Revelation 11:1-3, Part 1- Measure The Temple

[Study Aired Oct 6, 2024]

The first 14 verses of this 19-verse chapter concern the measuring of the temple and the witness of, the rejection of that witness, and the death, and resurrection of the two witnesses. These events are all a part of the sounding of the sixth trumpet, also called the second of three ‘woes’, because of the devastating affect of these last three trumpets upon the kingdom of our old man.

The measuring of the temple and the witness of the two witnesses are the symbols of our obedience to the voice of the Lord who told us to take the little book out of the hand of the angel that stood on the land and the sea and eat that little book and then prophesy before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings:

Rev 10:8  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

The witness of the “two witnesses” of this 11^th chapter is in obedience to the commission to prophesy before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings of chapter 10. The measuring of the temple is the introspective intent of judging ourselves which produces revelation of Jesus Christ within ourselves.

Paul tells us:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Even if we “judge ourselves” we are still being judged, and it is our own judgment which is sweet in our mouths but bitter in our belly when we judge ourselves. That is the very meaning of ‘measuring the temple’ which temple we are (1Co 3:16):

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.
Rev 11:3 And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

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.

Chapter ten ends with John eating the little book.

Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

John, signifying each person in whom Christ is being revealed, takes the little book, which we have established to be Christ and His words in us individally, and He eats the little book which, while sweet in his mouth becomes bitter in his belly. Then He is told that he will yet prophesy before many people, nations and tongues and kings.

It is immediately after this statement that John is told to measure the temple, but leave out the court of the temple because it is given to the Gentiles and will be trodden under foot by the Gentiles for 42 months. It is at this juncture that the two witnesses are introduced into our narrative, and we are told they will witness, or “prophesy again before many people, nations, and tongues, and kings”, for “1260 days”, which just happens to be another way of saying “42 months”, or “time, times and half a time”. It all amounts to the same length of time our Savior witnessed to a dead and dying world. It is three and a half years expressed with four different phrases.

If all we see in all of this is the symbols, then we will never understand the message contained in the symbols. But we know that the angel who hands John the little book is Christ. We know that the little book is Christ’s words at work in our individual lives, sweet in our mouths becoming bitter in our bellies (Rev 10:9). We know that eating those words is the symbol of believing and living those words by judging ourselves before we prophesy to others (1Co 11:31-32). We know that John is the symbol for all of God’s elect who do prophesy before this world (Rev 19:10 and 22:8-9). We know that his mouth is our mouth if we are His elect (1Jo 4:17). We know that the mouth speaks what comes from the heart (Mat 12:34. We know that the belly is our old fleshly desires (Rom 16:18) until our desires become Christ’s desires (Joh 7:38):

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

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am [I signify] thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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

Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

Rom 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

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

Rev 10 ends with John eating the words of the little book. The little book is sweet in his mouth and bitter in his belly. John and the angels of this prophesy symbolize us.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am [I signify] thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book [Rev 1:3]: worship 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.

John, who signifies each of us, is told that he will now prophesy for Christ, the words of this little book full of lamentations, mourning and woe. “The testimony of Jesus Christ, is the spirit of prophecy… You must prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” demonstrates that it is the words of this little book which will come out from our hearts, through our mouths and which are “bitter in our bellies” as we experience the “hatred of all men” and as they hear these words of “lamentations, mourning and woe” which we ourselves have lived. Yet they are at the same time “rivers of living waters” coming straight from the river of Life, which is Christ, who gave this little book to us. If we are in Him, we are both the little book out of which we are ‘bitterly’ judged (Rev 10:10) and we then bring forth through our mouths rivers of living waters (Joh 7:38).

This eleventh chapter of Revelation gives us a heads up on what we can expect when we “prophecy before many people.” The symbols of the first verse are 1) a reed like a rod, 2) the temple of God, 3) the altar of God, 4) them that worship in that temple.

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

The symbols of the second verse are 5) the court without the temple, 6) the Gentiles, 7) the holy city and 8) forty and two months.

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.

The symbols of the third verse are 9) My two witnesses, 10) a thousand two hundred and three score days, and 11) clothed in sackcloth.

Rev 11:3  And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Now let’s seek to know what each of these symbols signify.

1) A reed like a rod

“A reed” is found here in this prophecy twice, and both entries are in reference to a measuring device.

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

Rev 21:15  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

“A rod” is used in scripture as connoting discipline, and authority. Here is a typical verse using this same Greek word.

1Co 4:21  What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

Paul is not contrasting a rod with the disciplinary love of a parent. As any parent with their children, he simply does not enjoy having to discipline his children when he first gets home from work. Here is how a rod is part of love, just as discipline is a very necessary part of love.

2Sa 7:14  I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
2Sa 7:15  But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took [it] from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

This is the word used to describe the rulership of God’s elect during the millennium.

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

So a rod signifies discipline and chastening. But in the verse under consideration, it is mentioned in conjunction with a measuring reed, “a reed like unto a rod”. In other words, Christ and His Words are our measuring reed, and if we do not measure up to those words, we are being measured or chastened and disciplined. That is why is is called “a reed like unto a rod”. This “reed like a rod” signifies “chastening with the rod” as contrasted with the reed with which the holy city is measured. There is no need for a rod in the “New Jerusalem” because that part of our experience is behind us if we are blessed to be a part of that “holy city… the bride the Lamb’s wife”:

Rev 21:15  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

Here is the setting for this verse:

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

The rod and the discipline are now past, and the reed is not “like unto a rod.” Rather it is now “a golden reed to measure the city”.

In the verse here in chapter 11, it is “a reed like unto a rod” because the struggles against our old man and the doctrines of Babylon in this life are yet in full bloom.

2) The temple of God

John, who is the symbol of all those to whom it is given to keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book, is given “a reed like unto a rod” and is instructed to “measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein.”

We have been over this symbol many times already, nevertheless I will quote these two verses to remind us what “the power of the spirit” is (1Co 2:4) when using these words “the temple of God.”

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.

3) The altar of God

Again, the altar is at the temple. We have demonstrated many times that the altar is where we lay down our lives in sacrifice to God. The Israelites were to “lay their hands on the head” of the sacrifice to indicate that they identified with the death and offering of that sacrifice.

Lev 4:15  And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.

So too, we are instructed in the New Testament:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

So the spiritual significance of this symbol, “the altar of God”, is the cross, where we lay our lives down as “a living sacrifice.”

4) Them that worship therein

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

Our “worship” is not our singing. Our “worship” is our obedience:

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

It is a reverence for God’s Word which constitutes true worship. Our goal is to seek to know and do all that He wants us to do.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

In order to “worship therein”, in order to worship God in His temple, we must know “the doctrine of Christ… in spirit”, and beyond just its basic principles and beyond just the milk of that doctrine.

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.

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

We are all “carnal babes in Christ… unskilful in the word of righteousness” when we are first called to follow the Lord. But it is the “reed like unto a rod” that brings us into the temple and causes us “go on unto perfection” as “them that worship therein” “in spirit and in Truth”.

The “reed like unto a rod and the golden reed to measure the holy city, the book in the hand of the man on the throne and the little book in the hand of the mighty angel” are one and all, Christ and His work within our lives. It certainly is not our own work in our own strength:

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

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

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

The symbols of the second verse are…

5) The court without the temple

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.

We will not spend a great deal of time on this symbol because, again, we have demonstrated already that the court without the temple is where the masses of God’s people were permitted to come to make their physical sacrifices. Yet neither the people nor even the Levites themselves were permitted to go beyond the court nor to enter into the temple, nor to handle the holy things unless they were the sons of the high priest, Aaron.

Num 18:1  And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
Num 18:2  And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3  And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Num 18:4  And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
Num 18:5  And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
Num 18:6  And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:7  Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

Not even the sons of Aaron could do the service of the Temple if they were blemished in any way.

Lev 21:16  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 21:17  Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
Lev 21:18  For whatsoever man [he be] that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
Lev 21:19  Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
Lev 21:20  Or crookback, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
Lev 21:21  No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.
Lev 21:22  He shall eat the bread of his God, [both] of the most holy, and of the holy.
Lev 21:23  Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

So, we should always expect to be hated of our brothers, accused of thinking we know God better than they do, and accused of separating ourselves from their company when the reverse is the Truth.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Rom 9:11  (For [the children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

“I will… I will… I will… I will”. It is God who decides upon whom He will be merciful and compassionate, and it is God who also decides “who He will harden”.

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

So it is God who decides who “worships in the temple” and who is “the Gentiles in the court.” So who are “the Gentiles”?

We will pause here and begin our next study by showing with the scriptures who the Gentiles spiritually signify.

Exo 38:1-31 The Making of the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Bronze Basin and the Court

[Study Aired February 20, 2023]

Exo 38:1  And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.
Exo 38:2  And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass. 
Exo 38:3  And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
Exo 38:4  And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.
Exo 38:5  And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves. 
Exo 38:6  And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass. 
Exo 38:7  And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards. 
Exo 38:8  And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Exo 38:9  And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:
Exo 38:10  Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.
Exo 38:11  And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 
Exo 38:12  And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 
Exo 38:13  And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.
Exo 38:14  The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 
Exo 38:15  And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 
Exo 38:16  All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen. 
Exo 38:17  And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 
Exo 38:18  And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
Exo 38:19  And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver. 
Exo 38:20  And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.
Exo 38:21  This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest. 
Exo 38:22  And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. 
Exo 38:23  And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.
Exo 38:24  All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
Exo 38:25  And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
Exo 38:26  A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
Exo 38:27  And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 
Exo 38:28  And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them. 
Exo 38:29  And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels. 
Exo 38:30  And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar, 
Exo 38:31  And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

Today’s study focuses on the making of the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Bronze Basin and the Court. It also centers on the materials needed for the building of the Lord’s tabernacle.  As we can see, the Lord starts His work of making us His temple for His habitation by focusing within us first before our outward righteousness becomes evident. The Holy of Holies and the Holy place and their items were all made first before the outer court with its items were made. This is in contrast to our life in Babylon or the churches of this world where we put emphasis on the outward at the detriment of inner cleansing. 

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 

Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Exo 38:1  And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof. 
Exo 38:2  And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass. 

Placed in the outer court of the wilderness tabernacle, the brazen altar was the most prominent and imposing object in the court, and no worshiper could avoid seeing it upon entering. The fact that the altar was to be a square in shape is to let us know that from whatever angle we are looking, sin is a problem that has to be dealt with in order for us to appear before the Lord. The natural laws of various countries, the laws of various religions (Babylon) all point to one thing – that is, sin must be dealt with. That is why our Lord Jesus came to atone for our sins.

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. 

The fact that the altar was made of acacia wood is to indicate that even our sins and the remission of sins is all the work of the Lord. Without Him, nothing functions!!

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.

The altar is to be measured. The standard of measurement is Christ. Those whose sins have reached the heavens in this life are therefore judged to conform to the standard of Christ. The fullness of the sins of humanity will later follow them to be dealt with in the lake of fire. They are those who are not measured as they belong to the Gentiles!!

1Ti 5:24  Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

The horns at the four corners of the altar symbolize the strength of the Lord to deal with the sins of the whole world. The four corners of the table represent the whole world. 

Exo 13:3  And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
Exo 13:14  And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

What is insightful about verse 2 is that the altar must be coated with brass. All the instruments in the Holy place and the Holy of Holies were overlaid with gold, signifying that it is through the refining work of the Lord that we can gain access to His presence. This refining work is the judgment of our old man. The coating of the altar with brass is to signify our frail bodies of corruptible flesh and blood.  It is through this corruptible flesh and blood that our Lord Jesus made atonement for our sins and appeared before God. As He is, so are we in this life. It is through our corruptible flesh and blood that our Lord will save the world from their sins.

Exo 38:3  And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.
Exo 38:4  And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.

The various utensils to be used at the altar refer to various categories of humanity who are all utilized by the Lord to accomplish His purpose of making us aware of the problem of sin, the atoning work of Christ and the need for our sins to be judged.

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

A grating of brass was to be inserted into the hollow center of the altar to hold the firewood and sacrifice as it was being burned, allowing the ash to fall below. The grating is a symbol of the judgment we must go through to deliver us from our sins so that we become a sweet savor to Christ our Lord.

Exo 38:5  And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.
Exo 38:6  And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.
Exo 38:7  And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.

The altar is portable. It was therefore carried using the poles which were required to pass through the rings so that the Levites who carried the altar did not touch the altar. The portability of the altar means that the redemptive work of Christ is still applicable to us as we journey in this life. It also means that we bear in our bodies the mark of His suffering, that is, we, too, are going through suffering in this life to complete the suffering of Christ.

Gal 6:17  From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Exo 38:8  And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 

A simpler rendition of verse 8 is as follows:

Exo 38:8  He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting. (ESV)

This verse clearly shows us the role of the churches of this world, which are represented here by the ministering women. They provide mirrors for the making of the basin of brass for washing before one enters the tabernacle. In other words, the function of the churches of this world is to make us see who we are as sinners, and therefore we need to be washed of our sins before we come to worship the Lord. The mirror is the word of the Lord, whether it is the letter of the word which is emphasized in Babylon or the Spirit, which is for the elect.

Jas 1:23  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
Jas 1:24  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
Jas 1:25  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Exo 38:9  And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits: 
Exo 38:10  Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 
Exo 38:11  And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 
Exo 38:12  And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 
Exo 38:13  And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.

Hangings of fine twined linen marked the boundaries of this court, and its dimensions were 100 cubits on the north and south sides and 50 cubits on the west and east. The fine twined linen hangings were fixed to twenty pillars on the north and south, ten on the west, but only six on the east as this was the side where the gate was situated. Each of the pillars sat on a brass socket, and the hangings were attached to the pillars by means of silver hooks.

Spiritually, the court represents our lives in Babylon where we only see our Lord Jesus Christ come to die for our sins. It is a period of our lives where we have our own doctrines and follow our own ways thinking that we have our own will to choose what we want. 

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.

The fact that the north and the south sides should be 100 cubits in measurement is significant. The number 100 (10×10) signifies the fullness of the flesh. What this means is that during our walk in the court of the tabernacle, the deeds of the flesh become evident before we are given to wash ourselves in the word of the Lord in preparation to enter the presence of the Lord.

The use of twenty pillars and the bases emphasizes the point that those whom the Lord is using to build His temple are those who are mature enough to wage war with the flesh to overcome it. During the time of the elect in the court of the tabernacle or Babylon, we are defeated seven times (completely) by the flesh as part of the preparation to learn how to war against the flesh.

Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Num 1:24  Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

The use of brass to coat the twenty pillars and bases signifies that it is through this corruptible flesh and blood of the elect that the Lord is building His house or dwelling place. This is the same as having treasure in earthen vessels.

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

The fact that the west and the east sides of the tabernacle must be fifty cubits in length is to suggest to us that a prerequisite to become the dwelling place of the Lord is through the liberty we have in Christ. This liberty is freedom from the bondage of sin.

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Gal 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Exo 38:14  The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 
Exo 38:15  And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.
Exo 38:16  All the hangings of the court roundabout were of fine twined linen.

In total there were six hangings at the east end of the tabernacle where the gate was. The number six is the number of mankind. So, this is to emphasize the point that it is through us, in our corruptible flesh and blood, that the Lord is using to admit all those predestined to come to His presence. In an age to come (the lake of fire age), the Lord will also use us to bring all humanity into His presence.

The fact that the hangings on each side of the gate were three is to let us know that becoming the conduit for humanity to enter into the presence of the Lord entails being spiritually mature, which is brought about through the Lord’s judgment of our old man.

Rev 15:8  and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

That the hangings must be of fifteen cubits (15 = 3×5) is to serve as a witness to the fact that it is grace through faith by which we become mature enough to enter the temple to worship the Lord. This grace is the chastening work of the Lord.

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

Exo 38:17  And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

We are both the pillars and its sockets which were coated with brass. As indicated, brass signifies our frail bodies of corruptible flesh and blood.  It is through this corruptible flesh and blood the Lord is using to build His temple. It is through our corruptible flesh and blood that all humanity will be admitted into the temple of God. The silver, which was used to overlay the pillars of the court, and the chapiters represent the strong desire for the things of the spirit, which signifies the very foundation upon which the boards and pillars of the tabernacle stand.

Job 14:14  If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Job 14:15  Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire [Hebrew: kasaph – the root from which comes ‘keseph‘ – silver] to the work of thine hands.

Exo 38:18  And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
Exo 38:19  And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.
Exo 38:20  And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

The hanging for the gate of the court was of fine linen and colored blue, purple and scarlet. We, the elect, are the hanging through which humanity must pass to enter the Lord’s temple. The colors blue, purple and scarlet mean that we are those who are being changed from our Adamic nature to that of Christ. As indicated earlier, we are both the sockets and the pillars. The fact that there were four pillars and four sockets means that the pillars and the sockets represent the whole of the elect of every generation. The pins used for the tabernacle and the court being made of brass means that it is through our corruptible flesh and blood that the Lord is using to build His temple.

Exo 38:22  And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses. 
Exo 38:23  And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

As indicated in previous studies, Bezaleel represents our Lord Jesus Christ who is building our earthly tent. Building our earthly tent means the Lord is the one who is cleansing our hearts and mind to make it His dwelling place. Aholiab means ‘tent of his father.’ Our bodies are the earthly tent of our Father, Jesus. Aholiab, therefore, represents the body of Christ, or the Lord’s elect, as we are given to work with the Lord, who is represented here as Bezaleel in the building of the New Jerusalem for our Lord to dwell. The wise-hearted are also the elect.

2Co 5:1  Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings that someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever. (CEV)

We are therefore co-workers with the Lord as we work together as a unit to achieve what God desires. That is, by building the church of God which is the Lord’s body.

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

Exo 38:24  All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
Exo 38:25  And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

The rest of the chapter deals with the inputs needed for the building of the tabernacle.  Verses 24 and 25 mentions gold and silver as key ingredients needed for the building of the Lord’s church.

2Ch 5:1  Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

The gold and the silver refer to the truth of the word of the Lord that fits our every circumstance.

Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Exo 38:26  A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

Another key input needed for the building of the Lord’s tabernacle is men who are twenty years old and above. As we have studied in previous lessons, the number twenty refers to those who are mature and are able to wage war against the flesh.

Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Num 1:22  Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

According to verse 26, the men who were numbered as mature enough to war was 603,550. The number six refers to mankind. The number three means the process of spiritual maturity through judgment, and the number five signifies grace through faith. What we are therefore being told as referring to the sum of mature men ready to battle the flesh is that it is through the process of judgment that we mature spiritually enough to wage a war against the flesh. It is our faith or belief in this process of judgment, which is the grace that we have received from the Lord, that enables us to become spiritually mature as we deny ungodliness and worldly lust to become righteous in this present world.

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

Exo 38:27  And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.
Exo 38:28  And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.

The hundred talents of silver needed for the casting of the sockets of the sanctuary is to make us aware that we never offer anything to God for which we have made no payment or atonement. Jesus paid the price for our redemption.

1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1Co 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

What this means is that the foundation upon which Christ comes to live within our temple has already been laid by the price Jesus paid for our sins.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

The 1,775 shekels is the measure of the silver according to the standard of shekels of the sanctuary. This is what is needed for the making of the hooks of the pillars, which signifies that it is by grace through faith we become complete in Christ and therefore become worthy of being part of the pillars of the temple of the Lord.

Gal 2:9  And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

Exo 38:29  And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.
Exo 38:30  And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,
Exo 38:31  And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

According to these verses, we need seventy talents of brass, which measure about 2,400 shekels according to the standard of shekels of the sanctuary, to make sockets for the door of the tabernacle and also the court gate. As indicated in our studies, brass represents our frail bodies of corruptible flesh and blood.  It is through this corruptible flesh and blood that our Lord Jesus made atonement for our sins and appeared before God. As He is, so are we in this life. It is through our corruptible flesh and blood that our Lord will save the world from their sins. It should be noted that when the Lord appeared to Apostle John to unveil Himself to him, His feet were like fine brass. This is to show us that Christ does everything through His saints who are still in these bodies of corruptible flesh and blood.

Rev 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

Being sockets of brass at the door of the tabernacle and at the court gate is to let us know that it is through us the Lord will save the world, as all humanity will have to pass through us as the door of the tabernacle in order to worship the Lord. We are therefore the saviors of the world!!

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

May the Lord continue to prepare us to become a habitation for the Lord to dwell. Amen!!

[Study Posted July 27, 2020]

Est 4:1  When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 
Est 4:2  And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 
Est 4:3  And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 
Est 4:4  So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not. 
Est 4:5  Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. 
Est 4:6  So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate. 
Est 4:7  And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. 
Est 4:8  Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. 
Est 4:9  And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 
Est 4:10  Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; 
Est 4:11  All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. 
Est 4:12  And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. 
Est 4:13  Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 
Est 4:14  For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 
Est 4:15  Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 
Est 4:16  Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. 
Est 4:17  So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. 

Chapter 3 of Esther focused on the plot by Haman to exterminate the Jews. That is the raising of the storm by the Lord to bring us to our wits’ end with the ultimate goal of getting us to our safe haven. As discussed, Haman represents the beast within who is used by God as His left hand to become the agency for our fiery trials with the view of destroying the old man within us (Haman). The trials that Job endured (seven plagues) are the same that Esther had started enduring in this chapter. However, this is not news that the flesh wants to hear because we love our lives. The passages of scriptures we are dealing with today have to do with our fiery trials.  That is what every elect goes through. Let’s go into the details of these trials marked out for us as exemplified in the life of Mordecai and Esther.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Job 1:9  Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10  Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Est 4:1  When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 
Est 4:2  And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 
Est 4:3  And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 

Putting on sackcloth as seen in the scriptures is generally a sign of mourning due to the death of someone dear to us. In the spiritual context, the one dear to us is our flesh. The rending of Mordecai’s clothes and his putting on sackcloth signify the fact that he is dissatisfied with his own righteousness (his own clothes) and is ready to put on Christ’s righteousness, which is obtained through the death of our flesh, which causes us to mourn. Remember that the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation are clothed in sackcloth during their days of prophesying. Our lives as God’s elect are a long journey clothed in sackcloth as we mourn the daily dying of our flesh through various fiery trials. Coming to understand his words as Mordecai understood all the plans for the extermination of the Jews, we as God’s elect (Spiritual Jews) mourn. We all mourn because of what is written in the word of God concerning us as shown to Ezekiel. What is written is all about lamentations, mourning and woe because of our fiery trials.  This is not what our carnal man wants to hear.

These verses also tell us where we should express our mourning.  Mordecai expressed his mourning in the midst of the city of the King and also at the King’s gate. What do these locations tell us? The city is our Lord’s dwelling place, and so that is us (the new Jerusalem). We should be able to express what we are going through that makes us mourn in the midst of our brethren. As indicated in an earlier study, the King’s gate is where the porters of God’s elect are to help us with our load and to give us direction as to how we can get to our destination. Since we are all mourning, we can comfort one another in our trials.

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

2Sa 3:31  And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Eze 2:9  And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
Eze 2:10  And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

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

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

Est 4:4  So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not. 

Our mourning in the city and at the King’s gate will surely receive response from our brothers and sisters as we try to bear each other’s burden. In the case of Mordecai, Esther came to his aid by providing a change of clothes for Mordecai. However, Mordecai refused the offer. Again in our earlier study, we pointed out that Esther, though she represents an elect, was not matured. Her solution to Mordecai’s problem was that he should not mourn. She thought that perhaps, God will take him out of all these afflictions even as our brothers and sisters on the other side believe that God will take them out of suffering through rapture (a bogus doctrine from the carnal mind). The fact is, whether we like it or not, we will drink this cup of suffering!! This situation is the same as when Jesus told his disciples of His impending death, and Peter took him aside to convince him not to accept the cross. Jesus refused to listen to Peter, and his response to his disciple was that Peter had a carnal mind.

Mat 16:21: From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Mat 16:22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”
Mat 16:23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Berean Study Bible)

Est 4:5  Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was. 
Est 4:6  So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king’s gate. 
Est 4:7  And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. 
Est 4:8  Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. 

Through our brothers and sisters, we are able to understand these fiery trials which are marked out for us. That was exactly what Esther tried to do by sending Hatach to Mordecai. Mordecai took his time to explain the trials facing the Jews (the elect). During our trials, we are enjoined to ask our Lord to come to our aid. That was exactly what Mordecai told Esther; that is, to make supplications to the King. The Psalmist said in Psalm 107:28 – they cried unto him in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distress. As we make our request to Him, he is able to make a way of escape so that we may be able to bear the trials.

As you can see, we are not making our request to the Lord to escape our trials, but rather to bear the trials. Sometimes in our trials we get so discouraged, and to make matters worse, we hear voices within telling us that we are finished. David felt the same way when he fled from Absalom. Then, he cried unto the Lord with his voice and the Lord heard him out of his holy hill. His holy hill is His tabernacle, His dwelling place within us. His holy hill is also Zion, His elect. So we hear our Lord from both within (Because he lives within) and from our brethren, the elect!! Hearing him is what gives us the strength to bear what we are going through.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Psa 3:1  A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
Psa 3:2  Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
Psa 3:3  But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psa 3:4  I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

Psa 2:6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Psa 15:1  A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

Psa 43:3  O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

Est 4:9  And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. 
Est 4:10  Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; 
Est 4:11  All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. 

Our election is not by our will or effort. We have to be called and shown mercy before we can enter the King’s inner court, the temple, to see the King. For he showeth mercy on whom he wills and hardens the heart of those he wills.  Our God showing mercy to us is the same as the king holding out the golden scepter to whomsoever he wills even though nobody deserves to come to his presence. While we are going through this process of judgment of the flesh, signified by the number 30 (30 = 3 x 10), we cannot enter the temple to worship or see the king. Another rendition of this is in Revelation 15:8 where no man can enter the temple until the seven plagues were fulfilled. That is the significance of Esther not seeing the King for 30 days.

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

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.

Est 4:12  And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. 
Est 4:13  Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 
Est 4:14  For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? 

Sometimes we think that somehow judgment will pass over us and we will be able to escape from these fiery trials. That may have been the thought of Esther. That was why Mordecai told her that she should not think that she will escape just because she is the bride of the King (verse 13). The unveiling of Christ in the Book of Revelation makes us aware that we will only be blessed if we read and keep those things (the fiery trials) which are written in the Book. In other words, we must go through hardships in order to enter the kingdom of God. Remember that the three Hebrew boys (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) went through the burning furnace, but they were not harmed.

If we do not want to go through suffering (i.e. if we hold our peace), we will not be part of the Lord’s deliverance but will be destroyed (we will face the white throne judgment) and others will be saved at our expense (verse 14). The fact is, we have been brought into the kingdom for such a time as this. Our deliverance is now!! As long as we are seeing Christ through the lens of our sufferings, we should be assured that our salvation is near, even at the door and we shall not pass until all the seven plagues are fulfilled in 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.

Act 14:22 Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. (NIV)

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Est 4:15  Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 
Est 4:16  Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. 
Est 4:17  So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. 

Now that Esther had come to understand Mordecai’s message, which is about suffering with her fellow Jews, she braced herself for the inevitable. In this case, she was just like Jesus who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising its shame. We should pay heed to the things she requested Mordecai to do and her resolve during this time of trial.

The first thing she requested Mordecai to do was to go gather the Jews. Our gathering together equips us for the fiery trials we are going through. We get strengthened to go through our trials when we gather. There are several Old and New Testament examples of this strengthening.  Remember Jesus himself was strengthened by an angel. When Jacob was on his death bed, he got strengthened when Joseph and his children came to see him. We therefore also need to be strengthened by our brothers and sisters (who are angels), when we are going through fiery trials.

Gen 48:1  And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Gen 48:2  And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

Luk 22:41  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

The second thing mentioned is that during this period of our trials, we should fast for three days – the three days being the process of our judgment, which is a lifetime. This fasting is not about afflicting our souls as we did when we were in the clutches of Babylon. This fasting is about stopping the feeding of our old man (so as to speed up its death) by not willfully engaging in sinful acts or not imbibing in false doctrines and lies from the harlot woman.  That is the fast that breaks every yoke. Isaiah suggested during this period of fast that we are to feed the sheep and not hide from our own flesh.  Not hiding from our own flesh is when we see ourselves as we really are – our self-righteousness, weaknesses, etc. – and it is only through the Lord’s chastening grace that we come to see who we really are.

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

The third point about this period of trial is that we have to go and see the King to make our request known. All the preparation by Esther was that she wanted to see the king to make a request. She had a firm belief that the king would attend to her request. That is to say that we must have faith and come to God in prayer during this period of our trial knowing that God will attend to our prayers.

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

2Sa 22:7  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

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

Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

The final point to note is that our fiery trials should bring us to a point where we are ready to lose our lives. This is where Esther came when she said that if she perish, then so be it. As the scriptures say, if we love our life, we will lose it, and if we lose our life we will gain it!! There are three examples in the word of God where individuals came to the point of being ready to lose their lives but in the end, they gained it. Esther is one example.  The other two examples are Daniel and the three Hebrew boys (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). Our ultimate example is our Lord Jesus who lost his life and has gained it as he sits at the right hand of God.

Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Dan 3:16  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

The question is what does it mean to lose our lives? The statement in Matthew leading to the losing of our lives tells us what Christ had in mind.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

From the passage above, loving our lives has to do with the way we treasure our relationships and what they offer more than our Lord Jesus. It is also about not being prepared to suffer (take up our cross). Loving our lives has to do with our natural affinity to enjoy pleasures of sin. As God’s elect, we need to give up all these for the reward just as Jesus and Moses did.

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

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

May the Lord grant us the grace to lose our lives so that we will gain them at God’s appointed time!!

Our next discussion will be based on Esther Chapter 5.

Audio Links

The Levites spiritually are “the people of Israel” who are given to the priesthood, “the Lord, and… his Christ” to help minister to the priesthood, but who cannot handle the vessels of service. Levi is those who “have no right to eat at our altar” who slew our Lord. It is that same spirit, to this day which is even now slaying God’s elect.

But who is it that has slain the Lord? Was it the Jew? Was it the Romans? Was it all those sinners who are going to the lake of fire? Who is accountable fore the death of our Lord?

Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

So once again we are forced back to the fact that:

Mat 4:4  But he [Christ] answered [the Adversary] and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

And those words of Matthew 4:4 are the answer to the arguments of the Adversary, that parts of God’s Word have no personal application. Those words are the key to understanding that “the kingdom of God is within you:”

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.

When we understand that we live by every Word of God then we understand that the parables are about the mysteries of that kingdom.

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.

To whom is it “not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God? Do these words not apply to God’s elect?

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Mar 8:21  And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Mar 9:32  But they [Christ’s apostles] understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Mar 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

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

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.

“Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13) is one of those “things that are not as though they were” statements when it was first spoken by our Lord.

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

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

The night before Christ’s apostles all forsook Him He made this statement about His apostles:

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Christ knew that even His apostles had to “live by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” But Peter, like so many of us, did not yet understand this principle:

Joh 13:33  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35  By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Joh 13:36  Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Joh 13:38  Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

“As I said unto the Jews?”

That is right, the words to the children of wrath are first for us… “as I said unto the Jews… you cannot follow me now.”

“You cannot follow me now” is first true of God’s elect. Only later do the unbelievers come to see that it is also true of them.

Remember, Leah was Jacob’s reward for his efforts just as her association with Jacob was was the reward for her efforts. Neither typify faith in God’s sovereign work.

Gen 29:34  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, [Hebrew: lavah because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

Gen 49:1  And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2  Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
Gen 49:5  Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
Gen 49:6  O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
Gen 49:7  Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

“Come not into their… assembly… be not united” with them, is our call to “come out of Babylon… and be ye separate.” This call is being given in Genesis for “the last days” (Genesis 49:1).

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

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 [last] plagues.

This is what separates the priests from the Levites. The priests are faithful to God’s Word and will not partake of the idols of the Levites who “cannot come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar.” If they do come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, then both the Levites and the priests will die.

How the Levites serve the priesthood

Num 18:2  And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3  And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Num 18:4  And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
Num 18:5  And ye [the priesthood] shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
Num 18:6  And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

How does Levi “do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation?” Does Levi willingly serve the priesthood? Why are the priests told “only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar?” What are “the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar?” We are not left to guess what these things all foreshadow:

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein .
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

How does this serve or “keep the charge of all of the tabernacle?” This is how Levi “does the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:”

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

The fall from grace suffered by the multitudes of Christians, the withstanding of God’s Word by the Korahs, the betrayal of Judas, and in this case the failure of Levi, all serve to keep Levi from eating before the golden altar of incense, and yet ‘Levi’ performs an incredible “service [to] the tabernacle.”

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:5  My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:8  But ye [Levi] are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:9  Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

The Levites spiritually are “the people of Israel,” who are given to the priesthood, “the Lord, and… his Christ,” to help minister to the priesthood , but who cannot handle the vessels of service. Levi is those who “have no right to eat at our altar.” Levi is those who slew our Lord. It is that same spirit, to this day which is even now slaying God’s elect.

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 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

God does not speak without parables. His entire word is a parable. Every story in the Bible is a parable for those who see and understand the purpose for parables.“Without a parable spake he not unto them:”

Add those verses in Matthew 13 to this verse to get “the sum of God’s Word concerning “the mysteries of the kingdom of God:”

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.

Knowing this, let us now ask, who is it that has slain the Lord? Was it the Jews? Was it the Romans? Was it all those sinners who are going to the lake of fire? Who is accountable fore the death of our Lord? Who has been “carried about by different and strange doctrines?” Who has served the tabernacle and yet had no right to eat at the altar in the holy place? Where is it that the wheat and the tare grow together until the harvest? Who is it who has “dealt shamefully with the servants of the man who planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen?” Who is it who has said “let’s slay His Son and seize His inheritance?” Are all of these parables someone else and somewhere else outside of you?

I watched John Hagee talking about the book of Revelation and saying all the things that I myself believed and taught just yesterday. So Levi is Mike Vinson before his destruction and his “baptism of fire” joined to, but unable to eat the food of the priests.

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

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

Levi is joined to and opposes God’s priesthood. It is this opposition to “the doctrine of Jesus Christ”, which serves God’s priesthood. It is being “carried about by different and strange doctrines” which keep those who “serve the tabernacle” from “eating at our altar.” It is “another gospel, another spirit and another Jesus” which separates the Levites from the priests.

Who is this?

2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

Who is this?

Tit 3:9  But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Tit 3:10  A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11  Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Who is this?

1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

And this:

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
2Co 11:5  For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
2Co 11:6  But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

And all of these verses:

1Ti 6:3  If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
1Ti 6:4  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Whose are these “men of corrupt minds?”

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. [physically and spiritually, he who denies either is antichrist]
2Jn 1:8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your [spiritual] house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Who is guilty of these accusations?

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

Is there even one verse here which has not at one time applied to me and to you? No, there is not one verse. As the apostle Paul said of Himself, “I am the chief of sinners.”

1Ti 1:15  This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Once again we are forced back to the fact that:

Mat 4:4  But he [Christ] answered [the Adversary] and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Those words are the answer to the arguments of the Adversary, that parts of God’s Word have no personal application, to this day. Those words of Matthew 4:4 are the key to understanding that “the kingdom of God is within you:”

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.

When we understand that we live by every Word of God, then we understand that the parables are about the mysteries of that kingdom which is “within you:”

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.

To whom is it “not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God?” Do these words not apply to God’s elect? Oh, but they do apply to God’s elect in their appointed time. All of these verses are addressed to Christ’s apostles.

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Mar 8:21  And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Mar 9:32  But they [Christ’s apostles] understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Mar 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

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

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.

“Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13) is one of those “things that are not as though they were” statements when it was first spoken by our Lord.

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

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

The night before Christ’s apostles all forsook Him He made this statement about His apostles:

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

“As I said unto the Jews…” Christ knew that even His apostles had to “live by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” But Peter, like so many of us, did not yet understand this principle:

Joh 13:33  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Joh 13:36  Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Joh 13:38  Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

“As I said unto the Jews?” That is right, the words to the children of wrath are first for us… “as I said unto the Jews… you cannot follow me now.”

“You cannot follow me now” is first true of God’s elect. Only later do the rest of the unbelievers come to see that it is also true of them.

Even these verses are first lived. Then, afterward, they are understood.

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

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

We look “behind us” to see this revelation of Jesus Christ:

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

We are in “the seven churches” before we are the seven angels in Christ’s right hand. We are joined to and associated with Babylon before we can “come out of her.” So, too, are we ‘Levites’ who are ‘associated with Him’ and “joined to Him” before we are made “kings and priests” who will “rule this world… and 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?

The Levites are those who are “joined with” God’s elect just as Leah was associated with and joined to Jacob. Esau, before Leah, was “joined with” Jacob. The parable of the workers in the vineyard who all get paid the same but at different times, portrays who are today’s spiritual Levites who are not priests. We see that Aaron’s sons were born of Aaron, and we forget that Aaron had to be called out of Levi. Likewise we read of the disgruntled “laborers in His vineyard” and forget that this is us before we come to see how one becomes a laborer who is “content with His wages.”

Mat 20:1  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Mat 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Mat 20:5  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Mat 20:7  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive.
Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

The most prominent ‘murmurer’ of all time was a Levite named Korah, who convinced all the leaders of Israel to murmur with him.

Num 16:1  Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took [men]:
Num 16:2  And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, [Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy, every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

These are all spiritual Levites who are not priests. These are the workers in the vineyard who were hired first and have worked all day and get paid the same as those who were hired last but they get paid last. These are those who hate God’s favored elect.

Who is it that hates God’s elect? If these verses are to have any significance or relevance to me and to you, then it is me and it is you. God’s elect at one time all, in their appointed time, hate God’s elect.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience :
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Who “were by nature the children of wrath, even as other?” What says the word of God? It was, in their appointed time, God’s own elect.

Our final scripture revealing who the Levites are spiritually is Romans 11:

Rom 11:1  I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Rom 11:2  God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew . Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Rom 11:3  Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
Rom 11:9  And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
Rom 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Who has fallen first? God’s own elect are the first to deny Him:

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Luk 22:33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luk 22:34  And he [Christ] said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Rom 11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Rom 11:14  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

According to the scriptures “if the first fruit is holy, the lump is holy also.”

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Withstanding the doctrines of Babylon is our calling. Babylon bashing is not our calling.

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Rom 11:23  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Rom 11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural [branches], be graffed into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Who the Levites are spiritually:

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

It is Romans 11:32 which has been used by so many orthodox Christian ministers to declare that God will indeed save every Jew and Israelite who has ever lived. And in the same breath these same orthodox ministers deny that this applies to all the rest of mankind. They truly believe that God is a respecter of persons and that ‘all who are born of Abraham are of Abraham’s seed.”

Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are no t the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

In other words these orthodox ministers do not see what the camp of Israel typifies. The priests typify God’s elect. The Levites who are not priests typify the Christians who are called but not chosen, and the rest of Israel, ‘the camp’, typifies mankind as a whole. This is the original ‘gift and calling of God’ for all mankind:

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

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!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

This is the original ‘gift and calling of God’ for all mankind:

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

Spiritually this is being accomplished in God’s few elect, but it has never been accomplished in the strength of the flesh. That is why we are being “conformed to the image of His son.”

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

So when the ‘first’ who are now ‘last’ are eventually paid, this will be the final outcome of it all:

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

As I said at the beginning of this talk, I watched John Hagee talking about the book of Revelation, this past week, and he was saying all the things I believed and taught in the past. Every word was understood as being outside of us all. It was a book which was all about future events. That was what I myself thought only yesterday. So Levi is Mike Vinson before his death to the flesh. Levi is each of us when we are “joined to” and yet oppose God’s priesthood. It is this opposition to God, of which we all partake. It is resistance to these ‘strange doctrines’ which serves to produce a zeal for the Truth in God’s priesthood. Being a Levite is being “carried about by different and strange doctrines” of which we all must partake, which keep those who “serve the tabernacle” from “eating at our altar.” It is the time we all spend in the darkness of ignorance which separates Levites from the priests. We must all be Levites before we can be priests.

We have, of necessity, mentioned the priesthood many times. But until now the priesthood has not been our focus. Next week, Lord willing, we will cover the priesthood.

Audio Links

It is the object of this study to demonstrate scripturally what the camp of Israel, the court and the tabernacle represent. As always we will find that they all represent some facet of Christ.

In today’s study we will touch on what the 1) high priest foreshadowed. 2) We will learn what is a shadow, and what is the purpose for shadows. 3) We will learn that God has deliberately blinded the eyes of the multitudes of “Historical orthodox Christianity”. 4) We will learn of a tool God uses to keep these things “hidden from the wise and prudent and yet reveal them unto babes.” That tool is to use the same shadow to reveal opposite spiritual realities. Some of these are easily recognized, and some are completely hidden, as you will see.

5) Finally, we will see that the camp of Israel is one of those shadows which foreshadows opposites. We will see that in some cases the name ‘Israel’ is sometimes used to foreshadow Christ and His body, and yet the camp of Israel, without the tabernacle court, represents the unchosen world as a whole.
Look at these words of our Lord:

Luk 10:21  In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

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 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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.
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.

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

Moses and Aaron were both of the tribe of Levi. Moses’ brother, Aaron, was the original high priest of Israel. Only Aaron’s sons could be priests, and only one of them was the high priest. We have all been told that Christ is our high priest, and this is certainly true. If that is so then what is used to foreshadow and represent Christ’s children? That’s right Christ is a ‘father’.

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

He is also our high priest:

Heb 8:1  Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3  For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4  For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

Here is how Webster defines the word ‘shadow:’

Shadow
SHAD’OW, n.
1. Shade within defined limits; obscurity or deprivation of light, apparent on a plane and representing the form of the body which intercepts the rays of light; as the shadow of a man, of a tree or a tower. The shadow of the earth in in an eclipse of the moon is proof of its sphericity.

With that in mind let’s read a few verses of God’s word concerning shadows.

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

All “priests” must be decendants of the high priest. The children of the high priest “serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things?”  What or who are those “heavenly things?”

What are all of these things which are part of Israel and the tabernacle?

Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15  [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:
Col 2:17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of [the] Christ.

What are the “good things to come” of this verse?

Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Here is what Paul tells us about all these Old Testament types and shadows:

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

These verses should serve to show that the history and economy of Israel were all lived out and observed and written for our admonition. Peter goes even further to tell us that the patriarchs and prophets were not ministering to either Israel nor themselves, but unto us:

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Before we go any further, it is necessary to explain and to demonstrate how the Holy Spirit has seen fit to hide the truth from the multitudes of “historical orthodox Christianity” and to reveal Truth to those whom the Holy Spirit has given eyes to see and ears to hear.

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

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.

The multitudes of the camp of Israel are never intended to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in this age. In making such statements, it is incumbent to always use a pattern of Biblically sound words. We cannot make statements which are not grounded solidly on the Rock of God’s Word.

Tit 2:7  In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine [shewing] uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
Tit 2:8  Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

So, because the Truth of God’s Word is so diametrically opposed to the doctrines of “historical orthodox Christianity,” We will first give five examples to demonstrate how God’s Word often uses one type to typify exact opposites.

1) Pharaoh was both God the Father and the oppressor of God’s People.

Consider, for example, the fact that in the book of Genesis, the Pharaoh of Egypt is used to typify God the Father, lifting Joseph up out of the dungeon and placing him on the throne of all of Egypt. Then in the very next chapter of the Bible, Pharaoh is a type of the man of sin oppressing God’s people.

Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42  And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Gen 41:43  And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

Gen 50:7  And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

Then in the very next chapter of God’s Word we read:

Exo 1:6  And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
Exo 1:7  And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Exo 1:8  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Exo 1:9  And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
Exo 1:10  Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Exo 1:22  And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born [of Israel] ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

2) A lion is both Christ and the Adversary

Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

3) Christ is both a lamb and a lion

Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

4) A lamb is both Christ and the Adversary:

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

5) Adam is both the beast within and Christ.

Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

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

It should now be clear that God often uses a single person, nation, etc. to typify two opposing subjects. It will be demonstrated that the nation of Israel is used in this very same way. While it is true that “Israel is my firstborn” and while it is true that God chose Israel out of all of the nations of the world, it is also true that God uses the camp of Israel to typify the great unwashed masses of mankind who are not a chosen people. On the one hand, Israel is God’s chosen people:

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.

Exo 2:23  And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Exo 2:24  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exo 2:25  And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Yet the very same people are also God’s “fallen… broken off” people:

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2  And great multitudes [of Israelites] were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
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.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Rom 9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Rom 9:4  Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Rom 9:5  Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 9:6  Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

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.

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Understanding this dual use of types is essential to understanding what the camp of Israel typifies in God’s Word. Israel is used in God’s Word, both as a type of Christ and His elect and as those who will be brought in with Sodom and Samaria. Like Adam, the lion, the lamb, Pharaoh, and Christ Himself, Israel is used to typify both the first Adam and then in another application Israel is the last Adam, Christ and those in Him.

Next study we will discuss who the Levites are who do the work of court of the tabernacle? Why does Paul say this of the Levites?

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Was the apostle some kind of elitist? Or was Paul right when he made that statement? Are those who serve the tabernacles really to be separated from the priesthood? We will see the next time we come together what the scriptures teach on this matter.