Jdg 21:1-25 Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin

[Study Aired September 27, 2021]

Jdg 21:1  Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. 
Jdg 21:2  And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 
Jdg 21:3  And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? 
Jdg 21:4  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 
Jdg 21:5  And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. 
Jdg 21:6  And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 
Jdg 21:7  How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 
Jdg 21:8  And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. 
Jdg 21:9  For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. 
Jdg 21:10  And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. 
Jdg 21:11  And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. 
Jdg 21:12  And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 
Jdg 21:13  And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. 
Jdg 21:14  And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. 
Jdg 21:15  And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 
Jdg 21:16  Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 
Jdg 21:17  And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 
Jdg 21:18  Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. 
Jdg 21:19  Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. 
Jdg 21:20  Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 
Jdg 21:21  And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 
Jdg 21:22  And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 
Jdg 21:23  And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. 
Jdg 21:24  And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

A key to understanding the spiritual implication of what we are being told in this story is to know what wives represent spiritually. We know that a woman or a wife or a girl signifies the church of the elect or Babylon depending on whether she is a good one or bad one.

Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

This chapter therefore deals with the importance of the church or the house of God in our walk with Christ and how our Lord guides our steps into His house, which is the New Jerusalem, for preservation and growth.

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

In Hebrews 12 verse 25 here, we are admonished not to refuse him that speaks. The “Him that speaks” is Christ through the elect. We are His Christ, and we are speaking now the words of our Lord. So Christ speaking is us speaking.

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

It is in the church that we hear Christ speak through His elect as indicated by what every joint supplies.

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

It will therefore be a tragedy if we do not pay heed to what we are hearing in our fellowship as we are told in verse 25 of Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 26 of Hebrews Chapter 12 affirms to us the fact that it is His words which judge us.

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

With this understanding of who wives represent and their importance, let’s review Judges Chapter 21 starting from verse 1:

Jdg 21:1  Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

Marrying an Israelite here is the same as being joined to Babylon in fellowship. So this verse is another way of saying to us that as God’s elect, when we leave Babylon, we are never to return to that system as the Israelites have sworn that they would not give their daughters as wives to the Benjamites who represent the elect.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

We, as the elect, leave Babylon to come and build the temple of God which is preparing our bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to our Lord. That was the mandate given to Nehemiah who represents us and left Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem.

Neh 2:5  And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.

Jdg 21:2  And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
Jdg 21:3  And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?

The Israelites coming to the house of God to weep for the tribe of Benjamin is the same as the churches of this world who think that the elect are lost or spiritually dead. That is what it means as they see our dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, Jerusalem.

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

The tribe lacking in the congregation of the Israelites (Babylon) is the elect, which is represented here as the tribe of Benjamin. The many that are called are the congregation of the Israelites, and the few chosen are the elect, which is the tribe of Benjamin missing in Babylon.

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

The Israelites weeping for the Benjamites is the same scenario of what happened to our Lord Jesus when He was carrying His cross to Calvary and the women of Jerusalem wailed and lamented him. This is what our Lord said to the women who represent the churches of this world:

Luk 23:26  And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
Luk 23:27  And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
Luk 23:28  But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
Luk 23:29  For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
Luk 23:30  Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
Luk 23:31  For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

The barren or the womb that never bare or the paps which never gave suck refers to the elect who are blessed although the churches of this world or the world see us as barren or a people that are spiritually lost.

Jdg 21:4  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Jdg 21:5  And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

As indicated earlier, the congregation of the Israelites here represents Babylon. Our exit from Babylon means that we are not present in the congregation of the Israelites. As shown in verse 5, those who are absent from the congregation of the Israelites are surely put to death. This means that our absence from Babylon is a sure sign that we will surely die to the flesh and be raised up as overcomers.

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

Those who will sit on thrones are the elect who have not worshiped the beast nor his image. This means that they have died to the beast or the flesh while they walked here on earth. In other words, they did not join the congregation of the Israelites or Babylon and therefore had to die in this life, which means losing their lives to gain them.

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

Jdg 21:6  And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 

All the hostilities against God’s elect will be repented of one day. Outwardly, this verse is to let us know that one day Babylon will repent for the way they had treated God’s elect. Inwardly, we were all guilty at a certain stage of our walk with Christ for what we had done to God’s messengers. Admitting that we had done wrong is a necessary part of our walk as Christ told us:

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

We are all part of this generation upon whom all these things shall come upon. This is suggesting that we are equally guilty for the part we had played in persecuting God’s people and the death of our Lord. We need therefore to repent like the Israelites did of what they had done to the tribe of Benjamin.

Jdg 21:7  How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? 

As indicated in verse 1, the fact that the Israelites had sworn that they will not give their daughters to be wives of the Benjamites is another way of saying that as God’s elect, when we leave Babylon, there is no turning back to any form of fellowship with them. Doing that would mean sharing in their sins.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Jdg 21:8  And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
Jdg 21:9  For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. 
Jdg 21:10  And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
Jdg 21:11  And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

The inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead refused to join in the punishment of the Benjamites for which every man or woman was put to death. These inhabitants of Jabesh of Gilead therefore represent the elect as they were judged and, in the process, died. As we had indicated, those who died are those who overcame the old man or the flesh and did not love their lives.

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

The twelve thousand men of the Israelites who were sent to put to death the men of Jabesh of Gilead symbolize our brothers and sisters in Babylon who persecute God’s elect as shown by the following scriptures:

2Sa 17:1  Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

2Sa 10:6  And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob twelve thousand men.

Our Lord Jesus was literally persecuted and put to death by the church of His day. Stephen and James all suffered the same fate. Paul and all the disciples suffered a lot from the churches of the Jews. The question is, “Are we exonerated from all these sufferings?” No, we are walking in the same path that they walked. These persecutions and suffering are marked out for us. The end result of all these persecutions and suffering from our brothers and sisters in Babylon is to facilitate the death of the old man in each one of us!!

Jdg 21:12  And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

These four hundred young virgins are the offspring or the work of the men and women of Jabesh of Gilead who died. These men and women of Jabesh of Gilead had nurtured these virgins. That is the work of God’s elect.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

The four hundred young virgins represent the whole of the churches or fellowships of God’s elect scattered all over the world. This is the New Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.

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

Currently, we are barren but in the fullness of time, we shall have more children than Jerusalem which exists now and is in bondage with her children.

Jdg 21:13  And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
Jdg 21:14  And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

Once we leave Babylon, God orders our steps to find a wife or the bride of Christ, which is the church of the first born or the elect. The scripture says that he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. What favor do we obtain from the Lord if we find a wife? Our coming into fellowship of the elect is the same as finding a wife, and our fellowship is with the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pro 18:22  Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

It is in the midst of the gathering of the elect that we hear our Lord speak through His Christ which is us. That is what it means by “every joint supplies”. As we are aware, whatever our Lord says does not come back void. It accomplishes that for which it is sent. So the favor we are receiving in finding wives is the hearing of the sure word of the Lord.

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

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Jdg 21:15  And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
Jdg 21:16  Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

In verse 16, the women that were destroyed out of Benjamin constitute Babylon or Jerusalem which now exists and is in bondage with her children. All that relates to Babylon in us must be destroyed through judgment.

Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Jdg 21:17  And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
Jdg 21:18  Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

Verse 17 says that there is an inheritance for the Benjamites, and we can see from the conversation of the elders of Israel that this inheritance is tied to finding wives for the tribe of Benjamin. As God’s elect, our inheritance is dependent on finding young virgins who represent the church of the first born. All these examples are to emphasize the importance of fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters. It is through our fellowshipping or the church that our eyes are continually opened to know Christ and to possess our inheritance.

Our fellowshipping is with our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, and as our Lord takes the bread which is His words and breaks it for us, our eyes are opened, and we come to know Him just like what happened to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on the resurrection day of our Lord Jesus.

Luk 24:30  And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
Luk 24:31  And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

Jdg 21:19  Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
Jdg 21:20  Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
Jdg 21:21  And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

These verses are to show us how our Lord builds His church through us. Our whole time in Babylon or in the churches of this world is a long feast represented by seven days.

Deu 16:15  Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.

During our time in Babylon, our Lord is not impressed by our feasts or our offerings and sacrifices.

Hos 9:1  Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
Hos 9:2  The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.
Hos 9:3  They shall not dwell in the LORD’S land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
Hos 9:4  They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.
Hos 9:5  What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD?

During this period of our walk in Babylon, our Lord lies in wait in His vineyards (His people) for the opportune time to come to us. The virgins who came to dance represent the elect in Babylon who are not even aware that they are called and chosen. As we continue to worship our Lord in the flesh, symbolized by dancing, God comes to us and take us away from our Babylonian captivity to make us His bride. As the story suggests in verse 21, it is not that we go with our Lord willingly. No, we are dragged by the Lord to become His bride.

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

Individually, we are sent to the children of Israel or Babylon to be a conduit for them to come to know the truth.

Eze 2:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
Eze 2:4  For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 2:5  And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

We therefore lie in wait among God’s elect (Our Lord’s vineyard) for the opportune time to approach them with the word of God. This opportune time is when they come dancing to us. In other words, when they ask us for a reason of the hope that is in us, we must be ready to answer them.

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

In God’s time, what we speak to them becomes the catalyst that drags them to the Lord as His bride.

Jdg 21:22  And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. 
Jdg 21:23  And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
Jdg 21:24  And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.

Our exit from Babylon is without resistance. We are considered as dead spiritually by our Babylonian brothers and sisters, and apart from that we are subject to ridicule and are always being questioned to see whether we will contradict ourselves just to prove that we are fake or to confirm to the Babylonians that we are spiritually dead.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Our Lord Jesus was also questioned by the spiritual leaders of His day just because He operated outside the Babylonian system and was never in Babylon. He was considered spiritually dead just like us. Let’s look at one of His encounters:

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

As the scripture says, as he was on this earth, so are we.

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

What is most important to note is that in verse 24, every man departed to his inheritance. If we are blessed to be part of the elect, then whatever resistance we face in this life, we will possess our inheritance. This is not our work; it is the work of God as demonstrated recently by our brother Tony concerning the building of the temple in Jerusalem in his exposition of 1Kings Chapter 6:1-3. There was no sound of any iron axe or hammer in the building of the temple. The lack of sound means there were no human beings at work. The lord is the builder of our temple and will surely do it!!

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 

This is the theme that runs through the whole of the Book of Judges. It is to let us know that when Christ has not ascended the throne of our hearts, we are subjected to the dictates of the old man or the flesh and therefore do whatever we want thinking we are serving God. That was what happened to the Israelites during the time of the Judges.  However, if we are blessed to be part of the overcomers, then in the fullness of time, the Lord we are seeking will suddenly come to His temple in our hearts. That will be the period of our judgment to refine us so we can offer sacrifices that please Him.

Mal 3:1  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Mal 3:4  Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Mal 3:5  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

Psa 68:24 They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.
Psa 68:25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.
Psa 68:26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
Psa 68:27 There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
Psa 68:28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.
Psa 68:29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.
Psa 68:30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.
Psa 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
Psa 68:32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:
Psa 68:33 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
Psa 68:34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.
Psa 68:35 O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

Psa 68:24 They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.

What a blessing and miracle to confess that we have seen the goings of God; “even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.” That is what happens when we know “at that day” we are in Christ, and Christ is in the Father. That is what it means to be “in the sanctuary” where we are being sanctified together as the body of Christ.

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

Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

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

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Our discipleship is witnessed through this unity discussed in the following scriptures and is unfolding for the express purpose of doing this “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” This unity of spirit is happening not just so the world will believe that the Father has sent Christ but also that the Father has dragged us to the Son and is sending us into the world as he sent Christ to do even greater works than Christ.

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

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The greater works as we know now have to do with giving spiritual healing to the ears and eyes of those who Christ has already prayed for “Neither pray I for these alone” and we are simply trusting and waiting on the Lord to unfold these wonderful works through the Church that He alone gives the increase to in the order and time that He has ordained (1Co 3:6, 1Co 15:23).

These greater works that we see today (Mat 13:16) are being expressed in type and shadow in our first verse this evening with these words “They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.“

Psa 68:25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.
Psa 68:26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

“The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after” reminds us that there is an order to this sanctuary where all thing are done decently and in order, and within that order God reveals to us that voice or word of God represented by “the singers went before” which is first or preeminent as Christ the Word is in all things.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

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

That order is in His ministry as well, where we defer to our elders and teachers as instructed in God’s word, being persuaded by the fruit being borne in the life of our teachers that they are being used of God to bring forth living waters for the body of Christ through Christ who supplies all our need.

1Ti 5:1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;
1Ti 5:2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

Mat 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.”(CLV)

Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

The elect are represented by all that is spoken of in this verse and the players on instruments and the damsels playing timbrels are spoken of to remind us that it takes the many members of Christ’s body to make us a “whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth”.

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

We are Christ’s instrument given to this world, the elect are that instrument spoken of over and over in the Psalms that is played by the chief musician who is Christ in us fulfilling God’s purpose within us, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Psa 76:1 To the chief Musician on NeginothH5058, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.

H5058
נגינת   נגינה
negı̂ynâh negı̂ynath
neg-ee-naw’, neg-ee-nath’

From H5059; properly instrumental music; by implication a stringed instrument; by extension a poem set to music; specifically an epigram: – stringed instrument, musick, Neginoth [plural], song.

• instruments, 2

Isa 38:20; Hab 3:19

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;

We bless God because we have those living waters springing forth “from the fountain of Israel”, Jesus Christ, and we rest in the Lord knowing that he is able to manifest what the body of Christ needs and knows what we need before we even ask Him.

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 be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Isa 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Psa 68:27 There is little Benjamin with their ruler , the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

This next verse carries on with the same theme of order, and as we learn to ascribe strength unto God we will be able to see and be convinced of that order more and more and where it is that he is making His strenght perfect.

God uses “little Benjamin with their ruler” and “the princes of Judah and their council” and ” the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali” to reveal something to us about the order in which He is workingHis great work for all of humanity according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11).

Benjamin is a type of the elect being the youngest brother of the twelve and is called “The beloved of the Lord” in (Deu 33:12, Gen 43:29).

Princes come out of ZebulunH2074 and NaphtaliH5321 and are princes by the grace of God, signifying in type and shadow that we are given our inheritance in Christ, our ‘habitation’ which we are gaining dominion over within and through Christ as we ‘wrestle’ through the night with our Lord.

H2074
זבוּלן   זבלוּן   זבוּלוּן
zebûlûn zebûlûn zebûlûn
zeb-oo-loon’, zeb-oo-loon’, zeb-oo-loon’From H2082; habitation; Zebulon, a son of Jacob; also his territory and tribe: – Zebulun.

H5321
נפתּלי
naphtâlı̂y
naf-taw-lee’

From H6617; my wrestling; Naphtali, a son of Jacob, with the tribe descended from him, and its territory: – Naphtali.

Deu 33:12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

Gen 43:29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

“The princes of Judah and their council” are a shadow of the elect of God who are used to bring forth His counsel which is all being accomplished according to His will (Eph 1:11).

As these verses below demonstrate, Judah and Benjamin witness (2) to the elect body of Christ who are being fashioned and formed in advance of the rest of the world and are spoken of in scripture as being blessed with that extra portion. None of these types and shadows will make sense unless we are given to believe that he is not a Jew which is one outwardly.

Gen 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Psa 68:28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.
Psa 68:29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

With the foundational order in the temple of God that God is fashioning or has “wrought for us”, we hear another way of saying “Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”.

Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Because God is doing this foundational work today in the elect in Jerusalem, which is above where we are raised in heavenly places, it is laying the way for all nations to come and learn what true worship is, where kings will bring presents unto God, which ‘presents’ represent the spiritual life of worshipping God in “spirit and in truth”.

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

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Psa 68:30 Rebuke the company of spearmen [see Rotherham version], the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.

God will continue to use the body of Christ throughout the millenium to condition the earth to one day receive the living waters of God’s spirit and so we read the underlined process of how rebuking:

• the company of spearmen [“the wild beasts of the reeds”-Rotherham = Egypt]
• the multitude of bulls [bulls of Bashan Psa 22], and
• the calves of the people [golden calf Exo 32:35]

…leads to ‘submit himself with pieces of silver’:

“till every one submit himself with pieces of silver:”

This verse is speaking to the truth that all men will be saved as God leads us unto repentance represented by “pieces of silver” (1Co 15:22). In order for this to happen the “people that delight in war” must be “scattered” which is spoken of in the very first verse of this Psalm and in the book of Numbers (Psa 68:1, Num 10:35).

Psa 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
Psa 68:32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:
Psa 68:33 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
Psa 68:34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

We are that voice of God that is being sent out, we are those princes that “come out of Egypt” and “Ethiopia” who stretch forth our hands unto God. We are praising God now for we can clearly see by His grace and faith given that God’s “excellency is over Israel” and “his strength is in the clouds”.

Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

Princes come out of a place where they were held captive and the captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia is spoken of in Ezekiel 16. We understand that spiritually we are all first Sodom and Egypt, and we must live by every word of God and go by the way of Samaria, which represents our Gentile hearts as does Ethiopia which we must come out of by growing and maturing and progressing through.

Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

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

Joh 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

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

God rides upon”the heavens of heavens” and is sovereign over all His creation that is being brought unto perfection by working in the heavens of all men whose heavens are found to have both light and darkness.

[For more detail, see the article on the three heavens: What Are The Three Heavens?]

Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Psa 68:35 O God, thou art terrible(H3372) out of thy holy places(H4720): the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

This last verse which will conclude our study speaks of yaw-ray’ or the reverence that God is going to bring to everyman to have on earth, using his elect, “thy holy places” (1Co 6:19). There is an ‘is, was and will be’ application to these verses, and our focus on this particular verse is how God will give “strength and power unto his people” which will come forth from “thy holy places” which is where “the God of Israel” is giving His strength and making His power known and perfected within His people! “Blessed be God“.

H3372
ירא
yârê’
yaw-ray’A primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten: – affright, be (make) afraid, dread (-ful), (put in) fear (-ful, -fully, -ing). (be had in) reverence (-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).

Psa 102:15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
Psa 102:16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

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.

Deu 2:25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Gen 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Gen 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

With God’s blessing upon Noah, who is a type of the elect, we see in shadow and type what God is going to do and is doing in earnest today through the church; and because it is His blessing and His decree that says these things will be so we ought to always “Ascribe ye strength unto God: [as] his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.“

(Key verse: Genesis 49:27)

Benjamin is the last son of Jacob whom he addressed before his death in Egypt:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

The theme of the last days encompasses so many aspects in the lives of God’s elect, as these sons of Jacob and their offspring also enlighten some of these aspects for us:

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

What these sons of Israel encountered after the death of Jacob typify the lives of God’s elect who are indeed caused by God to listen and hear His voice. The elect of God can see that these words of Jacob are all part of the whole prophecy and revelation of Jesus Christ and His works in them:

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

Benjamin: his birth and the meaning of his name

Benjamin was Jacob’s last born son and was born from his favorite wife, Rachel, and the only son who was born in Canaan – the rest were all born in Padanaram back in Mesopotamia (Gen 28:5-7; Gen 31:18). Benjamin was actually born while they were still journeying after Jacob, and his family left that area to live in Canaan:

Gen 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Gen 35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Gen 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul [Hebrew: nephesh – life] was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni [meaning son of my sorrow]: but his father called him Benjamin [son at my right hand].
Gen 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

These two sides of Benjamin, through the two names from his mother and father, also help us to see how this son of Jacob and his offspring, not only reveal the good in God’s creation (represented by those on His right hand), but also the evil or those things which bring sorrow, as appointed by God (Gen 48:13-20; Job 2:10; Psa 16:11; Isa 45:7; Mat 25:31-34; Mat 26:64). We also see this division within the symbols found in Jacob’s final words to his youngest son, Benjamin:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin [Hebrew: ṭâraph = tear in pieces] as a wolf: in the morning [Hebrew: bôqer = dawn] he shall devour the prey, and at night [Hebrew: ereb = dusk] he shall divide [Hebrew: châlaq = to be smooth/bring division] the spoil.

Here we see the symbol of a wolf and its distinctive activities in the morning and in the evening, with specific references to a prey and a spoil.

Benjamin: the symbol of a wolf

A wolf is part of the beastly kingdom, even as that animal kingdom reflects or typifies our natural state:

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

Man was created on the sixth day with all the other “beasts of the earth”, and as such this is how God wants us to see the natural “estate of the sons of men”:

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

All physical things reflect and typify the works of God in us, if we can “read” that and “hear” from the spirit of God how to then compare the spiritual with spiritual to apply or “keep” the words from God’s mouth (Mat 4:4; Rev 1:3):

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

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The natural man cannot apply God’s Word within himself because he is obsessed with the outward appearance of things which God uses to blind him:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is one of the biggest miracles from God as He blinds the eyes of those He does not want to see where His spiritual kingdom is at this stage and how He is working all things according to His perfect plan for this creation (Ecc 1:13; Luk 17:20-21; Joh 9:39-41; Eph 1:11):

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitudes] 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.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Just as the words of God are used to both close and open eyes and ears, so there are always a negative and positive application in all these symbols in the scriptures through which this perfect plan of God is beautifully put together (Exo 14:19-20). These two distinctive ways of applications, in the final analysis, also highlight this truth of the two Adams and how God uses them:

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

Benjamin is compared to a wolf by Jacob, and the Hebrew word for wolf is “zeêb”, and this word also relates to the color yellow, according to Dr. James Strong:

H2061: zeêb – From an unused root meaning to be yellow; a wolf: – wolf.

The Hebrew word for “yellow” is tsâhôb, and here is where this word first appears in the scriptures:

Lev 13:30 Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow [tsâhôb] thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

This is the condition of the first Adam as the wolf negatively relates to our unclean land, referring to our flesh or our spiritual leprosy. This wolf preys on sheep, which is a type of God’s flock (Joh 10:1-16). This is where the activities of this evil wolf are focused, as God also revealed to the prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 22:23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 22:24 Son of man, say unto her [the physical city of Jerusalem – the type of the spiritual harlot (Isa 1:10-23; Gal 4:25; Rev 17:1-18)], Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
Eze 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
Eze 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Eze 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Eze 22:28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
Eze 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

Spiritual wolves are “in the midst [of God’s flock and] are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to receive dishonest gain” – they cause divisions and do not divide properly between the clean and unclean. (Rom 16:17; 1Co 3:1-4; Gal 5:19-21; Tit 3:10). These wolves use spiritual deceptions with a flattering tongue which cause God’s flock to follow them because “…at night [they] shall divide [Hebrew: châlaq]” and bring intensive pain (Psa 55:21; Pro 20:19; Isa 30:9-10):

Pro 29:5 A man that flattereth [Hebrew: châlaq = to be smooth/bring division] his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening [Greek: harpax = extortion] wolves.

However, Jesus, the good Shepherd, sees no problem sending His sheep among the wolves to get the necessary spiritual experience, and to see how He provides for us as we keep watching and applying His words through wisdom (Luk 16:8):

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

It indeed takes time and patience to see through the sheep facade of these Babylonian wolves as their true fruits will eventually appear (Luk 21:19):

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

If these wolves are only out there, then our own eyes are still blinded to our own deceitful false prophet and his words in us. As the first Adam was made a corrupt creature from the Potter’s hand, so we are all first a ravening evening wolf driven by the spirit of the world in us (Jer 18:4; Hab 1:5-11; Rom 7:13-24; Rom 8:5-8; Rom 8:20):

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

This is the spirit of the Pharisee in us who is a hypocrite pointing also at the shortcomings and mistakes of other to satisfy our lust for recognition of our outward display of good works (Mat 7:21-23):

Luk 11:39 And the Lord said unto him [a certain Pharisee who was upset that Jesus did not wash before dinner], Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

It is this ravening spirit in us that drives us to believe we are spiritually mature long before the beam is removed from our own eye and the fruit of the spirit of God is produced (Mat 7:1-5; Gal 5:22-23):

1Co 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
1Co 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
1Co 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

We should “take heed…unto [our]selves” and see the wolf in our own camp before we can be in a position to be our brother’s keeper and not his killer, of which Cain is such a tragic example (Gen 4:1-9):

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Of all these warnings, we also take note of the violence in the life of the tribe of Benjamin.

The tribe of Benjamin: the violent and merciless arrogance of the flesh

When the tribes of Israel settled in Canaan, the Benjamites occupied territory in the south of the land. They also did that of which all the other tribes were guilty – they did not drive out the Canaanites, even the spiritual wolves, from among themselves:

Jdg 1:21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

The evil wolves within the hearts of the tribe of Benjamin caused them to even be an adversary to their own brothers in Israel. They indeed brought sorrow to Israel. For example, we read in the book of Judges how this tribe was not given to hospitality and was very arrogant and violent in nature. In one instance mentioned in Judges, we read one of the goriest and most horrific stories recorded in the Bible, for our admonition. This story played out in a certain Benjamite city, namely Gibeah, when a “certain Levite”, his concubine, their servant and two asses came to this city one evening:

Jdg 19:14 And they [this unnamed Levite and his family] passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
Jdg 19:15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

An old man, who was not a Benjamite, but from the tribe of Ephraim, who only sojourned in Gibeah, took this family to his dwelling there and gave them lodging and food for that evening (Jdg 19:16-21). However, this very showing of hospitality and decency brought this ravening wolf spirit into the hearts of certain men in the tribe of Benjamin to demand of this old man to hand over this Levite to them for sexual purposes:

Jdg 19:22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

The Levite then eventually gave his concubine to them, and these Benjamites raped her, and in the process she died (Jdg 19:22-28). This Levite then divided the dead body of his concubine into twelve pieces and sent them to all the tribes of Israel with a note to explain what happened. The other tribes then united against the tribe of Benjamin and demanded that those men who were guilty be delivered to them. The Benjamites protected the guilty men and even went into battle against the other tribes. In the process, nearly all the males in the tribe of Benjamin were killed, except for six hundred men who fled and eventually found mercy:

Jdg 20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
Jdg 20:48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

All the tribes of Israel promised not to give their daughters to these Benjamites because they witnessed the “wolf in the evening” character of all these Benjamite men (Jdg 21:7; Jer 5:6). Neverthless, one city did not join in the battles against the tribe of Benjamin, and from them women were taken to wife with these six hundred men of Benjamin:

Jdg 21:8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

This is how the tribe of Benjamin was saved to play important roles in the future life of the nation of Israel. One such role was that they produced the first king of Israel, namely Saul, who ruled Israel for forty years (Act 13:21):

1Sa 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
1Sa 9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Very interestingly, Saul came from the very city where this concubine of the Levite was killed, namely Gibeah. Gibeah is actually also called “Gibeah of Saul” in the scriptures:

1Sa 15:34 ….and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

With all his “goodly” physical attributes Saul eventually also displayed the same spirit of the earthy wolf as those men in the tribe of Benjamin. Saul’s rulership was meant to only be for a limited time period to also reveal to us the limited rulership of the fleshly Adam in us. Saul was set up by God to be a fierce and merciless adversary to the true King typified by David. David could only reign after the death of Saul, and it is only after we have been judged for our role in all evil that we can rule in the true temple of God:

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

The tribe of Benjamin: The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him

The wolf indeed also has a positive application, and we see it in the blessing of Jacob and Moses:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Deu 33:12 And of Benjamin he [Moses] said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

The tribe of Benjamin produced a few leaders in Israel among whom was a judge called Ehud, whom God used to free Israel from the rule of the Moabites when Ehud, who was left-handed, used a dagger to kill the fat king of the Moabites, Eglon, who typifies the lusts and pride of our natural man from whom we are being released.

Jdg 3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
Jdg 3:15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

The tribe of Benjamin in general is known as the tribe who had skillful left-handed warriors who could sling stones without missing their target (Jdg 20:16). Here the left hand is also used as a positive application for God’s use as all things, even the evil, are God’s instruments to bring forth His desires. God uses all for His purpose and will bring all the wicked in the first Adam to be righteous in Christ (Gen 50:20; Pro 16:4; 1Co 15:22-28):

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

When the kingdom of Israel was divided after the death of Solomon, it was this tribe of Benjamin who remained faithful to the tribe of Judah in the south of Canaan, and to the city and temple to which God chose to put His Name. This all typifies spiritual Zion, the city of God who is “Jerusalem which is above” – Christ and His elect (Psa 46:4-5; Mat 5:14; Gal 4:26; Rev 21:1-7):

Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come.

Psa 78:68 But [God] chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
Psa 78:69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

Two other Benjamites, Mordecai and Esther, were used by God to save the whole Jewish nation and bring freedom from the Babylonian and Persian rule:

Est 2:5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
Est 2:6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
Est 2:7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

In the New Testament scriptures, we see another example of how God used this tribe of Benjamin. The apostle Paul also declares that he was in physical terms from this tribe which he counted as a loss for his spiritual connection in Christ (Rom 11:1). This spiritual conversion to deem flesh as nothing is also seen in the name change from the old Benjamite name of “Saul” to “Paul” (meaning “little”):

Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Spiritually this tribe of Benjamin indeed typifies those who are sealed to be the spiritual Israel of God, knowing that they are the wolves who shall completely devour and destroy the prey of flesh in the evening to eat His bread in the morning – the resurrection from death (Exo 12:10; Exo 16:12; Psa 50:22; Hos 6:1). Because the elect are the witnesses of all the works of Christ in them, they are also the wolves who shall divide the spiritual “spoil” among all in Adam. In the process, they will be used by God to eventually bring spiritual harmony to all humanity through their Head, Jesus Christ (Isa 65:23-25; Oba 1:21; Eph 1:10; 1Co 15:28):

Rev 7:8…..Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together…

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[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

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

What Exactly is A Soul?
The Spiritual Significance of Being Right or Left Handed
Animals in Scripture – Wolves
Colors in Scripture – Yellow
Animals in Scripture – The Four Beasts in The Middle and Around The Throne

(Key verses: Gen 44:1-13)

In our theme of spiritual glorification, as typified in the life of Joseph, the role which money or silver played in the interaction between Joseph and his brothers is very significant. The words “money” and “silver” appear 19 times in the interaction between Joseph and his brothers, and in these instances both these words are translated from the one Hebrew word “keseph” (ref: Gen 37:28; Gen 42:25; Gen 42:27-28 (2); Gen 42:35 (2); Gen 43:12 (2); Gen 43:15; Gen 43:18; Gen 43:21-23 (5); Gen 44:1-2 (3); Gen 44:8). The spiritual application of money or silver (“keseph”) helps us to see how we first live through the negative application of this “keseph” being ensnared by the spirit of the world:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

This earthly existence and the spirit of the world provide the initial realm where we can trade our “keseph”, or spiritual currency, in deceptive schemes and strategies. Driven by their earthly pride, lusts and hatred for Joseph, his ten brothers sold him as a slave for a few pieces of silver (Mat 18:18):

Gen 37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver [Hebrew: “keseph”]: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

This spirit of the world is the spirit of the first man Adam and not the spirit of the Father, because Adam was “made subject to vanity” and “was marred in the hand of the potter” (Gen 2:7; Rom 8:20; Jer 18:4). Naturally we are not even aware of this, and like the church in Laodicea, we reject God’s testimony about this condition of Adam, and we cannot see our own righteous works are actually filthy rags (Isa 64:6):

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Like this Laodicean church and the brothers of Joseph, we want to present our “keseph” for God’s corn and be fed by His Word as we also use His silver and wrap the idols of our carnal hearts around them:

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.

Joe 3:5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things.

That is why Joseph, whom his brothers could not even recognise, returned their “keseph” in secret, which caused deep torment in their hearts:

Gen 42:25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money [Hebrew: “keseph“] into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

By accusing these brothers of being spies and then returning their money in secret, Joseph started a process of judgment on them. They claimed that they were “true men” not realizing Joseph knew them and who they truly were:

Gen 42:8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
Gen 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
Gen 42:10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
Gen 42:11 We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

From the scriptures, we learn that judgment is the process God ordained by which all must learn His righteousness and where the self-righteous flesh is exposed:

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.

Joseph is the type of God’s elect who is given the desire by God’s spirit to “seek [Him] early” and to be the first who is judged in order for them to be kings and priests in the thousand-year reign on earth and also judges in the lake-of-fire judgment (1Pe 4:17; 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20). Joseph is now in a position to help his brothers, and in this interaction between Joseph and them, we are provided with beautiful insight into the process involved in the lake of fire judgment. It is especially a torment and a crushing experience for those who are convinced that they are “true” disciples of Jesus and are not even aware that they are filled with self-righteousness and are indeed workers of iniquity:

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day [of judgment], 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?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

On their second journey to Egypt the brothers of Joseph were taken to his house for a meal, when as yet they could not recognize Joseph:

Gen 43:32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

The brothers of Joseph were seated in a specific order according to their birth, and Joseph openly favoured Benjamin in the sight of the other ten brothers by giving him five times more portions than what he gave to the other brothers:

Gen 43:33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.
Gen 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

This focus will be further highlighted when Benjamin will be instrumental in the next trial Joseph will put them through. Benjamin was Joseph’s brother from the favourite wife of Jacob, Rachel, and in this sense both of them represented the elect of God. What the ten brothers did to Joseph they could as well have done to Benjamin. God has an elect whom He chooses to be judged first and taken through much tribulation in this life. This is what those who oppose God’s elect cannot see, and in blind jealousy they say and do horrible things to God’s elect. To be given spiritual rulership is not for the glorification of flesh however, but to establish servants who will help others through their time of judgment (Isa 53):

1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Joseph went through thirteen years of slavery and humiliation, but God was with him, and that is why he was overcoming every trial which God placed on him. The spirit of God was Joseph’s source for everything, even the interpretation of the dreams of the Pharaoh, and this was also the testimony of the Pharaoh when Joseph was given rulership over Egypt by him:

Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

Joseph was hated by his ten brothers, and we also know that a true prophet “is not without honour, except in his own country and in his own house”, about which Jesus also admonished his elect (Mat 10:5-42; Mat 13:57). By their words and actions, Joseph’s brothers showed they despised him:

Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

We are firstly Joseph’s ten brothers, and we fail the test when we, too, hate God’s elect and cannot speak peaceably to them and do evil to them, even murder them in our hearts:

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

We all drink this cup of hatred, and this is what the brothers of Joseph at this stage could not admit. We all will be brought to see our hatred for our brothers in Adam, especially God’s elected ones when we find their doctrine and life offensive. This is what the cup of the blood of Jesus is about which was given to all His disciples to drink. Jesus’s disciples on the evening before His arrest swore their allegiance to Him:

Mat 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Mat 26:32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
Mat 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Mat 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mat 26:35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

It is very easy to speak the words of Christ, but very hard to do those words, as we all find out in our own time:

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Rev 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

We all betray His truths and deny that Jesus will actually save all His carnal creation in the first Adam, and even save our enemies whom we rather naturally want to see burning in an eternal hell fire:

Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Benjamin was shown the same favour by his father Jacob, and also here in Egypt at this meal, his ten brothers witnessed this favour bestowed on him. Joseph was doing all of this to help his brothers accept that there is an elect of God, and he wanted them to give an honest account of their deeds to him.

Now he will bring Benjamin more into focus, and again “keseph” will be used. This time he added his own silver cup! On his brothers’s return to Canaan, Joseph commanded his steward that the money of the brothers must be secretly returned again, but that his silver cup be placed in Benjamin’s sack:

Gen 44:1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

When they were not far outside the city, Joseph commanded his steward to confront the brothers concerning the missing cup:

Gen 44:4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Gen 44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

This cup had two functions according to Joseph: it was a drinking cup and also a cup “whereby indeed he divineth”. It is these two functions which make this cup of spiritual significance for us. We already established why the drinking of the cup is ordained for all, even as Jesus shares His cup first with His elect to see their part in God’s plan. It is also important to see that this cup was also “whereby indeed [Joseph] divineth.” Some believe that these words “whereby indeed he divineth” prove that Joseph was involved in divination according to Egyptian or worldly traditions. However, divination according to Egyptian or worldly traditions is an abomination to the Lord, which was later codified in the law of Moses:

Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Deu 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
Deu 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
Deu 18:14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Deu 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.

Here we see what divides God’s elect from the rest – it is His Word, which is Jesus Christ. Here we have the difference between the false spirit of the world ruling the nations and the true spirit of the Father which rules His elect (Jer 14:14). Divination of the world has self-interest and self-glorification at heart which is in rebellion against God’s Word and His sovereignty and authority over all (1Sa 15:10; Psa 119:160; Mat 4:4; Mat 20:25-28; 1Co 4:6; 1Jn 4:1-9). God speaks only through His Prophet, Jesus Christ, and all attention is placed on Him for those who follow Him and know His voice (Deu 29:29; Joh 10:7-18; Heb 1:2). This truth helped the apostle Paul to rebuke the woman who spoke true words, but with the wrong motive:

Act 16:16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
Act 16:17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
Act 16:18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

This spirit wanted to place the emphasis on the wrong place, but Paul placed the emphasis on Jesus, not on them. Jesus Himself never allowed evil spirits to testify about Him. In His time in flesh, this is how Jesus always handled evil spirits who bring praise to Him, but reject the ordained torment and destruction of the old self:

Mar 5:7 And [the man with unclean spirits] cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Mar 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

The Word of God reveals the only true knowledge of God and His creatures, and it exposes the flesh as having an evil desire to be puffed up and serve its own evil agenda, even claiming having access to secret or higher knowledge outside of the scriptures (Psa 119:160; Isa 8:19-20; 1Co 4:6; 1Ti 6:20-21; 2Ti 3:15):

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.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Joseph’s life, however, speaks openly of self-denial and an acceptance of being humbled and obedient. Joseph displayed a spirit of diligence to observe Godly things rather than self-interest and was honoured in that process by his masters. Joseph openly confessed on at least two occasions that God alone was at work in him and that God was his source of true knowledge:

Gen 40:8 And they [Pharaoh’s butler and baker who were with Joseph in jail] said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

Gen 41:16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

Joseph therefore never placed the emphasis on this silver cup as having magic powers, but rather points to it as a symbol of God’s work through him. When God uses physical things in scripture to show direction, His emphasis is never on the thing used, but on God because “the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD” (Rom 1:20; Pro 16:33; Exo 28:30; Jdg 6:36-40; 1Sa 14:9; 2Ki 13:14-19; 2Co 1:20). The divination is rather in terms of the truth that this silver cup points to God’s atoning redemption through Jesus Christ which He brings even through His elect (Lev 16; Col 1:23-29; Oba 1:21):

1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation [Greek: “hilasmos” = atonement] for our sins.

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation [Greek: hilasmos, atonement] for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The brothers of Joseph were shocked at the accusations of this steward when he overtook them on their way back to Canaan:

Gen 44:6 And he [Joseph’s steward] overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words [of Joseph].
Gen 44:7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
Gen 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
Gen 44:9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.

The steward did not acknowledge their self-righteous terms and conditions, but rather pointed out that only the one in whose possession the cup was would be guilty:

Gen 44:10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
Gen 44:11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

Benjamin is brought into focus for a purpose because the cup was specifically placed in Benjamin’s sack. This brings us back to the cup of Jesus which associates with His death:

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

This cup of Jesus makes all guilty of His blood, and it is the elect, typified here by Benjamin, who are brought to first see their guilt in this death of Christ and to accept God’s choices and conditions. The cup of judgment is also given to the elect to drink first, but all will be made to drink of this cup to see their part in God’s plan (1Pe 4:17; Jer 25:15-29):

Jer 49:12 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

The cup of Jesus is what brings separation from flesh, but it indeed is also the cup of reconciliation to be joined with the spirit of God in His kingdom:

Psa 116:12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Psa 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, this time the ten brothers did not desert him like they did with Joseph many years ago. They rent their clothes, and in this sense they started a process of stripping themselves of their old way of thinking and doing things:

Gen 44:13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

This is what repentance signifies. For the first time they showed repentance by returning to face judgment which will still continue for them. Repentance never replaces judgment, but initiates the process. It was this silver cup which was also used to bring the brothers back to Joseph in order to make him known to them, which spiritually emphasizes the reconciliation function of the elect, even through Benjamin:

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

———–

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

The Lake of Fire in Genesis
Metals – Precious Metals, Positive – Silver, Part 1
Metals – Precious Metals, Positive – Silver, Part 2
Metals – Precious Metals, Positive – Silver, Part 3

Hi,

What is the spiritual significance of being left or right-handed or ambidextrous? In Judges Chapter 3 it is mentioned that Ehud was left-handed. What was so important that God told us which hand Ehud used? Are there any more people in the Scriptures who are said to favor a particular hand (other than God himself and Ehud)?

R____

Hi R____,

Thank you for your question concerning the spiritual meaning of being right or left-handed.

We generally associate being on the left hand in a negative sense because of what our Lord told us about the sheep and the goats:

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

But in keeping with the character of the Cloud which is Christ, and which saved Israel from the armies of Egypt when Israel was camped by the Red Sea, I hope to demonstrate for you that even the concept of being left handed also has a positive application in the Word of God.

I knew that the tribe of Benjamin was known for the number of men in that tribe who were left-handed, because of this story, which I have always used to demonstrate the most basic meaning of the word ‘sin’:

Jdg 20:15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
Jdg 20:16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. [Hebrew: chetah – to sin]

Here is the blessing, such as it was, which Jacob pronounced upon Benjamin just before Jacob died:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Benjamin is described as a wolf whose entire day is spent seeking and devouring his prey. The story about the 700 left-handed men who were so accurate with a sling is the story of the tribe of Benjamin being very nearly wiped out by the other eleven tribes because of the heinous crime the Benjamite men of Gibeah had committed against the concubine of a fellow Israelite of the tribe of Levi who lived in the tribe of Ephraim.

This all suggests to us that the tribe of Benjamin was given to being violent and merciless in character. Some of the more prominent Benjamites mentioned in scripture are Ehud, King Saul, and his very capable warrior son Johathan.

The spiritual significance for us in this violent, ravenous, left-handed, wolf tribe, is that as the Israel of God, we are a violent, left-handed, ravenous beast capable of doing the same heinous works which the men of Gibeah did. But we are also capable of using that same zeal to destroy our fat old man when he dominates us and oppresses us and causes us to act like the beast like men of Gibeah.

That is what Jacob told Benjamin he would come to see of himself “in the latter days”, and that is what we, as that part of the Israel of God, must come to see is within us.

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

I hope this helps you to see both the positive and the negative spiritual application and spiritual significance of being left-handed.

What I did not realize was that Ehud was also of the tribe of Benjamin:

Jdg 3:15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

Your brother in the Christ,

Mike