Faithfulness is our calling. Glory with Christ is the promised future…

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

[We thank Mark Deschamps for sharing this study with us. Mark can be reached at mrd1241@aol.com for questions or comments.]

The Song of Solomon – Part 19, The Body Built for the Word: Hair, Teeth, Lips, Neck, and Breasts

[Study Aired November 14, 2026]

The Appointment You Have Been Postponing

You know which tooth it is. You have known for a while.

You have become an expert in the architecture of avoidance. You chew on the other side. You smile with your hand lifted slightly toward your mouth. You tell yourself it stopped hurting, and the most dangerous thing about that sentence is that it is true. Pain stops when the nerve dies. The silence you have been calling healing is the sound of something going dark underneath, and the appointment you keep rescheduling is not postponing the diagnosis. It is only postponing your chance to be the one who walked in.

Israel’s priests were never permitted to do this with a sacrifice. Every offering that came to the altar was examined, outward and inward, before a single flame touched it. Nothing was spared the inspection, and nothing was accepted uninspected.

Now watch what the poet of the Song does. A man examines his Bride, member by member, the way a priest examines an offering: her hair, her teeth, her lips, her temples, her neck, her breasts. Every one of them is declared whole. He does not say this because he failed to look. He says it because of what was done to her before he looked.

Having established the essential understanding of beauty in the previous study, we may now consider how each part of the Bride’s body contributes to its spiritual work. We begin where we left off, with her hair.

Son 4:1…thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

The Statement Made by a Haircut

Notice how people treat their hair. A woman changes it when she changes her life, and everyone who loves her can tell before she says a word. The dramatic cut after the breakup. In Babylonia, the colour that arrives with a significant birthday. A man pays for a haircut and tells the barber almost nothing, and the barber learns everything. Hair is the one part of the body we shape on purpose as a public statement, and the statement is rarely about hair. None of those cuts is a sin. Each is a sentence, and the most common sentence ever spoken in a mirror is, “I belong to myself.”

Scripture reads the same matter differently.

1Co 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
1Co 11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

A woman’s hair signifies glory and covering. Spiritually, it points to the Bride’s submission to her Head, Christ, and to her separation unto Him. It pictures a woman whose glory is found not in independence from her Bridegroom but in belonging wholly to Him.

Now the detail the poet will not let you skip. Her hair is like a flock of goats, and goats are not one colour. Israel’s twelve tribes did not centre on black skin, but branched into ethnicities with highly varied skin tones and, therefore, equally varied hair colour. Black hair was the standard and most common colour among ancient Near Eastern Semites. Paradoxically for a “ruddy” or fair complexion of his father, David, Solomon’s own hair is raven. Raven, H6158, seems to denote time of day more than colour, as even Jacob, with Leah on their estranged arranged wedding night, couldn’t tell she wasn’t Rachel.

Son 5:11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

David was singled out as different, and the Hebrew marks the difference.

Ruddy — H132 admoniy: red, ruddy; from H122 adom, red, the root of Adam’s own name.

1Sa 16:12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

Gen 25:25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

Red hair was notable on a land of dark heads. The Bride’s is more notable still, and the verb tells why: her locks appear. They are instantly noticeable, cascading in tendrils, one behind another, down the slope of a mountain. The strands are unlikely to be one colour. They could be brown with natural red or sun-blonded highlights. It hardly matters, because the point is the cascade: slightly wavy, like a goat’s coat, obviously without the smell.

Teeth Like Washed Sheep

Son 4:2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.

Here is what people do with information. A friend says she heard something. A message arrives with a screenshot. A stranger’s review lands on a page. Most of us swallow it whole, and within the hour we have a view of a person we have never examined, built on one witness and a feeling. Rarely does anyone chew.

The mouth has an apparatus built to prevent exactly this, and the poet describes it with a precision no dentist could match. Every tooth is a twin. Each upper tooth meets its partner on the lower jaw, and a tooth without its twin cannot grind. It can only pierce. God requires perfection in His Bride, even as He is perfect, and perfection in the flesh is downright impossible. Nonetheless, He confers it, just as He confers His righteousness on sinners whose hearts are profoundly for Him. And perfection comes with a double witness. If her every tooth is a twin, then what she figuratively and doctrinally eats is chewed by multiple double witnesses: the flock, the Body of Christ, testifying together for Christ’s truth.

Tooth — H8127 shen: tooth, ivory; from H8150 shanan: to point, to sharpen, to pierce; hence to inculcate.

The word for tooth is built from the verb for teaching. The same root commands what a parent does with a child.

Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

To teach diligently is to sharpen the child, to make teeth in the mind. And Scripture legislates the practice of grinding twice, even for the strongest accusation.

1Ti 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
1Ti 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
1Ti 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Num 35:30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
Num 35:31 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

Even for murder, one witness is not enough. And the Bride is not muzzled while she treads: the ox eats what it labours over. Many mouths set what she chews before her in agreement.

Jn 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Jn 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

The Bride’s teeth, indeed every aspect of her bodily members, her breasts included, are impossibly perfect. Spiritually, this means God will not accept anything resembling imperfect flesh into His Kingdom. This is why Israel’s priests inspected each blood sacrifice’s outward and inward organs for imperfection and (spiritual) disease.

Lev 1:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.
Lev 1:3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

Now notice where the sheep have just come from.

Washing — H7364 rachats: to wash, to bathe, to lave.

Lev 1:6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

Lev 1:9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

The same verb that names the washing of the sheep names the washing of the inwards in the sacrifice. Washing, dividing, and burning: the sequence is the cleansing and judgment by which God prepares His people to become acceptable living sacrifices. The Bride is that offering, signified as burned and melted in the refiner’s fire. Her teeth are perfectly set, white as freshly washed and shorn sheep, each duplicating the other as a double witness of spiritual truth chewed and digested.

Lev 11:3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Pro 16:28 A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

Ask yourself what you have swallowed whole this month: a whisperer’s accusation passed to you on one voice, the verdict you reached about a person on the strength of a single witness—maybe your own voice? And ask, quietly, whether anyone ever ground it against its spiritual twin. If you don’t know, keep chewing clean food.

A Thread of Scarlet

Son 4:3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.

Everyone has a sentence they wish they could pull back out of the air. Everyone knows the pause before the message is sent, and the other pause—the longer one—after it. And everyone has seen, or been, the person who is charming in public and cutting at home, whose voice drops by a whole register when the audience leaves. The mouth is where the heart gets caught.

Mat 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Her lips are where her godly speech is emitted. Red lips denote arousal and richness, not the ashen nature of death; to the spiritually unknowing, this is a most unattractive image. The word for thread carries more than decoration.

Thread — H2339 chuwt: thread, cord, line, fillet.

Jer 52:21 And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

The same Hebrew word names the line that compassed the Temple’s pillars, a cord that held them to their measure. In the reading this study follows, that cord measured the equidistant spacing of the twelve pillars, and so her speech is measured against her Lord’s word. Her mouth is held to a line, and the line is His.

Thread does not mean a thin strand, either. Remember whose escape route it was.

Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

If Rahab had dangled a wisp out of her window in the wall of Jericho, Joshua’s men, coming by the Lord’s hand to destroy the city, would never have seen it. Since it had to bear the weight of grown men let down the wall, it was a substantial rope. From a distance, against the vast walls of Jericho, it still looked like a thread, and even a threefold cord is a thread beside a wall. The Bride’s lips are the same: they look slender against the great walls of Babylon, and they are the rope by which her household is let down alive.

Scarlet or red is the colour of corruptible man. To the immense glory and joy of her Husband, its presence on her lips signifies the death of her old man within, in total harmony with Him. And the white of her teeth stands in the same mouth as the red of her lips.

Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Scarlet made white as wool, and wool washed from the pool: one mouth, both colours, the same Word. When that unity withers, the relationship shrivels.

Joe 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

The Pomegranate Behind the Veil of Hair

Temples — H7541 raqqah: the temple of the head.

Her lips shape the words, but words are formed in a mind behind the temples, and the mind is unified with her Husband. A comely wife’s presentation results from what happens beneath locks that represent her most profound honour and respect for her Husband as her covering.

1Co 11:13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

The same word appears only once more in a place you would not expect, in the hands of a woman with a tent peg.

Jdg 4:21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

The temple of the head is where the old mind is pinned. In Sisera it was fixed to the ground by a peg from the very tents the wilderness was made of. In the Bride, it is instead covered by locks and ornamented with jewels. Ancient Egyptian and Hebrew writings describe jewelled headpieces, forehead bands, and dangling ornaments worn by Near Eastern women. When rubies and other stones are draped elegantly across the temples, they look like the crescent of a cut pomegranate.

Deu 8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

The pomegranate is one of the seven fruits of the Promised Land, and its many seeds represent spiritual abundance, fruitfulness, prosperity, God’s generous provision, and the blessings of our inheritance in Christ. It was stitched into the priest’s own robe.

Exo 28:33 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
Exo 28:34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

A bell and a fruit, a sound and a seed, alternating all round the hem: speech and fruitfulness, never separated. Anyone who has opened a pomegranate knows its character. You cannot eat it quickly. It stains whoever opens it, and every mouthful is earned. And it holds, ruby upon ruby, more seeds than a hand can count, a picture of the vast cluster of billions of people transformed in the Resurrection to Judgment, the Lake of Fire. The jewels across her temples are the whole harvest of the world, carried in her mind.

The Tower of the Beloved

Son 4:4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

Tower — H4026 migdal: tower; from H1431 gadal: to grow up, to be great.

David — H1732 David: beloved; from H1730 dod, the same word the Song uses for “my beloved”.

Buckler — H4043 magen: shield; from H1598 ganan: to defend, to cover.

Read the lexicon before the verse. The tower of David is the tower of the Beloved, the tower that makes great. The bucklers are covers, defences, and this is the word God used when He spoke to a frightened man at the start of the covenant.

Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

The thousand shields hanging on her neck are the Lord Himself, in His thousand-fold covering. The framework of her beautiful body is built upon her Husband’s foundation. Atop it is her head, the keystone of the arch of her being, holding her every thought and character and governing her every word and action from collapse, and He glories in mirroring the image of the Father in it. Beneath that keystone stands her elegant neck, a symbol of beauty, nobility, and dignity. In Son 7:4, the tower returns, mentioned twice as a double witness to her qualities.

Son 7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.

Notice what people do with their necks. The chin goes up when we are about to defend ourselves. The muscles knot under the weight of something we are refusing to put down. Scripture names the posture, and it is the harshest portrait the Lord ever paints of a people.

Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Stiff-necked: the one who cannot nod, who has not once in twenty years of marriage said you were right, who would sooner lose the argument’s whole point than lower his head a single inch. The proud neck is rigid. The noble neck is supple, bearing a thousand shields without losing its grace, and it turns toward her Husband as a neck turns toward a voice it loves.

The tower stands in a vineyard, and Isaiah’s song describes what the Lord built.

Isa 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: [First within her, and then her children of the world in the mighty Mountain of God’s Kingdom]
Isa 5:2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isa 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

The tower of Isaiah’s vineyard is God’s protective presence, temple, and leadership, established to keep the nation safe. In Christ’s own telling, the landowner supplied everything needed for success.

Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

Old Israel, the Lord’s first wife, is still alive and doing business today in Babylon’s churches. She is betwixt Christ and His Wife’s vineyard: she stands outside the Heavenly Jerusalem of the Bride. She, too, will drink the cup from her Husband’s and the Bride’s vineyard, but only in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
Rev 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

Without the city: the same place. Wine represents blood and the death of the old man within.

The thousand bucklers are ornaments, and they are armour. Women in royal courts wore heavy, ornate necklaces and collars that highlighted their poise, strength, and royal standing. All of it signifies her spiritual strength and integrity, and the honour and unity of her King and Husband’s authority. For the Elect, they protect the Body from false doctrine that could flow in and damage a righteous understanding of the Word. An armoury is where weapons of war are stored, and it marks the Bride’s impervious resistance to returning to her sisters’ former self-serving seductions.

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

And the covering ends the matter, because contention has no place in this house.

1Co 11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

Twin Fawns Among the Lilies

The beauty described so far, emanating from her eyes, hair, and lips, points distinctly to the protection of her heart beneath her breasts. That power she abides by is not hers. It is her Lord’s spirit, a double witness in two perfectly formed virginal breasts.

Son 4:5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

Roe — H6643 tsebiy: gazelle; also beauty, splendour, glory; from a root meaning to be prominent.

Twins — H8380 te’owm: twin.

Both words are worth holding. The Hebrew name of the gazelle is the Hebrew word for glory. The King James translators in 1611 used roe, because the small European deer was the graceful wild animal most familiar to British readers, and later translations correctly render it gazelle. Specifically, the Dorcas gazelle and the mountain gazelle: small, slender antelopes of the hills and deserts of Israel, standing about two feet at the shoulder, sandy-brown with a white underside, with ringed, lyre-shaped horns.

One feature of the gazelle explains more of the verse than any commentary. Unlike deer, which shed their antlers every year, gazelles are true antelopes with permanent, hollow horns. A horn is not shed. The Bride’s strength is not seasonal. It is the indefectibility this series has traced since the previous study, an animal incapable of becoming otherwise.

The Greek New Testament uses the same animal for a woman’s name.

Act 9:36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

Dorcas — G1393 Dorkas: gazelle.

Tabitha is the Aramaic for gazelle, and Dorcas the Greek. A disciple named for the animal, named for glory.

The portrait is of a young, mature Bride who has never nursed a child: shapely, uniform breasts, virginally discovered in marriage, like the breath-taking discovery of a pair of young fawns. This series has noted that the Hebrew word for breast shares a root with ruin, and what ruined Old Israel is on record.

Eze 23:3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.

Pressed, bruised: Aholah and Aholibah. Here, the same members are fawns at pasture. And what protects a fawn is alertness. Watch anyone who has been badly hurt walk into a new room. The scan of the exits, the half-second before the smile. We call it damage. It can also be wisdom, the posture of a small, fast animal that has learned its only effective defence is to flee both physical and spiritual corruption before it reaches her. This verse protects the heart beneath. Whatever a person’s biography, the heart—the seat of passion—is what is being guarded.

Two defences appear in this one chapter. The armoury is for standing. The gazelle is for running. Scripture knows both.

1Co 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

A pitete gazelle fawn, as are the Bride’s breasts, are hidden by the seemingly towering lilies. Stand where the Word has armed you, and flee where it has not. Feeding among the lilies is her safety, and the lilies are the ones this Song has already named.

Son 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Son 2:2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

Feeding among the lilies pictures Christ nourishing and working within His people. The lilies represent Christ in us, and the feeding is the spiritual life and growth that come from Him. A husband phenomenally delights in his wife’s unified spirit, lying beneath her breasts and reserved only for him.

Closing: The Appointment You Keep Cancelling

Return to the chair, because this study has been leading you back to it.

There is an inspection you have been postponing, and you know the tooth. It is the Word held against some part of you that you have decided not to examine. You have learned to chew on the other side. You have learned to smile with your hand a little raised. And like all avoidance, it has been working: it no longer hurts. Be clear about what that means. Conscience, left unexamined long enough, goes quiet the same way a nerve does.

Three examinations are scheduled, and you know which one you have been cancelling.

The first is the teeth: what you have swallowed. Name the last accusation you passed on, or believed, or built a view on, from a single voice. A text. A story. A look you interpreted. You gave a person a verdict and never ground it against its twin. That is the quiet habit of a certain man, and the habit of a sure woman, and it has cost somebody a reputation they never knew was on trial.

Pro 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

The second is the lips: what comes out. Think of the voice you use on a stranger on the telephone, and the one you use on the person you love at the end of the day. Which is the true one? A tongue measured against nothing is measured against your mood, and your mood decides your marriage, your children’s memory of you, and your own opinion of your faith.

The third is the neck: where you refuse to bow. Name the person to whom you have not, in years, said you were right. The chin has been up for so long it no longer feels like a decision.

Nothing here is a verdict on your worth. It is a verdict on a habit, and habits can be broken in the specific, concrete way that repentance always breaks them: by doing differently, starting this week. Do not repeat an accusation until it has a second witness, Christ’s spirit first within. Before you send the next message, hold it against His word, and send it only if it would survive being read aloud to Him. Go to the one person and say it: you were right, and I was slow to say so. Confess to Christ, in so many words, the specific verdict you passed unexamined, and repair what Christ gives you to repair.

Because the inspection does not go away. Every sacrifice was washed before it was burned. The Bride is the one who walked into the examination, and so she is the one who comes out white as wool and red as the colour she has agreed to die. The offering that declines the appointment is not excused from it. It only forfeits the washing, and the same hands, the same knife, and the same fire arrive in their own time.

You may stay in the waiting room until the nerve is quite dead, or you may walk in while it can still feel the light.

End of Part 19
Next: Son 4:6-7

The Book of John

(Joh 1:19-28)

[Study Aired November 12, 2026]

In this section of the book of John we will look at the testimony or record of John the Baptist. This prophetic event of John’s was written for our admonition, the body of Christ, “upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1Co 10:11).

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

Joh 1:19  And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
Joh 1:20  And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Joh 1:21  And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

The prophet being referred to in (Joh 1:21) “Art thou that prophet” is the prophet like unto Moses (Heb 3:3), whom God promised to raise up in (Deu 18:15-18), that prophet being Christ.

Heb 3:3  For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house (Psa 127:1) hath more honour than the house.

Deu 18:15  The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; (Joh 16:15 , Joh 12:49)

Joh 16:15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Joh 12:49  For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Deu 18:16  According to all that thou desirest of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

(Moses and Aaron were refused and rebelled against of the 250 men of renown and the camp of Israel suffered the consequences of that rebellion and rejection which was against God 1Sa 8:7, Heb 12:25, 1Co 10:11. The promised reformer Jesus Christ comes on the scene and he is rejected of the world typified by the rebellion of Korah and the entire camp of Israel in Moses’ day [Joh 1:10])

Moses was a reformer in his day pointing people to the letter of the law whereas when Christ came on the scene He pointed to the spirit of the law, the law of Christ that brings life (Gal 6:2, Mat 5:43-45, 2Co 3:6).

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

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.

God’s elect are as Christ being sent (1Jn 4:17, Joh 20:21) and called to be reformers as Christ was, knowing that this is not the time for the world to receive this message of the true Christ and the true gospel, which is spoken with the spirit of God (Luk 12:12).

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.

Gal 1:6  I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: [1Jn 4:1]

Luk 12:12  For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

John the baptist can be seen as a type of the elect typifying our transition from our time of preparation in the wilderness to becoming the manchild (Rev 12:5), which can only happen by the losing of our first, Adamic, carnal, letter-of-the-law-minded, head, as John literally experienced for our sakes (Mat 14:10, 2Co 4:15). John in that sense points to our transition from being under the law to point to Christ where grace and truth are found (Joh 1:17-18).

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

By the time of John the Baptist, the Jewish people were expecting the fulfilment of several Old Testament prophecies, and the Jews sending “priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?”, typifies the world’s groaning, spoken of in (Rom 8:22-24), and the “ever-searching but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” spirit (2Ti 3:7) of the churches of Babylon that, by God’s grace, we’ve come out of (2Co 6:17) .

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.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?(Joh 20:29, Col 1:27)

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,

Mal 4:5-6 foretold that Elijah would come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, as Luk 1:13-17 also prophesied to Zacharias, John’s father. Christ’s explanation of who John is (Mat 11:13-15), is a parable and a prophecy that can only be received by those who have spiritual ears to hear, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear”. What the holy spirit is showing us, comparing spiritual things with spiritual using the physical (1Co 2:13), is that Elijah is a type of Christ’s and John’s coming, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Add to that the double portion of the spirit that Elisha was given (2Ki 2:9), which symbolizes the elect, the body of Christ that is baptized into His death, to be given the power to convert others which Christ never did in His ministry on earth (1Ti 4:16, Joh 14:12, Php 2:12-13).

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Luk 1:17  And he [John] shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Mat 11:13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Mat 11:14  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Mat 11:15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

2Ki 2:9  And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. [Rev 11:3]
Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Joh 1:22  Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh 1:23  He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Joh 1:24  And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

John has been asked twice now who he is, the first time being “the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem” to ask him “who art thou” in (Joh 1:19), and then here in verse 22, the “Pharisees” asked him, “Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?”.

This questioning of who John is, is a type and shadow of the same questioning that Christ himself was subject to in (Mat 16:13-17).

Mat 16:13  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:14  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Mat 16:15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Knowing Christ only after the flesh by His name is not knowing him at all (Joh 17:3), and trying to know who John the baptist was, was just as much a vain pursuit of the religious world of his day as it is today in the churches of this world, with no stay of bread or water wanting to know the Christ that John pointed to, but to have his name while maintaining their own righteousness (Isa 3:1, Isa 4:1). The disciples were no different than these groups who represent Babylon that we must come out of, and cannot, until the day of Pentecost, which is the day when we begin to truly know Christ in the spirit alone (Rom 8:9) and not in the flesh (Joh 14:20-21, 2Co 5:16).

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

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

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

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.

The word manna^H4478 means “what is it”, and that simple truth is a reflection of what we are talking about in these verses (Joh 1:19-21). The world needs to see the physical manna to know Christ, and asks the question, ‘who is he’, or ‘what is it’ or ‘who are you’. On the other hand, we as His elect do not want to know Christ after the flesh any longer but in the spirit, where the true manna from heaven is being received of God. Blessed are those who believe and who have not seen the physical Christ (2Co 5:16, Joh 6:58, Joh 20:29). Christ was not concerned, and neither are we, about judging the flesh of men and measuring the court, but we do judge and examine ourselves as the body of Christ (Joh 8:15, Rev 11:2, 2Co 13:5).

H4478 manna מָן  mân  mawn
– Original: מן
– Transliteration: man
– Phonetic: mawn
– Definition:

 – manna
– the bread from heaven that fed the Israelites for 40 years of wilderness wanderings
– means ‘What is it?’

– Origin: from H4100
– TWOT entry: 1208,1209
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

– Strong’s: From H4100; literally a whatness (so to speak) that is manna (so called from the question about it): – manna.

Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. [Joh 6:68]

John was not a liar, there was no guile in his heart, and his answer reflected that truth, “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias” (Joh 1:23).

Making straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias, was the message of John the baptist, which was clearly a prophecy of the work that God was going to do through Christ and then, with God’s spirit, through the church. Both Christ and his body are God’s workmanship, which Christ would be zealously consumed for (Isa 40:3-5, Eph 2:10, Psa 69:9).

Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isa 40:5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

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

Psa 69:9  For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, [Joh 6:54] and I in him, [Rom 8:9, Col 1:27] the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joh 1:25  And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
Joh 1:26  John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

John answers the question for the Pharisees, and notice the way the question is asked, “if you be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?”, then why are you baptizing? The point being that John was setting the stage for Christ to abide in the hearts and minds of his people, and the setting of that stage meant that this baptism unto repentance was just the starting point. The Pharisees themselves were not able to see their need for this baptism of John, let alone the baptism of fire that Christ will bring (Mat 3:8-9).

Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Mat 3:9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

John’s answer was, “I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not”. Christ who stands amongst us (Heb 13:5) gave the answer to this question of the Pharisees in this manner, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” This is all to say that we need to first be pointed to Christ via the churches of this world with a very physical baptism of water experience, to then, by God’s grace, be called out of her in this age to be baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:4, Mat 3:11, 1Co 3:12-13, Mat 21:44, Heb 6:1-3).

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: [wood hay and stubble] but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: [gold silver and precious stones]

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.

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. (Col 1:24, Mat 3:11)

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

Joh 1:27  He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet^G2438 I am not worthy to unloose.

John was a great man (Mat 11:11), and it is in verses like this one (Joh 1:27) that we see why Christ considered him to be great (Mat 23:12). John typifies the elect who, ‘of the least of these is greater than John’, but also know that we are the chief of sinners, and know we are nothing without Christ as our head and the body that He has given us (Mat 11:11, Luk 17:10).

We recently discussed how God sees the body of Christ and how we should see ourselves now with the mind of Christ. Not as the Pharisees who did not know Christ. We are His body, we are his witnesses, we are a special people because of the life of Christ within us (1Pe 2:9).

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

Christ most likely did not have his sandals on when he was on the cross (Joh 19:23-24), and John is unknowingly prophesying of Christ’s death, of which he knew and we know we are not worthy to have such a colossal sacrifice made for us that reconciles us to God (Rom 5:10) [symbolized by removing the latchets to take the shoes off]. God so loved the world that He gave us his only begotten Son (Joh 3:16), and although John the baptist truthfully realized he was not the Christ, he was not given to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake the church [the bride vs friend of the bride], as the elect would (Col 1:24).

However, John’s suffering, or filling up, was typical of the suffering that the body of Christ would go through (Act 5:41), becoming partakers of his suffering (1Pe 4:13) that will prepare us to be those saviours who come up on mount Zion (Oba 1:21).

Christ was less than a criminal in the eyes of the people in his day (Luk 23:18), and there is one instance of the word for latchet^G2438, used as the word thong^G2438, that helps us further understand what Christ’s sandals symbolize for us (Act 22:25). Christ wasn’t a Roman citizen as Paul was, but what was happening to him was unlawful and a reflection of our ignorance of who He was. This word thong^G2438 found in (Act 22:25) reminds us we are all guilty of the scourging and stripes that were put upon Christ (Act 2:36). Christ is the sacrificial goat or dove that was killed, and in (Act 22:25) we see that Paul represents the dove that is set free, or the scapegoat that the elect are. There is no condemnation in Christ (Rom 8:1) and so the answer to this question, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?” is ‘NO’!

Act 2:36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Act 22:25  And as they bound him with thongs^G2438, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Gal 6:2) hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

G2438 himas hee-mas’
Perhaps from the same as G260; a strap, that is, (specifically) the tie (of a sandal) or the lash (of a scourge): – latchet, thong.
Total KJV occurrences: 4

The foot washing that the disciples of Christ experienced also required the sandals to be taken off, another symbol of our need to have our life (our walk or way of life) washed by the body and blood of Christ, which is what was happening symbolically when the disciples had their feet washed by Christ and were commanded to wash each other’s feet (Eph 5:30, Joh 13:14).

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Joh 13:14  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

Joh 1:28  These things were done in Bethabara^G962 beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Baptizing beyond the Jordan “in Bethabaraa^G962” represents the first baptism unto repentance that must come before the baptism into Christ’s death. Bethabara literally translates to ‘house of crossing (a ford)’. Christ is our mediator to make this crossing possible (Gal 3:19, 1Ti 2:5). When Christ was baptized the head and the body went into the waters of the Jordan! John’s baptism represents our immature state of being baptised in Babylon but not yet mature enough to go beyond this baptism, where we are then baptized into Christ’s death, and then able to die daily (Heb 6:1-3, Rom 6:1-3).

Mat 3:13  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to JordanG2446 unto John, to be baptized of him.

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

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

——

G2446  Ἰορδάνης Iordanēs ee-or-dan’-ace
Of Hebrew origin [H3383]; the Jordanes (that is, Jarden), a river of Palestine: – Jordan.

H3383 yardên yar-dane’
From H3381; a descender; Jarden, the principal river of Palestine: – Jordan.

The word Jordan means descender, a word that describes Christ who took on the form of a servant and was baptized into a river that typifies the humility and love that He has for us (Php 2:7, Mat 20:28). John the baptist also reflected this humility and understanding of the need to remain abased (Joh 3:30, Mat 23:12).

——

G962 Bethabara

– Original: Βηθαβαρά
– Transliteration: Bethabara
– Phonetic: bay-thab-ar-ah’
– Definition: Bethabara = house of the ford

a place beyond Jordan, where John was baptising. This may correspond to Bethbarah (fords of Abarah), the ancient ford of the Jordan on the road to Gilead

– Origin: of hebrew origin H1004 and H5679
– TDNT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Location

– Strong’s: Of hebrew origin ([H1004] and [H5679]);
ferry house;
Bethabara (that is Bethabarah) a place on the Jordan: – Bethabara.

——

G2438 Thongs
– Original: ἱμάς
– Transliteration: himas
– Phonetic: hee-mas’
– Definition:

 – a thong of leather, a strap
 – in the NT of the thongs with which captives or criminals were either bound or beaten
 – of the thongs or ties by which sandals were fastened to the feet

– Origin: perhaps from the same as G260
– TDNT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

– Strong’s: Perhaps from the same as G260; a strap that is (specifically) the tie (of a sandal) or the lash (of a scourge): – latchet thong.
Total KJV Occurrences: 4

latchet, 3 Mar 1:7; Luk 3:16; Joh 1:27
thongs, 1 Act 22:25

We are blessed to be associated with “the thongs with which captives or criminals were either bound or beaten”, being bound to the altar, and filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake the church (Psa 118:27, Col 1:24).

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

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:

Book of Colossians 3:15-17 Let the Peace of God Rule

[Study Aired November 10, 2026]

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:15–17).

Called in One Body

The last study ended with love as the bond, with the people held together whole. These three verses say what is to rule in the hearts of people held that way; what is to live in them, and what they act under. Peace is to rule in their hearts. The word of Christ is to dwell in them richly. The name of the Lord Jesus is the name under which they do everything. Thanks stands at the close of the first verse and again at the close of the last.

Verse 15 also says what the Colossians are. They are “called in one body.” They are not told to make a body, since they already are one. They are told what is to rule in their hearts, and the first answer is peace.

Let the Peace of God Rule in Your Hearts

Start with peace itself, because Scripture defines it. The Old Testament word is shâlôm (H7965) “peace”, and the New Testament word is eirēnē (G1515). Its plain sense is well-being, how a man fares. That is why the same Hebrew word is the question asked after a man’s health. Genesis 43:27 records it, “he asked them of their welfare (H7965), and said, Is your father well,” and Exodus 4:18 sends a man on his way with the same word, “Go in peace.” The New Testament word carries the same sense. In Mark 5:34 Christ tells a healed woman, “go in peace, and be whole of thy plague,” and in Luke 7:50 he sends another woman away the same way, “go in peace.” God is the one who gives peace, and it comes with safety. Leviticus 26:6 promises, “I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid.” It goes with righteousness and trust. Isaiah 32:17 ties it to righteousness, “the work of righteousness shall be peace,” and Isaiah 26:3 ties it to trust, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” That is why it is withheld from the wicked. Isaiah 48:22 declares, “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.” Jeremiah 6:14 warns of a peace that is only spoken, “Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” The word reaches past all this to peace between parties, as Ecclesiastes 3:8 shows, “a time of war, and a time of peace.”

The New Testament shows how that peace was secured. It came through a person, as Ephesians 2:14 puts it, “he is our peace.” Colossians 1:20 describes it as “having made peace through the blood of his cross,” and Ephesians 2:15–16 adds that Christ made “in himself of twain one new man, so making peace,” and reconciled “both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Colossians 1:21 reminds its own readers of the same, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.” Christ gives this peace, and he told his disciples it is not the world’s kind. At John 14:27 Christ states, “my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you,” and Philippians 4:7 adds that it “passeth all understanding.” So the peace of God in Scripture is the well-being God gives, made through the cross. The untroubled heart that goes with it is its effect, not its definition, and John 14:27 sets the two side by side, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” We read verse 15’s peace as this peace, though the verse does not itself say so.

The word the KJV prints “rule” means to decide and to direct. The Greek is brabeuō (G1018), and it stands once in the New Testament, here. There is no second use to set beside it, so the study takes the sense from the lexicon. Thayer gives three senses: to be an umpire, to decide or determine, and to direct, control, or rule, and he lists this verse under the third. Strong’s gives ‘to arbitrate and to govern.’ The Greek copies also differ on whose peace it is, reading “of God” or “of Christ.” Either way it is the peace the verse commands.

Part Ten pointed to this verse. It studied katabrabeuō (G2603), the word at Colossians 2:18 for deciding against a man, which the KJV renders “Let no man beguile you of your reward.” It said that Paul uses a plain form of the same root later in the letter. Thayer lists umpire as the first sense of this verb, so an umpire may well stand behind the word. Paul draws on the games elsewhere, too. He writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize,” and Philippians 3:14 adds, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” In both, a noun of this same family names the prize, not the one who judges. In 2 Timothy 4:7–8 he looks back and ahead, “I have finished my course,” and “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” There the crown is given by a judge, so Paul pictures the judge as well as the race. So the verb may carry the umpire’s picture, and Paul knew that picture well.

What, then, does the peace of God decide? Verse 15 states only that it rules “in your hearts.” Verse 13 spoke of forgiving “if any man have a quarrel against any,” and love was named as the bond of the people, so the nearest reading is that peace decides what a man does when his course touches others. Scripture shows what that looks like, a course settled by the peace they were called to. In 1 Corinthians 7:15, when an unbelieving partner leaves, Paul tells the believer “let him depart” and gives the reason, “God hath called us to peace.” In Romans 14:19, when brethren differ over foods and days, he urges “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” In both, the course is chosen for the sake of peace, and in Romans 14 for the brother as well.

Because this peace is God’s gift, it keeps company with what God requires. Psalm 119:165 declares “Great peace have they which love thy law,” Hebrews 12:14 instructs the reader to “follow peace with all men, and holiness,” and James 3:17 describes the wisdom from above as “first pure, then peaceable.” So the verse does not make a man’s own feeling the judge, and Jeremiah 6:14 shows what a peace is worth that God has not given. Philippians 4:7 is the only other place the KJV writes “the peace of God,” and it also puts that peace at the heart, promising that it “shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Verse 15 then gives the reason for the command. They are “called in one body,” and the “which” they were called to is the peace, as Paul told the Corinthians. They were not left to make it. Ephesians 4:3–4 sets the two halves of this clause side by side. It names “the bond of peace,” and then continues, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” Part Fifteen met that bond of peace as a bond around the unity of the spirit. So the calling, the one body, and the peace belong together here. Paul also asks peace of them toward one another, and 1 Thessalonians 5:13 puts it plainly, “be at peace among yourselves.”

So verse 15 says three things. God’s peace is to decide in their hearts, they were called to that peace, and the calling is in one body.

And Be Ye Thankful

Then comes a short command: “and be ye thankful.” It asks for thanks, and it comes at once after peace and the calling. The word for thankful stands nowhere else in the New Testament. It is a relative of the verb eucharisteō (G2168), “give thanks,” and the study rests on how that family is used in this letter, not on the one word.

That family sounds six times in Colossians. The verb stands at Colossians 1:3, 1:12, and 3:17. The noun, “thanksgiving,” stands at Colossians 2:7 and 4:2, “abounding therein with thanksgiving” and “watch in the same with thanksgiving.” The word for thankful stands here. Where the letter names the one who is thanked, he is called the Father. Colossians 1:3 opens with “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Colossians 1:12 continues with “Giving thanks unto the Father,” and Colossians 3:17 ends with “giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” The other three places do not name the one thanked.

The letter also shows what the thanks answers. At Colossians 1:3–4 it answers their faith and love, “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints.” At Colossians 1:12 it answers the inheritance, because the Father “hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Colossians 2:7 goes with what they were taught, “as ye have been taught.” In each, the thanks answers something already there. Verse 15 does not say what it thanks, but it sets the command right after the calling: they are called first, and the thanks follows.

Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly

Verse 16 names the second thing, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” “Dwell” means to live in, and “richly” means in abundance. The Greek for dwell is enoikeō (G1774), and it stands five times in the New Testament, so each use can be set beside the others. Each quotation below uses that same verb. Romans 8:11 speaks of “his Spirit that dwelleth in you,” and 2 Timothy 1:14 of “the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” In 2 Corinthians 6:16 God promises, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them,” and 2 Timothy 1:5 recalls faith that dwelt, “the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois.” In every one, the thing named lives in those the text names, and none speaks of a visit. So the word of Christ is not to pass through them. It is to take up residence.

“Richly” is the word of abundance, and 1 Timothy 6:17 uses it of God, who “giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” So the word is to live in them in fullness.

Ephesians 5:18–19 runs in nearly the same order as these verses, and it opens with a different command. Colossians 3:16 gives the command, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” and Ephesians 5:18 gives another, “be filled with the Spirit.” So how do the spirit and the word of Christ stand to each other? Scripture answers, and the answer starts with whose word it is. In John, Christ’s word is the word God gave through Him. Christ declares in John 12:49, “the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak,” and John 14:24 adds, “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Colossians 1:25–27 speaks of “the word of God; Even the mystery… which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The word Christ speaks and the word that makes known Christ in you are both God’s word. The spirit’s words are Christ’s. John 16:13–14 declares that the spirit “shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak,” and that “he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” Christ gives the reason in John 16:15, “All things that the Father hath are mine.” So what the spirit speaks and what Christ speaks are the same word, and the Father is its source. Hebrews 2:3–4 shows the order, with salvation that “at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,” and God bearing witness with “gifts of the Holy Ghost.” The word begins with the Lord, and God bears witness to it with gifts of the spirit.

The spirit is also the one who puts the word in the heart and gives it power. According to John 14:26 he “shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you,” and 2 Corinthians 3:3 describes Christ’s epistle as “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God… in fleshy tables of the heart.” Paul reminds the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 that the gospel came “not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost.” The two also come together in those who receive them. Galatians 3:2 shows the spirit received by “the hearing of faith,” and Acts 5:32 adds that he is given “to them that obey him.” The word is what is said, and the spirit carries it and writes it in the heart.

Teaching and Admonishing One Another

The rest of verse 16 turns to what they do with the word. Two of the verbs are ones Paul used of himself. In Colossians 1:28 he describes his own work, “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom.” The word the KJV prints “warning” there is the one it prints “admonishing” in verse 16. It is noutheteō (G3560), and each quotation below uses that same verb. So the work Paul names as his own at Colossians 1:28 is now handed to them for each other, “teaching and admonishing one another.”

The verb stands eight times, and the uses divide. Paul does it. He recalls in Acts 20:31, “I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears,” and he tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4:14, “as my beloved sons I warn you.” Leaders do it, as 1 Thessalonians 5:12 shows, “are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,” and the brethren do it. Romans 15:14 tells the Romans they are “able also to admonish one another,” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 asks the Thessalonian brethren to “warn them that are unruly,” and 2 Thessalonians 3:15 instructs, of an erring man, “admonish him as a brother.” So not every use is mutual. Romans 15:14 and Colossians 3:16 give the same teaching from different letters: members admonish one another.

One thing about the sentence needs saying before going on. The command “let dwell” is about the word, but “teaching,” “admonishing,” and “singing” speak of the people. So the verse does not say whether the word dwells by their teaching, or shows itself in it, or whether these are three more commands. Each reading is open. “In all wisdom” can go with the dwelling or with the teaching, and Colossians puts it both ways: at Colossians 1:9 it follows “filled with the knowledge of his will,” and at Colossians 1:28 it stands with the teaching. In the same way “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” can be the means of the teaching, as Ephesians 5:19 puts psalms with “Speaking to yourselves,” or can belong with the singing. What every reading holds is that these are things done by the people, toward one another and toward the Lord.

The three kinds of song are named together only here and at Ephesians 5:19. The noun hymn stands nowhere else. Psalm and song each stand elsewhere on their own, and 1 Corinthians 14:26 shows that at Corinth each member had a psalm when they met, “every one of you hath a psalm.” The text draws no line between the three. The Greek copies also differ on whether the song is to “the Lord” or to “God.” Either way it goes to God, because what is done to the Lord ends in the glory of God, as Philippians 2:11 shows, “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” and Matthew 10:40 adds, “he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”

Singing to God is joyful noise. Psalm 66:1 invites, “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands,” Psalm 95:2 joins it to psalms and thanksgiving, “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms,” and James 5:13 puts it plainly, “Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” Psalm 100 shows what that looks like.

“A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing” (Psalm 100:1–2).

So verse 16 hands the whole body a work Paul named as his own at Colossians 1:28. The word lives in them, and they teach, warn, and sing to one another and to the Lord.

In the Name of the Lord Jesus

Verse 17 draws the widest line yet, “whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Nothing is outside it, and “whatsoever” and “all” both mark it. Paul gives the same reach to another standard in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

To do a thing in someone’s name is to do it as under him, on his word and through him. Two kinds of text show it. One is authority. In Acts 4:7 the rulers ask the apostles, “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” and they are asking what stood behind the deed. Peter answers with a name in Acts 4:10, “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, “we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” a command given on His word. The other is access. John 16:23 promises, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” So what the Colossians do in word or deed is done as under the Lord Jesus. This verse is about whose word they act under, and what they offer goes to the Father through him.

The verse ends where verse 15 ended, with thanks, “giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” This is the same verb as in Colossians 1:3 and 1:12. The words “by him” mean through him, and the KJV prints the same Greek word as “through” in Romans 1:8, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all.” The writer of Hebrews adds in Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.” Ephesians 5:20 puts the same thanks “unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” so the name and the “by him” point the same way. The thanks are offered to God and the Father, and it goes through the Lord.

What These Verses Establish

Read  whole, the three verses name three things: the peace of God ruling in their hearts, the word of Christ living in them richly, and the name of the Lord Jesus, under which they do everything. Thanks closes the first and the last of today’s verses.

What these verses add is a way of life for people who already belong. They were called in one body, and peace is to rule in their hearts. The word lives in them richly, and they teach, warn, and sing. Nothing they say or do falls outside the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul does not ask them to make the body. He tells them what rules in their hearts, because they are called in one body.

Verse 18 turns to wives and husbands, and the next study takes it up.

Next study: (Colossians 3:18–21)

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”

2 Samuel 8:1–18 David’s Conquests

[Study Aired November 9, 2026]

The chapter under review today deals with David’s victories over the Philistines, the Moabites and the Syrians or Arameans. It also focuses on David’s dedication of the spoils from the wars waged to the Lord. The chapter ends with David’s government and officers. 

David’s Victories Over the Philistines, the Moabites and the Syrians

2Sa 8:1  And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines. 

The preceding chapter focused on how the Lord gave David rest over his enemies. This rest shows us that as the Lord’s elect, we must enter the Lord’s rest, where we cease from our own works. It marks a period in our walk with Christ where we depend wholly on what the Lord is doing on our behalf and not what we do.  

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

This rest is a prerequisite to winning significant victories over our flesh. Thus, here in verse 1, we see David smiting the Philistines, subduing them and taking Methegammah, which refers to the mother city of Gath, from the Philistines. This rest in the Lord, which is necessary for our victory over the flesh is exemplified in several wars waged by the people of Israel where they won victories without engaging their enemies in a physical fight. For example, when the Israelites left Egypt and were pursued by Pharaoh and his army, they were given victory over the Egyptians at the Red Sea without the Israelites fighting them.  

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, standstill, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. 
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Exo 14:27  And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 
Exo 14:28  And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. 
Exo 14:29  But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 
Exo 14:30  Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 

As we can see from the Bible, the Philistines were next door neighbors to Israel. The fact that Saul won victories over the Philistines suggests that as His elect, we started winning victories over our flesh when we were in Babylon, as Saul signifies our lives in Babylon. The Philistines therefore indicate the deeds or works of the flesh which we are given victory over starting from our walk in Babylon. 

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 

David’s victory over the Philistines was predicated on his rest in the Lord. As His elect, our victory is dependent on our rest in Him as we look up to Him to do the work of overcoming our flesh, even as we saw Jesus depending on God to do the works while He was here on earth. 

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 

2Sa 8:2  And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts. 

The Lord also gave victory to David over Moab. Moab represents a different challenge of our flesh. The first time that the Israelites encountered the Moabites, it was during the wilderness experience where they camped close to Moab. Unfortunately, Israel was influenced by the Moabites to worship false idols. False idols represent false doctrines.  

Num 25:1  And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Num 25:2  And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 
Num 25:3  And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.  

From the meaning of its name, we can see what Moab represents. Moab means ‘of his father.’ As we are aware, we start our walk with the devil being our father, as indicated by our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus stated that a key characteristic of the devil is his lies. Therefore, Moab, being of his father means that it represents the lies or false doctrines of our flesh.  

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

David overcoming Moab in verse 2 therefore implies our victory over the lies of our carnal mind or flesh, which is fed by the devil. The fact that David drew two lines with one line representing those to be killed and another line signifying those to be kept alive, suggests that although we have significant victory over the lies of the devil through our carnal minds, there are still lies of our carnal minds that we have to overcome through the hail or truth of His word. 

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.

The Moabites becoming David’s servants and bringing gifts to him suggests that we have overcome the lies of the carnal mind and therefore we have the mind of Christ which is a gift to the body of Christ through what every joint supplies. 

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

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. 

2Sa 8:3  David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. 
2Sa 8:4  And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots. 

In the Book of Revelation, an angel was sent to release the four angels bound by the river Euphrates. It represents how the whole of the Lord’s elect are delivered from the river of false doctrines that runs through Babylon or the church system of this world. 

Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 

David defeating Hadadezer who controls the land with the border at the river Euphrates means that, as His elect, we are given power over the false doctrines of Babylon. 

Verse 4 therefore shows us how we become equipped as part of the Lord’s army through the victories over our flesh or carnal minds. Being equiped here means that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. In Revelation 9:16-17, our release from the false doctrines of Babylon equips us to become part of the Lord’s army. 

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 

2Sa 8:5  And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
2Sa 8:6  Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went. 

On a negative note, the number twenty-two thousand represents us, His elect, when we were fearful and afraid, thinking that we cannot win this war against our flesh. 

Jdg 7:3  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 

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? 

Syrian means ‘exalted.’ When fear is exalted in our carnal minds, we become a prey to our flesh. David slaying the twenty-two thousand Syrians therefore signifies our victory as the Lord’s elect, over our fears, which comes from our carnal minds influenced by the devil. This is the promise of the Lord to us that we should not be afraid because He is with us:

Isa 41:10  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 

Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  

Every high thing that exalts itself (Syrians) against the knowledge of the Lord must be brought down in our lives, if we are to become overcomers.

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;  

A garrison in verse 6 represents a body of soldiers that occupies a territory with the view to maintaining control and to keeping watch. David setting up a garrison in Syria of Damascus signifies the need to keep watch over victories won so we do not slip back into captivity or bondage again.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

The Syrians bringing gifts to David when they became David’s servants speaks of spiritual riches that come to us as we continue to win victories over our carnal minds. In other words, as Christ ascends in our lives, through the dying of our flesh or carnal mind, we are given more gifts. 

Eph 4:8  Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (ESV)  

It is important to note that in verse 6, the Lord preserved David wherever he went. This is to assure us of the Lord’s protection wherever we go in this life, as we are the apple of His eyes or bride. 

2Sa 8:7  And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.  

David taking the shields of gold from the servants of Hadadezer is another way of saying that the truth that our brothers and sisters have in the church system of this world shall be taken away from them and given to us, His elect. 

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. 

David bringing the shields of gold to Jerusalem means that the heavenly Jerusalem or the church of the firstborn is the pillar of truth. 

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 

2Sa 8:8  And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass. 

It is important to note that the sockets of the door to the tabernacle in the Old Testament are cast of copper or brass. One cannot enter the temple to worship without passing by the brass sockets. It shows how it is through us that humanity shall be able to come to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. Cities in the Bible can represent Babylon as shown in the following:

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.

David taking exceeding much brass from Betah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, signifies that it is through the mercy we have received at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon, that they shall be made perfect. 

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

2Sa 8:9  When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
2Sa 8:10  Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:

Toi sending his son Joram to come and bless king David after hearing of David’s victories is to let us know that in the fullness of time, when we finally win this victory over our flesh or become overcomers, Jesus, represented by Toi’s son Joram, will receive us to bless us. We are assured of many blessings from the Lord when we overcome as we see David being blessed by Joram, when he overcame Hadadezer.  

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. 

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

The gold and silver represent the word of the Lord, which is Christ. Therefore, Joram bringing David vessels of silver, gold and brass is to let us know that when we overcome, we shall come to see Jesus as He is. 

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 

The brass signifies the work of the holy spirit in our lives as we are refined through the fire to become the doorway for humanity. As indicated earlier, the sockets of the door of the tabernacle are cast of copper or brass and it means that to enter the temple to worship the Lord, one must pass through the door with brass sockets. The vessel of brass given to David by Joram signifies the privilege given to us His elect, that all humanity will come to worship the Lord through us, when we overcome. 

2Sa 8:11  Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued; 
2Sa 8:12  Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 

David dedicating to the Lord all the silver and gold that he had won in battles is to show our appreciation of the Lord as we can do nothing of ourselves and that all the victories that we have won over the flesh come from the Lord. 

Psa 116:12  What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 
Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.  

Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen. 

As we are aware, gold and silver represent the word of the Lord. David dedicating the gold and silver that he had won in battles to the Lord is also to demonstrate to us that it is the Lord who opens our eyes to see and our ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom. 

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. 

In verse 12, the list of the enemies defeated by David is mentioned. It indicates that it is when we have victories over our flesh that we can give back to the Lord. Giving back to the Lord means offering our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. 

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. 

2Sa 8:13  And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men. 

The number eighteen thousand on a positive note, is the number demonstrating our victory as the Lord’s elect, over our flesh. 

1Ch 18:12  Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.

David getting a name in verse 13 when he returned from defeating the eighteen thousand Syrians at the valley of salt, demonstrates to us that in the fullness of time, when Christ comes, we who have overcome shall be given a name by our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Rev 2:17  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 hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. 

This new name on a white stone signifies Christ in us, His elect, which demonstrates His approval of our works, just as David had a new name after His victories.

2Sa 8:14  And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went. 

As indicated earlier, a garrison represents a body of soldiers which occupies a territory with the view of maintaining control and keeping watch. David setting up garrisons in Edom signifies the need to keep watch over victories won so that we do not slip back into captivity or bondage to the flesh. 

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.  

The Lord preserving David wherever he went is to assure as, His elect, that the Lord is with us in every situation that we find ourselves in. He will never leave us alone to become a prey for the devil.  

Deu 31:6  Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 

David’s Officials

2Sa 8:15  And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people. 
2Sa 8:16  And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 
2Sa 8:17  And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe; 
2Sa 8:18  And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief rulers. 

These verses are to show us the reward which awaits us after our victories over our flesh. This will take place when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. 

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. 

In verse 15, David here represents our Lord Jesus Christ Who will reign with us, His elect, over the kingdoms of this world. David executing judgment and justice to all the people indicates that Christ’s coming is a time of judgment and justice to all people.

David’s officials represent us, His elect, and the meaning of their names reflects our role when Jesus comes with His angels or His elect. 

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

Joab being the captain of the host of the army of Israel represents our Lord Jesus Christ. This is affirmed by the name Joab which means Jehovah is Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ is also our father as shown in the following verse:

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  

Jos 5:14  And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?     

Jehoshaphat means ‘Jehovah has judged.’ As His elect, we shall judge all humanity as well as angels. 

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

Zadok means ‘righteous.’ It is through judgment that all humanity shall learn 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. 

Ahimelech means ‘my brother is king.’ As brothers and sisters in Christ, we shall reign over the kingdoms of this world.  The name Seraiah denotes Jehovah is ruler. It also shows that we shall become rulers with Christ in the fullness of time. 

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 

Benaiah means Jehovah has built. We shall build the holy city or the new Jerusalem with Christ. 

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 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

David son’s here signifies us, His elect, as the sons of Jesus Christ. The fact that David’s sons shall be chief rulers also affirms our rulership status in the fullness of time when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. 

May the Lord bring to completion what He has started in us, His elect. Amen!!

The Hope of Glory – Part 1, The Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings and the Prize of Reigning with Him

[Study Aired November 8, 2026]

[Thank you to Mark Deschamps, for prompting this posting through a study he initiated.]

Introduction: Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

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:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Paul reveals the great mystery of the gospel: ‘Christ in us, the hope of glory.’ This hope is not merely the expectation of a future reward. It rests upon Jesus Christ, who is working within His people to accomplish the Father’s purpose.

The glory is still ahead of us, but the work that leads to that glory is taking place now. God is working in His people to bring them into conformity with the image of His Son. He teaches them to put off the old man, walk in the Spirit, endure trials, and depend upon His strength rather than their own.

Why Suffering?

This brings us to the central question of this study: Why is suffering connected with the hope of glory, and why does Scripture connect suffering with Christ to being glorified with Him and reigning with Him?

The answer involves the relationship between Christ’s work within us now, the fellowship of His sufferings, the transformation of our character, and the future inheritance God has promised.

The Scriptures establish a connected pattern: Christ is our hope, God is working in us, suffering accompanies our walk of faith, and the glory to come is associated with the calling He has prepared for His people.

We must understand this pattern carefully. Suffering does not purchase salvation, and pain by itself does not produce holiness. God is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The purpose of our present calling is not to boast in hardship but to be brought into conformity with Christ.

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

1. Christ Is Both the Beginning and the Completion of Our Hope

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.

The Christian life is not simply an attempt to imitate Jesus through natural strength. It is a life in which Christ works within us, changing our hearts and bringing our thoughts and actions into agreement with His Word.

Paul describes himself as crucified with Christ.

The life he now lives is a life “by the faith of the Son of God.”

This agrees with Colossians 1:27. Christ is our hope because the work of salvation and transformation depends upon Him. We cannot produce spiritual life through our own willpower.

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

God works in His people both to desire His will and to carry it out. Even our growth in obedience and love depends upon His working within us.

This does not make obedience unimportant. Rather, it reveals the source of our obedience. When we repent, forgive, endure, turn away from sin, and show love toward others, we should give God the glory for the work He is accomplishing in us.

Hebrews 12:2 calls Jesus “the author and finisher of our faith,” while Philippians 1:6 expresses confidence that He who has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

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

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:

God does not abandon the work He begins in His people. Through His Word, Spirit, correction, and the circumstances of life, He continues His work according to His purpose.

Therefore, the hope of glory begins with Christ’s work within us and points toward the glory that will be revealed in the age to come.

2. Present Suffering and the Glory to Come

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.

Paul directly connects suffering with Christ to being glorified with Him.

There is a present experience and a future fulfillment. In this present life, we encounter trials, weakness, correction, opposition, and the painful exposure of our sinful nature. Yet the glory God has promised has not been fully revealed.

Romans 8:18 does not deny the reality of suffering. It confirms that suffering precedes His glory.

Some trials bring deep grief, and we may not immediately understand what God is accomplishing through them. Scripture does not require us to pretend that pain is pleasant or that every circumstance is easy to explain.

Instead, we are called to trust God even when we do not understand every detail.

Philippians 1:29 teaches that believing in Christ and suffering for His sake belong to the calling of His people:

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Act 14:22 likewise speaks of entering the kingdom of God through much tribulation.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

These passages show that suffering is not necessarily evidence that we have done something wrong. We must not automatically interpret another person’s hardship as punishment for hidden sin. The account of Job warns us against making such assumptions.

At the same time, Scripture distinguishes suffering for righteousness… from suffering that results from our own wrongdoing… Not every painful experience should be assigned the same spiritual meaning.

The important distinction in Romans 8:17 is that Paul speaks of suffering with Christ.

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.

The issue is not simply how much pain a person experiences, but whether Christ is working in that person as he or she endures trials and remains faithful to Him.

Our present suffering must be understood in the light of the glory to come.

3. The Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings and the Death of the Old Man

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;

Paul wanted to know Christ not only in the power of His resurrection but also in the fellowship of His sufferings.

To share in Christ’s sufferings is to participate in the pattern of His life: obedience to the Father, faithfulness in trials, rejection by the world, and the surrender of our own will to God’s will.

This fellowship can involve opposition because of our faith, the inward struggle against sinful desires, and the correction and training through which God teaches us His ways.

Romans 6:6 explains the connection with the old man:

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

The old man represents our former life under the dominion of sin. In that life, we seek our own interests, trust our own wisdom, and resist the will of God.

When Christ works within us, He exposes these things. We begin to recognize our pride, anger, selfishness, fear, and desire for control. Trials can bring these attitudes to light and show us how deeply we need God’s grace.

Romans 8:13 teaches:

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 

Notice that it is through the Spirit that we put to death the deeds of the body. We do not overcome sin by our own strength apart from God.

The death of the old man is therefore not a reason for boasting. It reveals our dependence upon Christ. We are being taught to turn away from the works of the flesh and walk according to the Spirit.

God’s correction produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Hebrews 12:9–11 explains that the Father’s correction is for our profit, so that we might become partakers of His holiness…

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Correction can be painful because it brings us face-to-face with attitudes and actions that must change. Yet the purpose is not pain for its own sake. The purpose is holiness and righteousness.

God’s discipline must not be confused with the assumption that every tragedy is a specific punishment for a particular sin.

The passage teaches us to receive His correction and to allow His Word to instruct us.

The fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, therefore, is connected with the transformation of our lives. The Christ who is our hope is also the One working within us to bring us away from the ways of the flesh and into obedience to God.

4. Why Suffering Is Connected with Reigning with Christ

2Ti 2:11  It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

This passage gives one of Scripture’s clearest connections between suffering with Christ and reigning with Him.

Why would God connect these things?

The answer begins with the character and example of Christ Himself. Jesus was obedient to His Father even when that obedience brought rejection, humiliation, and death. He did not place His own will above the Father’s will.

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

Christ endured the cross and is now seated at the right hand of God’s throne. His path to glory included suffering.

Scripture presents a similar pattern for those who are called to follow Him. Those being prepared to reign with Christ must be taught His ways. They must learn humility, patience, mercy, faithfulness, and obedience. They must learn to depend upon God rather than their own natural strength.

This does not mean that suffering automatically produces these qualities. Some people become bitter through suffering, while others learn to trust God through it. Pain itself does not save us or guarantee spiritual maturity. God is the One who works in His people.

The connection is not that we purchase a throne through suffering. Rather, God is preparing His people for the calling He has promised.

Suffering with Christ belongs to the present process of being conformed to Christ, while reigning with Christ belongs to the future glory associated with that calling.

5. The Character of Those Who Reign with Christ

In Mark 10:42–45 Jesus contrasts the rulers of the Gentiles, who exercise authority over others, with the way greatness is understood among His disciples…

Mar 10:42  But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
Mar 10:43  But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
Mar 10:44  And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
Mar 10:45  For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Christ’s rule is not based upon selfish ambition. His life reveals obedience, service, and the willingness to lay down His life for others.

This gives us insight into why the character of Christ matters in the preparation of His people.

If Christ is preparing people to serve under Him, they must learn the character of their King. They must be brought away from pride, selfishness, and the desire to exalt themselves over others.

Trials can expose these things. They can reveal whether we seek God only when circumstances are pleasant or whether we remain faithful when obedience is costly.

The purpose is not merely to give believers a future position of honor. It is to prepare them to participate in the purposes of Christ.

The kingdom of Christ is not a continuation of the world’s pattern of selfish superiority. His example teaches us that true greatness is inseparable from service.

This is why the transformation of our character is central to the study. The One who is preparing His people for glory is also teaching them to reflect His character.

6. Suffering, Comfort, and the Ability to Help Others

Heb 2:18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. 

Christ’s experience of suffering is connected with His ability to help those who are being tempted and tested.

The One who helps us is not indifferent to suffering. Christ endured trials while remaining faithful to the Father, and He is able to help those who are tempted.

Paul also describes how the comfort he received from God enabled him to comfort others…

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.
2Co 1:5  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 

God’s comfort does not necessarily remove every trial immediately. However, the comfort we receive can become a means of helping others who are passing through distress.

When we have experienced our own weakness and learned to depend upon God’s mercy, we may become more understanding toward those who are struggling. We can encourage others with the comfort that we ourselves have received.

This principle fits the service associated with reigning with Christ. His kingdom concerns participation in God’s work, not selfish superiority.

We should not conclude that everyone must experience every kind of suffering before being able to help another person. Nor should we assume that all painful experiences are necessary or that we can always identify God’s particular purpose in a trial.

The clear principle is that God can use our trials, His Word, and the comfort He gives us to make us instruments of comfort to others.

The character of Christ is revealed not only in enduring suffering but also in ministering to those who suffer.

7. Grace, Good Works, the Inheritance, and the Prize of the High Calling

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

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

These verses establish an essential foundation for understanding suffering, obedience, and reward.

Salvation is a gift of God’s grace, not a wage earned by our works. We cannot place God in our debt through suffering, sacrifice, or personal effort.

We will pause here and continue this analysis in our next study.

[We thank Mark Deschamps for sharing this study with us. Mark can be reached at mrd1241@aol.com for questions or comments.]

Song of Solomon – Part 17b, The Chariot of His Purposes: Authority, Submission, and the Bride’s Crowning

[Study Aired November 7, 2026]

OPENING: THE BED AND THE PARADOX OF PEACE

Before we move to the chariot, we must understand what comes first. Before Solomon can establish his kingdom and kingship, he must transform the bed itself. The place where Adam surrendered his authority—the bedroom, the intimate space where a man’s will meets a woman’s appetite—this must be reclaimed as a place of peace.

Son 3:7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.
Son 3:8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

Sixty valiant men surround the bed. Not to defend the sleeping husband from external enemies, but to guard the bed itself—to protect this place from the chaos that has infected it, from the false claims made upon it, from the murmuring voices that have tried to establish their own authority within it.

Three times twenty (3×20). This is the language of cycles, of completeness, of a process brought to full completion. In Scripture’s language, it represents humanity’s entire history—six thousand years of the Adamic age. Every age. Every season of human history has been infected with the same corruption: a man’s God-given willful surrender to a woman’s appetite, and the domination that follows. She reflects Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 15:1-26.

Korah confused being called by God with being chosen by God for a particular purpose. The Israelites had been brought out of Egypt and separated from the surrounding nations. They concluded that this made them all equally entitled to exercise spiritual authority. They believed they already possessed the fullness of God’s truth and therefore could not recognize the distinction between the called and the chosen.

This is the fundamental error that surrounds Solomon’s bed. The sixty valiant men are not defending against external attack. They are defending against internal rebellion—the uprising of those who have been called but not chosen, who believe their presence in the household gives them authority to rule, and who insist that equality of calling means equality of authority.

Solomon’s wives, like Korah’s rebels, believed themselves chosen simply because they had been called. They believed their position in Solomon’s harem—their inclusion in his household, their access to his bed—made them equally entitled to shape his will.

Five is associated with grace. Since 250 is a multiple of five (5 × 50), it represents grace experienced through the death of our old man. The 250 men represent our old man, who must be swallowed up by the earth and die.

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Interestingly, God did not destroy Korah’s sons with him. They could identify with the Shulamite’s sisters, and eventually became associated with the service of song in God’s house (1 Chronicles 6:31-48), effectively singing the Bride’s praises in the Song of Solomon 6:9: “…The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.” 

Solomon, like Moses, had to learn that being called is not the same as being chosen. Being included in the covenant is not the same as being appointed to particular authority. And the bed—that sacred space where the king’s authority must be protected—must be guarded by those who understand this distinction. 

Yet, notice something crucial: the sixty valiant men are “expert in war” and hold their swords “because of fear in the night.” This is not peace. This is vigilance. This is the exhausting posture of defending a peace that has not yet fully come. The bed is surrounded. It is protected. Its specter still naggingly contests it, as he expressed in Ecclesiastes 7:23-29.

This is the condition of all marriages still operating under the Old Covenant—under the covenant of law, of attempt, of human effort to maintain what only chastising grace can sustain in hope and faith. The valiant men must stand guard. The swords must be drawn. Respect the night; don’t fear it. Because the peace of the bed is perpetually under assault from the murmuring of those who believe their desires should determine the king’s will.

Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 
Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 
Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand [1,000 sisters] at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 

THE CHARIOT: CHRIST’S MOVEMENT THROUGH HISTORY

Now Solomon builds something far greater than a defended bedroom. He builds a chariot far different from Babylon’s false richness, the Whore’s bed, and its chariot.

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. 

Chariot G4480 – 1. a chariot, a type of vehicle having four wheels.

Solomon was highly aware of Israel’s whoredoms, and the same “chariot” signified whoredoms by his 1,000 wives’ appearance of unity, where their spiritually ‘mincing’ walk disproved authenticity; he was 931 BCE, years too early to begin to see the emergence and John-like “admiration” and culmination of The Great Whore’s chariot, the means by which she, in many forms, conveyed her lewd doctrines, seducing mankind.

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 [astonishing deceptions]. 

Son 3:9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

Wood of Lebanon. Not gold. Not silver. Not the precious materials that might suggest permanence or divine origin. Wood. The material that speaks of the earthly, the natural, the temporary.

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.

The chariot’s framework is built of wood—temporary material. However, it is built with a purpose. Christ, as the Bridegroom, does not construct His chariot for permanence in this age. He constructs it for movement. For progress through history. To carry forward His purposes until they are complete.

The chariot itself is not the end. The chariot is the means. It is the vehicle through which Christ moves, carries out His will, and draws all things to Himself. This is why Paul says:

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The wooden framework of the chariot will not endure forever. In its appointed time, in its appointed season, it will accomplish everything it has been designed to accomplish. When that work is complete, it will be consumed in the fire of the final judgment, and Christ will stand forth in His true, eternal glory—no longer needing the temporary vehicle through which He moved.

What is this chariot? Who are the living creatures within it?

Christ is Himself the Chariot. Centered on Ezekiel 1:15-21, His Bride is so completely united with Christ in spirit that she becomes the means through which His will, His authority and His work are carried out.

Eze 1:15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
Eze 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
Eze 1:17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
Eze 1:18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
Eze 1:19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Eze 1:20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Eze 1:21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

One spirit. One movement. The living creatures and the wheels move together, not because the wheels are forced by mechanical necessity, but because the spirit—the singular, unified spirit—determines the movement of the entire vision.

This is what the Bride becomes: not an independent entity with her own will, but a unified extension of Christ’s will. She has no destination of her own. She goes wherever He goes. She does not determine the direction. The spirit that moves through Him moves through her too.

This is what perfection looks like in motion. Not the perfection of individual achievement, but the perfection of complete unity with Christ. Not the perfection of independent righteousness, but the perfection that comes only through abiding in Him.

Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

How is this possible? How can a bride become perfect as the Father is perfect?

Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 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.

Only through abiding. Only by surrendering her own will to His. Only through becoming, like the wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, the perfect instrument through which His will is manifested.

THE CHARIOT’S CONSTRUCTION: SILVER, GOLD, AND THE PAVEMENT OF LOVE

Now let us examine the chariot’s construction—the materials that compose it, the foundation on which it stands, and the covering that protects it.

Son 3:10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

Four distinct elements:

The Pillars – Silver – The Elect Established in God’s Temple

Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.

The pillars are not separate from the chariot. They are the chariot’s structure—the vertical supports that give it form and stability. They are made of silver, which represents God’s Word, redemption, and the truth of God as it is spoken forth.

The pillars of Solomon’s chariot are the elect—those established as permanent supports in the temple of God. They are not temporary fixtures. They are not decorative. They are structural. They bear the weight. They support the movement.

They are silver—refined through fire, purified, bearing the mark of judgment and redemption. They stand as pillars because Christ perfected them, not by their own effort, but by burning away everything false, everything corrupt, everything rooted in the Adamic nature.

The Bottom – Gold – Righteousness Refined in Fire

Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.

The foundation of Solomon’s chariot—the very ground upon which it rests and from which it draws its stability—is gold. Not merely the possession of gold, but gold that has been tried in fire. Righteousness that has been tested. Truth that has survived judgment.

This is not the Bride’s righteousness. She does not possess her own righteousness. Rather, she stands on the righteousness of Christ, refined through the fire of the cross, having survived the judgment of all humanity’s sin, immutable and eternal.

The chariot does not rest upon a foundation of human effort. It rests upon the foundation of Christ’s perfected righteousness—the only righteousness sufficient to bear the weight of God’s purposes.

1Pet 1:7 Our faith is tried with fire so that it may be found unto praise, honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 

The Bride’s faith—her trust, her reliance upon this golden foundation—is itself tried in fire. Through the tribulations of her life, she learns that the only solid ground is the righteousness of her Husband. Every attempt to establish her own righteousness, to build her own moral superiority, to trust in her own goodness—all of this is burned away in the fire of testing.

What remains? The recognition that the only foundation worth standing upon is gold tried in fire. The righteousness that has survived judgment. The authority that has conquered death. The power that has broken the curse.

The Covering – Purple – Royal Authority

Purple is the color of kingship and royal authority. It is the color worn by those who rule, exercise dominion, and speak with absolute authority.

Notice: the covering is not applied to the Bride herself. The covering is applied to the chariot. She does not wear the purple as her own possession. She is covered by it. She is protected beneath it. She exercises authority not because it is inherent to her, but because she is carried within something whose authority comes from the King. Here are some prominent scriptural examples where the color purple is used:

Judges 8:26 – The purple garments of the kings of Midian.
Esther 8:15 – Mordecai’s royal apparel included purple.
John 19:2–3 – Christ was clothed in purple by the soldiers who mocked Him as King of the Jews.
Revelation 21:20 – Amethyst, a purple stone, is the twelfth foundation of New Jerusalem.

The purple is Christ’s royal covering. The Bride does not possess it. She is possessed by it. She is hidden within it. Her authority to move, speak, and carry out Christ’s will flows from being covered by the purple of His kingship.

This is crucial to understanding the Bride’s paradoxical position. She is signified as perfected. She is established. She carries authority. None of this belongs to her. All of it belongs to Him. She is simply the vessel through which His perfection, His establishment, His authority move into the world.

The Midst Paved with Love – The Foundation of Everything

There is something even more fundamental than the pillars, the foundation of gold, or the purple covering. There is the interior—where all these elements come together. What paves this middle space, the interior of the chariot where the King Himself sits?

Love.

Not sentiment. Not romantic emotion. Not the false covenant of desire and satisfaction, but love in the sense that defines the entire Godhead: the sacrificial, chastising, all-consuming commitment that moves Christ to give everything for the Bride, to refine her, to perfect her, to make her into the instrument through which His will is executed.

Eph 5:25–27 Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, and present her to Himself as a glorious Church.

The order matters. First, Christ loves. Then, He gives Himself. Then, He sanctifies. Then, He cleanses. Then, He presents her to Himself as glorious. But all of this flows from a singular source: love. Not love as the world defines it. But love as Christ demonstrates it—love that is simultaneously judgment, refinement, and transformation.

This is why the pavement of love is paved—it is walked upon. It is the ground of every interaction between the Bride and her Groom. Every correction she receives comes through love. Love designs every test she faces. Love burns away every falsehood. Love is not the soft emotion that affirms her as she is. Love is the chastising grace that demands her perfection and provides the only means to achieve it.

THE BRIDE AS PHARAOH’S HORSES: STRENGTH WITHOUT INDEPENDENT AUTHORITY

Now we turn to one of Scripture’s most mysterious statements: Song of Solomon 1:9, “I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.”

At first, the comparison seems unusual. Why would Christ compare His Bride to horses pulling Pharaoh’s chariots? Spiritually, horses represent strength, power, and the ability to carry out their master’s will. The important distinction is where that strength comes from.

The Bride has no independent authority. Her strength and authority are derived entirely from Christ. In the study Song of Solomon, Part 3 – Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other, the Bride is second in headship under Christ, just as Joseph was placed under Pharaoh’s authority.

Consider Joseph:

Genesis 41:40–43. Pharaoh gave Joseph authority over Egypt, placed him in the second chariot, and commanded the people to bow before him. Joseph did not become Pharaoh. He exercised Pharaoh’s authority.

Likewise, the Bride exercises Christ’s authority, not her own.

She is power, movement, and the manifestation of strength. It is His power, His movement, His strength working through her. She is the horse—the animal of strength and beauty and capability—but she pulls not her own chariot. She pulls His. She is not the vehicle of her own will. She is the vehicle of His. When Philip was inspired by the holy spirit to “join” himself to the Ethiopian Eunuch’s chariot, it signifies the same joining of the Bride to her Lord’s chariot, His vehicle and Ark (Acts 8:26-40) of the New Covenant.

This is what it means to be perfected. Not to achieve independence from Christ, but to achieve complete unity with Him such that her will and His will become indistinguishable. Not to establish her own kingdom, but to participate in His kingdom. Not to exercise authority in her own name, but to manifest His authority in the world.

The horse does not ask why it pulls. The horse does not question the direction. The horse does not attempt to establish its own destination. The horse moves where the driver directs. In that complete submission, the horse becomes part of something far greater than itself—the vehicle through which the will of Pharaoh (or, in our case, Christ) is executed in the world.

Eze 10:16 And when the cherubims [The Elect of Christ, the Bride] went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. 
Eze 10:17 When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature [Christ within] was in them.

THE DAUGHTERS OF ZION: WHO WILL BEHOLD THE CROWNING?

All of this—the chariot, the pillars, the gold foundation, the purple covering, the pavement of love—is constructed not for the Bride’s own satisfaction, but for a specific purpose.

Son 3:11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

The daughters of Zion are called to behold the king at his espousals—at the moment of his wedding. Notice: they are called to witness a specific moment. A specific truth. A specific reality that is being established.

Solomon is crowned with a crown that his mother has placed upon his head. Not self-assumed authority. Not a rebellious assertion of power. The authority was conferred by the mother, the one who bore him and raised him to recognize his position.

In the Old Covenant type, this mother was Bathsheba. The wife who learned to navigate the complex realities of covenant, authority, and the difference between desiring to be desired and serving a kingdom larger than her own appetites. Bathsheba, who became the woman capable of training up a son—Solomon—who would understand that authority is not seized or negotiated, but received and stewarded.

In the New Covenant reality, who is this mother? She is the Jerusalem above—the free mother of us all. She is the established order of heaven itself, from which the King’s authority flows. She is the principal of God’s sovereign choosing, His predetermined election, His unassailable will.

She places a crown upon His head.

The daughters of Zion—those other women, those called but not chosen, those in the churches who have never understood the distinction between being included and being appointed—they are called to behold this. To witness it. To see that the authority being demonstrated is not negotiable. It is not subject to their approval. It is not up for democratic vote or popular acclamation. It is the authority of one crowned by heaven itself.

Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet crowned Solomon king of Israel under King David’s direction. The deeper answer is that God chose Solomon to succeed David, and David ensured God’s instruction was carried out. This account appears in 1 Kings 1:28–40. Why was Solomon crowned? David was old and nearing death. His son Adonijah attempted to make himself king without David’s approval. Adonijah gathered supporters, including Joab and Abiathar the priest, and declared himself king. However, God had already determined that Solomon would succeed David.

1Kgs 1:30 Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in his stead; even so will I certainly do this day.

David had promised Bathsheba—had sworn to her by the Lord God of Israel—that Solomon would be king. When Adonijah tried to seize the throne without authorisation, David was moved by the spirit to ensure God’s decision would be carried out.

1Kgs 1:34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.

The trumpet. The declaration. The public announcement. This is not a private matter. This is not something that happens in hidden chambers. The coronation is public. The daughters of Zion are called to behold it. At the First Resurrection, they are called to witness the establishment of an authority that does not depend on their understanding or their approval.

THE FINAL VISION: REVELATION’S TESTIMONY TO THE BRIDE’S CROWNING

This brings us to the culmination of all that Song of Solomon has been moving toward—the vision in Revelation where the Bride finally recognizes her true position:

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts [The Bride of Christ] had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Rev 4:9 And when those beasts [The Elect/Bride of Christ] give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders [The Bride of Christ] fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

The Bride—manifested as the four living creatures, the wheels, the twenty-four elders—sees the One who sits on the throne. What does she do? Does she insist on her own authority? Does she demand recognition? Does she refuse to submit?

No. She casts her crowns before the throne.

This is the ultimate recognition. This is the final understanding. The Bride, perfected, established, and crowned with authority, now appointed voluntarily, willingly, and absolutely, casts that authority back before her Groom’s throne. It was always His. She was simply its steward. She was simply the instrument through which it was manifested. She recognizes the order of administration, yet the same authority she has been given is her inheritance to keep. 

In casting those crowns, she achieves her final, ultimate perfection.

It is the perfection of yielding and doing. Not the perfection of achieving. But the perfection of receiving. Not the perfection of becoming independent, but the perfection of becoming so completely united with Christ that the distinction between His will and hers ceases to matter.

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

By that time, the Bride will even more dynamically understand that every word spoken from that mouth is the Word that has moved through her. Every sword that goes forth is the sword she has carried. Every nation that is smitten is smitten through her participation in Christ’s purposes.

Yet she does not claim the victory as her own. She casts her crowns before the throne. She returns to her Groom what He has placed in her hands, recognizing at last that true authority is not possession, but participation. True power is not independence, but complete unity.

THE PERSONAL INTERROGATION: YOUR CROWNING OR YOUR CASTRATION?

Now the question returns to you and me. In your own life, in your own heart, are you building a chariot? Are you establishing yourself as a vehicle through which Christ’s purposes are executed? Or, like Eve and Cain, are you trying to build your own chariot—your own authority, your own kingdom, your own independent dominion?

This question is not only for the spiritually advanced. Every soul, in his designated time and order, must answer this fundamental question. The answer determines everything.

Some try to be Solomon without submitting to Solomon. They want the authority, the power, the dominion—but without the yoke of complete submission to Christ. They want to exercise the silver and gold, the purple and the love—but only insofar as these serve their own purposes, their own will, their own advancement.

The chariot will not move for such a one. It will stand still. Dead. Useless. Because a chariot is not a destination. It is a means of movement. And movement requires submission to a will outside one’s own.

Others recognize they are called to be the horse—strength, beauty, power. They have not yet understood that the horse (as opposed to, comically, a specific donkey in Numbers 22:28) asks no questions. The horse does not negotiate the direction. The horse does not insist upon a say in where the chariot goes. The horse simply goes where the driver directs.

For such a one, the path ahead is the surrendering of independent will. It burns away the desire for personal recognition. It refines all that is false and corrupt, leaving only the pure strength that can serve without claiming the victory as its own.

Then there are those—the chosen, the Bride in the fullest sense—who have already begun to understand. They have seen the pillars of smoke emerging from the wilderness. They have recognized that the old economy is ending. They have begun to align their wills with His. They have started to grasp that true authority is never possessed independently, but always received and exercised as a steward of something far greater than oneself.

For such a one, the crowning approaches. Not the crowning of personal achievement, but the crowning of perfect union with Christ. The crowning that comes when all pretense is burned away, when all claim to independent righteousness is consumed in fire, when all that remains is the pure, refined submission of a will completely united with His.

The daughters of Zion will see this crowning. They will witness it. They will be forced to acknowledge it, even if they refuse to understand it. 

Jer 25:27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 
Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 

You who have been called to be the Bride—are invited to participate. Not to watch from a distance. Not to stand outside and judge. But to become the very crown itself. To become the instrument through which Christ’s authority is manifest in the world. To become, in the fullest sense, the chariot through which His purposes are executed.

This is the destiny that the chariot of Solomon announces.

This awaits on the other side of the wilderness, when the pillars of smoke have passed and the moment of establishment arrives.

END OF PART 17b

The chariot is constructed. The Bride is crowned. And the daughters of Zion are called to behold—not in judgment, but in astonishment—the establishment of an authority that no human will, no carnal appetite, no murmuring voice can deny or deflect. The kingdom of Christ is being built, and His Bride is the very means through which it moves, transforms, and ultimately reconciles all creation back to its Maker.

The Song of Solomon – Part 17a, Solomon Emerges: The Pillars of Smoke and the Peace That Was Betrayed

[Study Aired November 6, 2026]

OPENING: THE WILDERNESS OF WIVES AND THE SOVEREIGN’S EMERGENCE

Only in “the Bride’s” life does she realize the man she married is stepping into something far larger than the bedroom, far larger than her own desires and expectations. He is moving with purpose. He is advancing with authority, and the ground beneath her feet trembles as she realizes she is not the center of his universe—she is being drawn into the center of his.

Luk 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 
Luk 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 

This is the moment when Solomon emerges from the wilderness.

Son 3:6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

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.

The question itself is laden with astonishment. Who is this? The answer, of course, is Solomon—the King, the Bridegroom, the one who has been away, dealing with something far more complex and intractable than a single wife’s devotion.

In remembering that Solomon’s name means H8010 – “peace”, and with his Bride, the Jerusalem above a double peace, here as a co-savior, in H3389 “teaching of peace.” To understand what it means that Solomon comes out of the wilderness, we must first understand what wilderness he has been traversing.

Isa 26:2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. 
Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect [H7965] peace [H7965 – two different words with the same Hebrew meaning], whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. 

Amo 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 

Solomon had a thousand wives

This is not a metaphor. This is historical fact, documented in 1 Kings 11:3. A thousand women (churches) in his household. A thousand bedrooms, a thousand demands, a thousand voices insisting they deserved his attention, his affection, his primary allegiance. A thousand women convinced—as Eve was convinced in the garden—that their bodies, their beauty, their sexual desirability gave them the right to be worshiped; to be prioritized; to bend their husbands’ will toward their own satisfaction.

Solomon existed in the wilderness of their collective will. He moved through the desolation of a thousand bedrooms, their own vineyards, each one a woman who believed his primary responsibility was to fulfill her lusts, satisfy her appetite for romantic idealism, and constantly reassure her that she was beautiful, desired, and enough—and a little more legitimately, though terribly unrighteously, she was made to fulfill his lusts. Add the Adamic curses, and no wonder we have wives and the suffragette-like women “against” husbands and men in general (1Co 11:9).

What had Solomon discovered in this wilderness? What had he learned through years of attempting to satisfy the insatiable? He had learned what Adam learned in the garden: that the moment a man surrenders his authority to the appetites of a woman—the moment he says “yes” to the seduction of being desired, of being needed, of being the romantic fulfillment of another’s fantasy—he has given away his peace.

The bed is supposed to be a place of peace. In the Solomonically created perfect wife, it is supposed to be the sanctuary where the husband lays down his weight, rests from the burden of governing, deciding, and bearing the responsibility that comes with authority. Adam, in that first garden, traded the peace of his bed for the very thing he lusted after. Every man since has had to constantly buy back that peace through romantic idealism, through the false promise that if he can just make her happy enough, satisfy her longings deeply enough, prove his devotion dramatically enough, he will finally find rest.

He will never find rest that way.

Solomon, having lived through a thousand iterations of this exact deception and having moved through the wilderness of trying to satisfy desires that can never be satisfied because they are rooted in Adamic corruption, is ready. He has learned. He is done. He emerges from that wilderness like pillars of smoke.

THE PILLARS OF SMOKE: ANGER REFINED INTO PURPOSE

The image is extraordinary, and we need to understand the Hebrew to grasp its full weight.

Wilderness H4057 – wilderness, pasture, or mouth (as an organ of speech). From H1696 – 1. to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.

The wilderness is not merely a place. It is an arena of speech, of declaration, of command. It is where words are spoken and shape reality.

Pillars H8490 – 1. pillar, column a. palm-like spreading at top. From H8558 – 1. palm tree, date palm. Strong’s: From an unused root meaning “to be erect”; a palm tree: palm (tree).

A pillar is not merely a structural support. It is something that stands erect—something that rises up in defiance of gravity, of pressure, of the forces that would bend it downward.

Smoke H6227 – Smoke. From H6225 – 1. to smoke, be angry, be wroth a. (Qal) 1. to smoke 2. to fume, be wroth, be furious.

Solomon does not emerge as a gentle breeze. He emerges as smoke—as the visible manifestation of heat, of fire, of the burning away of what is false and corrupt.

Listen to what the Scripture tells us about the relationship between smoke and heat:

When you view the lower trunk of a palm tree trimmed of its fronds, its classic bark looks like a distant pillar of dark smoke with slight bumps and “smoky” protrusions resembling its bark. As the hot, angry, moist air cools at great height, it forms a classic mushroom top resembling a palm’s fronds (and the eventual anvil shape of a storm)—”bushy” (Son 5:11), incongruously like a Nigerian Himba male’s dreadlocks, H8534, wavy and branchy H8524 exalt, lofty. Solomon and God’s anger, even bitterness against their wives’ enigmatic, God-given impudence, eventually subside—ironically before nightfall—and their spirit is changed, symbolically perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchant’s powders.

Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 

Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 

This is the image: Solomon, burning with the heat of a man who has finally recognised truth. A man who has spent years in the wilderness of female appetites and male capitulation, watching his authority degrade, his peace erode, and his kingship slowly die. Now, at last, that anger—that justified, righteous anger—has been refined into something else. The heat has burned away the dross. The smoke has risen to the heavens. And what remains is perfume. Purpose. The fragrance of a man who has moved through judgment and emerged clarified.

Son 3:6 …Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke?

Because of their witless understanding of Eve’s curse, Solomon’s wives are blind to their imaginary divine providence and prerogative to be worshiped by a husband, and thus sustain their iron grip on bedchamber intimacies. Solomon, like Christ, the Lord of the Old Covenant Israel, effectively strode out of the wilderness through the shimmering heat haze from their same demands.

Deu 33:2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. 

The wives believed—as so many women still do—that their bodies conferred a kind of divine, even Ashtoreth-like authority. That their sexuality was proof of a spiritual privilege. That their desirability was permission to rule. They were living in a deception rooted in the curse of Eve: they believed that their pain in childbearing, their desire to rule their husbands (Genesis 3:16), was actually evidence of their special status with God.

Solomon recognized this deception, and he walked away from it.

THE GENEALOGY OF USURY: DEBT AND THE FALSE COVENANT

To understand what Solomon discovered in the wilderness, we must trace the genealogy of the false covenant his wives tried to establish with him. This genealogy runs through Scripture like a thread of corruption, connecting the bedroom, the marketplace, and the church.

Exo 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 16:2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

The wilderness of Sin. Unrecognized spiritual wickedness, but the wilderness where people murmur. Where they demand. Where they insist that their needs are the primary concern. Where they refuse the leadership of their covenant head and instead demand that their appetites be prioritized (Exo 14:11-12; Num 11:1-6).

This is what Solomon’s wives were doing. They murmured against Solomon in the wilderness of marriage—against his authority, his decisions, and his refusal to make their satisfaction his primary concern.

Solomon and Christ are determined, and only Christ succeeds in setting their marriages straight.

Why did Solomon fail where Christ will succeed? Because Solomon, though wise, was still operating under the Old Covenant—the covenant of law, of attempt, of human effort. Though deeply unsettled, he barely held to the fading belief that a husband could satisfy his wife through effort, provision, and romantic idealism. But this is an economy of debt. The more you give, the more is demanded. Because of the Adamic curses, the more you submit, the more aggressively the woman tries to rule.

Jdg 16:15 And she [Delilah] said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. 

Christ, operating under the New Covenant, does not attempt to satisfy. He demands submission to a higher law—the spiritual law of love, which is simultaneously the law of His authority.

Solomon’s thousand wives had not submitted. So he moved through the wilderness—the wilderness of their demands, the wilderness of their murmuring, the wilderness of an economy that could never be satisfied because satisfaction was not the point. Control was the point. The perpetual debt—the perpetual obligation—was the point.

This is why, in Hosea, the prophet speaks of Israel’s—and by extension, Solomon’s—experience in precisely these terms:

Hos 12:4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel [House of God], and there he spake with us;
Hos 12:5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
Hos 12:6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
Hos 12:7 He [Christ] is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress [… loves to righteously chastise his Elect].

Christ is described as a merchant with balances of deceit in His hand. But notice: He takes pleasure in righteously oppressing—for love’s sake, He loves to righteously chastise His Elect. This is the language of chastising grace. Christ does not enter the economy of romantic obligation and debt. He enters the economy of judgment, of correction, of refining fire.

Isa 53:9 And he [Christ] 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 [God] 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.

Solomon’s wives were merchants themselves. They were trading their beauty for authority. They were trafficking in the false economy of sexual desirability, offering their bodies in exchange for rulership over their husband’s will.

Zep 1:11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh [meaning, a mortar, or deep hollow… likely the city dump, the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna], for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver [God’s word and redemption] are cut off.

The merchants are cut down. The traders in false goods—in false covenants, in false promises of satisfaction—are removed from the marketplace. Solomon walked out of that marketplace. He emerged from the wilderness where his wives had attempted to establish their false economy.

He comes out not defeated. Not worn down. Not willing to negotiate. He comes out like pillars of smoke—burning, ascending, refined into pure purpose.

THE MERCHANT AND THE KINGDOM: CHRIST’S BUSINESS IN THE WORLD

However, another merchant appears in this story, and his balance is different.

Mat 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Mat 13:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price [The Bride finding Christ, and Christ, her], went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Christ is a merchant seeking a pearl of great price. He has found the one pearl—His Bride. And He has sold all that He had to purchase her. This is not the economy of debt. This is the economy of redemption, of exchange, of total commitment.

This is why Luke 19 becomes so critical to understanding Solomon’s emergence from the wilderness:

Luk 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Luk 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
Luk 19:15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Luk 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
Luk 19:20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:

Christ, the Nobleman, has gone into a far country to receive His kingdom from His Father following the cross. While He is away, His servants are occupied in business—not in the business of satisfying human appetite, but in the business of gain, of growth, of spiritually productive investment.

The Bride’s joints—the members of her Body—have been faithful. They have gained. They have multiplied what they were given. When Christ returns, having received the kingdom, He calls them to account. Not to punish. But to reward. To establish them in authority.

This is what Solomon is emerging from the wilderness to do. He is returning to His bride not as a consumer of her beauty, not as a perpetual debtor to her appetite, but as a King returning from receiving His kingdom. He comes to call His servants to account. To establish them in authority. To create a new economy—not the economy of romantic debt, but the economy of productive covenant.

THE BRIDE’S RECOGNITION: PILLARS APPROACHING

Now, as Solomon emerges from the wilderness like pillars of smoke—burning, ascending, refined—the Bride recognizes something she had not fully understood before. 

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 
Heb 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

He is not coming to be satisfied by her. He is coming to establish her in something far larger than her own desires.

The approach of those pillars of smoke is both terrifying and exhilarating. Terrifying because it means the end of the economy she may have believed in—the false covenant of her own desirability, her own ability to control through seduction. Exhilarating because it means the beginning of something far more real, far more true, far more transformative.

This is what the Bride in the Song has learned. When Solomon emerges from the wilderness, she does not attempt to seduce him further. She does not try to make herself more desirable. She recognizes that his arrival signals a shift—from the season of her testing to the season of her establishment. From the wilderness of waiting to the kingdom’s threshold.

The pillars of smoke are approaching, and she is ready. Not because she has perfected herself. Not because she has made herself worthy. Rather, because she has finally understood that His coming is not dependent on her adequacy. It is dependent on His purpose. It is dependent on grace.

That grace is chastising. It is refining. It is burning away everything false. Everything rooted in Adamic corruption. Everything that attempted to establish a false covenant between bride and groom.

What remains when that fire burns away? Myrrh. Frankincense. The fragrance of truth. The perfume of a King who has walked through the wilderness of human appetite and emerged—not defeated, not compromised, not willing to negotiate—but burning with righteous purpose, ascending like pillars of smoke into the heavens, refined into the singular focus of establishing His kingdom and His Bride within it—even as the twelve pillars of the Temple that She represents as rulership over the seventy palm trees of those alive in the One Thousand Year reign.

Exo 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Exo 15:27 And they [Israel] came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. 

THE PERSONAL INTERROGATION: YOUR OWN WILDERNESS

Now the question turns inward. Are you and I, Solomon, moving through the wilderness of demands that can never be satisfied? Or are you the Bride, standing at the threshold, recognizing the pillars of smoke approaching?

Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 
Joe 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. 

Most likely, you have been both. You have known seasons where you attempted to satisfy someone else’s appetite—where you gave, and gave, and gave, only to discover that giving merely created a larger appetite of confusing lust. Where submission was met not with gratitude, but with a greater demand for control. Where you believed that if you could just do enough, provide enough, sacrifice enough, you would finally receive the peace you craved.

Pro 30:13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. 
Pro 30:14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. 
Pro 30:15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 
Pro 30:16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. 

This is the wilderness. Solomon’s emergence poses a stark question: How long will you wander in it?

For some, the wilderness lasts a lifetime. They never learn the lesson. They never recognise that the economy of romantic debt cannot be broken by paying more—with interest. They keep giving. They keep serving. They keep hoping that someday, somehow, the appetite they are trying to satisfy will be sated.

It will not be.

Only when you emerge—when you walk out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, burning with the recognition of truth—can the false economy collapse. Only when you refuse to negotiate with the appetite. Only when you establish a higher law. Only when you move with the authority of one refined in the fire of judgment.

For the Bride, the lesson is equally stark: Will you attempt to seduce the pillars of smoke? Will you try to control them? Will you seek to establish your authority over the authority that has emerged from the wilderness?

Or will you recognize, in their approach, the end of the false covenant and the beginning of something real?

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 
Deu 30:20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. 

The choice is (appears) yours. The pillars are coming, and they will not be denied.

THE NEXT MORNING: CHASTISING GRACE AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE

What happens after Solomon emerges? What comes after the wilderness? Part 17b will explore these questions. For now, it is enough to know the wilderness is over. The season of murmuring and demand, of false covenant and romantic debt, has ended.

The pillars of smoke have appeared on the horizon, and everything — everything — is about to change.

The Bride will no longer have to search. The waiting is nearly complete. The threshold of consummation approaches.

The peace that was traded away in Eden—the peace of a man’s rest, the peace of a woman’s true security—can finally begin to be restored.

Not through her submission to his appetite.

Not through his capitulation to her demand.

Through the establishment of a kingdom where both Bride and Groom are submitted to something higher than themselves. Where the economy is not debt, but redemption. Where the foundation is not romantic idealism, but chastising grace.

This is what the pillars of smoke announce.

This is what emerges from the wilderness, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, burning with the fire of judgment and the fragrance of truth.

END OF PART 17a

Solomon emerges from the wilderness—not defeated, but refined. Not willing to negotiate, but burning with righteous purpose. The pillars of smoke are approaching. And the Bride stands at the threshold, ready to cross from the season of waiting into the season of establishment.

The Book of John

(Joh 1:6-18)

[Study Aired November 5, 2026]

In the first few verses of the opening chapter of the gospel of John we were introduced to the Father and the Word who was with God, and the Word was God. (Joh 1:1-5).

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

In these opening verses (Joh 1:1-5) we learned that the Son of man was created to reveal the Father, and in verse three we read “All things were made by him; [Christ] and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

It is what Christ created [“all things”] that is being used to reveal the Father, and no man can come unto the Son to have those things revealed unless the Father is dragging us to Christ (Joh 6:44, 1Co 2:13-14, Joh 17:3, Joh 6:53-59).

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.

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (Mat 13:13)

All things that the Father has, has been given to the Word or Christ (Joh 16:15) and in Christ was life; “and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

The “all things” include, along with the spirit of God without measure (Joh 3:34), the creative ability to create everything that exists in the physical realm as a canopy to reveal the unsearchable greatness of God the Father (Rom 1:20, Job 9:10, Rom 11:33).

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things (Heb 11:27) of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Job 9:10  Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

The world lives and moves and has their being in Christ, but cannot acknowledge that God is working all things according to counsel of His own will because of the man of perdition who resides on the throne of man’s heart telling us otherwise (2Th 2:5-8, Eph 1:11, Rom 8:9, Rom 8:28).

Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

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 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Rom 8:28  And we know (Rom 8:9) that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

With these verses above in mind we come to our opening verses in our study (Joh 1:6-8) that tell us John the baptist, who was sent of God, was not that light of the world, and that God’s elect are, through Christ (Joh 9:5, Mat 5:14), and “He [John] was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light”.

Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world.[Christ is still in the world in His elect (Mat 16:18, Heb 5:7, 1Jn 2:17-27)] A city [church] that is set on an hill [Christ] cannot be hid.

You can be doing the work of God as John was, bearing witness and pointing to Christ as the Christian churches of the world do, and still not be that light. This was the time when the first of the first fruits [Christ] was to be revealed to the world, and God gave John the baptist that honour of bearing “witness of that Light”.

God’s elect are witnesses of these things (Luk 24:47-48, Act 5:32, Rev 11:3), that we are the light of the world, and the churches of this world along with all of humanity, “the whole creation”(Rom 8:22), bear witness by serving us in their unbelief (1Jn 4:6, Rom 8:20-23, Rom 11:19-22).

Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

[beginning with God’s own people typified by Jerusalem, John the baptist was physically baptizing those who were being drawn to him, and this scenario of preaching “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”, is typical of the reality that all men will be saved  [“that all men through him might believe”] (1Co 15:22) starting with the elect typified by “Jerusalem”, and typified by those who brought “forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Mat 3:8)]

Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Christ is the “true Light” which “lighteth every man that cometh into the world”. We live and move and have our being in Christ (Act 17:28) whether we believe in him or not, and as such God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). There is also those who believe in Him but God alone knows who will continue to believe in Him and become disciples indeed (Joh 8:31-36, Rom 8:28).

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

The world was made by Christ and yet “the world knew him not”, and so without that knowledge of God and Christ we are left in darkness (Joh 17:3). We must be granted to not only have the knowledge but to continue to abide in the truth in order to become disciples indeed who know God and Christ (Joh 8:31-36).

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Christ came unto the Jews of his day, his own family and people, “and his own received him not” (Mat 13:55, Joh 15:18-21). They knew who Christ was physically, but had no comprehension of who he was spiritually.

Mat 13:55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (1Jn 4:17)
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. (Rom 5:10 , Lev 16:21)
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not”

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, (1Jn 3:1) even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (Php 2:12-13)

When we receive God, “as many as received him”, it is because we have been received, and are being dragged to him in order to be sanctified through God’s word (Joh 6:44, Joh 17:17). Paul explained this dynamic in this way in (Php 3:12-21, 1Jn 4:19).

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after,”as many as received him” (Joh 6:44) if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (“We love him, (Rom 5:5) because he first loved us.” 1Jn 4:19)
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. (1Jn 1:7)
Php 3:16  Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. (1Jn 3:2-3, 1Co 2:16)

In order to do the work of God we need to believe (Joh 6:28-29), and what we are to believe are the words of eternal life we have been given which is what “to them that believe on his name” means.

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

In order to do the work of God we must believe and in order to believe we must be born again, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”, meaning we have been sealed with the holy spirit of promise and are able, through Christ, to fulfill God’s will “in earth, as it is in heaven” (Eph 1:13-14, Php 2:12-13, Mat 6:10).

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,(Php 2:12-13)
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

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.(Heb 5:7)
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Christ was the first to be “full of grace and truth” as a flesh and blood man who dwelt among us (Col 1:18). We beheld through the scriptural accounts and via the body of Christ since Pentecost, “his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”. We beheld Christ’s glory first, which glory is represented by his obedient spirit to the Father, even being obedient unto the death of a cross (Php 2:8), and this obedience that he learned by the things he suffered (Heb 5:8) demonstrated that Christ was “full of grace and truth”. It is this same grace and truth that has come unto the body of Christ that we are growing in (Col 1:27, 2Pe 3:18),  as we are dragged to the Lord (Joh 6:44).

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.(1Jn 4:17, Gal 2:20)

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:

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ “full of grace and truth”. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John bare witness of him and said this, “This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me”. John is demonstrating with these words that he knows Christ was the Word who came before him, “for he was before me”(Joh 17:5).

Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

John is also acknowledging Christ’s preeminence and that John’s baptism was only pointing to the greater baptism of fire that would convert those who would be baptized by it (Mat 3:11). The law and the prophets may convict us of sin, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ’s fiery baptisms, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Rom 6:3, Mat 3:11, Joh 1:17), that teach us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust (Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6) as we live by “the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2, Php 2:12-13).

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

All have received “of his fulness”, all have seen through the words and works of Christ the revealing of the Father, whether the words were received or not (Rom 1:20). The receiving of the word as mentioned above is the miracle that God gives to the elect first who are likened unto the seed that falls on the good ground and brings forth much fruit, an increase that comes from God (1Co 3:6-7).

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

The statement “grace for grace” uses the word grace twice as a witness to us that God’s favour or grace is upon those who are being judged in this life, and going from glory to glory (2Co 3:18) through that judgement process  (Eph 2:8, 1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17).

All men will be saved in time and that fulness that we have received of Christ’s life, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace”, will one day be understood for what it represents within us. As mentioned, it is those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear what those words “grace for grace” mean in this age who will be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, having been saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

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

Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

No man hath seen God at any time, means no carnal man has comprehended who God is at any time or physically seen God, however, “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him”.

The apostle John represents the elect [Christ’s Christ] who was resting in the bosom of Christ as a type and shadow of the reality that we now know the Father and the son (Joh 13:23, Joh 14:20, Joh 14:9, Joh 17:3).

Joh 13:23  Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes! (Mat 13:16-17).

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Book of Colossians 3:12-14 Put on Therefore…

[Study Aired November 3, 2026]

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:12–14).

Put on Therefore…

The last study ended with a man already dressed. Paul said the Colossians had put off the old man and put on the new, and that where the new man is, there is neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free. Verse 12 begins “Put on therefore,” and the sentence turns from what was done to what they are told to do. These three verses move in four steps: who is being addressed, what they wear, how they live with one another, and what goes on over it all.

A difficulty shows at once. In verse 10 Paul said they “have put on” the new man. In verse 12 he commands them to “put on” again, with the same verb. It is fair to ask how a thing already done can be commanded.

The answer is in the objects. In verse 10 the thing put on is the new man. In verse 12 it is the list that follows: bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. They are not told to put on the new man a second time. They are told to wear what that man wears. The “therefore” ties the list to what came before, at least to verse 10, where the new man was put on.

Paul can also say both things of one object. Of Christ himself he says, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27), and with the same verb he commands, “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). So a standing and a command can sit side by side. Here the objects differ, and the case is plainer. The new man has been put on, and now he is to be seen in his clothing.

Before one garment is named, Paul says who is being told to wear it.

As the Elect of God, Holy and Beloved

Paul does not begin with the clothing. He begins with a name for the ones who wear it: “as the elect of God, holy and beloved.” Three words, and each names something God has done. “Elect” (G1588) means ‘chosen’, and the KJV prints the same word “chosen” at 1 Peter 2:9, quoted below. “Holy” means set apart for God. “Beloved” is the form that means loved and still loved, and the same form stands at 1 Thessalonians 1:4.

These are not three separate gifts. Paul puts them close together elsewhere: “chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him” (Ephesians 1:4), and “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God” (1 Thessalonians 1:4).

“Holy” needs a word, because it can seem to clash with chapter 1. Paul calls these very readers “the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse” (Colossians 1:2), and “saints” is the same word as “holy” here (G40). Yet at 1:22 he says Christ will “present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight,” and Part Four found that where one person presents another before God, the hour is always ahead. Both stand. So the word can be said of them now, while the presenting is still to come.

The order is one Paul keeps, and Peter keeps it, too. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9), and then, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts” (1 Peter 2:11). Chosen, holy, and beloved come first, and the command follows. Paul does the same with the third name to Ephesus: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:1–2). The name comes first, and the walk answers to it.

The verse speaks of the Colossians and says nothing of anyone else. What it does give is their standing, and it gives it as the footing for the command, not as the reward for keeping it. They do not put on compassion to become chosen and loved. They put it on as those who already are.

Now the clothing itself.

The Clothing

The first garment is “bowels of mercies.” That sounds like the stomach, but the plain sense is deep compassion, felt from within. The Greek word is splagchna (G4698), and the evidence is in how Scripture uses it. Each “bowels” below is that same word. Paul writes to the Philippians, “how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:8). To Philemon he says, “the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother” (Philemon 7), and of Onesimus, “mine own bowels” (Philemon 12). John asks of the man who sees his brother in need and “shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,” “how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:17). And the KJV itself prints the word as “tender” in “Through the tender (G4698) mercy of our God” (Luke 1:78).

The word has a literal use once, and that is the contrary case: “all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18). That is the body, but it is the only one of the eleven uses that speaks of the body. The other ten speak of feeling, a man’s or God’s. So the first garment is compassion that moves a man from within. “Mercies” (G3628) is pity, and Paul sets it beside “bowels” in “if any bowels and mercies” (Philippians 2:1). God himself is “the Father of mercies” (2 Corinthians 1:3). The Greek copies differ on whether this word is plural or singular, “mercies” or “compassion,” and the study rests on the word itself.

Kindness comes next, and Paul uses the word of God himself: “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7), and “the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared” (Titus 3:4). So this is a garment God showed to them first.

“Humbleness of mind (G5012)” is lowliness that puts others first: “in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3). Peter uses the clothing picture itself: “be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5). The KJV prints the one word as “humbleness of mind,” “lowliness,” and “humility.” Part Eleven weighed all seven uses of the word. Paul and Peter ask for it, and Christ is its pattern. Only at 2:18 and 2:23 is it attached to something wrong, where a man chose it for himself and bound it on others. Here Paul commands it plainly.

Meekness and longsuffering are Christ’s before they are theirs. Paul begs “by the meekness and gentleness (G1932) of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:1), and says, “that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him” (1 Timothy 1:16). Together with kindness they also stand in the list of the spirit’s fruit: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23). In Galatians the KJV prints “gentleness” for the word it prints “kindness” here (G5544). That fits what the last study found: the renewing of the new man is the spirit’s work, and three of his five garments are listed as its fruit.

These five are worn toward other people. The next words are about two people, one of whom has something against the other.

Forbearing One Another, and Forgiving One Another

Verse 13 puts the clothing to work. The first duty is “forbearing one another,” which means bearing with what is hard in a brother. The second is “forgiving one another,” and the occasion is named: “if any man have a quarrel against any.” The KJV’s “quarrel” can sound like a fight between two men. The Greek word, momphē (G3437), is nearer a complaint, a ground of blame that one man holds against another. It stands only here, and Thayer’s lexicon gives it that sense. Nothing more is built on it. The verse speaks to the man who holds the complaint, and it tells him to forgive.

Now the verb. Plain sense first: “forgiving” here means giving freely. The Greek verb is charizomai (G5483), and Scripture uses it for free giving of any kind. Each verse below uses that same verb. “How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). “God hath given thee all them that sail with thee” (Acts 27:24). “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). Where a debt or a wrong is in view, the word is forgiving: “he frankly forgave them both” (Luke 7:42), and “ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him” (2 Corinthians 2:7). So to forgive, in this word, is to give the debt away freely.

Now see how verse 13 is built: “forgiving (G5483) one another… even as Christ forgave (G5483) you, so also do ye.” The same verb stands on both sides of “even as.” What they are to give is what was given to them. Ephesians builds the sentence the same way: “forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). The KJV prints “do” in italics, because Paul’s words are only “so also ye.” The verb to be understood is the one just used.

The Greek copies differ on the name here, reading, among others, “the Lord,” “Christ,” or “God,” but whichever is taken, the verb is the same, so the study rests on that: they were forgiven. And that was already told to them. At 2:13 Paul used this same verb: they were made alive together with Christ, “having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13), and the next verse speaks of “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us… nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). An earlier study followed that forgiveness to the cross. So the forgiveness verse 13 sets before them as the pattern is the one the letter has already said they received. His forgiving is done, and theirs is set beside it as the likeness.

One thing must be said plainly. In another place the Lord ties forgiving to repentance: “If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive (G863) him” (Luke 17:3). Luke uses a different Greek word for forgive. Verse 13 names no repentance, and it does not say that none is needed, but the forgiveness it sets beside theirs found them “dead in your sins” (Colossians 2:13). How that sits beside Luke 17:3 is a question for the whole of Scripture, and this verse does not decide it. What it does say is plain: their forgiving is measured by the forgiving done for them.

Verse 14 says what goes on over all of this.

Above All These Things Put on Charity

Two things can mislead, so take them first. “Charity” (G26) is the word the KJV prints “love” in “the love which ye have to all the saints” (Colossians 1:4) and “your love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:8). Today “charity” means giving to the poor. Here it means love.

The other is “above all.” It can sound like “most important.” However, a different Greek phrase stands behind “above all things” in “above all things have fervent charity among yourselves” (1 Peter 4:8) and “But above all things, my brethren, swear not” (James 5:12), so the English echo is false. The phrase here can mean “in addition to,” as in “Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison” (Luke 3:20). So verse 14 can be read: on top of all these, put on love. The verse does not say whether love also ranks first. The KJV prints “put on” in italics here, because Paul’s words stop at “above all these things charity.” The verb is carried over from verse 12.

Now the bond. Plain sense first: a “bond” is something that holds things together. The Greek word is syndesmos (G4886), and it stands four times in the New Testament, so each use can be set beside the others. Peter says to Simon, “thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8:23). There the bond holds a man fast to something bad. So the word alone does not say whether the holding is good; what does the binding decides that. In Ephesians it is good: “with all lowliness (G5012) and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2–3). Notice the order: lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing, love, and a bond. Colossians 3:12–14 has nearly the same list in nearly the same order. And at 2:19 the same word is used of a body: “all the body by joints and bands (G4886) having nourishment ministered” (Colossians 2:19).

The verse does not say what love binds. Two pictures are near. One is the garments of verse 12, held together by love. The other is the people. The letter leans to the people. Two places put love in the holding together of the people: “knit together in love” (Colossians 2:2) and “the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). A third puts a bond of peace around the unity of the Spirit. None puts a bond around garments, though verse 14 alone would allow it. Love and the garments are not strangers either: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4), related words to “longsuffering” and “kindness,” not the same ones. So this study reads the bond as love holding the people together, as the nearer pattern, and says plainly that the verse itself does not choose.

This can look as if it clashes with 2:19, where the whole body is supplied from the Head. Part Ten found that the knitting Paul strives for at 2:2 is the knitting the body has from the Head at 2:19. Paul does not say that the bands of 2:19 and the love of 3:14 are one thing. Ephesians 4:16 keeps both in one sentence: “From whom the whole body fitly joined together,” and it builds itself up “in love.” So the supply is the Head’s, and the love is what the members put on. That is the pattern an earlier study met in the putting off: God works, and they are told to do it.

Last, “perfectness.” The word is teleiotēs (G5047), and it is not the word the KJV prints “perfect” at 1:28 (G5046), so nothing from that verse is carried over. It stands only twice, here and at Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.” There it means full growth, set against first lessons. So here it can mean full growth, or completeness. Whether love is the bond that makes them complete or the bond that holds the complete body together, the phrase does not choose. Both come to the same place: where love is put on, the people are held together whole.

What These Verses Establish

Read whole, the three verses give a name, a clothing, a pattern, and a bond. The name is chosen, holy, and beloved, and it comes before any command. The clothing is deep compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering, put on by those already wearing the new man. The pattern is bearing with one another and forgiving, measured by the forgiving already done for them. Love goes on over all of it, the bond that, on the letter’s own pattern, holds the people together whole.

What these verses add is a use for the standing. The last study found that the commands rest on what is already done. Here the ones commanded are named before the command is given, and the first two duties after the list both have “one another” in them. These are the garments of a body. Paul puts them on people who have to live with each other, and we are those people.

Verse 15 turns from what they put on to what rules among them. An earlier study pointed to the verb used there, and the next study takes it up.

Next study: (Colossians 3:15–17)

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”