Rev 17:1-7 The Judgment of the Great Whore, Part 2

[Study Aired April 13, 2025]

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

We closed our last study taking notice that the revelation of the great whore was given to John by ‘one of the seven angels which had the seven last plagues’:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

We cannot show anyone the judgment of the great whore until we ‘look behind ourselves’ (Rev 1:12) to see what Christ has worked in our own lives. Then we can be used by Him to show our brothers and fellow servants what is Lord is doing in our lives:

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

Look at who it is who “have the testimony of Jesus”:

Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

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

If you and I have been granted to be a part of the body of Christ, then it is we who have the testimony of Jesus.

We know that ‘the battle of the great day of God Almighty’ (Rev 16:14), the great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be (Mat 24:21), the great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon our earth (Rev 16:18), the dividing of that great city Babylon within us and the great hailstorm within us’ (Rev 16:21), are all the “great and marvelous” work of God which, through His work of fire and brimstone, wipes away all the lies of Babylon which until this time have held us in their bondage.

This is how the holy spirit describes this great whore to us:

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

“In the spirit” signifies that everything John is seeing is of spiritual significance. In other words “the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” This is not a literal whore, and she is not seated on a literal beast. This “whore” signifies what the Lord’s people had become spiritually:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot [“whore” (Rev 17:1-3)]! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

The “whore” signifies the Lord’s own apostate people who have always committed fornication with the nations about them:

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

It was “In the spirit into the wilderness” that the Lord Himself fought with the beasts of His own flesh:

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Mar 1:12  And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Mar 1:13  And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

 “The Tempter did all in his power to persuade Christ to deny His own linage, His own calling and His own inheritance. To avoid having to give up all that is in this world and become the savior of us all, Christ was offered by the Tempter to become the physical ruler of all the nations of this world.

Mar 1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
Mar 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
Mar 1:11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying [to Christ], Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Mar 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Mar 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

This scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns signifies the exact same beast we came to know in our studies of Revelation 13:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The “beast” of Mark 1:13, where Jesus was in the wilderness tempted by the devil with wild beasts, the ‘beast’ of Revelation 13:1 who comes up out of the sea; the beast of Revelation 11:7 who arises out of the bottomless pit, and this ‘beast’ here in Revelation 17:1, supporting and being ridden by this “Great Whore”, are all the same ‘beast’ (G2342, ‘therion’, “A wild animal, a wild beast”). This is who we all are before being transformed of “the same lump” into a “new man… another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to make it” (Jer 18:1-6). At that point we become another ‘beast’ (G2226, ‘zoon’, “a living thing that is an animal”). This is the word used to describe the animals which were offered as sacrifices to God as opposed to wild beasts.

The only added detail here in Revelation 17, besides being a ‘therion’, a wild beast, is the fact that we, like our father the devil and Satan, are “scarlet colored”… having seven heads and ten horns”:

Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Like our spiritual father the devil, at this time, while in the darkness and deception of Babylon, we, too, are signified as a ‘wild beast’, a ‘therion’, with ‘seven heads and ten horns.’

In this sad state we are merely “the natural man” who has not been given eyes that see or ears that can hear the things of the spirit:

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.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us 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.
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

At this ‘carnal babe in Christ’ state of our being, spiritual thoughts are “foolishness” to us:

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

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.

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Babylon seems so very innocuous. In fact she appears as a downright righteous woman who is decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. In chapter 18 we are told that she is full of “gold silver and precious stones.”

Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

‘Gold, silver, and precious stones’ are the very symbols used by the holy spirit to signify the materials with which we are to build upon the foundation of Christ and the apostles and prophets:

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 [the fiery Word of God]; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Babylon appeals to our flesh in every possible way. She is very generous and is filled with many wonderful works which immediately appeal to men. Babylon is first and foremost a harlot whose greatest joy is to please men, and not her true and ultimate husband, our Lord. She “has a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.” That ‘cup’ opposes everything found in the cup Christ gave to His apostles on the night of His apprehension by the Jews. The cup of Christ calls for us to be hated of all men (Mat 10:22), to deny our flesh, and to die daily to the desires of our flesh (1Co 15:31), to be “crucified with Him” (Gal 2:20), to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1), and to fill up in our bodies what is behind and lacking of His afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church (Col 1:24).

The cup in the hand of this harlot teaches us that Christ did all of that for us and all we need is to reach out and accept His suffering in our stead. It is a damnable doctrine known as substitutionary atonement, and it comes right out of the throne of the beast in the bottomless pit.

It is designed to deceive and seduce us all at our appointed time. She is much too subtle for any man to resist by himself or by his own wisdom. It requires knowing the word of God, and trying the spirits of Babylon to see her as she is here described:

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The blood of Jesus and the blood of the saints are what causes the drunken stupor of the harlot we all are. These words are “written therein” and are kept by us all in our own time. We do not martyr Christians as the apostle Paul martyred Stephen. Our drunkenness on their blood is detected in the hatred we have for the doctrines of Christ, and our hatred for the example He has left us to follow.

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

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

Christ tells us that His blood is “My blood of the New Testament.” The New Covenant is the Words of Christ. If we hate Christ’s Words, then we hate the words which tell us of the example He has set for us to follow, and if we hate those words, we hate those who bring us His Words. As a matter of fact, we are told that when we reject those who come to us with the words of Christ, we are rejecting Christ himself (Luk 10:16):

Mat 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Mat 10:15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

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.
Mat 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Luk 10:16  He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.(ASV)

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

Joh 13:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” When we are given to follow Christ, we are given to follow Him wherever He goes:

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Those who seek to know God and His Son with their “whole heart”, always ask, “What did Jesus do” in each and every situation encountered in any situation. The flesh asks, “What is permissible?” while the spirit is whole hearted in its service and inquires “What is commendable, what did Jesus do?”

Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Ask yourself what did Christ say and where Christ go in every move of your life. When we are given to see His steps, then we should “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes.” If the Lord gives us the strength to do that, then we will never be ashamed, and His blood will cover the blood of His saints which is on our own hands.

Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation [‘This generation’ reading these words (Mat 24:15)].

Next week, Lord willing, we will review the origins and the fate of the beast within us when we look into the spiritual meaning of these words:

Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Rev 17:9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

[Study Aired February 23, 2021]

Mat 20:20-21 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 

Mar 10:35-37 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

Mat 20:22-28 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

In our last study Christ foretold his death:

Mar 10:32-34 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.

The scriptures in this study expand to include His disciples. Christ tells His disciples that they must also become servants and die by drinking of His cup and being baptized with His baptism.  Also, Christ says that all this is being done by the Father through him.

Mat 20:22-23 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

In this study, Lord willing, we will see how this is accomplished.  James, John and their mother are commanding Christ to have James and John sit with Christ as rulers in the kingdom.

Mar 10:37 They said unto him, Grant (G2036) unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

G2036
ἔπω
epō
ep’-o
A primary verb (used only in the definite past tense, the others being borrowed from G2046, G4483 and G5346); to speak or say (by word or writing): – answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on), speak, tell. Compare G3004.

I say they are commanding Christ to make them rulers because of the spirit of their question to Christ. It is not the spirit of humility but the spirit of the devil. Here is how the devil uses the word G2036.

Luk 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command (G2036) this stone that it be made bread.

Now compare G2036 to G154 you will see the contrast at the end of our study.

G154
αἰτέω
aiteō
ahee-teh’-o
Of uncertain derivation; to ask (in generally): – ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require. Compare G4441.

James, John and their mother represent us in type and shadow.

Mat 12:46-50 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

We all approach Christ at the beginning of our journey to the kingdom of God in this fashion. We command God to grant us our desires and wishes. The doctrine today is called “name it and claim it”. This comes from the belief that Christ did it all and we only have to claim what ever we desire in the name of the Lord.

Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Building a doctrine without using the sum of God’s word will deceive us. Christ, on the other hand, says “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with”. Using the sum of God’s word will remove the deceptions of the world.

Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.

James and John did physically drink of Christ’s cup and were baptized with Christ’s baptism becoming a type and shadow of our fate.

Act 12:1-2 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

James’ death and John’s exile are examples of our spiritual experience into the kingdom of God. How do we drink of the cup, and what is our baptism?

Mat 10:16-18 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

Joh 15:18-20 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Joh 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Until we are given to see that we must endure until the end our desires will only fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Through this example of James, John and their mother, their question, commanding that is, they are trying to fulfill their desires. Even though the other ten disciples chastise them for asking such a question they all desired the same.

Mat 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.

Luk 9:46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest.

Christ’s answer to the matter is neither what the disciple’s nor what we want to hear at the beginning of our walk.

Mat 20:25-28 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

What did he say? We must become servants and die? Who in this world would name and claim dying and becoming a servant? Only those whom the Father prepares.

Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

As we all know and are coming to see clearly day by by that this life, in this age is a great tribulation. We are, while in this body of death, bound and determined to struggle. That being said, we are given the peace that surpasses all understanding. This peace will hold us up until the fullness of Christ’s coming is complete. As this process takes place we will be given the spirit of humbleness and will ask in his name, instead of commanding, be given the right to sit with Christ.

Joh 16:25-33 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Php 4:4-9 Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Rev 3:21-22 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Do you hear what the spirit is saying? The spirit is saying “humble yourself to become the greatest”.

Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The spirit is saying “ye ask amiss” and “humble yourself and you will be lifted up”.

Jas 4:1-10 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

The spirit is saying “fight the good fight” and “keep the faith”.

2Ti 4:1-8 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

The spirit is saying “you will sorrow but your sorrow will be turned to joy”. Also notice the contrast of “ask” I mentioned earlier in the study.

Joh 16:16-24 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day ye shall ask (command G2067) me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask (beg, crave, desire – G154) the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked (G154) nothing in my name: ask (G154), and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Mike,

Thank you for all you do to edify the Body.

​A question about the wine in the cup brought to mind the wine in the communion cup, which many of us used to celebrate. ​We do experience that cup daily as God’s word burns out the dross, the giants, etc. out of our lives. Isn’t this showing the Lord’s death until He comes? As we eat the bread of His fiery word and drink the cup of judgment and affliction our old man’s dies, and we grow in Christ daily. Is this the correct way of applying this Scripture?

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

YsitC,

E____

Hi E____,

Thank you ​for this question. Yes, you are exactly right. Neither Christ nor Paul are adding a new ritual to replace and old ritual.

We show the Lord’s death by “dying daily” (1Co​ 15:31) and being “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20) daily. If we replace the death of our old man with the ritual of washing his feet, then we are not “doing as He did to us” in that He serves us, as we are to serve one another every day. The so-called ‘Lord’s supper’ is simply a parable of the spiritual truths Christ imparted to us in these words:

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

As the apostle Paul explains, it is now ours to give our “[bodies] for His body’s sake, which is the church”.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Colossians 1:24 is “doing this in remembrance of me”. This verse applied in our own lives is “eat[ing] the bread, and drink[ing] this cup [and] show[ing] the Lord’s death till He comes.”

1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

I hope this helps.

Your fellow servant,

Mike

It is argued by some that since none of the four gospels specifically states that Christ Himself drank of the cup with His disciples, that therefore He did not drink of that cup, and in fact, never drank any wine. Here, in the interest of demonstrating how the sum of God’s Word must always be used to arrive at the Truth of any matter of scripture, are all four gospel accounts of Christ eating His last passover with His disciples.

Mat 26:20  Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Mat 26:21  And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

Mat 26:26  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27  And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.
Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Mar 14:22  And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body.
Mar 14:23  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it.
Mar 14:24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luk 22:16  for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luk 22:17  And he received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18  for I say unto you, I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.

Joh 13:1  Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
Joh 13:2  And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;
Joh 13:3  Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
Joh 13:4  He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Joh 13:5  After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Not once in any of these four accounts are we specifically told, ‘Jesus Himself ate of the bread or drank of the wine with His disciples’. We could, and many a prohibitionist does, maintain that Christ never drank wine. But is that what the sum of God’s word teaches us? What does the sum of God’s Word say concerning Christ drinking of this cup, and eating of this bread?

Let’s just put it all together and see what we are being told. Here is what He says in Matthew: “I shall not drink henceforth.

Does not the word “henceforth” mean ‘from this time forward’? Surely no one will argue that if I tell you that I will not eat eggs from this time forward, that this means that I have never in my life eaten eggs, or that I had not eaten eggs in the past five minutes. It simply means that from this time until the appointed time in the future, I will not eat eggs. So too with Christ telling His disciples that He will ‘not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until He drinks it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom’. That is a far cry from saying ‘I have never drunk wine’, and in is in fact, an admission that He had both eaten with and had drunk with His disciples, in the past.

Now let’s examine Mark’s account: “I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Once again, is not “I shall no more drink” an explicit admission that He had drunken with His disciples up to this time? Does not the word ‘more’ mean more of the same. If Christ had not ever drank wine with His disciples would He not have said ‘I have never drunken, and I certainly will not be found drinking in My Father’s kingdom’?

Let’s examine Luke’s account of what happened at this passover dinner: “And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Here we could say that Christ simply says “I shall not eat it…” except that the other gospels use the words “no more” and “henceforth”, and here in Luke He plainly states that He has desired to “eat this passover with you”. If we are going to contend that Christ did not drink because it is not specifically stated that He drank with His disciples, then we must be consistent and insist that neither did He eat the passover, because it is nowhere specifically stated that Jesus ate with His disciples.

We also need to ask the question, Does “I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God” mean that Christ lived on this earth 33 years without ever eating? This really is getting absurd! Especially so in light of the rest of “the sum of God’s words” on this subject.

But before we get into that, let’s look at John’s account of Christ’s last passover with His disciples: “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”

If this account were all we had of the last passover, we could conceivably make the claim that Christ Himself neither ate nor drank during that passover. After all, the only thing we are specifically told is that He washed the feet of His disciples, and wiped them with a towel. But because of this sober warning we do not want to ever be guilty of either adding to or taking away from the sum of God’s Word. Let us all tremble before these words:

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

So what more does the sum of God’s Word reveal to us concerning Christ drinking wine? Here is what we are told:

Mat 11:18  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
Mat 11:19  The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Notice, they did not say, a ‘grape juice bibber’. Christ was called “a winebibber” because He “came drinking… wine”.

What did that cup of wine which Jesus insisted that all of His disciples drink, symbolize? Here are His own words:

Mat 26:28  For this [cup of wine] is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

“My blood… which is shed for many” is symbolized by a cup of wine, which Christ tells us we must drink with Him because we are also among those for whom He died, and therefore we are as guilty of His death as any:

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 

Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

There it is in Christ’s own words! It is His own disciples who are included in those who shed His blood and He drinks of the same cup. But in the end, Christ’s blood will have covered “the sins of the whole world” because that is what His Father sent Him to accomplish. Christ came to save all men.

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

“The dream is one” and the cups are all one. They are all the same one cup from which we must all drink for simply coming from The Potter’s hand as a marred vessel of clay, created to be destroyed.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The cup from which the disciples drank was the same cup of which our Lord drank.

Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We are able. And Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

Joh 18:11  Jesus therefore said unto Peter, Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

So Christ did drink of the same cup of which the disciples drank. He did not drink it again until the kingdom of God came again within His disciples, where He even now resides, and where we are now “filling up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ [drink the cup He drinks] in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

In conclusion, if Christ did not eat the bread He broke for His disciples as a type of His own body which was broken for us, then we do not have a Savior who died for us, and if He did not drink wine, then His blood was not shed for us and we need not fill up in our bodies what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake which is the church.

But the truth is:

Luk 7:34  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

Your brother in Christ, Mike

The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven – Part 11

The Inward Versus the Outward

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.

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

Introduction

“The kingdom of God is within you” does not deny that “the kingdoms of this world [will] become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ” outwardly for a thousand years, to be followed by an outward rebellion against the outward power of the rulers of the outward kingdom of God, which will rule “the kingdoms of this world” throughout the period known as the ‘millennium’.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

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

It is the kingdom which is inward now, in this age, which will rule over the kingdoms of this world outwardly in the coming age. It is our inward struggles, those struggles which attack us when we are most vulnerable, that prepare us to make good and proper outward decisions, no matter how painful that decision is for all who are involved. It was after forty days of fasting that the adversary attacked Christ inwardly. ‘Fall down and worship me, and you will be given the kingdoms of this world with all their glory, and you can avoid the death of the cross.’ It was in the garden, facing eminent death at the hands of a mob, knowing He had mere hours left, that the adversary again attacked within, and with the very same message, causing Christ to request of His Father:

Mat 26:39  And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Christ struggled inwardly in every way just as we do:

Heb 4:1  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Christ was dying daily on the cross, inwardly, long before the outward cross, and He was encouraging His disciples to do the same:

Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

We have seen that the key to the house of David is the same as the keys to the kingdom of heaven, because both give us the power to bind on earth that which has been bound in heaven and to loose on earth that which has been loosed in heaven. That is a great and powerful gift, yet the ability to bind on earth what has already been bound in heaven and to loose on earth that which has already been loosed in heaven does not empower any one man to lord it over the Lord’s flock as Christ and the apostle Peter make so clear:

Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Mat 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

While being ready to physically and outwardly be “your servant” the inward intent of these words is revealed beyond doubt with these words:

Act 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God [our spiritual inward table], and serve [outward physical] tables.

This is the inward spiritual table at which God’s ministers serve:

1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Inward submission to the Words of God also has an outward manifestation for all the flock of God to witness.

Those who are inwardly beheaded for Christ, and who are inwardly crucified with Christ, will in time rule in a very outward display, over the kingdoms of this world:

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, [the inward nations] and keepeth my works unto the end [outwardly], to him will I give [outward] power over the [outward] 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.

The great military powers of this world will not willingly submit to “the Lord and His Christ”. They will first have to be “broken to shivers [and] ruled with a rod of iron”.

In this series of studies we have seen that the ‘keys to the kingdom of heaven’ are simply the keys to understanding the mind of Christ and the mind of His Father, which are, of course, one and the same. Therefore the elders within the body of Christ, who have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, will never lord it over the Lord’s heritage, inwardly or outwardly. What they will do is remain faithful to every word of God and thereby persuade “God’s heritage” to also be obedient and faithful to His Words. In like manner, the Lord’s heritage who have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven will inwardly and outwardly “defer to [their] elders” simply because they, too, have been given to know what is the mind of Christ and His Father, and they, too, will remain faithful to His words concerning how they are commanded to relate to each other within the body of Christ.

The only power any true minister of Christ has over anyone within His body is the power of persuasion based upon the Words of Christ. “But it shall not be so among you…” (Mat 20:26) is part of those words of Christ.

So are these words:

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

There is no advantage for us to withstand the words of men who have been obedient to the words of God in making decisions that relate to the doctrine of Christ.

A minister who obeys our Lord’s words in Matthew 18:15-17 is not acting on his own. He is acting inwardly and outwardly on the words of God in concert with other elders and in accord with the body of Christ:

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Alexander the coppersmith was not given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, or if he at one time had them, “that he [once had was] taken from him” and given to the person who had been most blessed to fear and tremble, inwardly and outwardly at the words of God:

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Our Lord is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It is by His design whether we diligently seek Him, but if He has taken away our love of His Word, then He does so in this manner:

Luk 19:24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
Luk 19:25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
Luk 19:26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

This is what the apostle Paul told Timothy about just such a person:

2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

A true minister of Christ is forbidden to ever lord it “over God’s heritage”, and he is commanded to never exercise dominion or authority over the Lord’s flock. However, as we have also seen, these words are for all mankind and not just for certain men who are ministers within the body of Christ. We are all given to oversee the kingdom of God within ourselves, and we are all given outwardly to be “the light of the world” (Mat 5:14). Our way of life, our quiet light in this world, is the product of monumental, momentous life-and-death inward struggles, and our way of life is our most powerful means of persuading others to follow our Lord.

We are yet told that we have been given the power to bind on earth the things that have been bound in heaven and to loose on earth the things that have been loosed in heaven. What that means is that it is imperative that we know what has been bound and loosed in heaven, inwardly. Otherwise we are not capable of binding or loosing anything on the earth, outwardly.

Mat 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against her.
Mat 16:19 And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you may loose on the earth shall be, having been loosed in Heaven. (LITV)

“Having been bound… having been loosed” demonstrates that our only power lies in being faithful to the Word of God, which reveals what has been bound or loosed in heaven.

Because the translators did not catch the difference between petros, Peter – a small rock, and petra, Christ – a massive rock, these verses appear to be spoken only to Peter, but as we saw in an earlier study, Matthew 18 reveals clearly that Christ was speaking to all of His disciples when He said they were being given power to bind on earth those things having been bound in heaven and to loose on earth those things having been loosed in heaven.

Here is the verse which gives us the setting for who Christ is addressing the words of this chapter:

Mat 18:1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

It is to “the disciples” that Christ continues speaking in this same chapter when He says:

Mat 18:15 But if your brother may sin against you, go and reprove him between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. [This is our goal. Verse 17 may be the outcome, but gaining our brother is the goal.]
Mat 18:16 But if he does not hear, take one or two more with you, “so that on the mouth of two” or “three witnesses every word may stand.” [Deu 19:15]
Mat 18:17 But if he fails to hear them, tell it to the assembly. And if he also fails to hear the assembly, let him be to you as the nations and the tax collector.
Mat 18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth will be, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you loose on the earth will be, having been loosed in Heaven.
Mat 18:19 Again I say to you, If two of you agree on earth as to anything, whatever they shall ask, it shall be to them from My Father in Heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst. (LITV)

As we saw in Matthew 16:18-19, this power to bind and loose is granted only to those who have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven; those who are granted to know what is the mind of Christ and His Father concerning the doctrine of Christ, which doctrine is given to Christ by His Father.

The key to the mind of Christ and His Father, which we are discussing today, is the Biblical principle of seeing that there is both an inward and an outward application to Christ and His Words, as Christ Himself made so clear when He said:

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.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

It is of utmost importance that we notice that if we “cleanse first that which is within” then, and only then, “the outside of them may be clean also.” “The… clean… outside of the cup and of the platter” are the clean, pure and true words of Christ. The “extortion and excess… within” is the idols of our own hearts (Eze 14:1-9) over which we have placed the clean words of Christ always mixing truth with lies, just as the serpent did in the garden first lying, but then mixing in the Truth:

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Notice how the serpent made forbidding the fruit of one tree sound as if Christ had said, “Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.” The serpent is twisting God’s Words and mixing the truth with a lie. Then He tells another lie:

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

To make sure his strategy works, he tells the truth again:

Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Was it true that they would not surely die? No, Christ had said, “In the day you eat thereof dying you shall die.”

Gen 2:16 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Eating you may eat of every tree in the garden;
Gen 2:17 but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die. (LITV)

Had the serpent told the truth when he told Adam and Eve that they would become like God to know good and evil? Yes, the Lord Himself agreed with what the serpent had said in this case:

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

If the inside is clean, the outside will also be clean. However, we are by birth born in sin, born of our father the devil.

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made in clay was ruined in the hand of the potter. So repeating he made it, another vessel, as it seemed good in the potter’s eyes to make it.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

So it has always been. As children of our father, the devil, we always speak just as our father. We have always taken God’s pure words of His silver and His gold, and twisted them to cover the idols of our hearts. We have all been there and done that, because at that time the inside was not clean, and the outside is but a reflection of what is still within, and even now that marred clay reminds us it is still there when we slip and stumble at times:

Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

These “images of men” are defined as the “idols of [our] hearts” which Ezekiel tells us of two chapters earlier:

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

These idols are “in their heart”. “Their heart” is Biblical symbolism for what is within us. There are inward and outward idols, and if we do not understand that, then we are missing a vital key to the kingdom of heaven within us. That kingdom is full of ‘idols of the heart’ which require being “cleanse[d]… with the washing of the water by the Word.”

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

It is the kingdom of heaven within us which “must be purified with better sacrifices than the blood of calves and of goats”:

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [“the kingdom of God… within you” (Luke 17:21)] with better sacrifices than these.

Christ Himself confirms that it is He who “answer[s them] according to the multitude of [their] idols” in Matthew 13:9-15. He had already told us that it is really He Himself, via “His hand” (Job 1:11-12, Job 2:5-6), who deceives those who are deceived:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

What an incredible revelation! We have all been given a serpent to deceive us, and we “cannot hear [the Truth]” because “I the Lord have deceived that prophet” until the day that Christ has ordained He will come to His own temple within us and destroy that “man of sin” within us, with “the spirit of His mouth and with the brightness of His coming” to cleanse us inwardly.. Only then will the cup and platter be cleaned up ouwardly also:

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.

“Him shall God destroy… with the brightness of His coming” is the best news we will ever hear because it is blindness to that truth that restrains Christ’s coming to “purify… the heavenly things themselves” (Heb 9:23) and cleanse His temple within so that the outside may be clean also:

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [“the day of the Lord” (vs 2)] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [WITHIN US!], shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? [1Co 3:16]
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he [“that man of sin”] might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [witholds; restrains the coming of Christ within us] will let [will restrain Christ’s coming within our hearts], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Which simply means…

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.

What wonderful news! Our old man of sin will be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming within every man, “each in his own order” (1Co 15:23), and “all in Adam” will be given life.

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

Every cup and platter will be cleansed within “that the outside of them may be clean also”. Being cleansed from within first “that the outside of them may be clean also” is one more of the keys to the kingdom of heaven within us.

[Part 12 can be found here.]

Greetings to all of you,

I went to feed the dogs one day, and I noticed the cup that was in the bag of dog food. God brought to mind the cup of Joseph’s that had been put in Benjamin’s sack of grain. I read Genesis chapter 30 to where Jacob got to go to Egypt. I also noticed that the money for food had been returned to the brothers both times they went to buy food and take it home.

Does Joseph’s cup have anything to do with the cup of Christ?

Thank you,

R____

Hi, R____,

Thank you for your question. You reference the story of Joseph giving his brother’s money back twice and then deliberately placing his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and accusing His brothers of stealing his cup.

Gen 44:1 And he [Joseph] commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
Gen 44:4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Gen 44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
Gen 44:6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
Gen 44:7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
Gen 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
Gen 44:9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.
Gen 44:10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
Gen 44:11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

Then you ask:

“Does Joseph’s cup have anything to do with the cup of Christ?”

Yes, indeed it does. It was through Christ’s cup that He bore the sins of the world. But Christ’s cup was not just to be drunk by Him alone. It was also to be drunk by all who come to know Christ in every succeeding generation, as Christ told James and John and as Paul tells us:

Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

The spiritual significance of Joseph and his brothers is dealt with in depth in the article entitled The Law of Moses Versus The Law of The Spirit, which I urge you to read at your earliest convenience. Here is the link to that article:

The Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit

Since we must all come to see ourselves as “chief… of sinners” we must acknowledge that drinking Christ’s cup is the reaping of what we have sown, and the burning up of all the wood, hay and stubble in our lives.

Psa 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

Benjamin had no part in what his ten brothers did to his brother, Joseph, and in that way he typifies God’s elect, along with his brother Joseph. But since we all must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4), we must never make the mistake of thinking of ourselves only as Joseph or Benjamin, but surely never those ten ungodly brothers of Joseph who sold him into Egypt for twenty pieces of silver.

If we, as the apostle Paul did, can truly come to see ourselves as “chief… of sinners”, then we will acknowledge that “all that is in the flesh”, all the dastardly deeds of Joseph’s brothers or of all men, are also lying right there latent within our own corruptible flesh.

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.

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

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

But if God has it so written in His book, then some of us will be saviors along with Christ, and we will be “crucified together with Christ”, and we will be “dying daily” with Him, and we will be “filling up in [our] flesh that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church” just as He did. The only difference is that we are the “living sacrifice”, the “scapegoat” who along with “the Lord’s goat” must “make atonement for Israel”.

Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. [Christ Himself]
Lev 16:10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. [“Present yourselves as a living sacrifice”]

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.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Our “living sacrifice” is also “for… the church… to make an atonement with [Christ]… Being] crucified with Christ… for His body’s sake, which is the church”.

It was Christ Himself who told us all of this when He told us:

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

Christ’s Father sent Him to die for the sins of this world, and that is what Christ has sent us to do, to “die daily” to be “crucified with [Him}”, and to “fill up in [our own] bodies, what is behind of Christ’s afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church”.

I hope this all serves to demonstrate what Joseph’s cup typifies, and that is what Christ’s cup typifies. They both typify the judgment of our flesh and the destruction of our old man, through which destruction our new man is birthed into the kingdom of God.

YbiC,

Mike

Video Links

Awesome Hands – part 48

“The magicians of Egypt”

Having the “rod” of God in our hands can be intimidating to both the one holding this immense power and to those who witness it from the “outside looking in”.

Anyone who has the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy, holds this power because it is the power given to all the angels of God.

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

At first, it may seem odd that God asks us what is in “our hand,” but soon it is revealed to us that whatever the Lord has ordained to be “placed in our hands” will be used to accomplish His will.

Exo 4:1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
Exo 4:2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Exo 4:3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
Exo 4:4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

In this study today, we will be looking at what happens to all of God’s angels as they go before those that also have the Word of God, His power, in their hand but who also use it for their own purposes unknowingly and as we all do at our appointed times.

The result of these revealing will be catastrophic for the old man in us all.

“ The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you”

Exo 7:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
Exo 7:15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
Exo 7:16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.
Exo 7:17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
Exo 7:18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

It’s easy to overlook, but in this story of Moses coming to the king of Egypt, we should keep in mind that this is the beginning of God’s process to pull His people out of bondage.

It is “in the morning” when we come to those who have the old man comfortably seated on the thrones of their hearts and minds.

Like Pharaoh and Moses, we can see the same type coming to the “woman at the well” when Christ is going to give her profound information about what happens when Christ comes via His Christ to turn water into blood.

Joh 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Joh 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

See, when Christ first comes to us we don’t know it at all. It is after He SPEAKS with us that His WORDS resonate with us wholly.

At this early part in our walk in type and shadow, Christ has no dealing with us as His people and this can be seen in how the Samaritan woman speaks truth to Christ.

Notice, Christ tells us a profound Truth if only we would lay it to our hearts and minds.

“If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”

When Moses goes to Pharaoh, Pharaoh wants none of what Moses has to offer due to his hardened heart. Likewise, we go to those we are sent to (or who are sent to us most of the time) we are inquiring of them to give us water.

In other words, we are asking to hear the voice of the True Shepherd. When we don’t, it is then that what we SPEAK will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood as the Lord wills it.

This is all in type, but this is what is happening to Pharaoh, His wise magicians and sorcerers and all of Egypt.

All that will come in contact with the “water that flows freely” will see everything that they have as understanding “turned into blood.”

The fish die. The streams, rivers, ponds, pools of water and all water stored in vessels of wood or stone are turned into death because blood cannot be drank to sustain us.

Everyone that relies on the Nile river and everything that they have relied upon up to this time period is about to “go poof”.

Exo 7:18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.
Exo 7:19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
Exo 7:20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
Exo 7:21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

The reason why the fish die is obvious since they now are living in blood instead of water, but what do fish represent and what does a river eventually connect to?

Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Joh 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, ( for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

When this process comes to Pharaoh and Egypt, and as we saw CLEARLY stated of the Lord, JUDGMENT has come to them and to US.

Exo 7:4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by GREAT JUDGMENTS.

Rev 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Rev 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Rev 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Rev 16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Rev 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Rev 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them BLOOD TO DRINK; for they are worthy.

“Blood to Drink”

The “blood to drink” falls upon “every living soul of the sea” at its appointed time and work of the Lord.

These GREAT JUDGMENTS are those which Christ spoke about.

Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

You might be saying to yourself like the Jews who strove among themselves, “how can Christ give us his flesh to eat” which is also like saying, “how can we drink His blood?”

Maybe you are the persuasion that the WRATH of GOD doesn’t fall upon those in Christ?

1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Is this really the judgment we are talking about?

Tit 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the WASHING OF REGENERATION, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

What then is this washing?

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the WASHING of WATER by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

What then does this have to do with Moses and Aaron turning the WATER into BLOOD?

Could it be about the wrath of God, judgment, Truth and the RENEWING of our MINDS?

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: [ testimony of Christ]
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

… And that is connected to this story of Moses, the Pharaoh, Egypt and Israel in the story we mentioned earlier:

Joh 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Joh 4:12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

This Samaritan woman is questioning what authority Christ has to say He has the living water. How this is posed to us today is, “who do you think you are? Do you think you know more than those millions of Christians that have come before you?”

Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Everlasting life? What is this life Christ speaks of? Is it not to KNOW the Father and His SON?

Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The water and bread come from heaven:

Rev 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth

Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

So, now this woman wants this water BUT Christ brings JUDGMENT of her heart and mind to the forefront of the story.

Joh 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Joh 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

Who is her TRUE husband?

Joh 4:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
Joh 4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
Joh 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Joh 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Joh 4:27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
Joh 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
Joh 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

Ahh, there it is! Those who are “the Christ”, those that are “the anointed,” those that are a body with Christ as the Head are able to, “tell ALL OF SEA OF MANKIND” everything they are about as concerns the old and new man in us.

Wait a minute Steven, that isn’t what the Samaritan lady said. Yes, in context she is telling a very specific story about a very specific event. However, the water Christ is telling her He can give her is the SAME water we are given to give to others. So, what does this have to do with Exo 7?

Let’s continue.

Exo 7:21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exo 7:22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments (H3909): and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.
Exo 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.
Exo 7:24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
Exo 7:25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

As we covered in the last study for the first half of Exo 7, the enchantments that the wise men, magicians and sorcerers used to make all their rods into serpents were done so with “fire” or with a “blaze” which is the same word used to describe the flaming sword keeping the way to the garden of Eden.

However, that is not the same Hebrew word used in Exo 7:22 as enchantments. This Hebrew word is H3909, “lat” and is used 6 different times in Hebrew.

la t

Total KJV Occurrences:6

enchantments, 3

Exo_7:22, Exo_8:7, Exo_8:18

privily, 1

1Sa_24:4

secretly, 1

1Sa_18:22

softly, 1

Rth_3:7

Exo 8:7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
Exo 8:18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

1Sa 24:4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.

1Sa 18:22 And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king’s son in law.

Rth 3:7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.

The difference in these two ways of doing things is that when the first miracle was done of which Aaron’serpent ate the others serpents, they performed this work from an enchantment of which every one could see but it was consumed.

Now, every time they try to duplicate what Moses and Aaron do is done with “secrecy” or with “secret things”.

One of the spiritual lessons for us is what is said about Pharaoh as a result of these actions.

Exo 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.

When we are sent as angels and messengers of the Lord we are presenting the judgments of the Lord on those we are sent to. Whether they know it or not, this is what happens.

Just like it happened with Moses in that an angel of the Lord spoke to Moses and told Moses how to proceed, Moses now is presenting “thus sayeth the Lord, keep my commandments” to the Pharaoh to provide FREEDOM to the Israelites.

This same pattern can be seen in how Christ deals with the Samaritan woman at the well.

One result will be that we have a mind that shuts itself up “in His own house” and doesn’t lay it to heart. The other is to want to “go to the city” and tell all that we have been told and shown at the well of water.

It is in the context of this second mindset that we see how important this process is to the Father in heaven.

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.

The only way to know the mindset of those we come to us or we are sent to is to “try the spirits” and that can only be done with the Word of God alone, the TRUE bread and water from Heaven.

In the next study, we will continue to look at the plaques which God will use Moses to bring to Egypt and as a result, we will see how we all initial react to the judgments the Lord is bringing to our old man.

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Awesome Hands – part 34

“The man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant”

Often times in our lives, we can and will find ourselves wondering what the Lord is doing in our lives with the various trials, tribulations, persecutions and even blessings He sends our way.

It is quite natural for us to think this way, but for those with the mind of Christ, we should always want to know what we are to learn from these things.

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

As we delve into this study for today, we will see that this has been common to man from the beginning and God has been placing His people in similar situations since the foundation of the world.

As we study the Word of God today, it is my hope that the Lord will bless us to be able to see ourselves in the stories that the Lord uses to admonish us with.

Mat 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

“Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good”

In the last study, we left off with Joseph starting the process of setting in order what would soon follow.

Joseph sits his brothers down to eat with him, but he did so in a very particular order, according to their birthright. At this point, it would be a shocking thing to learn that the “governor” of the Pharaoh knew their ages and family dynamic.

Additionally, Joseph gives Benjamin five times the food that any of his brothers received. To us, this signifies the grace that we are shown above our brethren.

In this study today, we now find ourselves looking on as Joseph sends his brothers back to their father.

Gen 44:1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
Gen 44:4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Gen 44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
Gen 44:6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.

There are multiple layers of events happening in this story, so I want to break a few of them down and present to all of us a few things for which the Lord is admonishing us in this story.

Notice, it is directly the night before that Joseph sits his brothers down to eat with him in which he also blesses Benjamin with five messes.

Now, he is going to humble Benjamin by having him be the one in whom the “evil” work of stealing the silver cup is found. After all, Benjamin probably feels fairly good about being called out and distinguished above his brethren, especially being the youngest.

Remember, Benjamin typifies the chosen elect in this story, and the negative aspect of the word silver represents our self- righteousness and false doctrines.

It is very natural for our carnal mind to become puffed up with how the Lord is working in us. As such, we will be humbled before all of our brethren.

Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Just like the evil that is brought to Joseph and Christ, we will see that the Lord associates this “evil” with the evil that is done at the hands of Joseph’s brothers.

You might be saying, “but it is Joseph who is setting the scenario up,” and you’d be exactly right. That is the very point we should be seeing.

In all of our lives, it is the Lord who sends famine, distresses, trials, tribulations and sufferings so that we will need to “go into Egypt” (Babylon in type and shadow) to find Him and temporary “relief”.

It is the Lord, typified by Joseph, who puts the “silver cup” in our sack so that He can then tell us we are to give account for having the cup.

Naturally, we rebel at the thought that a loving God would do such a thing. Naturally, we read that “God is love” and we say to ourselves that if this is love, we will have nothing to do with it. Thus, we are self- righteous and know better what to do than “the counsel of His own will”.

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

I want to point out a very important point to this entire scenario. The “wrath” that the Lord our God pours out on “us” is being poured out on the old man and carnal- minded way of perceiving Him.

Even in this story, Joseph’s brothers still do not know that the Lord they speak with is SIMPLY their OWN kinfolk.

Christ was tempted in all ways like we are. He knows our sufferings. Like Christ, Joseph knew MUCH hardship before he came to this position of rulership and authority “over all of Egypt”.

Likewise, we too, must be put through our paces to reap what we sow so that we can be given this same type of rulership over “all of Egypt”, over all the land!

Before any of that can happen however, how is it we see and answer God on such matters and dealings with us?

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

They answer the “servant of the Lord” by telling him just how righteous they are. “See, we even brought back the money that we found in our sack so as to not steal from you,” but they don’t stop there.

In order to show their complete innocence in the matter, they place an oath upon their heads. “With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die AND we also will be your slaves.”

Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver and Christ was betrayed for the price of a slave.

Exo 21:28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
Exo 21:29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.
Exo 21:30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
Exo 21:31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
Exo 21:32 If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Mat 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

This “calling out” of innocence seems eerily reminiscent of what Jacob tells Laban about stealing his gods.

Gen 31:25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
Gen 31:26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?
Gen 31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
Gen 31:28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
Gen 31:29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
Gen 31:30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
Gen 31:31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
Gen 31:32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

Had either Jacob known or Joseph’s brothers known that their loved ones would be the ones who were “guilty”, neither one would have made such strong oaths.

Of course, this is all just type and shadow to tell us and show us just how we think and act in similar circumstances.

The way we answer to God is very important. Do we have humble and contrite spirits which realize that whatever the Lord wants to do with the clay in His hands, He has the right to do?

Do we realize that clay cannot answer back to the hands that are forming it, “why have you made me thus?”

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.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

“Now also, let it be according to your words”

Given that we just read that man does indeed “repliest against God,” how is it that our Lord God will answer us back?

Eze 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

And what is His answer?

Luk 19:20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Luk 19:21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

So, now we find ourselves being admonished in this story of Joseph. We see that we have placed an oath on our own heads and out of our own mouths due to our sense of being righteous even though it is we who have sold our very brother as a slave.

Gen 44:10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
Gen 44:11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
Gen 44:13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

Not only does the “servant of the Lord” say it will be to us according to our own words, but as he searches out, he does it very thoroughly. He starts from oldest to youngest, but just when they think they are justified in their hearts, wham!

Now, they have some explaining to do. Of course, they have been setup by Joseph but he is going to cause his plan to play itself out because ultimately he has a wonderful plan just like our Lord knows exactly what is going to happen with his plan.

However, Joseph’s brothers don’t know this or the details so they must live them out just as we do.

Gen 44:14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.
Gen 44:15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
Gen 44:16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
Gen 44:17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

We see much emphasis put on this silver cup. In this story, we have been focusing on the negative aspect of the word silver, but silver also has a positive application.

So, in Truth what cup are we really being told about, and in whose hand is it to be found while in this age?

Mar 14:36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Luk 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Luk 22:21 But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.

1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

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.

Mar 10:37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.
Mar 10:38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

It is with the cup which Christ is given to drink that we too, are given to drink. After all, our hand is with Him on the same table.

It might dawn on you that Judas betrayed Christ, thus I am directly saying that we betray Christ and this is Truth.

However, as with all things in Christ and as we will see in this story with Joseph typifying Christ, it is THROUGH death that Life comes.

It is through drinking of the cup of the wrath of God that we will also be baptized with the baptism with which Christ is baptized.

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

What we are being shown in this story of Joseph and Him typifying Christ is the redeeming power of the cross.

It is at the altar we are able to EAT of these spiritual things, but first we must be brought to see ourselves just as we have been created to be initially.

God will pour of the wrath of His indignation on the old man, and the old man will know what is happening as judgment comes His way, i. e. the old man will know death!

Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

For those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear, the silver cup is very important!

“Plead before the Lord”

Gen 44:18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
Gen 44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
Gen 44:20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
Gen 44:21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
Gen 44:22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
Gen 44:23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
Gen 44:24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
Gen 44:25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.
Gen 44:26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us.
Gen 44:27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:
Gen 44:28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
Gen 44:29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Gen 44:30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;
Gen 44:31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
Gen 44:32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
Gen 44:33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
Gen 44:34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

As we have just read, it is Judah who “gives an account” to Joseph of the scenario in which they have been placed.

The Lord is very particular in how He presents these admonitions to us, and it is no coincidence that it is “out of the tribe of Judah” that we are given a voice as to the accounting we must give.

It is when we have realized that the cup of this “great evil” is in our very hand, that we are finally able to give an accurate account to the Lord so that true and righteous judgment can be given to us.

In this happening to us, the old man’s self- righteous mind will be put to death, but the new man will emerge from the ashes.

Thus, Christ will finally reveal Himself to us!

Gen 45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

In the next study, we will continue to see how the Lord works His awesome hands so that redemption and salvation are given to His people, and He alone stands in His mighty work.

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Job 27:1-10 Till I Die I Will Not Remove Mine Integrity From Me

Job 27:1  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Job 27:3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Job 27:8  For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

Job 27:9  Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Job 27:10  Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

Introduction

Job’s “miserable comforters” are now finished answering him, and Job now has the floor. It has been through the energy of his own self- righteousness and his sincere belief that his accusers are no more righteous than he, that has sustained his unflinching refusal to so much as consider that he might have any character flaws. Job, being a type of us, is focused on comparing himself with others who he considers to be less righteous than himself. After all they are accusing him of sins he knows fully well he has never committed. Eliphaz, the, the eldest, in his third and final attack upon Job, was the cruelest of Job’s accusers. He accused Job of specific sins which Job simply could never, in good conscience, admit, and Job simply could not fathom why God had not poured out His wrath on such a false accuser as Eliphaz instead of such a righteous man as he sees himself as being. Here is what Eliphaz had completely fabricated against the man he had supposedly come to comfort:

Job 22:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Job 22:5  Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

Job 22:6  For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Job 22:7  Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

Job 22:8  But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

Job 22:9  Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 22:10  Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

Job 22:11  Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

The last two verses of what Eliphaz says here are true and Job as admitted they are true.

Job 6:4  For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Job 7:13  When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

Job 7:14  Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

This places Job in the position of being condemned out of his own mouth yet knowing that these three men are telling blatant lies about him and ruining his reputation, completely ignoring his righteousness and even denying that he has any integrity. Of course, as this book of Job is teaching us, the lesson we must all learn is that the more righteous we think ourselves to be, the greater is   the stench which such “filthy rags” have within the “nostrils… of God”.

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

God will not give His glory to another. He would be a liar to do so:

Isa 42:8  I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

God would be lying if He told us that we are righteous in and of ourselves. Here is the truth of that matter as it concerns all men of all time:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

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

Neither Job nor his accusers, both the types of us, are at first aware of the Truth revealed within these verses.

It is Christ’s “parable of the tares of the field” (Mat 13:24-30), and His reference to the men who Herod had murdered and those on whom the tower of Siloam fell (Luk 13:1-5), which reveal to us that we are one and all, by our very nature, the first man Adam upon whom all the curses in scripture are pronounced. Christ knew He would drag all men to Himself, but He also knew that it would be through that fiery dragging process that every man would “suffer loss”, the loss of that filthy first man, Adam, and yet every man would “be saved, so as by fire”.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

“,,, He himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire”. That is the “one event” referred to in Ecc9:2:

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

There are those who contend that the only thing referred to by the phrase “one event to the righteous, and to the wicked”, is the fact that all must “once die” (Heb 9:27). If indeed that analysis of Ecc 9:2 were true, then these verses of God’s Word would have no application to “the righteous and the wicked”:

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

Do not these words proceed out of the mouth of God?

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

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.

Are not these words I am about to quote part of this “revelation of Jesus Christ”? Are these words not part of “those things which are written therein” which those who are “blessed [ will] read… hear… and keep”?:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

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

Of course they are, and you and I must “keep” those words also. You and I must, in our own way and in our own time, keep the book of Revelation and the book of Job. They are the record of the death of our old man, and they are both the “gospel [ good news] of the kingdom of God” being established in us, as our “old man… dies daily”. Here are both Christ and Paul making that very point:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

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.

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

But as Job we see none of this at first. We all first ask the same questions Job asked. We simply do not understand how God can be sovereign over even the darkness and the evil of this world or how He could possibly cause evil to prosper.

Habakkuk asked the same question Job asked:

Hab 1:13  Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Job asked:

Job 21:7  Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

With his limited knowledge of who God is and what God does, Job continues to assault and condemn his own Maker and his Maker’s ways:

Job 27:1  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Job 27:3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

“My lips shall not speak wickedness…” Obviously Job, the type of you and me, is so totally unaware of his own insidious self- righteousness that he doesn’t even realize that his lips have just done that very thing. By accusing God of ‘taking away his judgment’, even as he is in the midst of his being judged, Job is speaking wickedness, uttering deceit, and he is vile and totally unaware of just how vile is his sin of self- righteousness.

Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

So what is this thing we call ‘judgment’ which is even now said to be “upon the house of God?

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

In the churches of Babylon we are often taught that ‘judgment’ is simply the act of standing before Christ and His Father and being accepted into heaven or else, far more likely, being condemned to eternal hell fire. But what do the scriptures really teach us is the purpose of judgment and for being judged? What are we told judgment accomplishes? Here is the truth about how we are judged and what it accomplishes.

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

That is what judgment accomplishes. But by what method and by what means? Here is our answer:

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [ G2917 – krima, judgment, condemnation, This is what “begins at the house of God” in 1Pe 4:17] to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

1Co 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge [ G1252 – diakrino] ourselves [ as carnal babes in Christ], we should not [ at this time] be judged [ G2919 – krino, ‘judged’ which cannot be avoided by any man – Heb 9:27].

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged [ G2919 – krino], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [ katakrino, sentenced to the lake of fire] with the world.

We need to know that this word ‘judged’, G2919 krino, is often translated as ‘damned’ or ‘damnation’, as above in 1Co 11:29, and as in this verse:

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned [ G2919 – krino] who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

So what is this cup from which Christ and His disciples drank, which if we drink it unworthily, we “drink damnation [ judgment] to [ our] selves? We are all familiar with the cup mentioned at the ‘Lord’s supper’, but we seldom connect that cup with the cup about which Christ asked James and John:

Mar 10:35  And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.

Mar 10:36  And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?

Mar 10:37  They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

Mar 10:40  But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

James and John, as carnal disciples (1Co 3:1-4), had judged [ diakrino] themselves “before the time”. They thought they had already judged themselves and were capable of drinking of Christ’s cup. But when they had an opportunity to truly be judged and to die with Christ, they fled for their lives instead. Later on, when “the Lord came” on the day of Pentecost and took up His residence within them, then Christ in them was given to judge the old man within and crucify him, by standing faithful and dying daily with Christ. John was no longer judging himself before the time. Christ had come and Christ was now living in and judging John and Peter, and in that judgment Christ was daily destroying the old John and the old Peter, and Christ in the new John and the new Peter was growing within each man daily.

Notice the difference between this event and the events on the night when all the apostles fled for their lives, leaving Christ to be crucified on the cross.

Act 4:6  And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

Act 4:7  And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

Act 4:8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

Act 4:9  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

Act 4:10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

Act 4:11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Act 4:13  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Act 4:18  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Act 4:19  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge [ G2919 – krino] ye.

Act 4:20  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

So then is it possible to read about the mistakes of Israel and decide not to make those mistakes? The answer is, No, it is not of ourselves possible. “If we would judge ourselves we would not be judged”. Avoiding judgment is not possible or desirable. That is what Job has not yet learned. Can you and I read about Job’s blindness to his own self- righteousness and decide of ourselves that we will never be self- righteous? Absolutely not! If indeed we are given to see the lessons of Job or of Israel, it will be only by first being judged and chastened and scourged of God and broken and crushed to powder by the realization that we bring nothing to God’s table. If we could judge ourselves and avoid being judged, then this verse is untrue:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment [ Greek – krima, G2917] must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Can we ‘krima’ ourselves? Can we chasten and scourge ourselves? Are we capable of pouring out the seven last plagues upon ourselves?

Can you and I destroy our own possessions and our own children and smite ourselves with boils and send ourselves miserable comforters to intensify our torment and judge the giant of self- righteousness within ourselves? Are you and I capable of destroying the man of sin within us? The answer in every case is absolutely not! When we think otherwise we are ‘eating of that bread, and drink[ ing] of that cup… unworthily… and eating and drinking damnation [ Greek – krima, judgment, condemnation] to ourselves’ just as Job did. Job confessed to having sinned, but he still could not see the need for being judged and enduring the krima of the seven last plagues of God’s wrath being poured out on the insidious self- righteousness inherent in the flesh of every man and woman who has ever drawn breath.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

When we think we can just observe the mistakes of others and tell ourselves that we can avoid the fiery sword that guards the way of the tree of life and refuse to “drink of the [ same] cup” and be baptized with the same baptism which our Lord drank and was baptized with, we deceive ourselves. “If we would judge ourselves, we will not be judged, [ simply because] when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, [ and] the Lord chastens and scourges every son He receives.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

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

So we cannot ‘through judge’diakrino ourselves, because we must be judged by the Lord, or we will be condemned [ Greek – katakrino – judged against] with the world. When the Lord comes to us, He does judge [ krino] us.

Why can we not judge, ‘through judge’, diakrino ourselves? Here is why that is:

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 [ G350 – anakrino, intensely judged].

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth [ G350 – anakrino] all things, yet he himself is judged [ G350 – anakrino] of no man.

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

It is not possible for us to krino or anakrino ourselves, because “the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually [ anakrino] discerned”.  The explanation of why we cannot, as our old, natural man, judge ourselves is that this word translated as ‘discerned’, is also the Greek word ‘anakrino’, G350, translated as ‘judged’ twice in the very next verse.

In other words, Job, the type of our old man, is so carnal that he cannot discern “the things of the spirit” which is exactly what this subject of judgment is. Being judged is definitely a “thing of the spirit” which the whole world wants to avoid and from which all men just naturally want be ‘raptured away’. Job is being judged, but he is totally unaware that he even needs to be judged.

His whole being is focused on comparing his self- righteousness with the self- righteousness of his accusers:

Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

“My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live”. That is the point Paul is making when he informs us that ‘If we judge ourselves we will miss being judged by Christ. He has already told us “I judge not myself”:

1Co 4:3  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged [ G350 – anakrino] of you, or of man’s judgment [ G2250, hemera, day]: yea, I judge [ G350 – anakrino] not mine own self.

When we attempt to judge [ anakrino] ourselves, we do so in “man’s day”, not “man’s judgment”. Job is judging and condemning His own Maker in “man’s day… before the time, when the Lord comes” and destroys the “man of sin with the brightness of his coming”.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

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

2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

So these words out of Job’s mouth will judge the self- righteous man within him, because neither Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar nor God are Job’s worst enemies. Just as with us all, our worst enemy is the “old… first man Adam” within us all. It is because we ‘hold fast our own righteousness as long as this man of sin is still alive’ within us that we, as Job, will be judged “out of our own mouth” :

Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Job 27:8  For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

Job 27:9  Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Job 27:10  Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

Being God’s elect is a work of God. No human is capable of contributing anything to his own salvation at any time. When God brings us to cry out to Him, then, and not until that time, will the Lord “hear His cry” and deliver him out of his distresses. Only then, at God’s own appointed time, will each and every man ‘delight himself in the Almighty and call upon him’. King David informs us of this method which God uses in His work with mankind:

Psa 107:25  For he [ God] 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.

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Here is how Peter expresses this same method:

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of [ our] ungodly men [ within all who are self- righteous Job].

As Job we still see none of this, and next week we will see more clearly our own old man in Job:

Job 27:11  I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

Job 27:12  Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

Job 27:13  This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

Job 27:14  If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Job 27:15  Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

Job 27:16  Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

Job 27:17  He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

Job 27:18  He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

Job 27:19  The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

Job 27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

Job 27:22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

Job 27:23  Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Mike,

I have been going thru your series on the Law of the Offerings and have come to find that the scriptures also mention a drink offering. I was wondering why you did not mention that specific offering and its importance.

Have you done any teachings on the subject?

Thanks,
J____

Hi J____,

Thank you for your questions. That series of studies had only to do the the offerings given Moses in Lev 1-5 which do not deal with the drink offering, the leprosy offering or the offering of the scapegoat or the red heifer with the water of separation for a person who touches a dead body.

There are several sacrifices which are not covered in that series which was based solely on the sacrifices of Lev 1-5.

If the Lord wills, I will get to them all eventually.

Since you ask about the drink offering, I will point out that it is first mentioned in Genesis, where Jacob had earlier dreamed of a ladder extending to heaven, and had erected a stone and called the place ‘Bethel’ or ‘house of God’. Later, after he returned to Canaan, he poured a drink offering along with olive oil over that stone.

Gen 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

The next time this phrase ‘drink offering’ occurs is in:

Exo 29:38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.
Exo 29:39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:
Exo 29:40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

The drink offering was of wine, and was fulfilled in Christ as all the offerings are. But when I say ‘Christ’ I mean God’s anointed, as well as Christ’s anointed. The Father anointed Christ and sent Him forth to save this world. Hence the word ‘Christ’.

G5547
Χριστος
Christos
khris- tos’
From G5548; anointed, that is, the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus: – Christ.

In turn, Christ has anointed His elect to do exactly the same thing:

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

What did Christ’s Father send Him to accomplish?

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

To accomplish this commission given Him of His Father, Christ had to pour out His blood, and that is the spiritual significance of the drink offering of wine.

When the mother of James and John asked if her two sons could sit on His right hand and on His left, here is what Christ told them:

Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

At His last supper with His apostles Christ insisted that all His disciples drink of His cup:

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

Christ was not as concerned with draining the entire cup as He was with making sure that all His disciples drink of His cup as a type and shadow of what all His disciples of all time must do.

Then in the very next verse He explains the spiritual significance of the drink offering of wine, of which you ask:

Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

In drinking the drink offering and in pouring a drink offering out to God, we are acknowledging that Christ had died for each of us, and that we are therefore complicit in His death. That is why Christ told Peter that same evening that he would deny Him three time before the cock would crow twice. Peter, like all of us, thought he would never do such a thing. Maybe Judas would, but never Peter. Both Judas and Peter are types of us as those for whom, and at whose hands, our Lord shed His “blood of the New Testament”. Unless and until we are humbled and are brought to see our part in our Savior’s death, we will remain in our own self-righteous darkness and not understand the spiritual significance of the drink offering.

I hope all these verses help you to see that all the offerings, including the drink offering, are one offering – Christ and His Christ – through whom God has seen fit to save this world.

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

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and filling up again the deficiencies of the afflictions of the Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the assembly; (ABP)

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

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

Your brother in that Christ,

Mike