Zec 10:1-12  “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (1Co 3:6)

[Study Aired August 3, 2023]

Zec 10:1  Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. 
Zec 10:2  For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. 
Zec 10:3  Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. 
Zec 10:4  Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. 
Zec 10:5  And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. 
Zec 10:6  And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. 
Zec 10:7  And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. 
Zec 10:8  I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 
Zec 10:9  And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. 
Zec 10:10  I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. 
Zec 10:11  And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. 
Zec 10:12  And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD. 

In our last study of Zechariah, we talked about “the burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus” and saw how the word burden^H4853 represents the effect God’s word will have on the hearts and minds of those who are learning of God’s judgments in their earth (Isa 26:9-10, Jer 22:29).

H4853 Burden maśśâ’ mas-saw’

From H5375; a burden; specifically tribute, or (abstractly) porterage; figuratively an utterance, chiefly a doom, especially singing; mental, desire: – burden, carry away, prophecy, X they set, song, tribute.

These verses (Isa 26:9-10, Jer 22:29) show us there is a process of judgment upon mankind, that has a ‘beginning of sorrows’, just as we read of in Matthew 24:8, and an ‘ending of sorrows’ that will happen for most people in the lake of fire when every tear will be wiped away (Rev 21:4). It is only those in this dispensation of grace who come to see the man of perdition on the throne of our own hearts, typified by the abomination of desolation [“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)“], who will spend the rest of their earthly existence fleeing “into the mountains” which represent the strength of Christ to whom we look in each other as the body of Christ (Psa 121:1-2, 1Co 11:1, Psa 119:114).

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. 
Isa 26:10  Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. 
Jer 22:30  Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. 

Psa 119:114  Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. 

Hearing the word of God, and even being judged by God, does not preclude that that person or nation will change their ways, and it certainly does not mean they have become a new creation through Christ (2Co 5:17). It is the mystery of iniquity that is hidden from the world and already at work spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 that prevents or withholds this spiritual change from happening.

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

We all at first naturally confuse the victory God gives us over physical sins of the flesh via miraculous physical healings in our life and equate it as being Christ’s righteousness being revealed in the new creation (Mat 7:22). In reality, it is a shadow of the righteousness of Christ and at the same time strong delusion for those who don’t see it as such. Christ’s miracles never changed the heart of anyone, and were miracles that demonstrated a shadow of the greater works that the body of Christ would be given to do with God’s spirit within us, even greater works than what Christ did seeing these new works were going to bring about spiritual healing (Joh 14:12, Rom 8:9)

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

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.

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.

It is God’s elect who will administer His judgments throughout the earth when “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Chapter nine reveals the powerful way in which Babylon will fall in one symbolic hour (Rev 18:10, Rev 18:17-19) via the rod of iron God will use to humble the nations through the elect (Rev 11:15, Rev 2:27, Rev 12:5, Rev 19:15). 

Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 
Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

That humbling of the nations does not bring about conversion but will leave an undeniable witness of how God can overthrow the weak and beggarly elements under which we all initially held in bondage. Only by the grace of God we do not go back to them as typified by Israel wanting to go back to the bondage of the pleasures of sin for a season in Egypt even after the Lord overthrew their enemies, who typify their bondage and slavery to sin (Heb 11:25, Exo 15:1-16). The loosing or binding of Satan, in other words, is all a work of the Lord to show us how we cannot overcome unless the son of God sets us free (Rev 20:7, Joh 8:36). 

The ability to judge the nations is given to those who have suffered and been judged in this age (1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:17), and the hope-filled message at the end of chapter nine reveals the reward and blessing that comes upon those who are blessed to endure until the end (Zec 9:14-17, Mat 24:13)

Zec 9:14  And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. 
Zec 9:15  The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
Zec 9:16  And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. 
Zec 9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The latter rain is what we will be looking at in this tenth chapter of Zechariah, which represents the word of God, the “corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids” that with which the elect will fill the world, saturating the unconverted masses with the truth of the true gospel of Christ. We will be leaving an example for the ages to come that all the planting and watering in the world, even with Christ and His Christ on this earth, does not bring about any spiritual increase, which is always given by God at the exact appointed time that it was purposed to be so. The elect takes on that role which Christ had when He was in His flesh, bringing forth the word of truth, performing miracles, but not converting anyone (1Co 3:6-9, 1Jn 4:17).

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.
1Co 3:8  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

Zec 10:1  Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
Zec 10:2  For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

The true latter rain God brings through His great cloud of witness to the world during the thousand-year reign of the saints spoken of in the first verse of our study (Jas 5:7-8, Heb 12:1), is contrasted with the “diviners” of Babylon who have spoken vanity (Mar 7:7) and told “false dreams” in the second verse (Jer 23:32), whose comfort is in vain (2Pe 2:17-19, Jud 1:16) leaving the flocks to go “their way as a flock” being troubled because there was no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1) but only a negative empty cloud of witness, from those who were no shepherds at all but false apostles (Jud 1:12, 2Co 11:13-15). 

Jer 23:32  Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 

Now a new thing is happening. Babylon has fallen, and the latter rain is being given through the elect via “the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.” The field (Mat 13:38) is the world, and what the world produces via the word of God starts off as grass [God’s word received in immature ears] that will feed the beasts of the earth which men are in God’s eyes (Ecc 3:18). 

God uses Elijah as a type of the elect to show us how it is through our fervent prayers God will “give them the showers of rain” in due season (Jas 5:16-20). Elijah prayed twice, the first time asking that it not rain for three and a half years, the same length of time as the two witnesses’ ministry, who represent the body of Christ. These witness to the world but don’t convert the masses who can’t yet receive the true gospel message and be washed by it. Our ministry in Christ is primarily for the body of Christ today and is not for converting the masses, although we are to do good to all men, especially the household of faith who are being sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word in this age. During the thousand-year reign of the saints, God’s children are now known and seen and heard, and even looked to as saviors (Oba 1:21, Rev 3:9).  Again this is all just another witness of how that witness will not bring about any spiritual increase until God grants it in the lake of fire.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

The second time Elijah prayed (“And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit”) typifies the time when the world will begin to bring forth spiritual fruit. The planting and watering come from the body of Christ [our fervent prayers], but the increase comes from the Father, or it does not, all according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

The word of God is not a joyful burden to the world, but as we saw in chapter nine of Zechariah, God’s word in the unconverted heart is “the burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus”, also described as “the burden of Jehovah” in Jeremiah 23:33-34. If we see God’s word as a burden, then we must not have Christ in us bearing that burden, and with such a heart we bring a curse upon ourselves by not being given to recognize that the word is not a burden but rather “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16, Rev 19:1).

Jer 23:33  And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? then shalt thou say unto them, What burden! I will cast you off, saith Jehovah. 
Jer 23:34  And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house. 

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

Rev 19:1  After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: 

Zec 10:3  Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
Zec 10:4  Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. 
Zec 10:5  And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

God will use the elect who are typified by Judah, who is likened to a “goodly horse in the battle” as the means by which His wrath will be shown to the nations. “Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats.” The only reason the elect can accomplish this is because we have been judged and made ready to be kings and priest because of the day of our judgment or visitation we have gone endured, “for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah” (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12, 2Ti 2:12, Jer 5:14).

Out of the church, typified by Judah, comes forth the zeal of the Lord described in these terms, “Out of him came forth the corner^H6438, out of him the nail^H3489, out of him the battle^H4421 bow,^H7198 out of him every^H3605 oppressor^H5065 together.^H3162”

The Corner

The church will have every angle covered with Christ as the chief cornerstone of their lives, and all our accusers will be made silent in Christ (Eph 2:20, Rom 8:1-2, 1Ti 1:9).

H6438 corner pinnâh pin-naw’

Feminine of H6434; an angle; by implication a pinnacle; figuratively a chieftain: – bulwark, chief, corner, stay, tower.

The Nail

The word “nail”^H3489 is the same word that describes the “pins“^H3489 which are used in the construction of the temple (Num 3:37, Num 4:32, Deu 23:13). When the temple of God is fastened together properly, each joint supplying what is needed in love, the body or temple is strong (Eph 4:16). The nail or the pin represents the word of God that must destroy the man of sin within us and protect the body of Christ, figuratively killing everything that breathes (Jdg 4:21).

Num 3:37  And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins^H3489, and their cords [Ecc 4:12, Joh 2:15-17, Heb 12:6].

Num 4:32  And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins^H3489, and their cords [Ecc 4:12], with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name ye shall reckon the instruments of the charge of their burden.

Deu 23:13  And thou shalt have a paddle^H3489 upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:

Jdg 4:21  Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail^H3489 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 Battle Bow

The battle bow, as we saw with our last study, is the instrument God uses to execute His judgments in the earth (Zec 9:13). We are stretched [bow^H7198] of the Lord to do a battle, feeling like we are really involved in the fight, and we are involved as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, acknowledging that it is the Lord working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, which is to win the battle (Php 2:12-13, 1Sa 17:47).

Zec 9:13  When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. 

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.

H7198 Bow qesheth keh’-sheth

From H7185 in the original sense (of H6983) of bending; a bow, for shooting (hence figuratively strength) or the iris: –  X arch (-er), + arrow, bow ([-man, -shot]).

Every^H3605 Oppressor^H5065 Together^H3162

This phrase “every oppressor together” is another way of saying the entire united body of Christ that is likened unto Gideon’s army will oppress the enemy together, overcoming through the strength that this unity brings, as a threefold cord. That process of judgment represented by the ‘three’ in a “threefold cord” cleanses the temple as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior (Rom 12:5, 2Pe 3:18).

H3605 every kôl    kole, kole

From H3634; properly the whole; hence all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense): – (in) all (manner, [ye]), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, [no-] thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso (-ever).

H5065 Oppressor nâgaś naw-gas’

A primitive root; to drive (an animal, a workman, a debtor, an army); by implication to tax, harass, tyrannize: – distress, driver, exact (-or), oppress (-or), X raiser of taxes, taskmaster.

H3162 Together yachad yakh’-ad

From H3161; properly a unit, that is, (adverbially) unitedly: – alike, at all (once), both, likewise, only, (al-) together, withal.

Verse five then goes on to describe what this united front in the Lord can accomplish, “And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.” Notice it is they and them who are doing the battle together, and because the Lord is with them, the enemy they come up against will be confounded, “and the riders on horses shall be confounded.” So verse three talks about the positive “goodly horses” that will come up in battle against the negative “riders on horses” of verse five who shall be confounded.

Zec 10:6  And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.

In this verse God declares that all the world will be saved. The house of Judah which is strengthened represents the elect who will be used to save the house of Joseph, symbolism that is shown in this verse where Joseph is represented as Judah [the elect] who is talking to “the house of Joseph” which can represent the world (Gen 45:5). 

Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 

Joseph brought them again to place them in a place where they could grow and mature, having mercy upon them, “for I have mercy upon them.” It would take time, but eventually the conscience of the brothers of Joseph (the world) will be washed, which typifies how God is greater than our hearts (1Jn 3:20), our sin which does so easily beset us (Heb 12:1, 1Jn 2:1). Joseph was used by Pharaoh, who is a type of God the Father, in the same way the elect will be used to show mercy to the world, wiping away all the tears of the world and extending great mercy to them as it had already been extended to God’s elect first. “For I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them” (Rom 11:27-32)

Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 
Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 
Rom 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 
Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Zec 10:7  And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. 

Being the son of Joseph and the one who was blessed by Jacob (Gen 48:19), Ephraim represents the elect who have been blessed to live by the faith of Christ [Joseph], which is why it says “Ephraim shall be like a mighty man” (Php 4:13). Our hearts rejoice “as through wine” as the word of God quickens us (Joh 6:63) and “their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD” represents the rest of the world that will come to know these wonderful works God has performed to the sons of man. They will rejoice as they come to understand that our being saved first, as a kind of first fruits, will ultimately result in their being saved in the great white throne judgment (Oba 1:21).

Zec 10:8  I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 
Zec 10:9  And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. 

Speaking now of Ephraim’s children who represent the inheritance of the saints,  (Gen 22:17-18, Gal 3:16) the following verses discuss the captivity all humanity must go into before they come out of it, “I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: [2Sa 14:14, Oba 1:21] and they shall increase as they have increased [now they shall spiritually increase as our children (Gal 4:27)]. And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.”

Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

It was in the “far countries” of Babylon into which we first go that we are gathered out of by the grace of God “and they shall live with their children, and turn again.” This is where we remember the Lord, symbolized by this moment with the prodigal son in Luke 15:17.

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Zec 10:10  I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. 

Again, we see the process of judgment that must happen in order to be saved in this next verse: “I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.” Both the elect and the rest of the world will go through this process, each man in his own order.

In this verse we learn how the world goes into “the land of Egypt” and are gathered “out of Assyria“, both symbols of Babylon out of which God’s people are called first. Then we are brought into “the land of Gilead^H1568 and Lebanon^H3844” and are told God will not be “found for them.” These places, Gilead and Lebanon, represent our yet self-righteous carnal stage in our walk when we are “East of the Jordan” and not yet understanding that we must be baptized into His death (Rom 6:3) dying daily, as the temple of God (1Co 3:16). We may be heirs of the inheritance, but we are not ready to rule at this stage, and only if God permits will that be the case (Gal 4:1-2, Heb 6:3). 

H1568 gil‛âd ghil-awd’  

BDB =  “rocky region”

Strong’s = Probably from H1567; Gilad, a region East of the Jordan; also the name of three Israelites: – Gilead, Gileadite.

H3844 lebânôn leb-aw-nohn’ 

BDB = “whiteness”

Strong’s = From H3825; (the) white mountain (from its snow); Lebanon, a mountain range in Palestine: – Lebanon.

Zec 10:11  And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. 
Zec 10:12  And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

In order for us to go onto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32), we must experience all these things inwardly: “And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.“

How we will accomplish this transformation of no longer being conformed to this world (Rom 12:2) but to the mind of Christ is then revealed to be by the strength of the Lord, “I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.”  

It takes the ‘Apollos and Paul’ in us, meaning a witness of Christ working in us as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to then be given the increase that comes from God, as He wills these things and does these things in the lives of the peculiar and zealous body of Christ (1Co 3:6-7, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9).

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. 

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.

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 

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:

Zec 10:12  And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

Psa 120:1 A Song of degrees^H4609. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
Psa 120:2  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3  What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Psa 120:4  Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Psa 120:5  Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Psa 120:6  My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Psa 120:7  I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

The word degrees^H4609 in this opening verse of Psalm 120 reminds us there is a progression in our walk, or steps, that symbolically describe for us as degrees or steps that have everything to do with the healing of our heavens God is in the process of renewing and healing with His word by which he sends to wash us.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

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

degrees H4609
mah-al-aw’

Feminine of H4608; elevation, that is, the act (literally a journey to a higher place, figuratively a thought arising), or (concretely) the condition (literally a step or grade mark, figuratively a superiority of station); specifically a climactic progression (in certain Psalms): – things that come up, (high) degree, deal, go up, stair, step, story.

That healing can only take place by our being “raised … up together, and made … sit together^G4776 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” as a body of believers who by the gifts God has given to us are able to ascend up on high with our Lord, and take all our thoughts captive, as the Lord in us fulfills these words “he led captivity captive” (2Co 10:5-6, Eph 2:6, Eph 4:8-11).

made us sit together^G4776
soong-kath-id’-zo

From G4862 and G2523; to give (or take) a seat in company with: – (make) sit (down) together.

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;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

These functions in the body of Christ are typified by Jacob’s ladder, that place where Christ ascends and descends in our heavens so we can become disciples indeed “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (Joh 8:31) or “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” spoken of in the context of “the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man”.

Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Joh 1:47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Joh 1:48  Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Joh 1:49  Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Joh 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Now that we’ve looked at these verses which talk about the power that Christ has over all the powers and principalities above which He is far higher within us (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21), we can look at this parable found in the book of John a little closer (Joh 5:1-15) and see how blessed we are to be singled out by Christ and told “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”. This particular Psalm 120 is very much about that process of maturing that is happening within the body of Christ who are blessed to bring forth much fruit in Him today (Eph 1:4, Joh 15:5) as  a result of being granted to carry our cross or “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”. These verses below explain how this is all being accomplished and what it accomplishes right now in the lives of God’s elect.

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.

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

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection [Luk 13:32]; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.

If we are granted to be raised with Christ that is exactly what we will do, as we “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen [“Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”] with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God [Rom 6:11].

These verses in John explain how we are raised in heavenly places through Christ (Joh 1:1-15):

Joh 5:1  After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem [not to keep the feast of the Jews (Joh 7:2), but went up to Jerusalem symbolizing our head who precedes us in being raised in heavenly Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26)].
Joh 5:2  Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda^G964, having five porches. [This pool is a symbol of the favour or grace (5) that God shows His elect in this age as we “have no man” (Joh 5:7) other than Christ who can save us and wash us in this pool (Act 4:12, Oba 1:21).]

G964
Bēthesda
bay-thes-dah’

Of Chaldee origin (compare [H1004] and [H2617]); house of kindness; Bethesda, a pool in Jerusalem: – Bethesda.

H2617
kheh’-sed

From H2616; kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opprobrium) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty: – favour, good deed (-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.

Joh 5:3  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water [symbolizing Babylon where God out calls the sick who need a physician, just as this man was called out (Mar 2:17)]
Joh 5:4  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had [Heb 2:3].
Joh 5:5  And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
Joh 5:6  When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
Joh 5:7  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me [Luk 10:30-33].
Joh 5:8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath [Heb 4:8-12 “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”].
Joh 5:10  The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
Joh 5:11  He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk [When we are healed we can then be about our Father’s business continuing in it until the end of this life (Psa 107:20, Luk 2:49, Ecc 12:13].
Joh 5:12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
Joh 5:13  And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
Joh 5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee [Rom 6:11].
Joh 5:15  The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole [Rev 11:3].

Psa 120:1  A Song of degrees^H4609. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

In the days of Christ’s flesh, “when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” is what this section of our Psalm reminds us. Our heavenly Father uses the “distress” in our lives to bring us to our wits’ end so we learn to trust in Him (Psa 107:26-29, 2Co 1:9-10).

Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
2Co 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

Psa 120:2  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3  What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

The “lying lips” and the “deceitful tongue” that must always be first and foremost dealt with is our own hearts which control our tongue that must be reigned in through the dying daily process to which we’re called as we continue to be about our Father’s business.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1Co 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners [Rom 6:11].
1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

After we are given to see that we are the man (2Sa 12:7), then the rest of our life is to be a living sacrifice that is being lost to the glory of God (Mat 16:25). Adam and Eve will be delivered “from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” through the second Adam “who knows what shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue” (Psa 120:3).

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Psa 120:4  Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Let’s continue on with the thought, “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?” We have our answer in type and shadow with words that describe the purification which comes as a result of the words of God abiding within us.

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.

Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

“Juniper“^H7574 has a root word H7573 meaning “to yoke up” or to “bind” and when we go through fiery trials that purify our hearts, that control our lips (1Pe 4:12), the resulting effect of those trials will be a zealousness and holding fast to the yoke to which we are called and bound through Christ (2Co 7:11, Luk 9:62, Psa 118:27-29, Heb 13:15).

H7574
rethem  rôthem
reh’-them, ro’-them

From H7573; the Spanish broom (from its pole-like stems): – juniper (tree).

H7573
râtham
raw-tham’

A primitive root; to yoke up (to the pole of a vehicle): – bind.

The “Sharp arrows of the mighty” are a witness that it is God’s word we sow when we put our hands to the plow where we need to be equally yoked together (2Co 6:14, Rom 12:3) as the body of Christ (Luk 9:62, Php 2:13). Looking back when we have our hand to the plow is symbolic of wanting to go back into the world like Lot’s wife, and many are called but few are chosen to accomplish the work of His hand working in us, which makes it possible for us to be found with His righteousness and not our own.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Php 2:16  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Php 2:17  Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper” is what it will take to destroy the man of perditon within us who is comfortable with his own righteousness and must go through much tribulation, chastening and scourging which comes by way of the “Sharp arrows of the mighty” the word of God that is sharper than any two edged sword.

Psa 127:4  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. [Doctrine]
Psa 127:5  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate [2Ti 2:15].

Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
Psa 64:4  That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

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

Isa 49:2  And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Psa 91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Psa 120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Psa 120:6  My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Psa 120:7  I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

Sojourning “in Mesech” and dwelling in the “tents of Kedar” are symbols of our flesh which wars against our spirit and is never at peace (Gal 5:17, Rom 7:24).

Inwardly Christ is my hope of glory who “hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace” which is represented by my Gentile flesh (Col 1:27).

Christ within us can say “I am for peace” and “when I speak” (Jer 1:4-19) “they are for war” (Mat 10:22, Luk 10:20).

God has chosen the weak and base things of the world to confound the world in this spiritual battle which we have been promised to overcome with Christ in us (1Co 1:27). He has raised us up in heavenly places for that express purpose (Eph 2:6), and it will be through a lifetime of overcoming “Mesech” and “Kedar” through the seals, trumpets and vials of Revelation 6:6, 8:6, and 16:1 or the lamentation, mourning and woe spoken of in Ezekiel 2:10 that will ultimately bring about the lasting peace in our lives as we are purified through those judgments and witness to the world what God has done for us through Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Php 1:6).

“When I speak they are for war” and these verses in Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-19) were written for our sakes (1Pe 1:12) to give us stedfast confidence in what Christ can and will do through His little flock of whom He says it is His good pleasure to give the kingdom (Luk 12:32).

Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Jer 1:15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them [“when I speak“] all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luk 12:33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luk 12:35  Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
Luk 12:36  And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

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

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [immediately], at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Psa 77:10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
Psa 77:11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
Psa 77:12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.
Psa 77:13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
Psa 77:14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
Psa 77:15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
Psa 77:16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
Psa 77:17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.
Psa 77:18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
Psa 77:19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
Psa 77:20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The next few verses will look at proceed from a “Selah”, a pause in verse nine, after the question is asked “Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? …Selah.”

God knows that we need to meditate and to take stock every day, to be reminded of His mercy, love and faithfulness in the quietness of pausing or meditating on His greatness.

Psa 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

Psa 119:78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.

Psa 77:11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
Psa 77:12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

1Ti 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

Joh 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

This meditation/Selah/remembrance is part of the dying daily process that brings us into His communion with the saints who learn that God will not forget “to be gracious” and will not “shut up his tender mercies” as stated in verse nine.

This exercise of meditating that we are drawn into is given by the grace and faith of our Lord and is a critical part of how God is preparing the hearts and minds of His people for those things which are going to come upon the earth (Luk 21:25 , Act 1:8). Notice how after we have done all so we can stand as a result of meditating on His promises and faithfulness to clothe us spiritually (Eph 6:10-18), then we are told to not give any thought to “Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: “

Luk 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luk 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Luk 21:14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

We know these things are true (His ‘graciousness’, His ‘tender mercies’), and yet we must needs be put in remembrance of them, as God has also made us to need one another, a body fitly framed that comes together to be reminded of how God is faithful and never forgets the workmanship of His hand, which we are. He shows us through one another His favor and mercy along with truth that we pray He will continue to ‘bind‘ around the hearts of His people.

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.

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Isa 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

Eze 5:3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

Dan 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
Dan 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

Psa 77:10 And I said, This is my infirmity^H2470: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
Psa 77:11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
Psa 77:12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

The “infirmity^H2470” is what is burned out of us while bound in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which is a type and shadow of the process that God’s workmanship has to go through to go unto perfection on the third day, as we are purified in the fire of our infirmities^H2470 (Luk 13:32, Luk 5:31).

H2470
חלה
chalah
Total KJV Occurrences: 78
sick, 34
Gen_48:1, 1Sa_19:14, 1Sa_30:13, 2Sa_13:2, 2Sa_13:5-6 (2), 1Ki_14:1, 1Ki_14:5, 1Ki_17:17, 2Ki_1:2, 2Ki_8:7, 2Ki_8:29, 2Ki_13:14, 2Ki_20:1, 2Ki_20:12, 2Ch_22:6, 2Ch_32:24, Neh_2:2, Psa_35:13, Pro_13:12, Pro_23:35, Son_2:5, Son_5:8, Isa_33:24, Isa_38:1, Isa_38:9, Isa_39:1, Eze_34:4, Eze_34:16, Dan_8:27, Hos_7:5, Mic_6:13, Mal_1:8, Mal_1:13
besought, 5
Exo_32:11, 1Ki_13:6, 2Ki_13:4, 2Ch_33:12, Jer_26:19
grievous, 4
Jer_10:19 (2), Jer_14:17, Jer_30:12, Nah_3:19
weak, 4
Jdg_16:7, Jdg_16:11, Jdg_16:17, Isa_14:10
entreat, 3
1Ki_13:6, Psa_45:12, Pro_19:6
pray, 3
Zec_7:2, Zec_8:21-22 (2)
wounded, 3
1Ki_22:34, 2Ch_18:33, 2Ch_35:23
become, 2
Jdg_16:17, Isa_14:10
diseased, 2
1Ki_15:23, 2Ch_16:12
grief, 2
Isa_17:11, Isa_53:10
grieved, 2
Isa_57:10 (2), Amo_6:6
sore, 2
Ecc_5:13, Ecc_5:16
beseech, 1
Mal_1:9
carefully, 1
Mic_1:12
entreated, 1
Psa_119:58
infirmity, 1
Psa_77:10
laid, 1
Deu_29:22
pain, 1
Jer_12:13
prayer, 1
Dan_9:13 (2)
sorry, 1
1Sa_22:8
suit, 1
Job_11:19
suits, 1
Isa_3:22
supplication, 1
1Sa_13:12
travail, 1
Jer_4:31

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

Luk 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

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

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin [no infirmity], we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

It is through this process of being in the fire (is, was and will be) that we will be brought into remembrance of the works of our LORD, brought in remembrance of how He had begun this purifying work within us so many “days of old” ago.

Psa 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

That is our hope, that we will not forget, as the disciples in their yet carnal state forgot to bring bread when they got to the “other side”, which typifies not having that extra oil needed at the end of this age (Heb 12:5, 1Jn 3:3, 1Jn 1:7, Joh 14:26, Mat 16:5, Mat 25:8-9).

If that oil is in our lives, then we will “talk of thy doings” and talk often of this testimony that God is laying up in the lives of His people, to demonstrate to the world that He is our redeemer who is dragging us through the fiery trials (Joh 6:44) and giving witness to all the world of His power and might as His love is being perfected within His disciples.

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Col 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Col 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Act 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Isa 46:8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

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:

Psa 77:13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
Psa 77:14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

Christ is ‘the way’ who is in His people who are the temple of God who are blessed to glorify God today in that temple with even greater works than those which Christ did as we go from glory to glory.

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

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:

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Joh 5:20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is where God has and is declaring His strength “among the people” where He does wonders in His temple which we are.

Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Luk 17:18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 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.

Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Psa 77:15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
Psa 77:16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

God’s arm redeems the people, and we are that arm or part of the temple that God uses to save the world all in due season.

Dan 10:6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

There is no part of humanity or our flesh that will not be troubled, even “the depths also were troubled” because we know that flesh does not inherit the kingdom of God and as we become a new creation at the expense of losing our life, our water, sees God doing this marvellous work, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Almighty.

Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Psa 33:7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Psa 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

Psa 79:3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

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

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

Psa 77:17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.
Psa 77:18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

The elect, “the clouds”, will pour “out water” and send out a sound, that sound being God’s judgments going into the ends of the earth and into the depths of the sea where our nephesh souls are judged and give an accounting for the works that God has caused in our lives, the good and the evil.

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.

Eze 24:3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:

God is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure as we examine ourselves to see if we’re in the faith (Php 2:13, 2Co 13:5). His word goes forth and is poured out of the elect in this age and every age that He has worked in where He has “sent out a sound” a trumpet, also symbolized by the arrows in these verses that “went abroad”.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

If we are indeed moving with fear and reverence the way Noah did building the ark in troublesome times, just like the road we talked about last week that was build again in troublesome times in Daniel’s day, we will understand that those events represent the much tribulation or troublesome events that we must go through as the body of Christ as “the earth trembled and shook”. This trembling will be occurring in the hearts and minds of God’s people today as opposed to the rest of the world who are meant to be caught off guard at our Lord’s return.

Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

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

Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand,that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

The arrows being sent abroad in this verse are also a reminder that it is God’s word that goes forth, his truth, which will slay the first man Adam who may be afar off but never outside of the reach of God’s judgment (Isa 58:7).

Hab 3:11 The sun and moon stood still [Selah] in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

Zec 9:13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons [Oba 1:21], O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
Zec 9:14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Act 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

These verses together (Psa 77:15-18) remind us again that all of the work being done in the “the sons of Jacob and Joseph” who typify God’s elect are works that trouble our waters and shake our earth and light up the sky of our minds with lightnings as we behold Satan falling from our heavens. This work of redemption is accompanied with that “Selah”, that reflection/meditation upon these wonderful works unto the children of men that God is performing within his people today for the purpose of redeeming the rest of humanity.

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Psa 77:19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
Psa 77:20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

These closing verses speak very loudly to us when we consider that God is sovereign over the light and darkness, over the earth, over the sea, over the sky, over the wind, over the day, over the night.

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isa 65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

He is “in the sea” of humanity that “live and move and has our being” in Him without even knowing this (Act 17:28). He has-is-will lead his people like a flock, and this work which God through Christ has-is-will do is typified in this last verse as the “hand of Moses and Aaron”. This hand^H3027 of Moses and Aaron is the means of bringing that comfort while “thy footsteps are not known”. This brings us back to verse 2 and last week’s reflection:

“We are seeking the Lord even while our hand^H3027 is outstretched^H5064 (literal translations of “sore^H3027 ran^H5064“– see Rotherham, YLT, CLV or LITV) in the night,

and our own souls [H5315 = nephesh] refuse to be comforted. This happens to demonstrate that it is only God who can soften or harden the heart of Pharaoh within us.

Exo 9:35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

As stated last week and reiterated this week, it is only when the Lord grants that growth will our soul take comfort. We are truly being blessed in this age indeed!

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

(Key verses: Gen 21:14-34)

We are discussing the foundational theme of faith as we are learning from Abraham as God’s Old Testament type of the route the faith of Christ will take us on. The faith of Christ opens up His refreshing waters through His Word as Christ (and His Word) is the true well of living water (Joh 7:37-39):

Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her [the woman at the well of Jacob], Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14 but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.
Joh 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw.

In the beginning God made clear distinctions between two dimensions which are seen throughout the scriptures, by using various metaphors, for our edification concerning the way in which He works with mankind (Gen 1:1; Gen 1:4; Gen 1:16; Mat 9:16-17; Mat 10:34; Joh 6:63; 1Co 15:45; 2Co 3:6; Heb 9:13-14). One of these metaphors is the clear separation God established between the waters above the firmament (which is a symbol of His spirit life in His Word) and the waters below the firmament (relating to the physical life and its concepts):

Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Like this woman at the well of Jacob, we are first introduced to the waters of our physical well through the first man Adam, with all his natural desires, before we can receive and appreciate the true spiritual waters in Christ, the last Adam (Joh 6:3; 1Co 15:45-49). In this discussion we also see this dichotomy of these two Adams as it also played out through Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. The theme of wells is used in Genesis 21 in relation to the gift of the faith of Christ and how these physical metaphors make the spiritual application of faith understandable in our own lives (Rom 1:20; 1Co 10:11). Here is the first well we read of in this passage in Genesis 21:

The well of water for Hagar and Ishmael

Gen 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water [this bottle is actually a skin bag that can contain water], and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
Gen 21:15 And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
Gen 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot. For she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
Gen 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Gen 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him a great nation.
Gen 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Gen 21:20 And God was with the lad, and he grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.
Gen 21:21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

Abraham is not only a spiritual type relating to our walk in the faith of Christ, but also in the way he obeyed God and His commandments diligently. Abraham obeyed God despite his own deep-seated fleshly attachments, even in letting Hagar and Ishmael go and trusting that God would provide for them. Through the faith of Christ, we learn that God is the Faithful One who knows what He is doing, as He is most excellent in all His ways (Deu 32:4; Psa 145:17; Isa 28:29). So many times we worry what will happen to those whom God takes away from us as if our worrying can achieve something good which God cannot do. How silly our religious flesh is, and how convincing the deceitful beast is when we confess with our unbridled tongue that we believe God, but our hearts and actions testify to the opposite:

Jas 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

Ecc 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
Ecc 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Ishmael was already older than fourteen years at this stage when Abraham had to let him and his mother, Hagar, go from his household as commanded by God through Sarah (Gen 21:9-12). They were given bread and water by Abraham and he surely provided enough for them to last for some time.

These supplies from Abraham all point to what the fleshly provisions are all about. The flesh was never created by God to last forever or to fulfill our spiritual needs – it was a temporary shelter made marred and corruptible as from the hand of the Potter – the way God designed this from the beginning (Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20):

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

Our first body of dust is given as a temporary tent in which we must wander and sojourn in the wilderness of our earthy lives until this earthly water is spent, as it is indeed placed also in a temporary skin bag (Joh 3:5-6). The skin indeed has a shine, like Moses’ skin shone for a short period after he was given the law on Mount Sinai (Exo 34:28-30; 2Co 3:13). All that fleshly glory is veiled for the elect who knows that glory is short lived and will be abolished (Eph 2:15; 2Ti 1:10). Within this time in our wilderness we are given to tend the things of the flesh:

Rom 8:5a For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh….

Our Hagar and Ishmael stage is a very important aspect in the growth of our faith, as we first need to know the depths and delusions within the time of our own spiritual bondage and ignorance (Ecc 3:1-11). The revelation of Jesus Christ includes the unveiling of the old Adam – “the man of sin” created by God for His purposes (2Th 2:1-12; Rev 1:1; Rev 1:8; Rev 1:11). We can recognise our own Hagar and Ishmael if we can see them in our own Arabia and Jerusalem “which now is”:

Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise [the holy spirit of promise – Eph 1:13].
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

Hagar and Ishmael represent our time in the wilderness of Arabia, which is our fleshly convictions and understanding of the things of God. This Mount Sinai in our Arabia is our carnal elevations of pride when we are convinced that we are spiritually mature enough to worship the Father in spirit and truth. This is what “Jerusalem which now is” in us achieves as appointed by God, when we say we can see and are not even aware of our blindness and immaturity:

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

When we believe we can see, we are made blind to not even grasp that we are in lustful bondage of selfishness and self-elevation. This is when we are married to our fifth fleshly husband like the woman at the well of Jacob:

Joh 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Joh 4:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
Joh 4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
Joh 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

The number five relates to “grace through faith”, and in this case it reveals the negative aspect of faith (‘dead faith’) when we drink the waters of flesh and think they can satisfy us. Our fifth husband represents our intimacy with this ‘dead faith’ when we speak foolishly in a multitude of idle words about the worship of God without the works to prove it in our lives (Ecc 5:3; Mat 12:36-37; 1Ti 5:13; Jas 2:17). This also relates to physical Israel, who also wandered in the wilderness for forty years and was given manna and water, which they believed was the true bread and water from heaven. The flesh cannot stand the true bread and the true drink which gives spirit life because they want to preserve and save their flesh and maintain their carnal concepts:

Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh [His spiritual bread] of the Son of man, and drink his blood [His spiritual water], ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Even their law, which physical Israel received in the wilderness, was after carnal commandments and could not bring spiritual righteousness and justification before God:

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Ishmael is indeed a son of Abraham, just as the fleshly Adam was a son of God, but as Ishmael was not born of the promise, so is the first Adam, not the true spiritual son of God (Luk 3:38; 1Co 15:45). If we claim sonship, then our words and actions will testify to which we associate – the fleshly offspring or the offspring of the spirit of God:

Joh 8:39 They [the Jews who believed in Jesus “after the flesh”] answered and said unto him [Jesus], Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

The Word of God indeed has an outward application, but for many this physical application is the focus as they also believe in a fleshly resurrection (which some even call spiritual flesh). The outward is just a parable designed by God to also bring spiritual blindness in the multitude to the mysteries of the inward and spiritual kingdom of God (Luk 17:21):

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitude] in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Hagar’s eyes have been miraculously opened to see what she could not see before, but she could only see the well of water for the fleshly needs for her and her offspring. This well which Hagar saw is indeed a symbol of Jesus Christ, but this Christ is “after the flesh” and not after the spirit (2Co 5:16). She could indeed see, but it was still just about physical things. This well of water which was revealed to her was still under the control of the darkness and its “lesser light” by which the flesh must live (Gen 1:16). It all is contained in our first heaven which is our initial way of understanding things when our “deep” is ruled by the darkness or the night and is devoid of spiritual insight:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

When we are given to “rise up out” of these waters and we can walk on the dry land which appears also out of these waters, we are like an elevated mighty beast still filled with pride and lusts. This is our second heaven (Ecc 3:18; Gen 1:9-13; 1Jn 2:16):

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

As Hagar was from Egypt, it made sense that she “took [Ishmael] a wife out of the land of Egypt” as Egypt always refers to the flesh and its carnal convictions and solutions:

“And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.”

In this section in Genesis 21 verses 14 to 21, we also read about the distance of a bowshot and an archer relating to Ishmael in these verses:

Gen 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot…

Gen 21:20 And God was with the lad, and he grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer.

Bows and arrows refer to the thoughts of our hearts and words expressed which are used in the scripture for both good and evil purposes (Gen 27:3; Gen 49:22-26; 1Sa 31:3; Psa 18:14; Psa 64:3; Jer 9:8). The references to bows and arrows in this story of Hagar and Ismael connect the negative application, as the aim of the wicked is always to shoot at the upright in heart while this wicked man of sin reviles and opposes the true bow and arrows of the doctrine of Christ:

Psa 11:2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

Psa 37:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

It is only the shield of the faith of Christ that can protect the righteous and upright in heart from the arrows of the enemy, and this is why we are taught by God to only use His bow and His arrows – the mind and words of Christ – in all spiritual warfare (Lam 3:12-13):

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

2Sa 1:18 (Also he [David] bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)

The second well which appears in this passage is the true well of living water in which the world has no interest:

The well of water for which Abraham reproved Abimelech

Previously we met this king of the Philistines in chapter 20 of Genesis when Abraham denied that Sarah was his wife, and this Abimelech took Sarah into his household, but never slept with her. Abraham was rebuked and corrected by Abimelech for doing that and returned Sarah to Abraham. In chapter 21 Abraham met Abimelech again at a well of water over which there was some dispute:

Gen 21:22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
Gen 21:23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.
Gen 21:24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
Gen 21:25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
Gen 21:26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.
Gen 21:27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
Gen 21:28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
Gen 21:29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
Gen 21:30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
Gen 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba [“well of the sevenfold oath”]; because there they sware both of them.
Gen 21:32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

The Philistines are used as a symbol of our religious flesh which is not at all interested in the undefiled truth of God’s Word. Here are the words of Abimelech to God which confirms this self-righteous perspective of our flesh:

Gen 20:4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Gen 20:5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

Abimelech represents our carnal ruler of a “righteous nation”, even our own uncircumcised self-righteous Babylonian flesh which has limited communication with God. Abimelech, with his own integrity and his self-righteous innocence, has no interest in this well of water which represents the living waters of the Christ “after the spirit” (Joh 4:10-11; Joh 7:38; 2Co 5:16). The spiritual harlot (Babylon) which is “Jerusalem which is now” is only interested in how they can use the Word of God for elevating their own profile and receive physical blessings (Gal 4:25).

Eze 16:15 But thou [Jerusalem] didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Eze 16:16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them.

This true spiritual well of living water is an “odor of death” to those who are peddling the word of God:

2Co 2:15  for we are a fragrance of Christ to God, in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing:
2Co 2:16 to these, indeed, an odor of death for death, yet to those an odor of life for life. And for this who is competent?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking. (CLV)

Abimelech wanted Abraham to avoid him and his family and his nation which points to how spiritual Babylon rejects those who carry the true testimony of Jesus Christ, even banning God’s elect to their own island of Patmos – the place of dying to this world (Mat 10:39; 1Co 15:31; Gal 2:20; Rev 1:1-2; Rev 1:9; Rev 12:17). This war in our own heavens is seen in the presence of Abimelech’s army chief captain, Phichol, which indicates the hostility of all in Babylon towards those who please God by the faith of Christ in them (Heb 11:6). The Hebrew name “Phichol” means the mouth or voice of all – all our enemies and accusers in the flesh. The flesh is under the control of the dragon, Satan, as appointed by God and this enemy, and all his armies focus on the child of God with whom he makes war in the heavens (2Co 11:1-4; Rev 12:3-6; Rev 12:17). Abraham’s gesture of separating the seven ewe lambs as a gift to Abimelech confirms the truth that faith is only complete in the application or doing of God’s commandments. This also relates to the digging of the well by Abraham which produced the good water as we work out our own salvation by doing God’s commandments as He places and works His Word within our hearts (Php 2:12-13). This is what the works of the faith of Christ produce through us, and only by these works is the Father glorified:

Gal 5:22 But the fruit [the works] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Abraham is showing us how we are to keep our eyes on the prize of the high calling (the third heaven) which is Christ and His mind and doctrine. This is when we totally rely on the name of the Lord and believe in His sovereignty over all the kingdoms of this world:

Gen 21:33 And Abraham planted a grove [a type of tree] in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
Gen 21:34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.

Abraham found that the joy of the Lord is doing God’s commandments – digging the well and planting the grove, among other works. It is from this well of God that the pure river of life flows and where the tree of life is planted on each side of that river of water, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev 2:7; Rev 22:14):

Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

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Detailed studies relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Building Spiritual Wealth
The Fruit of the Spirit
Why Are the Multitudes Not Given to Understand?
Christ is Preached Even in Babylon