Matthew 21:23–46 The Parable of the Tenants

[Study Aired September 22, 2025]

Our discussion for today is centered on the authority of Jesus challenged by the chief priests and the elders. The study also highlights the parable of the two sons and that of the tenants. 

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

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 likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 

It is when Christ comes into His temple or our hearts and minds that as His elect, we come to see the hypocrisy of the leaders of the church system of this world who are represented in verse 23 as the chief priests and the elders of the people. These leaders wrongly think that they are the ones that represent Christ here on earth and therefore think they have the mandate or authority from God. Prior to this question of who gave Jesus authority to do the things He does, they had seen Jesus speaking with authority and using His authority to cast out devils and heal the sick. They therefore became jealous of the way Jesus teaches and performs miracles.

Mat 7:28  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 
Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 

Luk 4:36  And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 
Luk 4:37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. 

We know that Jesus’ authority was given to Him by God, and it is this same authority that Jesus has given to us as He sends us into this world.

Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

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

Although these leaders asked Jesus about who gave Him authority to do the things He does, they were not prepared to hear the truth of the word of the Lord as they were filled with idols of the heart. Being filled with idols of the heart prevents us from knowing the truth. We are therefore deceived according to the idols in our hearts and minds. 

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 

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. 

We can see from these verses that the chief priests and the elders of the people were not sincere in their response to Christ. Our Lord Jesus already knew these leaders were not willing to hear the truth as they were fixated on having something with which to accuse the Lord. What this implies is that the leaders of the church system of this world do not want the truth. Here in these verses, Jesus is showing us that when people are not willing to know the truth, we should not waste our time trying to tell them the truth. As the word of the Lord says, people who refuse the love of truth are sent a powerful delusion to believe lies, leading to their destruction. 

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

This was our situation when we were in the churches of this world or Babylon. We did not love the truth as we turned to fables. 

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

The Lord not telling the chief scribes and the elders about His authority is therefore another way of saying that the leaders of the church system of this world are not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. If the leaders do not know the truth, then you can just imagine the level of ignorance of those who are serving under them! This is all to show us how blind we were, when we were in Babylon.

Isa 42:18  Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant? 
Isa 42:20  Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 
Isa 42:21  The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 
Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 

The Parable of the Two Sons

Mat 21:28  But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29  He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 

Our understanding of any of the parables of our Lord Jesus Christ is what unlocks our understanding of all the parables of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus told us that if we are able to comprehend the parable of the Sower, then we can understand all parables. 

Mar 4:13  And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? 

To illustrate this principle of understanding the Lord’s parables, let’s use the parable of the prodigal son to help us understand this point. The man having two sons is the same as the man in the parable of the prodigal son who had two sons. The younger son left the father with his portion of the father’s inheritance and went to a far country where he wasted all the resources the father had given him with lawless living. In verse 28, we can see that the father wanted the son to work in the vineyard, but he refused. Working in the father’s vineyard is serving the Lord’s house or His people.

Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

The son’s refusal to work in the father’s vineyard is the same as the prodigal son going into a far country to spend His father’s inheritance on lawless living. We, His elect, were the prodigal son or the son who initially refused his father’s request to work in His vineyard. We ended up in riotous living in the churches of this world. As the prodigal son became worse off in a far country, we also became worse off in the churches of this world as we were like pigs that were washed but came wallowing in the mire. 

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

In the fullness of time, the Lord came to us and brought us to Himself. The coming of the Lord to us was when we repented and decided to come and work in His vineyard. It is the same as the prodigal son coming to Himself and deciding to go back to his father and work as a servant. 

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 
Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 

Mat 21:30  And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 

The second son represents our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world who need no repentance because they think they are born again. They assume that they have put no foot wrong as they had said yes to the Lord to do His bidding. However, as the parable says, they had not followed through with their yes to work in the Lord’s vineyard. This second son is the same as the elder brother of the prodigal son who thought that he deserved a better treatment from his father.

Luk 15:25  Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 
Luk 15:26  And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 
Luk 15:27  And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 
Luk 15:28  And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
Luk 15:29  And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 
Luk 15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 

Mat 21:31  Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 
Mat 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. 

As indicated in verse 31, it is the first son, who initially refused to serve in his father’s vineyard, who did the will of his father. By implication, Jesus is showing us that the first son was a publican and a harlot, who has been given the right to enter the kingdom of God.  In the Bible, a publican was a tax collector, a figure despised by their fellow Jews for working for the occupying Roman authorities and for their corrupt practices. As shown in the parable of the prodigal son, it was the son who wasted his father’s resources on lawless living and therefore signifies a publican and a harlot. We, His elect, were first like a publican and a harlot before Christ came to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness, to make us His beloved sons who are working in His vineyard. 

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. 
Eze 16:16  And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 
Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them.

We can see from these verses that we were first harlot and publican; A publican in the sense that we took the Lord’s fair jewels of gold and silver and made ourselves images of men, just like the Jewish publicans who used the money (taxes of the Jews) belonging to the Roman emperor for their own corrupt practices.

As shown in verse 32, John came preaching the way of righteousness and the people did not repent. Here John symbolizes the Lord’s elect who come to preach the way of righteousness by faith. However, our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world do not repent. At a certain stage of our walk, we also did not repent when the Lord sent His elect to speak to us. In the Lord’s mercy, we were given a heart to repent and to believe in Him at a later time. The son who said yes to the Lord to work in His vineyard but did not follow up with action represent our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. In the parable of the prodigal son, this son who did not follow his words with action signifies the elder brother who thought he was doing well and did not need to repent.  

The Parable of the Tenants

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

The householder in this case represents God the Father who worked through His son, Jesus Christ to set up the vineyard, which as indicated earlier is the house of Israel. This house of Israel is the church system of this world. The Lord gave the church all the resources to prosper. 

Isa 5:1  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 
Isa 5:2  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isa 5:3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
Isa 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 

Mat 21:34  And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat 21:35  And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 
Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 

The husbandmen here are the vinedressers or gardeners or farmers who took care of the vineyard. The Lord’s people are the husbandmen who are required to work in His vineyard or assembly of His people. The Lord’s servants here represent His prophets who, as husbandmen, had their messages rejected and killed. It is important to note that the servants in these verses signify all the Lord’s messengers up until John the Baptist. 

Luk 11:47  Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
Luk 11:48  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 
Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 

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

As shown in these verses, as husbandmen, we represent this generation which is guilty of the blood of all the prophets including our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Mat 21:37  But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 
Mat 21:38  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 
Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 

The son in these verses signifies Christ and His Christ, that is, His elect. As we are aware, it is we, His elect, who are the sons of God and therefore represent Christ. We are therefore heirs with Christ. To persecute the Lord’s elect means to persecute Jesus Christ. 

Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

As He is, so are we. Just as Christ’s message was rejected by the church system of His day, our message of the cross is rejected by the churches of this world or Babylon.

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.  

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 
1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 
1Co 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 
1Co 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 
1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 
1Co 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.  

Mat 21:40  When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 
Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 

Verse 40 asks a question of what the Lord will do with the husbandmen who slew His son, that is, Jesus and His elect. We know from the word of the Lord that the husbandmen, who represent our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world, will be judged for shedding the blood of the Lord’s messengers during the lake of fire age by our Lord Jesus Christ and His elect. 

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 

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. 

The Lord will miserably destroy those wicked men means that the old man with his fleshly desires will be destroyed through the Lord’s judgment in the lake of fire age. The Lord letting out His vineyard to other husbandmen is another way of letting us know that the mercy we have received from the Lord is at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon. It is we, His elect, who shall render to the Lord the fruits in their season. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 

It is the tree that is planted by the rivers of water that bears forth fruit in its season. The tree planted by the rivers of water is the Lord’s elect who are given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. Bringing forth fruit in its season means bearing the fruits of the spirit in this age through the Lord’s judgement of our old man or flesh. 

Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 
Psa 1:2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 

The stone in verse 42 refers to Jesus Christ who is rejected by the church system of this world or Babylon. The stone becoming the cornerstone means that Jesus Christ is the foundation that holds together the building of every man. This building is our temple, which is our body. What this means is that without Jesus, we can do nothing. 

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

As He is, so are we. Rejecting our message as His elect is rejecting Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. We all at a certain stage of our lives, had rejected the Lord, the chief cornerstone and therefore were like the builder, who built his house on sand. When the storm came, our building crumbled. Later, the Lord came to us in His mercy to help us build our lives on the rock which is Christ. 

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 
Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  

It is important to note in verse 42 that our rejection of the Lord is the Lord’s doing. In other words, it is Jesus who caused us to reject Him at a certain stage of our walk. If we are privileged to know this, then our eyes are being opened to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, which is what is marvelous in our eyes. 

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance. 

It is also insightful to observe in verse 43 that the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ by the church system of this world, is our acceptance into the kingdom of God, to bring forth fruit that abides. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 

Falling on this cornerstone is our attempt to worship Jesus Christ. We get broken in the process. What this means is that certain aspects of sins in our lives are dealt with, but the man of sin or our flesh still reigns in our body. This was what happened to Jacob when he wrestled with the Lord. He left limping. In other words, he could not walk properly. That is to say that our walk with Christ was not fully pleasing to Him. This explains our walk in the churches of this world. However, if Christ comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness, we shall be grounded as powder. That is to say that the man of sin or our old man shall completely be destroyed.  

Gen 32:24  So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until dawn. 
Gen 32:25  When the man saw that he could not win against Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that it was dislocated as they wrestled. 

Gen 32:30  So Jacob named that place Peniel [Face of God], because he said, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.” 
Gen 32:31 The sun rose as he passed Penuel. He was limping because of his hip. (GW)

Mat 21:45  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 
Mat 21:46  But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. 

As indicated earlier, the chief priests and the Pharisees represent our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world or Babylon. What verse 45 is suggesting is that the parable of the two sons and the tenants all focused on our lives as His elect, in Babylon, until the Lord came to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness. That was when we answered the Lord’s call to work in His vineyard and became welcomed in the kingdom of God at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon. 

Our refusal to hear the voice of Jesus through His messengers at that stage of our walk in Babylon, is the same as trying to kill Jesus and His elect. However, the people fearing to lay hands on Jesus because of the multitude shows us that the Lord knows how to protect His own in this world. We therefore need not fear. This reminds me of this popular hymn: Oh God our help in ages past. The second stanza reminds us of the Lord’s divine protection as follows:

Under the shadow of your throne

Your saints have dwelt secure

Sufficient is your arm alone

And our defense is sure

May His name be praised. Amen!!

[Study Aired December 5, 2021]

Jer 25:15  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18  To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
Jer 25:19  Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
Jer 25:20  And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
Jer 25:21  Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
Jer 25:22  And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
Jer 25:23  Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Jer 25:24  And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
Jer 25:25  And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
Jer 25:26  And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

Jeremiah and all the prophets are types of the Lord’s elect. He spoke through the prophets then, and today, by His own testimony, He is speaking to this world within us through His elect:

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

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

It is a gift from the Lord to be able to read and believe that Christ has sent us “as [His] Father has sent [Him]”. Christ told us He spoke only the words His Father gave Him to speak, and His words were not his own words but the words of His Father:

Joh 8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

What did Christ’s Father send Him to do? If He is sending us as His Father sent Him, what exactly is it He is sending us to do? Here is the answer to that question:

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

If we are sent by Christ as His Father sent Him then we, too, will “speak… nothing of [ourselves]; but [only] as [our] Father hath taught [us].”

The words of this prophecy are applicable to “all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth” (vs 26), but let us take note that this judgment ‘begins at the Lord’s own house… Jerusalem and the cities of Judah [in] this present time’ (1Pe 4:17 and Rom 8:18):

Jer 25:15  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:

We must note that Jeremiah says this cup is in the Lord’s hand, while the book of Revelation tells us it is in the hand of the great harlot:

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Revelation tells us this cup is “full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication”, while Jeremiah tells us the cup in the Lord’s hand is “the wine cup of this fury at My hand… the sword that I will send among them”.

Upon closer examination, the book of Revelation agrees with the fact that the Lord’s fury is part and parcel  of the “abominations and filthiness of [Babylon’s] fornication”:

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

There it is in verses 8 and 10. “The wine of the wrath of her fornication” precipitates “the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Those who are “keeping the sayings of the prophecy of [the revelation of Jesus Christ within us are given to] read… hear… and keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book [in] this present time.”

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [including the seven last plagues (Rev 1:3, 14:12, 15:8)] are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

It is those who have “the patience of the saints… and the faith of Jesus” who are the first to endure the fiery judgment of the seven last plagues, which all men will endure “each in his own order”:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

If we fail to see the order of the Lord’s plan of salvation for “all in Adam”, then we will not even realize who are “they that are Christ’s” who are given a “crown of life… at His coming” which entitles them to be raised in “the resurrection of life” at the beginning of the thousand year reign of “the Lord and His Christ”:

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation [in “this present time” Rom 8:18]: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

This “crown of life” is also called “a crown of righteousness”, which is given to all who are in “the resurrection to life” (Joh 5:27-29).

2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

The principle of “the sum of Thy word is True” gives us what the mind of God is concerning this apparent dichotomy and apparent contradiction. The King James Version seems to tell us that God does not tempt us, so we just naturally wonder why Jeremiah tells us that this cup of the Lord’s fury is in the Lord’s hand, and that we, as typified by Jeremiah are told, “Cause all nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.”

These verses indeed have an outward fulfillment in the lake of fire, but for us in “this present time” our concern is with “all the nations [within us] unto whom the Lord has send [His word]”.

Every ‘nation’ mentioned in the following verses, beginning with “Jerusalem and the cities of Judah”, signifies all the false doctrines which have taken up residence within us while we are under the bondage, and the hegemony of that “great whore… Babylon the great the mother of  harlots and abominations of the earth” (Rev 17 – The lies of the great harlot have colored and have tainted every doctrine she offers to us at that time of our lives. That is what is meant by these verses of Isaiah 3):

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Every word of this prophecy must take place within us before we will be honored to judge this world or angels:

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? [in “this present time” (Rom 8:18)]

When the Lord takes “the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water” away from us He is beginning to judge His own people, His own house, first:

Jer 25:18  To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, [“beginning at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17)] to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

This 18^th verse undergirds, and is the Old Testament foundation for, this statement by the apostle Peter in the New Testament:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Being carried away into the Babylonian captivity of all her false doctrines is the beginning of the judgment of the Lord’s spiritual house as it was the beginning of the judgment of His physical nation. After the Lord’s house begins to be judged while still in Babylon, He then begins to drag us out of that harlot system. At that point the Lord gives His redeemed ‘house’ the commission to judge Pharaoh and “all the kingdoms of the world with Sheshach, the same Babylon He used to judge His people. Babylon, aka Sheshach, is not judged until all the nations she ruled over for so long are delivered from her grip.  Sheshach, signifying “Mystery Babylon”, will be the last to be judged by the Lord through the words of “His Christ” (Rev 11:15). That ‘judgment’ by Jeremiah’s words, typifies the Lord’s elect speaking all the words of this prophecy for the Lord. Just as the Lord used Jeremiah to judge the nations of the whole world in his day, He will also give the judgment of the kings of this whole world over to “the Lord and His Christ”:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

What is accomplished by the judgment and the hail that come from our Lord?

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

Notice how the whole world is judged by the Lord’s fiery words after His “judgment begins with… Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah”. The Lord twice states (verses 15 and 17) that His judgments and His wrath are upon “all nations”. Then Jeremiah lists all the known nations of “the whole world” of his day:

Jer 25:19  Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
Jer 25:20  And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
Jer 25:21  Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
Jer 25:22  And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
Jer 25:23  Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Jer 25:24  And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
Jer 25:25  And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
Jer 25:26  And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

The word ‘all’ appears fourteen times in these eight verses of Jeremiah 25:19-26. To be sure we do not fail to get the point, verse 26 makes the clear statement that the Lord is speaking of and to “all the kingdoms of the world”.

Inwardly these verses are speaking to and about all the powers and principalities against which we wage war in our heavens:

Eph 6:12  Because our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principal offices, against the positions of authority, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual things of wickedness in the heavens. (ACV)

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

This is first and foremost “all nations” within us. “The wine of the wrath of her fornication” is all the twisted scriptures this great whore uses to keep us all in bondage to the fornication of all her false doctrines. “The kings of the earth” are all the secular leaders in our lives who are in the bondage of all of the lies and false doctrines of the religions of this world. “The merchants of the earth [who] are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” signify all the extremely wealthy, big-name religious leaders in every religion on earth who ‘peddle the Word of God’ as twisted “delicacies”, which signify spiritual lies and false doctrines for personal gain:

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

Here is the significance of the name ‘Sheshach:

Sheshach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sheshach (Hebrew: ששך‎), whose king is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Jeremiah 25:26, is supposed to be equivalent to Babel (Babylon), according to a secret mode of writing practiced among the Jews of unknown antiquity, which consisted in substituting the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the first, the next to last one for the second, and so on. Thus the letters sh, sh, ch become b, b, l, i.e., Babel (see: Atbash cipher).^[1] This code is called the Atbash Cipher and was utilized to decrypt.

The city “Sheshach” does not appear on any map nor in any other documents, save the book of Jeremiah. The Atbash Cipher was applied and out of “Sheshach” came the word “Babel”. This is supposed to be confirmed by a reference to Jeremiah 51:41, where Sheshach and Babylon are in parallel clauses. There seems to be no reason to doubt that Babylon is here intended by this name.^[2]

Wikipedia is certainly not scripture, but the scriptures themselves demonstrate that Babylon is the correct signification of the name ‘Shesach’. “How is Sheshach… how is Babylon”:

Jer 51:41  How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
Jer 51:42  The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Jer 51:43  Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
Jer 51:44  And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Jer 51:45  My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 51:46  And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

This admonition is repeated in:

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.

Each of the nations mentioned in Jeremiah 25:18-28 inwardly signify the depth of the thorough apostasy of the Lord’s elect before He begins to judge us and to drag us out of Babylon. All those lying false doctrines begin to be destroyed within us with the brightness of the coming of the Truth of the doctrines of Christ when the Lord finally opens our eyes to see and accept Him and His mind and His doctrines, instead of the false doctrine of “the springs… of Babylon”:

Jer 51:34  Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
Jer 51:35  The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
Jer 51:36  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

Here is another way of saying the Lord “will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry”:

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

If we are granted to endure to the end, we will have the Lord’s waters springing up within us:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

When we are made to accept the mind of Christ, the mind of our old man begins to die every day as we come to know Him better day by day:

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I [my old man] die daily.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed [my… our old man], whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

We will come back to this thread here in 2^nd Thessalonians 2 after we read our last two verses:

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

“Ye shall surely drink” is just another way of saying that the only way to access the Tree of Life is to go through the fiery swords of the cherubim which “guard the way of the Tree of Life”:

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

When we are carried away into Babylon and are in Babylon for a symbolic “seventy years” we do not see ourselves as the rebellious, deceived apostates that we are. Instead, this is how we see ourselves at this stage of our experience:

Pro 5:3  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

The spirit of the adulterous woman of Proverbs 30:20 is the same spirit in the church at Laodicea. Spiritually the church at Laodicea is “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”, but her spiritual blindness keeps her from seeing her wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked condition, and this instead is how she views her own spiritual condition:

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:

That is truly spiritual blindness and “strong delusion”.

Getting back to the message of 2^nd Thessalonians 2, we are told:

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Being in Babylon is being in “strong delusion”. In this state we think we are just the exact opposite of what and where we really are spiritually “because [we] say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that [we] are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17).

It is because we “know not” our spiritual condition that the Lord must judge us first and show us what we really are. We will never “come out of [Babylon]” if we cannot even acknowledge that we are in Babylon and are the victims of the lies of a great spiritual whore, who literally hates and despises the doctrines of Christ.

The Pharisees who asked Christ if He thought they were blind, certainly did not consider themselves to be spiritually blind. Yet, as types of you and me, they were as blind to their spiritual condition and their spiritual position as the adulterous woman of Proverbs 30:20 and the ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked church at Laodicea’:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Failing to see and acknowledge our deception is the self-righteous “stumbling block of iniquity” which keeps us locked up in Babylon the great for so many wasteful years. We simply are not yet given to “acknowledge [our self-righteous] iniquity”, so we remain blinded to our own blindness:

Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

The Lord has given us “pastors according to [His] heart”, and ‘His heart’ feeds us the knowledge of His ways. “His ways” are the way of His fiery judgment which ‘fire’ every man must endure if he wants to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life:

Deu 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Dan 4:37  Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

“The fire [which] shall try every man’s work” is the words of Christ:

Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Christ is the Yahweh of the Old Testament who talked with Adam and Eve, talked, and ate a meal with Abraham, wrestled with Jacob, and talked face to face with Moses. We know this Yahweh is Christ because we are very plainly told that it was Yahweh who did all these things:

Gen 2:16  And the LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’] God [H430: ‘elohiym’] commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 18:1  And the LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’] appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Gen 18:2  And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Gen 18:3  And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Gen 18:4  Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
Gen 18:5  And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Gen 18:6  And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
Gen 18:7  And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
Gen 18:8  And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen 32:25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen 32:27  And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Gen 32:29  And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
Gen 32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Exo 33:11  And the LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’] spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

These are the words of our Lord Himself which reveal that He is the Yahweh of the Old Testament:

Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Lest any of us think that John 5:37 applies only to those Jews to whom Christ was speaking, the fact is that the Lord had already made clear that “no man has seen God [the Father] at any time…”

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

Clearly Christ is the ‘Yahweh’, the ‘Lord’, the ‘God’ of the Old Testament who had been seen and heard by so many in that dispensation. It is ‘Yahweh’ who gave His words to Jeremiah:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’] God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

It is ‘Yahweh… Christ’ who is teaching us that His ways are judgment, and that we are blessed to be judged in “this present time”:

Deu 32:3  Because I will publish the name of the LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’]: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
Deu 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’]  , have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD [H3068: ‘Yahweh’] came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It is only “when [the Lord’s] judgments are in [our] earth [that we] shall learn righteousness”. If we are the “blessed and holy” of the Lord (Rev 20:6), then His judgment has begun with us in this present time, and all of mankind of all time are awaiting our manifestation to this dying world:

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

That is our study for today. Lord willing, we will finish this prophetic chapter which speaks to us to “edification, exhortation, and comfort” (1Co 14:4) next week. Here are our verses for that study:

Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 25:33  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
Jer 25:37  And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 25:38  He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

Jer 5:1-13 They Have Refused to Receive Correction

[Study Aired March 14, 2021]

Jer 5:1  Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
Jer 5:2  And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Jer 5:3  O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
Jer 5:4  Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Jer 5:5  I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
Jer 5:6  Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
Jer 5:7  How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Jer 5:8  They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
Jer 5:9  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 5:10  Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’S.
Jer 5:11  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 5:12  They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
Jer 5:13  And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

The first verse of this fifth chapter of Jeremiah reveals that the story of the destruction of Sodom is a type of the destruction of our hypocritical, self-righteous old man, typified first by Jerusalem and then by Babylon.

Jer 5:1  Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

Let us compare this verse to what the Lord promised Abraham concerning Sodom:

Gen 18:32  And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

Abraham was taking full advantage of the Lord’s mercy and patience because this request was anything but “this once”. Abraham had started with “[If] there be fifty righteous within the city…”

Gen 18:23  And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24  Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
Gen 18:25  That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Gen 18:26  And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

Abraham then pleaded for the Lord to spare Sodom for the sake of forty-five, then forty, then twenty and finally he stopped at ten.

The Lord knew there were not even ten righteous men in Sodom. Only Lot and his two daughters were spared out of Sodom and all the cities of the plain:

Gen 19:29  And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

The Lord also knows that He will not “find a man… that executes judgment [and] seeks Truth” even as He promises to pardon it if there is but one man. He knows there is not one man in Babylon, backslidden Jerusalem, (Isa 1:21) because every man who is “executing judgment and seeking the Truth has “come out of her”:

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

Babylon will not “acknowledge [her] transgressions”. Christ drags us out just as He dragged Lot and His daughters out of Sodom. Babylon is self-righteous and rebellious to the end:

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

Nothing had changed from the days of Jeremiah to the writing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Jer 5:2  And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

These verses describe each of us when we are in Babylon. We claim His name and say, “The Lord lives,” but we refuse to ‘eat His meat or wear His apparel’:

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

Seven signifies completion. The apostasy of the church is complete, and the seven churches of Asia demonstrate that point (Rev 1:4). The complete apostasy of the Christian church is signified by “the seven churches of Asia” fulfilling this prophecy here in Jeremiah. We are informed there is not one man in ‘Jerusalem’ (Babylon) who ‘executes judgment or seeks the Truth’.

Many wonderful works, casting out devils, and writing and singing many wonderful, inspiring songs, means nothing if we refuse of be obedient to our Husband:

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.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Such is the mind of the great harlot because this is the spirit of the Lord’s estranged wife at this time:

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

At this stage of our “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13), we believe in the lie of the ten-second sinner’s prayer. We believe that if we simply claim the name of Christ, include His name in our songs of praise to Him, do lots of good works for others, then our doctrine, our food and our clothing will be accepted of Him and certainly will not separate us from Him. However, our Husband is having no part of that mindset, and regardless of how many good works we perform in His name and how many very inspiring songs we write and sing which say, “The LORD liveth,” if we do not have and live by His doctrines the truth remains “surely we swear falsely” (Jer 5:2), and in the time of our judgment these are the words we will hear:

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This is who we are before we are humbled and brought to see our own self-righteous nakedness and shame. The very definition of self-righteousness is to ‘glory in our shame’, as the Pharisee looking down on the publican:

Luk 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

We are all self-righteous by nature. Therefore, we all just naturally glory in our own shameful self-righteousness.

Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

There is a time in our lives when we glory in our ‘shameful’ self-righteousness just as the world glories in its abominations. Nevertheless, Truth is always the Truth and as the parable of the Pharisee and the publican demonstrates, self-righteousness is the most egregious of all sins, and no circumstance can change that fact. Self-righteousness blinds us to the Lord’s chastening hand in our lives.

Jer 5:3  O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

“You have stricken them” is speaking of you and me. In Babylon we live the life of a hypocritical, self-righteous harlot while we blindly live and teach others to live lives which blatantly disobey and disrespect the Lord and His doctrines. While we are in the clutches of this great whore’s church doctrines, our Babylonian leaders have much more influence over us than the words of God in “that which is written”:

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other. (ACV)

A “face harder than a rock” is the mind of an extremely self-righteous stubborn man or a spiritual harlot. It is common in many of the churches to belittle scripture as mere ‘ink on paper, nowhere near as powerful or reliable as the work of the holy spirit’. This doctrine teaches that the holy spirit can and does supersede scripture.

Of course, the Truth is that all this doctrine accomplishes is to place the man of sin in the temple of God proclaiming himself and his “above that which is written” thoughts and commandments superior to “that which is written”. When we given over to that lie, we simply nullify “that which is written”, placing ourselves in the temple of God, and telling the Lord “we will eat our own meat and wear our own apparel”.

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

Christ Himself sees no such dichotomy between the written word and the spirit, as He makes clear when He tells us:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the [“that which is written”] words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Paul tells us the same thing in these written words concerning “that which is written”:

Heb 4:12  For the word [“that which is written”] 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.

The “that which is written” words of God “are spirit and they are life”. They are far more reliable than the so-called words of the holy ghost proceeding out of the mouths of men which directly contradict “that which is written”. There has never yet been a secular trial or a ‘trying of the spirits’ (1Jo 4:1) without referring to “that which is written” (1Co 4:6).

We are told to “Try the spirits to see whether they are of God”:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

All who minimize the written Word as mere “ink on paper” have nothing with which to “try the spirits”, and they now have no anchor to keep them from being swept out into the merciless sea of false doctrines.

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;

Here is what the Lord said of His own harlot wife while speaking to the prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

The Lord repeats this description of our deep-seated rebellion against Him and His way in:

Zec 7:12  Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

These verses are just another way of saying, “They have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” (Isa 5:3)

It is very instructive for us to know that the word translated as ‘adamant’ (H8068, shamiyr) in Ezekiel and Zechariah is most often translated as ‘briers’:

H8068
שׁמיר
shâmı̂yr
Total KJV Occurrences: 12
briers, 8
Isa_5:6, Isa_7:23-25 (3), Isa_9:18, Isa_10:17, Isa_27:4, Isa_32:13
adamant, 2
Eze_3:9, Zec_7:12
diamond, 1
Jer_17:1
stone, 1
Zec_7:12

‘Briers and thorns’ throughout scripture typify lying, self-righteous, false doctrines.

Isa 10:17  And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

Jer 5:4  Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
Jer 5:5  I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

It was “the great men” who ‘broke the yoke’ and actually took the lead in inciting the entire nation to reject their own Savior:

Psa 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

It was the chief priests, who were Sadducees, and the Pharisees, “the great men” of Christ’s day, who set aside their differences to unite in their utter hatred of “the Lord and His Christ”, and until this very day it is the religious leaders of this world who incite us to turn our backs on the Word of God.

It is just such spiritual fornication which gives the Lord the occasion He is seeking to judge us and drag us out of Babylon and then use us to judge Babylon. This is what we read of this ongoing process later in this same prophecy:

Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.

Jer 5:6  Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

This “lion… wolf” and “leopard” are all one and the same “beast” [with] ten horns” which the Lord is sending “to fulfil His will” and to judge His harlot wife:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

This entire prophecy of Jeremiah is addressed to the same harlot churches to which the entire book of Revelation is addressed. That includes Revelation chapters 17-18 which concern themselves with the judgment of this great whore who rules over all the kings of the earth:

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

‘The merchants of the earth’ are the Babylonian ministers who ‘peddle the gospel’.

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

The pardon of our sins is always accompanied by the chastening wrath of our Lord:

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

That is how we are pardoned. It is the chastening grace of God that leads us to repentance:

Jer 5:7  How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses [Babylonian harlot churches].

Being “fed to the full” in this verse refers to living with a hedge about us in an outward sense. It is the Lord’s chastening grace which brings us to repentance:

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

It is good to have all our physical needs met, but without trials, flesh simply cannot appreciate mercy, and being corruptible flesh, we become corrupt:

Jer 5:8  They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

Fidelity is not a natural human trait. Infidelity comes to us all as naturally as breathing and as naturally as turning our back on our Lord. Our own self-righteousness and our own false doctrines are spiritual adultery. Self-righteousness is the worst most insidious form of infidelity because it denies that our righteousness is of Christ.

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

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:

We cannot rebel against the powers that be in heaven or on earth and expect to get by without being punished for our insubordination. God will avenge Himself of our transgressions against Himself:

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

In writing those words, Paul was simply aware of the scriptural doctrine of God’s vengeance against the  kingdom of our rebellious old man which our next verse demonstrates:

Jer 5:9  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

“Vengeance is mine saith the Lord” answers that question, and while there are many verses which demonstrate the Lord’s wrath against our rebellious old man, I will add one more:

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

This is the Lord’s ‘judgment and vengeance’:

Jer 5:10  Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’S.

Walls symbolize spiritual defense, and “her walls” (the walls of Babylon) provide no defense at all against the judgments of the truths of the Words of the Lord. “They are not the Lord’s… battlements”, they are lies and self-righteous false doctrines against which the Lord will be avenged:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

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

This “mighty city”, [this] whore is being burned up within us at this very moment, and she is also being hated and made desolate and naked and having her flesh eaten and being burned up with the fires of this prophecy outwardly at this very moment. You and I reading these words and applying them where they belong, both within and outwardly, are breathing out spiritual fire which is at this very moment producing “the smoke of her burning”. I will quote the first verse of our next study to make this point:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

“But make not a full end” refers to the fact that the Lord always leaves Himself “a remnant … [in] this present time”, who are “the first to believe” on Him, and upon whom He first pours out the bowls of His “judgment and vengeance”.

Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

“We” are the “souls… under the altar… their fellowservants also and their brothers, that should be killed as they were”. We are this “very small remnant” who are the “first” to be shown the Lord’s mercy at “this present time”. If we “endure to the end”, we are the channel through which the Lord will redeem all the rest of mankind:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

The Lord’s “ways… His… unsearchable judgments [are indeed] past finding out” for our natural man, “but God has revealed them unto us by His spirit”:

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him [Obey him (1Jo 5:2)].
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

What are “the deep things of God”? They are “His unsearchable judgments and His ways…” (Rom 11:33), with which we concern ourselves in all our studies of His Words.

Before we were dragged and judged for our transgressions, we first lived out these words:

Jer 5:11  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 5:12  They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

“They have belied the Lord [by saying] It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us…” is telling us that we taught the Lord will not judge us through the seven bowls that fill up His wrath against our Babylonian transgressions. Whether the false doctrines of a secret rapture or a place of safety, we have all believed and taught that the Lord’s wrath is only for those wicked people ‘out there’ somewhere. The wicked who must endure the wrath of God are anyone else but ourselves until our eyes and ears are opened to see that “every man’s works shall be tried by fire” (1Co 3:13) and that “no man can enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled” (Rev 15:8).

Many years back while working as a team with a brother who later separated himself from us, I read an entry on his web page forum which stated, “I do not like listening to anything Mike Vinson writes because all he ever talks about is judgment.” Reading that statement had the Lord’s desired effect on me. It did not make me deny that the Lord does indeed judge us, and I did not deny that He takes His vengeance upon the kingdom of our old man, but He also never fails to remind us:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Having part in the first resurrection is the greatest honor the Lord bestows upon any man. That first resurrection is “the marriage supper of the Lamb” of which we are again informed:

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Even the great harlot, in her attempt to paint herself and make herself beautiful for her lovers, has over the years begun to speak less about her monstrous false doctrine of a day of judgment which condemns the vast majority of mankind to an eternity of excruciating physical pain in physical flames of physical fire.

Jer 5:13  And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

The brother with whom I worked so closely for several years had “the light that was in [him made] darkness”, and he literally screamed at me these very words, “I will not have you telling these babes in Christ that they must endure the seven last plagues of the wrath of God!!!”

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

It was clear to me at that point that my dear brother was given to fulfill these prophetic words of Isaiah, Jeremiah’s predecessor:

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

My partner in the gospel had come to identify with the man who had written in on his website forum. He, too, was tired of hearing about a most essential element of our salvation – the element of God’s fiery judgment which brings us to repentance and teaches us righteousness:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth [our earth], the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [His chastening grace, His judgments] leadeth thee to repentance?

When a prophet is deceived, he is deceived by the Lord Himself, and “Who can make straight that which the Lord has made crooked?”

Ecc 7:13  Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Most Christians think those are two verses which do not belong in the Bible. They think in that way because “the Lord [has] deceived [them]”, and they have been given by the Lord “eyes that see but cannot perceive and ears that hear but do not understand”:

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:

Let us, on the other hand, greatly rejoice in these words:

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

That is our study for today. Here are the verses for our next study:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Jer 5:15  Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
Jer 5:16  Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
Jer 5:17  And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
Jer 5:18  Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
Jer 5:19  And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
Jer 5:20  Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Jer 5:21  Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Jer 5:22  Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
Jer 5:23  But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Jer 5:24  Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Jer 5:25  Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Jer 5:26  For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
Jer 5:27  As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
Jer 5:28  They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Jer 5:29  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 5:30  A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Isa 42:18-25 Who is Blind as He That is Perfect, and Blind as the Lord's Servant? - Discussion

1 file(s) 6.54 MB

Download

Who Is Blind As He That Is Perfect, and Blind As The Lord’s Servant?

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? 
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 
Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 
Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 
Isa 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? 
Isa 42:24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. 
Isa 42:25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

Only the most spiritually blinded person will deny that the Lord is speaking here of “…My servant… my messenger that I have sent… he that is perfect… the Lord’s servant”. This is the same “My servant” who is also called “Mine elect, in whom My soul delights”. This verse continues… “I have put my spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.” So, the deaf and blind… “My servant” of verse 18-19 of this chapter is still speaking of the Lord’s elect, in spite of the extreme change of tone, and the seemingly contradictory characteristics of “[His] servant” in these verses:

Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa 42:2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isa 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
Isa 42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Now the Lord is telling us that this same “My servant… [is] deaf and… blind”:

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? 
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 

To understand what the Lord is telling us we must notice that verse 18 is a commandment from the Lord, and when the Lord commands it is done. His elect were deaf and blind, and now they both hear and see simply because He commanded it to be so.

“Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” is exactly what Christ says of us while we are yet deaf and blind, wanting to call down fire from heaven upon anyone who offends us [Luk 9:55], arguing about which of us will be greatest in His kingdom [Luk 9:46], and even denying that we know him [Mat 26:75]. Yet because we are His elect, He tells us, “Blessed are your ears for they hear, and your eyes for they see.”  

“Speaking of those things which are not as though they were” Christ tells us this of His disciples before they ever begin to understand His words:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 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. 
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Did Christ’s disciples at this point, hear or see or understand Him and His doctrines and the meaning of His parables? Four times we are told Christ’s very apostles did not understand His parables even after He had told them what they meant:

Mar 9:32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. 

Luk 2:50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 

Luk 9:45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

It was only after their conversion on the day of Pentecost that Christ’s own apostles began to remember and understand what He had been teaching them for the past three and a half years. 

Joh 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

Just as with the rest of mankind, and for the very purpose of being able to identify with and understand all the rest of mankind, Christ keeps His own elect both spiritually deaf and spiritually blind until the appointed time. Like ancient Israel we simply cannot come up out of spiritual Egypt, within ourselves, until the iniquities of the spiritual ‘Amorites’ within ourselves is fulfilled. Then, only at the appointed time, we are granted to go up and possess the land. 

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Num 33:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

Only at the appointed time for each of us do we begin to destroy the giants and the beasts within ‘the land’, which ‘land’ symbolizes our bodies and our “old man” with all his passions and lusts and lies and false doctrines:

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Until that appointed time it is just as true of “Mine elect… My servant”, as it is of the rest of this world:

Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

Truly these words are ours to live and to keep at our own appointed time:

Isa 42:18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant? 
Isa 42:20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. 

King David was used to reveal to us that it is given to the Lord’s elect to be the first to live through and to “keep [the Lord’s] righteous judgments”:

Psa 119:106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

Those words appear to the natural mind to be saying that King David had decided on his own to ‘perform [and] keep [the Lord’s] righteous judgments”. Indeed, ancient Israel, like Joseph’s brothers, thought their deeds, good and evil, were their own deeds. However, that is a very carnal way of understanding what it means to “keep thy judgments”. The scriptures have always taught that the Lord is sovereign over “all things”. A much more mature understanding of how we will all “keep [the Lord’s] judgments” is to understand the meaning of the commandment to “keep the things which are written therein”:

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.

It happens that “the things that are written therein” are all of the Lord’s “righteous judgments” made known to us in the form of seven seals, seven trumpets and seven vials, which fill up the wrath of God and His judgments upon the kingdom of our rebellious old man. 

We are very clearly informed that “no man can enter into the temple of God “Until the seven vials of the seven angels is fulfilled” within our lives:

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.

This is how King David, and each of us at our appointed time will “keep [the Lord’s] righteous judgments”:

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

It is only by “keep[ing] the things written therein”, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials of the wrath of God, that we will be granted to “enter into the temple of God”. 

The three-step process of being judged involves, 1) the seven seals, 2) the seven trumpets and 3) the seven vials, and it requires patience to endure all “[the Lord’s] righteous judgments… unto the end”.

Mat 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Rev 16:7 And I heard another [voice] out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 

Rev 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

Therefore, we are admonished:

Jas 1:2 My brothers count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 
Jas 1:3 knowing that the proving of your faith works patience. 
Jas 1:4 But let patience have its perfective work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (LITV)

The “various trials” of our lives are the seals, the trumpets, and the vials of the Lord’s judgment, His wrath upon the rebellious kingdom of our old man. Job is the Old Testament type of who we are, and like Job we must patiently endure the Lord’s righteous judgments upon the kingdom of our old man within us. The Lord knows all of this, and that is why He gives us this profound admonition:

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

The Lord’s judgment against our old man is His righteousness, and “His righteous judgments” within us:

Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 

When ‘the Lord’s righteousness’ is within us, we do much more than keep only the letter of the law. “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake” because “His righteousness”, does not just outwardly obey the words “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. The Lord’s righteousness magnifies that law to:

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 “magnify the law and make it honorable” and are the foundations of the “time of reformation” of:

Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

The coming of Christ proclaiming His great “time of reformation” and His “magnifying [of the] law”, culminating in His death and resurrection, is the foundation of “the Israel of God” which is “the kingdom of God within [us]”. 

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

Gal 6:15 Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation. 
Gal 6:16 Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
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. 
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

When Christ first comes to us, we are not capable of “worshipping Him in spirit and in Truth”. We aren’t even capable of understanding our lost and dying condition when the Lord first comes to us and begins to drag us to Himself through His judgments upon our sins and through the fiery trials of life.

This is how we appear to Him when He decides to begin to drag us out of the darkness and lies of ‘the great whore [who is] the mother of harlots’:

Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 

These words are is, was and will be words of our Lord. They had a past application, they have a present application, and they will have a future, lake of fire application, just as the last 6 verses of chapter 24:

Isa 24:19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 
Isa 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 
Isa 24:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 
Isa 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isa 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

The prophet Joel quotes this prophecy, and the apostle Peter applied the words of this prophecy to the events surrounding birth of the New Testament church on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts.

Here is Joel referring to this prophecy of Isaiah 24:

Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 
Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 
Joe 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

And here is the apostle Peter applying this prophecy to the events surrounding the day of Pentecost when the church of the New Testament was founded at the coming of the holy spirit. It is through the holy spirit that Christ dwells within His elect:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 
Act 2:17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I can remember as if it were only yesterday, commenting to my son-in-law that I did not understand why Peter would say such a thing when there were no heavenly signs in the sun or the moon on the day of Pentecost. The only ‘heavenly sign’ that day was the ‘cloven tongues of fire’. I had no spiritual understanding at all at that time, but I was completely unaware of my own ignorance of who is the ‘Sun’ and what and who is the ‘moon’. Christ, of course, is “the Sun of righteousness” and the ‘moon’ is His “church in the wilderness” which had shed His blood just a few days earlier.

Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I [your father… “the sun”] and thy mother [the moon… the church… “the mother of us all”, Gal 4:26] and thy brethren [the stars] indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

So, the scriptures reveal the spiritual meaning of ‘the sun’ and ‘the moon’ in the book of Genesis, and now Isaiah is using these same symbols in a prophecy which spiritually refers to “the Sun of Righteousness”, Christ, being darkened through death, by the ‘moon’, “the church in the wilderness” which shed His blood as a sin offering and “a propitiation for our sins… and… for the sins of the whole world”:

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

That is the spiritual meaning of:

Isa 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

It is “all… of God (1Co 8:6) after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11) and “for [our] good” (Rom 8:28)… for His righteousness sake” so He will have the occasion to “magnify the law” and reveal that His law is not the shadow of the law of Moses, but His law is “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus”:

Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Meaning:

Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.