“The first man is of the earth, earthy:
the second man is the Lord from heaven” Part 2

(Pro 20:11-20)

[Study Aired October 16, 2025]

Pro 20:11  Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
Pro 20:12  The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
Pro 20:13  Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
Pro 20:14  It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
Pro 20:15  There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
Pro 20:16  Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Pro 20:17  Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Pro 20:19  He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
Pro 20:20  Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

In verse eleven of this weeks study, we read, “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” The child represents the younger more physical understanding of the word of God, (Luk 8:11, Luk 8:15, Joh 3:3-7), and tells us something about our level of maturity and comprehension, which we pray the Lord will continue to increase as only He can (1Co 13:11-13, 2Pe 3:18, 1Co 3:6).

Luk 8:11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [like a seed the word has to mature and grow]

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it,[Rev 1:3, Joh 8:31-32] and bring forth fruit with patience.[Luk 21:19, Mat 5:37]

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [as a manchild], he cannot see the kingdom of God. [which kingdom is maturing within the body of Christ Luk 17:21, Rev 12:5, Rev 12:13]
Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? [this question reminds God’s elect of that time when we thought we could enter into the womb of another church [woman] and be born again, when in reality we must be born of water and spirit in Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26) mother]
Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; [God’s elect are born in  fleshly carnal Babylon] and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [God’s elect are dragged out of Babylon by God’s spirit working in our heavens before we know we are His] (1Co 15:46, Psa 107:2)
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [we must be redeemed from the hand of the enemy which is our carnal mind that is enmity against the spirit of God (Gal 5:17)]

In this week’s study we’ll look at how the Lord is maturing the manchild within us, even as we deal with very natural physical circumstances, that God works in the elects’ lives (Eph 2:10) so that we can become stablished, strengthened and settled (1Pe 5:10-11), by the God of all grace, who gives us the strength and faith to rule over the powers and principalities that reside in this fleshly realm, to witness to the world how all things, the natural and the spiritual, work together for the good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:20-21, Rom 8:28).

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Pro 20:11  Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

There is a maturing process for every son of God that we must go through, including Christ who is our example of one who grew in grace and knowledge, in wisdom and stature, which growth He attributed to our Father who gave the increase, as we are blessed to also understand in our own selves, comes from God [Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5, 1Co 3:6].

Luk 2:52  And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

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.

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Christ as a child was known by his doings, that his works were pure and right, even if His physical parents could not understand his actions, they were still exactly what the Father wanted Christ to do and they were being done for our sakes (1Co 3:21), to teach us to follow His example of obedience to our heavenly Father (Joh 14:31, 1Jn 4:17).

Joh 14:31  But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

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.

Christ as a child spake as a child and understood as a child, and needed to grow “in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luk 2:52, Joh 3:30, 1Jn 4:17). He had his time of being under the schoolmaster in other words as a child, those conditions in his youth of being under his own tutors and governors to later be challenged by the experiences of evil that he would have to go through for his own growth and for our sakes (Mat 4:1, Rom 5:10, Gal 4:1-2, Heb 5:8-9).

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Pro 20:12  The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

God created our physical senses to teach us spiritual principles in this life (Rom 1:20). We know a man can hear and not hear, a man can see and not see (Joh 9:41, Mat 7:3-5, Mat 13:13). We also know someone can be physically alive and spiritually dead which is the same principle (Luk 9:60, Rev 11:2).

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

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

God created all these physical and spiritual laws that govern our existence, he made the “hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them”. It is stated this way to remind us that life comes from not just hearing the word (Luk 8:15), but also by perceiving it which is what ‘seeing the word’ means (Rev 1:3), this is when we enter into life (Mat 19:17).

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

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.

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.

Pro 20:13  Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

In the physical realm this is true, we shouldn’t over sleep, but spiritually this is talking about being spiritually awake to the battle that we are called unto, to fight a good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12), lest we come to spiritual poverty. Without God’s judgements upon us we would naturally go to sleep spiritually, and so Christ asks the rhetorical question “What, could ye not watch with me one hour? “ that one hour representing the day of the Lord, the day of our judgement that will have us trimming our lamps and receiving of God’s holy spirit. These events would not happen until the holy spirit was given to the church and so Christ was just telling his unknowing disciples that there was no way they were going to be able to watch and pray under those circumstances without God’s holy spirit within them (Joh 6:27, Mat 26:40).

Mat 26:40  And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

If we are blessed in this age to be about our Father’s business and not neglect so great a salvation (Mat 6:33), we are promised that we will find our Lord (Jer 29:13) and be “satisfied with bread”.

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

Pro 20:14  It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

Pro 20:14  The person who buys something from you always says, “It’s no good! It costs too much!” Then that person goes away and tells other people that he made a good deal. [ERV]

Without God’s spirit within us and the faith of Christ (Rom 8:9, Eph 2:8) we would live by our former dishonest conversation where our yes was not yes, and our no was not no (Mat 5:37). We also called “evil good, and good evil; [and] that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; [and] that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (Isa 5:20).

These diverse measures and weights is what is being talked about in this proverb when we were boastful and confident, “then he boasteth” in our flesh (Rom 3:27, Php 3:3).

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

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Pro 20:15  There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

This proverb hearkens right back to Christ and the church spoken of in (Pro 3:15-19), where the “manifold wisdom of God” is made known through the church, “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph 3:10, Rom 8:28). It’s Christ’s “lips of knowledge” that are a “precious jewel” on our lips (2Co 4:7-10).

Pro 3:15  She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Pro 3:16  Length of days is in her right hand;[gift of eternal life (Eph 2:8)] and in her left hand riches and honour.
Pro 3:17  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Pro 3:18  She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her [Rev 1:3].
Pro 3:19  The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens [Php 2:12-13, Mat 28:18].

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

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus [Rom 5:10, 1Co 10:16], that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Pro 20:16  Take his garment that is surety^H6148 for a stranger^H2114: and take a pledge^H2254 of him for a strange woman^H5237”.

Pro 20:16  Take a man’s clothing if he makes himself responsible for a strange man, and get an undertaking (mostly translated ‘pledge’; ‘guarantee payment’-see GNB) from him who gives his word for strange men. (BBE);

Christ took our debt upon himself (1Pe 2:24), and the “strange woman” or “stranger” in this proverb is the church, who is initially cut off from God and Christ, and likened unto a harlot who will be reconciled by the death of Christ. It is by his righteousness that we are saved, typified by His “garment” that we undeservedly received by God’s council and mercy (Psa 22:18, Rom 5:12, Rom 3:25).

1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Psa 22:18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness (his garment, guarantee of payment) for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Taking “a pledge^H2254 of him for a strange woman^H5237” reminds us that it is the Father’s good pleasure to bruise Christ, as this is the only way that we can experience receiving the kingdom of God within, which is also God’s good pleasure to give to the body of Christ (Act 4:27, Luk 12:32). The surety^H6148 spoken of in this proverb represents the cost, or means by which the stranger will be reconciled, that being by the life of Christ. The pledge^H2254 also reminds us that Christ was bound to the altar for us, and by His life and death we can also be bound to an altar in this age that the world does not have any right to eat at. God knows we need to eat at that altar if we are going to be given to endure until the end and be saved in this age (Heb 13:10, Mat 24:13).

H2114 stranger zûr zoor
A primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery: – (come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange (-r, thing, woman).

H6148 surety ‛ârab aw-rab’
A primitive root; to braid, that is, intermix; technically to traffic (as if by barter); also to give or be security (as a kind of exchange): – engage, (inter-) meddle (with), mingle (self), mortgage, occupy, give pledges, be (-come, put in) surety, undertake.

H2254 pledge châbal khaw-bal’
A primitive root; to wind tightly (as a rope), that is, to bind; specifically by a pledge; figuratively to pervert, destroy; also to writhe in pain (especially of parturition): –    X at all, band, bring forth, (deal) corrupt (-ly) destroy, offend, lay to (take a) pledge, spoil, travail, X very, withhold.

H5237 strange woman nokrı̂y nok-ree’
From H5235 (second form); strange, in a variety of degrees and applications (foreign, non-relative, adulterous, different, wonderful): – alien, foreigner, outlandish, strange (-r, woman).

Pro 20:17  Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

The bread of deceit is the smooth way of Babylon and not the strait and narrow way God’s children are called unto (Mat 7:13-14). It is the negative bread that is eaten in secret (Pro 9:17), and the negative experience of eating that which is sweet in the mouth “but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel^H2687”. The definition of this Strong’s number for ‘gravel’ gives us the sense that this false bread cuts and divides.  God’s truth on the other hand is sweet in the mouth and bitter in the belly where it accomplishes its work of humbling God’s elect in this age through the plagues that are poured out on us (Rev 10:9-10, Act 14:22, Rev 15:8).

H2687 gravel  châtsâts khaw-tsawts’
From H2686; properly something cutting; hence gravel (as grit); also (like H2671) an arrow: – arrow, gravel (stone).

H2686: A primitive root (compare H2673); properly to chop into, pierce or sever; hence to curtail, to distribute (into ranks); as denominative from H2671; to shoot an arrow: – archer, X bands, cut off in the midst.

Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

Rev 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.

Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

Pro 8:14  Counsel is mine [Eph 3:10], and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 19:20  Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 19:21  There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.[Eph 3:10]

Pro 20:19  He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

A person who gossips as a talebearer and reveals secrets is identified as one who “flattereth with his lips”. That is the carnal first man Adam’s way of seeking advantage for himself at every turn (Pro 20:14), using flattery to smooth the deceitful path that our former conversation had us on in this world where we did not know how to cover the sins of others, but with loose lips were talebearers who revealed secrets.

We are fully aware that we are guilty of all and what is interesting to note is that one sin in scripture is often associated with another sin, in this case ‘gossip’ and ‘flattering’. Another example that is telling us the same thing this proverb is telling us, would be the thief who comes to steal and to kill and to destroy (Joh 10:10).

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Pro 20:20  Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

This is speaking of our spiritual Father and Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26). If we don’t mortify the deeds of our flesh and become as those who are blessed to be positively cursed by hanging on a tree and living by the faith of Christ (Gal 2:20, Deu 21:23) then our spiritual “lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness” as a result of our troubling our own house and not kissing the son (Pro 11:29, Psa 2:12).

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

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.

Deu 21:23  His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Pro 11:29  He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Jer 20:1-18  I Will Make Thee a Terror to Thyself

[Study Aired October 10, 2021]

Jer 20:1  Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
Jer 20:2  Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
Jer 20:3  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.
Jer 20:4  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Jer 20:5  Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
Jer 20:6  And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
Jer 20:7  O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jer 20:8  For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10  For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
Jer 20:11  But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
Jer 20:12  But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
Jer 20:13  Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
Jer 20:14  Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Jer 20:15  Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
Jer 20:16  And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
Jer 20:17  Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
Jer 20:18  Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

In this chapter of Jeremiah, we will see that both Pashur, and Jeremiah experience “fear on every side”, and, Lord willing, we will come to see why this must be.

When we know we are being disobedient and we continue in that disobedience, it is a time of great torment in our lives. We know the Lord’s judgments are inevitable, and there is “terror on every side”. As Jeremiah told us earlier:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter [it’s “fire and brimstone” (Rev 14:10)], that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Our own wickedness, as we will see, makes us a terror to ourselves.

When I was in the third grade in Canton, Ohio, I hated school and would do anything to get to stay home. We lived close to the school and walked the few blocks to school. One day it had rained, and my brother and I deliberately fell down in a mud puddle and went back home and lied to my mother and told her we had accidentally fallen in the mud puddle. Of course, she saw right through that lie and gave us both a paddling and sent us back to school in our muddy clothes with a note to the teacher explaining what we had done. The worst part was Mom assuring us we would get a whipping again when Dad got home from work that night. Dad’s whippings were always much worse than mom’s, and as much as I hated school, I dreaded going home after school for fear of what I knew was coming my way. It was pure torment and I had brought it on myself. That was not an isolated incident. I was simply not capable of doing what I knew I was supposed to do.

That childish story is exactly what it is like to know you are being disobedient to the Lord. We know the Lord’s judgment lies ahead, and we are tormented with that knowledge, just as Joseph’s brothers were tormented with the knowledge of what they had done to their brother:

Gen 42:15  Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
Gen 42:16  Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
Gen 42:17  And he put them all together into ward three days.
Gen 42:18  And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
Gen 42:19  If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
Gen 42:20  But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
Gen 42:21  And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
Gen 42:22  And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
Gen 42:23  And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Gen 42:24  And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

“They knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.” That story typifies us being “tormented in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” spoken of in:

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

To whom are these words addressed? Verse 12 tells us to whom the Lord is speaking here:

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The words here in Revelation and the words in Jeremiah are all addressed in “this present time” only to those who have been given eyes that see and ears that hear, and who know that it is they who must “read, hear, and keep those things written therein”:

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

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.

Up until this 20^th chapter, Jeremiah has been prophesying of the impending judgment of Judah and Jerusalem without being overtly persecuted. Christ Himself for a while was permitted to preach the good news of the coming kingdom of God unimpeded at the beginning of His ministry:

Mat 4:23  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Mat 4:24  And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
Mat 4:25  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from  beyond Jordan.

The time has now come that the powers that be have had enough of being told about the Lord’s impending judgment upon them for their stubborn rebellious infidelity against Him and His Words. Both Jeremiah and Pashur are within us. Inwardly we just become “weary in well doing” (2Th 3:13), and in our weakness we give in to the ever-present “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” and the rebellion of our flesh to the words of Christ. We tire of being told:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

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.

That ‘enemy’ is Pashur within us, warring against Jeremiah within us.

The name ‘Pashur’ means ‘liberation’, and that is exactly what our self-righteous flesh tells us it is giving us when we succumb to it and become weary of being obedient to the Lord’s words:

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Pashur typifies our own flesh which becomes weary in well doing. I did not say that Pashur became weary in well doing. What I am saying is that he typifies our own flesh and even the flesh of Jeremiah who is also a type of us. We all experience times when we tire of having to live out “the patience and faith of the saints”:

Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever [the time required to burn out our old man]: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Jeremiah himself is overcome and is in bondage at the hands of Pashur. This, too, is a work of the Lord:

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

We must be brought to our wits’ end before we cry out to the Lord:

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.

The Lord brings Jeremiah to his wits’ end:

Jer 20:1  Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
Jer 20:2  Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

This struggle between Jeremiah and Pashur typifies the inward struggle within each of us between the flesh and the spirit:

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Here is Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word translated as ‘smote’:

H5221
נָכָה
nâkâh
naw-kaw’
A primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively): – beat, cast forth, clap, give [wounds], X go forward, X indeed, kill, make [slaughter], murderer, punish, slaughter, slay (-er, -ing), smite (-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, X surely, wound.

This is the same Hebrew word used to tell us what a man of similar social standing as Pashur did to Micaiah when Micaiah revealed that the Lord had put “a lying spirit in the mouth of all” of King Ahab’s prophets:

1Ki 22:24  But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

As a “living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1) you and I experience this kind of retribution in an ongoing, recurring fashion every time the Lord sends a divisive spirit into our fellowship which suddenly disagrees with the Biblical doctrine of submitting to the consensus of a multitude of counselors.

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

The only reason any of us are not overcome of the deceptions of the adversary is that the Lord simply hasn’t written it in our book to be deceived.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Here is how Strong’s defines the Hebrew word which is translated ‘stocks’ in Jeremiah 20:2-3:

H4115
מַהְפֶּכֶת
mahpeketh
mah-peh’-keth
From H2015; a wrench, that is, the stocks: – prison, stocks.

This word is used in conjunction with the Hebrew word for ‘house’ in:

2Ch 16:10  Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison [H4115: stocks, prison] house [H1004: ‘bayith’]; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

The Hebrew word translated ‘house’ is:

H1004
בַּיִת
bayith
bah’-yith
Probably from H1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.): – court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings. home[born], [winter]house (-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within (-out).

Being put in stocks appears to be the same thing that was done to the apostle Paul and his fellow laborer, Silas, when they were imprisoned in Philippi:

Act 16:23  And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Act 16:24  Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Being imprisoned takes away our liberty. The liberty you and I have been given is the liberty to believe and do the things the Lord has commanded us to do (Luk 6:46). The adversary wants nothing more than to neutralize Christ and His message. That is what being in ‘stocks’ accomplishes for the time we are bound by these ‘stocks’. Our own weaknesses and passions serve as our stocks when they reveal our half-hearted service to the Lord. The adversary wants us to believe that we can serve God and still claim to be His servant.

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

We convince ourselves that we are free to serve the Lord and we are in good shape spiritually and physically, even as we deny Christ out of our fear of losing our standing with the world in this age:

Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:  be zealous therefore, and repent.

It is humiliating when the Lord must use the rulers of this world to reprimand His elect, but if we are His, then that is exactly what He will do as is demonstrated at least three times in scriptures when Abraham denied his own wife before Pharaoh and Abimelech, and when his son Isaac did the exact same thing before Abimelech:

Gen 12:19  Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I [Pharaoh] might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

Gen 20:2  And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

Gen 20:9  Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

Gen 26:9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
Gen 26:10  And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

These things happened to Abraham and Isaac, and they were written for our admonition:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: ‘tupos’, “types of us” (vs 6)]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The Lord will do what it takes to show us what is still within us. If we are His, He will give us an earthquake to deliver us from our sinful ‘stocks’ and drag us to Himself:

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

We simply are not equipped of our own flesh to deliver ourselves from our own hypocrisy:

Rom 2:21  Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Rom 2:22  Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Our ‘stocks’ are often our own old man whose doom is certain (1Co 15:50) as Jeremiah tells Pashur. Pashur is a type of our own self-righteous old man:

Jer 20:3  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.

This is how Strong’s defines Jeremiah’s new name for Pashur:

– From H4032 and H5439 with the preposition inserted
Original: מגור מסּביב
– Transliteration: Magowr mic-Cabiyb
– Phonetic: maw-gore’ mis-saw-beeb’
– Definition: Magor-missabib = terror on every side

The name given Pashur the priest by Jeremiah when Pashur smote him and put him in the stocks for prophesying against the idolatry of Jerusalem.

– Origin: from H4032 and H5439 with the preposition inserted
– TWOT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Proper Name Masculine

Jer 20:4  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Jer 20:5  Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
Jer 20:6  And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

Jeremiah had already made this prophesy in a more general sense in:

Jer 6:25  Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side [Hebrew: ‘magor min sabib’]

It is very instructive to note that the word for fear in this verse is:

H4032
מָגוּר    מָגוֹר
mâgôr    mâgûr
maw-gore’, maw-goor’
From H1481 in the sense of fearing; a fright (objectively or subjectively): – fear, terror. Compare H4036.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

The words for “is on every side is “min sabiyb”. There is no Hebrew for the word ‘is’. That word is added in the King James Version. When this statement is turned into a name it becomes ‘Magormissabib’, “fear on every side”, Jeremiah’s new name for Pashur, an Old Testament type of our tormented, tortured old man.

Like Joseph’s brothers, and like me in my third grade lies, we become a terror to ourselves, because we are afraid of the judgment we know is in our future. It is sheer terror, and we are powerless to deliver ourselves from the terror we have brought upon ourselves. The name of our old man is Magormissabib, ‘terror on every side’, and the Lord will give our old man no quarter.

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

Now we must carefully consider the change of tone in Jeremiah’s next words:

Jer 20:7  O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jer 20:8  For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10  For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side [Hebrew: ‘magor min sabib’]. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

Here we have Jeremiah himself experiencing the “fear on every side”, the exact same Hebrew words used as Pashur’s new name… ‘Magor-mi-Sabib’. However, now Jeremiah is applying these same words to himself because all who knew him are now saying… “Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him”.

Jeremiah, who typifies our new man, is “the eighth [who] is of the seven and goes into perdition. It is through that perdition that our new man is given “the redemption of the purchased possession”.

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.

Unlike Pashur, Jeremiah is given life through the fiery trial of experiencing “fear on every side”.

Jer 20:11  But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
Jer 20:12  But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
Jer 20:13  Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

So, Jeremiah is given to know that he will be delivered from those who seek to “take [their] revenge on [him]”. He is also given to know that it will only be through “fear on every side”. Jeremiah is made to face the fact that he, of himself, is no better than Pashur, who hates Jeremiah, and would prefer to see Jeremiah dead. It becomes such a fiery trial that Jeremiah becomes ‘weary in well doing’. Jeremiah typifies each of us as a self-righteous ‘Job’ whose trials were so heavy and unbearable that he begins to reprove and contend with his Maker, using many of the same words Job used. Immediately after rejoicing in the knowledge that his trials were all for his good (Rom 8:28), Jeremiah gave this lament.

Jer 20:14  Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Jer 20:15  Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
Jer 20:16  And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
Jer 20:17  Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
Jer 20:18  Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

Compare these words of Jeremiah, with these words of Job:

Job 3:1  After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
Job 3:2  And Job spake, and said,
Job 3:3  Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
Job 3:4  Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
Job 3:5  Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
Job 3:6  As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
Job 3:7  Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
Job 3:8  Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
Job 3:9  Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
Job 3:10  Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
Job 3:11  Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Those are two very similar laments, both coming from men who have known the Lord and who are weary of bearing up under His ways.

Why are we twice told:

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

2Th 3:13  But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.

The reason we are twice admonished “be not weary in well doing” is because that is exactly what we just naturally do. Just like Jeremiah, the Lord sends an evil spirit to tell us that life would be so much easier if we would just stop speaking the Truths of His Word:

Jer 20:8  For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

We need to all be aware of the adversary’s devices. Notice that it is immediately after being assured of the Lord’s faithfulness that Jeremiah’s tone changes and he despairs of all the weight the Lord has placed upon him. The adversary knows that we are most vulnerable when we have just experienced a time of victory and we feel we can take a break from always being diligent, sober, and vigilant.

That was what happened to Job whom the Lord had hedged from any severe trials for a time. When he least expected it, the Lord showed Job what was still in him.

King David stayed behind when he should have been in the battle. He had just defeated both Syria and Ammon and it was when he felt secure enough to let others do his fighting for him that he was seduced by the adversary and committed adultery with the wife of one of his captains.

Elijah had just called down fire from heaven to burn up his sacrifice in the presence of all the prophets of Baal who he then destroyed with the sword when he fled to a cave to hide from Jezebel.

We are all most vulnerable when we think we stand secure:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Our own trials come upon us after a time of success when we think we are secure and we let down our guard. The Lord has ordained it to be so.

We feed the Lord’s flock even as we “look to ourselves” and we warn the Lord’s flock of what we see as the warnings of scripture themselves. Nevertheless, the Lord has determined “there must be heresies among you”:

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

Jeremiah tells us that Pashur “prophesied lies”, and therefore Pashur was prophesying heresies.

Jer 20:6  And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

The apostle Paul truthfully prophesied that grievous wolves would arise from our very midst. It happened to the apostles, and it was written for our admonition:

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Job, Jeremiah, the apostle Paul, and the apostle John in the book of Revelation are all telling us the same thing. That message is that the 144,000 elect who will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years, as well as the “great multitude which no man can number”, and who do not rule and reign with Christ, must both “come up through much tribulation and wash their robes white in the blood of the lamb.”

Notice how much we have in common with those who will be “hurt of the second death”:

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Rev 7:10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Rev 7:11  And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 7:12  Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 7:13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

This same group of 144,000 are later called “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:

Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
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.

These “firstfruits… [must] groan and travail in pain together” with all the rest of mankind, who are all “bearing the heat of the day”. However “the lord of the vineyard… the good man of the house” has determined in advance that the ‘groaning [of] this present time produces the Lord’s judgments within those few who are paid first in earnest (Eph 1:14 in “this present time” (Eph 2:6), whereas all others must wait to get their ‘penny’, their days wages, life eternal, until after the firstfruits are rewarded in the “blessed and holy… first resurrection”. It is they, and they alone, who “live and reign with Christ a thousand years” on this earth, before the rest of mankind will be given life eternal:

Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny [eternal life].
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny [eternal life].
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called [to work in the Lord’s vineyard], but few chosen [to be paid first].

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

“We who have the firstfruits of the spirit… groan within ourselves, waiting for… the redemption of our body”. The Truth of the Word of God is that we are intended to endure the very same fiery words that will save all men. Only by those words will we develop “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus Christ”:

Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity [of “every thought”]: he that killeth with the sword [of the Word of God] must be killed with the sword [of the Word of God]. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

This “patience and faith of the saints” is elaborated upon in the very next chapter, and this is what going into captivity and being killed with the sword entails:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. [That is the very definition of ‘Magor min Sabib’, “fear on every side”]

What is the product of this “magor-min- sabib”, this “torment with fire and brimstone… day and night in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb”???

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Why must the Lord’s “very elect” endure “morgamissabib”? Why must the Lord’s elect endure “fear on every side”? The reason we must do so is for the same reason our Lord had to do so, because we, too, are “saviors” who must “fill up in [our] bodies that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake which is the church”.

To what end must we do so? We must do so to the same end that our Lord had to do so because “as He is so are we in this world”:

Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

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.

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

The scapegoat and the second bird are both as integral to the process of salvation as is “the Lord’s goat” and “the first bird”, and we are that scapegoat, and we are that second bird who bear with Christ “all their iniquities”, and fill up in our bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, for His body’s sake, which is the church”:

Lev 16:22  And the [scape]goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Lev 14:53  But he shall let go the living [second] bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.

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:

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

That is our study, and these are the verses for our next study:

Jer 21:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
Jer 21:2  Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
Jer 21:3  Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
Jer 21:4  Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
Jer 21:5  And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
Jer 21:6  And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
Jer 21:7  And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Jer 21:8  And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
Jer 21:9  He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
Jer 21:10  For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
Jer 21:11  And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
Jer 21:12  O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Jer 21:13  Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
Jer 21:14  But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

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As we continue to move through the various verses contained in scripture that pertain to the “Awesome Hands” of God, we have come to see many different types and shadows as the Lord reveals more of Himself and ourselves as they have been founded from foundation of the world.

We have seen that the “Awesome Hands” of the Lord, as shown to us in the story of the flood, are there to rescue us from our history and the “world” that has been corrupted.

Once we are given salvation via the ark, the way out that the Lord has provided for us, we are then going to be nourished by and also devoured by the beasts that the Lord preserved with us while we were in the ark.

Praise the Lord that He has given us a dove to guide us, to bring into the ark so that we know what to do next. It is a process, but it is a sweet smelling savor to the Lord as He works out of us the things that the blood on our hands are required to happen.

In part 5 of the “Awesome Hands” of God study, we have learned that though the Lord comes to us and we call on His name in the wilderness, it is during this time that we really don’t have much faith to begin with.

We always want to get the show on the road and do something for God once we know He is working in our lives. However, because we want to do it in our way and our time, we will reap what we sow.

Through all of this, it is the Lord who directs our steps to bring good from it because while we are yet not in the fullness of faith, the Lord can and will use us to save our brethren. We are called behind in no gift, but we have yet to move on to have our seed come to fruition.

As we have seen with Abram, we are to go to war and battle those who are our enemies. They will be delivered into our hands but unlike a tenth that was instituted as type and shadow; the promise will be given to those who are completely the Lords …. and that is when we take on His new name… being renamed in Abraham and Sara.

In this study, we will see how we continue to move towards “getting things done quickly” in our lives but ultimately the Lord will bring about His will so that His covenant will stand will Christ, His bride starting in Gen 16:6.

We all are God’s and He will mold us all into being all in all in His awesome hands.

“What will thou give me”

Before we get started with the study fully, I want to take this time to clarify a few points before we continue.

In this study of the awesome hands of the Lord, I am hoping to build up the stories around the concept of God working His hands in our lives both directly through and by us as well as through and by those that the Lord places in our lives to help mold and shape us into His spiritually minded image.

As such, there are occasionally times when the Hebrew and Greek translations of the word “hand” or “hands” into English isn’t always the same root word in Hebrew or Greek.

The focus of these studies is to show the power of the Lord in our lives and as such the English word hand is the starting point to bring out these stories in the relation to this topic.

For example, up until this point we have generally seen the Hebrew word “yad” or H3027 used. However, this was not the word used in Gen 13:9 or 14:15, but those words are rather H8040 and H3225. These words mean left side and right side or as we see it here in English right hand and left hand.

I point this out to mention that I will start illuminating this while talking about these words if there is ever a time that it needs a little expounding upon.

All of the points being discussed thus far are valid still because it is the separation from our brothers that is the point, and it is this separation that is caused of the Lord that will eventually bring about the best good.

If we are not hated by the world within our brothers, our brethren as was mentioned last week, then we are none of His.

As was mentioned last week, we let our brethren decide which way to go because it is our herdsmen which fight for the land. We must separate, but as the wheat and the chaff, we have to wait until we are fully matured in this stage before we can truly move on towards the promise and harvest.

With that, we’ll build upon that with a few verses and then get into our next verse mentioning hand.

Deu 8:11 –  Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

Deu 8:12 –  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

Deu 8:13 –  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

Deu 8:14 –  Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Deu 8:15 –  Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

Deu 8:16 –  Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Deu 8:17 –  And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

Deu 8:18 –  But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Last study, we stopped at the end of chapter 14 so as we move on towards Gen 16:6, we’ll read a little context in chapter 15.

Remember, we have separated from our brother but as our brother gets caught up in war all around and within them, it is we who are send to be their savior.

Our house is increased so that we are able to fight when the time comes, and we are now going to meet Christ in type and shadow by meeting Melchizedek AFTER this battle.

This is important because we are going to then go and build a second altar unto the Lord.

Heb 6:10 –  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Heb 6:11 –  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

Heb 6:12 –  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Heb 6:13 –  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

Heb 6:14 –  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

Heb 6:15 –  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Heb 6:16 –  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

Heb 6:17 –  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

Heb 6:18 –  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Heb 6:19 –  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Heb 6:20 –  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

It is at this point that we tell the king of Sodom that we will not take even take a thread or shoe latchet so that it is not going to be Sodom who can claim to have made us rich. This is a huge type and shadow which builds up to how we act towards the Lord next.

Gen 14:22 –  And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

Gen 14:23 –  That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

Gen 14:24 –  Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

It was a little earlier in chapter 14 verse 13 that we read that Abram is confederate with these houses who were all brothers themselves. Abram actually tells the king of Sodom to give these helpers of his their portion and in that is just what we do in this stage.

We want to have our brothers blessed whom we should be separated from, but at this stage it simply isn’t given to us to be separate. Look at the names of each of these brothers whom help us free Lot.

Aner –

H6063

a ne r

aw- nare’

Probably for H5288; Aner, an Amorite, also a place in Palestine: – Aner.

H5288

na ar

nah’- ar

From H5287; (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescence; by implication a servant; also (by interchange of sex), a girl (of similar latitude in age): – babe, boy, child, damsel [ from the margin], lad, servant, young (man).

H5287

na ar

naw- ar’

A primitive root (probably identical with H5286, through the idea of the rustling of mane, which usually accompanies the lion’s roar); to tumble about: – shake (off, out, self), overthrow, toss up and down.

H5286

na ar

naw- ar’

A primitive root; to growl: – yell.

In essence, we have a strutting and growling babe…. a babe which looks big and tough and acts that way.

Eshcol –

H812

‘eshko l

esh- kole’

The same as H811; Eshcol, the name of an Amorite, also of a valley in Palestine: – Eshcol.

H811

‘eshko l  ‘eshko l

esh- kole’, esh- kole’

Probably prolonged from H810; a bunch of grapes or other fruit: – cluster (of grapes).

H810

‘eshek

eh’- shek

From an unused root (probably meaning to bunch together); a testicle (as a lump): – stone.

In essence, this is the fruit of our loins and finally we have Mamre.

Mamre –

H4471

mamre’

mam- ray’

From H4754 (in the sense of vigor); lusty; Mamre, an Amorite: – Mamre.

H4754

ma ra’

maw- raw’

A primitive root; to rebel; hence (through the idea of maltreating) to whip, that is, lash (self with wings, as the ostrich in running): – be filthy, lift up self.

We have strutting and growling babes…. babes which look big and tough and act that way who also lift themselves up in lusty and filthy ways like an ostrich when it runs. When an ostrich runs, it’s feathers sway back and forth near its hind end.

These are the brothers we have along aside us during this time and it is no wonder how we address the Lord next when He next comes to speak with us. After all, we have just been victorious and a king and High Priest of the Lord has come to visit us.

Of course, we are only willing to give 10% of anything to the Lord and His priest at this time.

With this mindset, we have a vision:

Gen 15:1 –  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Gen 15:2 –  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

Gen 15:3 –  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Amazing! We have given the Lord and His priest 10% and now as soon as the Lord come to us in a vision, we start asking what the Lord is gonna go for us. After all, he has given us victory of war and allowed us to be saviors to others. Isn’t it time we get rewarded?

All of this is all of the Lord, and this is exactly how we live every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We must all live this out in our own spiritual life and we will or have.

The Lord is merciful because of course He knows what and how we are this way and in this weakened state, so He just moves to the next step of His plan.

Gen 15:4 –  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

Gen 15:5 –  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Gen 15:6 –  And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

As we believe on the Lord, we are given to know what the Lord has planned for us and our seed but of course we want proof and we are going to get it!

Gen 15:7 –  And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Gen 15:8 –  But he said, “ O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

Gen 15:9 –  He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

See, the Lord is going to separate us from our brethren SO CONCRETELY that the flame of the Word of God will be the great divide. It will be the flame of the Word of God which will separate us, the beast.

This is the proof, sacrifice and covenant the Lord is making with Abram and the seed of promise. Abram will be RENAMED though and is just now learning what this coat of many colors means.

Gen 15:10 –  And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.

Gen 15:11 –  And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Gen 15:12 –  As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

It is in the deep sleep of the night that the Lord marks out the steps we will take. It is when we are in the darkness, yet to arise into newness of the day that we are given our instruction. It is a done deal. It is accomplished and here is your proof you seed of promise.

Gen 15:13 –  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Gen 15:14 –  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Gen 15:15 –  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

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

It is our very brethren whom we are going to serve, but how did I come to that conclusion?

Remember, it is Aner, Eshcol and Mamre who were in confederate with us, but it is the INQUITY of us serving the elder, the ONES IN THE LAND BEFORE US, which is no yet complete.

This iniquity is that this elder brother gives up their birthright for a bowl of pottage, a fulfilling of their youthful, lustful, and boastful self- worth and image.

The Lord has promised to separate us from this and bring us back to Him. Our seed, our fruit will be better in the end because of this separation and it is the fire of the Word of God that will accomplish this in the MIDST of this two sided beast that you and I are.

It is at the setting of the Sun, it is when the Lord truly is crucified in that great city, that we as Peter finally are given to weep bitterly and start the new part of our new man of Life.

Gen 15:17 –  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

Gen 15:18 –  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Gen 15:19 –  The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

Gen 15:20 –  And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

Gen 15:21 –  And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

The Lord will separate us in the midst, in the middle. He will thoroughly and succinctly do His work but it is the vision that gets us all excited again.

In our youthfulness, we as Abram start listening to our wife and want to once again get the show on the road and this is so that we can have the perfection of the flesh in everything it has to offer…. which IS NOTHING to the Lord.

What we have to offer to the Lord is not sacrifice but obedience and that is why Ishmael is not the seed whom will be taken to the altar to test our faith.

In Gen 15 we ended with the Lord telling us that He is going to give the seed of the father of promise the lan to possess including all those giants and peoples who dwell therein…. dominance over our flesh, but all in His timing.

To re- emphasize this point, we are told there is timing to this and it Isa 10 years that we are in the land that we have the perfection of the flesh working its ultimate work.

It is when our ultimate work is accomplished that we ourselves hold it in contempt. It is because we go back to our Egyptian learned ways to “work the work of our hands”.

Gen 16:1 –  Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Gen 16:2 –  And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Gen 16:3 –  And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Gen 16:4 –  And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

It is really informative to understand what is happening here. Hagar, of whom was put in motion by Sarai now despises Sarai because she can see that the Lord has “dried” up Sarai’s womb at this time.

What the KJV translators used here as despised really misses the mark of what is being said. Hagar cursed Sarai and Sarai was furious. Here is the same word translated despised with only the listings of cursed listed to get right to the point:

H7043

qa lal

Total KJV Occurrences:88

curse, 17

Gen_8:21, Lev_19:14, Deu_23:4, Jos_24:9, 2Sa_16:9-11 (4), Neh_13:2, Psa_62:4, Psa_109:28, Pro_30:10, Ecc_7:21, Isa_8:20-21 (3), Jer_15:10

cursed, 17

Lev_20:9, Lev_24:11, Lev_24:14, Lev_24:23, Jdg_9:27, 1Sa_17:43, 2Sa_16:5, 2Sa_16:7, 2Sa_16:13, 2Sa_19:21, 1Ki_2:8, 2Ki_2:24, Neh_13:25, Job_3:1, Job_24:18, Ecc_7:22 (2)

Gen 8:20 –  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Gen 8:21 –  And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Lev 19:14 –  Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Deu 23:4 –  Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

It is the cursed that will hang on a tree, and in this type and shadow the seed that is yet to exist has been cursed. If you have the eyes to see it and ears to hear it, it is Christ our Lord who has been cursed from the beginning.

The Lord has put this all in motion and our brethren are food for us. They are put here to be our nourishment in how they are used to mold and bend us into the children of God who can later be used to be saviors on mount Zion to these brethren that will eventually come to the well of water which will never run out with us.

They are now made to be perfect in their purpose, and the Lord blesses them in the process. Here is how this plays out with Abram, Sarai and Hagar.

It is here that the Lord will also work with those in the wilderness who will come to the well that is for them now, during this time which will deceive them and shall be this way until the Lord brings us all into His love and glory.

Gen 16:5 –  And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

Gen 16:6 –  But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

Gen 16:7 –  And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

Gen 16:8 –  And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

Gen 16:9 –  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

The very reason for our brethren to exist in this context is to be against us. It is so that we will be brought through this life being sharpened and perfected so that we can overcome.

Rest assured, these brethren will be AGAINST US and we better be AGAINST them or we simply are none of His at this time. The Lord puts His work into our hands and says now work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Gen 16:10 –  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

Gen 16:11 –  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

Gen 16:12 –  And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

Truly, we will all be brought up together until the harvest.

Gen 16:13 –  And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

Gen 16:14 –  Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Gen 16:15 –  And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

Gen 16:16 –  And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Beerlahairoi is the well of the Living One who sees us. He sees both sides of the beast and the night and the day are alike unto the Lord.

We have both sides of us warring against each other in our heavens. We have the old man and the new man, the spirit and the natural the life and death we have dwelling in us, there for our benefit because all things are ours.

Conclusion of Awesome Hands Part 6

In this study, we have seen that the Lord will bless the works of our hands thus allowing us to reap what we sow.

In this sowing, we are being molded into a branch that will not be cut of but will continue to be grafted into the Lord. Our brethren who are against us will be so because their hand has been set into motion before they were ever “an unformed substance” in the womb of their mother Hagar.

In our next study, we will receive our new name in type and shadow just as we are finally given to fall on our face and listen to the Lord.