Spiritual Significance of Colors in Scripture – Black, Part 3

[Study Aired December 19, 2025] 

As we learned in our last study, the word for ‘black’ is associated with darkness. We saw that the word ‘mist’ of 2 Peter 2:17 is better translated as ‘blackness’:

2Pe 2:16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist [G2217: ‘zophos’, blackness] of darkness is reserved for ever.

This same Greek word, G2217, zophos, is translated as ‘darkness’ in Jude 1:6 and ‘blackness’ in Jude 1:13:

Jud 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, [and] called:
Jud 1:2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness [G2217: ‘zophos’, blackness, in spiritual ignorance] unto the judgment of the great day.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness [G2217: ‘zophos’] of darkness [G4655: ‘skotos, darkness] for ever.

So zophos, the Greek word so often translated ‘darkness,’ is also translated ‘blackness’ and has the same root as the Greek word translated ‘cloud.’ In other words, the holy spirit sees a connection between all three words: blackness, darkness, and clouds. There is another word which is translated ‘darkness’, and it has the same meaning of the absence of light. Here is that word:

G4656
skotoo
skot- o’- o
From G4655; to obscure or blind (literally or figuratively): – be full of darkness.

This word appears only once in the New Testament:

Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness[G4656: ‘skotoo’]; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Which takes us back to the use of the word ‘black’ in the Old Testament:

Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Jer 8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

Joe 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

The next word we will consider is the root of our previous word ‘skotoo.’ The root of ‘skotoo’ is ‘skotos.’

G4655
skotos
skot’- os
From the base of G4639; shadiness, that is, obscurity (literally or figuratively): – darkness.

This word appears 33 times and is consistently translated ‘darkness’ every single time in the King James Version. Here are a couple of those 33 verses which we have not yet covered with this word in them:

Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’]; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Darkness, the absence of any spiritual knowledge, is where “many” find themselves. Here is another example of this word:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’], and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

One more verse with this word ‘skotos’ in it is Acts 13:11:

Act 13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Act 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’]; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

“The hand of the Lord” can be on us for either good or evil. Always remember that to God “light and darkness are both alike to [Him].” It is all of God to the end of accomplishing His goal of bringing all to Him.

The last word we will consider is the word which is the root of our previous word ‘skotos’ and is the primary root of so many of these Greek words which carry the thought of “not seeing the sun…darkness” (Act 13:11). It is the Greek word ‘skia:’

G4639
skia
skee’- ah
Apparently a primary word; shade or a shadow (literally or figuratively [darkness of error or an adumbration]): – shadow.

This word appears just seven times in the New Testament and is again consistently translated all seven times as ‘shadow.’ Our first example is a verse which also has another form of this root in it:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’, from G4639, ‘skia’, shadiness, obscurity, darkness] saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow [G4639: ‘skia’, shade caused by interception of light, a shadow] of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

As it turns out, the words ‘darkness’ and ‘shadow’ both have this Greek word ‘skia’ as their root. Here is another verse.

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow [G4639: ‘skia’, shadow] of things to come; but the body [the reality] is of [the] Christ.

Another verse which demonstrates the meaning of black and darkness in God’s Word is:

Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Christ is “a minister… of the true tabernacle”. What is God’s “true tabernacle?”

Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The Word of God, line upon line and precept upon precept, reveals ‘heaven’ to be in the hearts and minds of God’s elect who will one day bring ‘heaven’ into the hearts and minds of all men. “The [true] tabernacle of God is with men.”

In summary, black and darkness are:

1) The emptiness associated with the absence of the light of God’s presence:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And [then] the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

2) Ignorance or rebellion to the ways and words of God:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Pro 2:10 When wisdom [Christ] entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding [the ability to see the light] shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Pro 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness

Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Mic 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth [out of darkness] to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Mic 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she [Babylon within each of us] be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

3) The ways of the wicked are as darkness:

Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Jer 23:11  For both prophet and priest are ungodly; yea, I have found their evil in My house, says Jehovah.
Jer 23:12  So their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness; they shall be driven out and fall by it. For I will bring evil on them, the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.

4) Black and darkness are a sign of God’s anger, indignation, and His judgment:

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

In the book of Revelation, John “was in the spirit on the Lord’s day…”

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

“The Lord’s day” has nothing to do with a particular day of the week. “The Lord’s day” is the day in which He comes to judge us for our sins:

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

What is the timing of “the Lord’s day?” When does all of this take place? We need not guess.

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

“The great and terrible day of the Lord” is the ‘day of harvest’, the day of being ‘judged’. Deliverance and salvation are always preceded by days of chaos, confusion and darkness. That is when our judgment begins as the Lord calls light out of darkness:

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

The Lord’s work within His creatures begins with darkness first. That is why we are six times told “the evening [darkness] and the morning [light] were the six days of creation. I will quote the last verse of Genesis one to make this point:

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

Every day concludes with that same statement. God begins the day at sunset, not sunrise. His work begins while we are in the dark. That is when He begins judging those in whom He dwells. That is when He begins His harvest of His elect. It is “while [we] are yet sinners” the Lord begins separating the tares and lies in our lives from the true “corn of wheat” which He planted and is in the process of harvesting

The ‘tares’ are separated from the wheat “in the time of harvest.”

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But while men slept [in darkness], his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest [until “judgment… begins at the house of God”, (1Pe 4:17)]: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

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: [Our “fiery trials” burn  up our tares]

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?

Amo 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? [What is the day of the Lord to our old man, but His destruction] the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amo 5:19 As if a man [our old man] did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Amo 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath [“Much tribulation”, (Act 14:22) “Fiery  trials”, (1Pe 4:12)], a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16 A day of the trumpet [the seven trumpets of our judgment, (Rev 8-11)] and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men [in darkness], because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

In conclusion let us remember what mankind in his black, darkened, fleshly, carnal state cannot acknowledge:

5) God creates both light AND darkness. Both are mere instruments in the hands of a sovereign God:

Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Psa 18:25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Psa 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Psa 18:27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
Psa 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

It is only by God’s grace that the ‘letters’ which hide the spirit behind them, are opened up and bring light to us.

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [hidden in the ‘letters’ of the Old Testament].

1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light [out of the letter and into the spirit]:

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not [those who cannot see the spirit foreshadowed by the letter].

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

The light is the life, and the life is the light. Who is that light? It is the Christ:

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.

Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

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

What is “the light of the world?” It is “the Christ in you.”

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Dan 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Finally, let’s remember that the three primary colors of ‘the material realm’ cannot produce the color white, and when all three are combined, red, yellow, and blue, they produce black, while the three primary colors of ‘the intellectual realm’ (think spiritual realm) when combined produce pure white light.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series.]

Spiritual Significance of Colors in Scripture – The Color Black, Part 1

[Study Aired December 12, 2025]

Psa 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

As with every word in scripture, the color black has both a positive and a negative application. In this particular study of the color black, I want to drive that point home by pointing out that even the word ‘sin’, which is typified by the color black, has a positive application inasmuch as it is the first step which is necessary to “become as” God:

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:

 I will give you two verses of many dozens which establish this point, and then we will move on. This first section has to do with King David’s sin in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba.

Psa 51:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.
Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest.
Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

In Adam we are all “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin” (Psa 51:5). That means we are all created in need of a Savior.

Then there is this enlightening statement made by Christ Himself in the garden of Eden:

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:

In its positive application, black is the health and well being of the flesh:

Lev 13:37  But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Black being the opposite of white, darkness being the opposite of light, signifies not being able to see beyond the flesh, but it is in our black darkness that we begin to see God while we are yet in the realm of dying flesh. Black is a color which is intimately connected with being spiritually blind.

In its negative application, black typifies a famine of the word, leading to spiritual starvation, spiritual ignorance, spiritual darkness, and  being spiritually blind.

The Seven Hebrew Words Which are Translated ‘Black’

There are seven Hebrew words which the King James translators have chosen to translate as black. Those seven words are:

1) H7838
sha cho r  sha cho r
shaw- khore’, shaw- khore’
From H7835; properly dusky, but also absolutely) jetty: – black.

Here are a few examples of how this word is used in its positive application:

Lev 13:37  But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black [H7838, ‘shachor’] hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Son  1:5 I am  black. [H7838: ‘shachor’]  but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black [H7838: ‘shachor’]  as a raven.

Zec 6:2  In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black [H7838: ‘shachor’]  horses;
Zec 6:3  And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.
Zec 6:4  Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
Zec 6:5   And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

2) H7835
sha char
shaw- khar’
A primitive root (rather identical with H7836 through the idea of the duskiness of early dawn); to be dim or dark (in color): – be black.

This word appears just once in the Old Testament:

Job 30:26  When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Job 30:27  My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
Job 30:28  I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
Job 30:29  I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
Job 30:30  My skin is black [H7835: ‘shachar’] upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

3) H6937
qa dar
kaw- dar
A primitive root; to be ashy, that is, dark colored; by implication to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments): – be black (- ish), be (make) dark (- en), X heavily, (cause to) mourn.

Positive

(1Ki 18:45 KJV)  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black] with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Negative

Jer 4:27  For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black]: because I have spoken it, I have purposed [it], and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Jer 8:21  For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black]; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
Jer 8:22  Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black] unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark [H6937: ‘qadar’- black]; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark [H6937: ‘qadar’- black] over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 32:9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark [H6937: ‘qadar’, black], and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Joe 3:15  The sun and the moon shall be darkened [H6937: ‘qadar’, black], and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

3) H2821: ‘Chashak’, black

Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened [H2821: ‘Chashak’, black] in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Lam 4:8  Their visage is blacker [H2821: ‘Chashak’, black] than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

Amo 8:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken [H2821: ‘Chashak’, make black] the earth in the clear day:

Mic 3:5  Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Mic 3:6  Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark [H2821: ‘Chashak’, make black] unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Mic 3:7  Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

H5508
‘so chereth’
so- kheh’- reth
Similar to H5507; probably a (black) tile (or tessara) for laying borders with: – black marble

This word also appears only once in the Old Testament, but it demonstrates that “all things are of God.”

Est 1:5  And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace;
Est 1:6  Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black [H5508: ‘sochereth’, black], marble.

5) H380 ‘i yshon, ee- shone’
Diminutive from H376; the little man of the eye; the pupil or ball; hence the middle (of night): – apple [of the eye], black, obscure.

Here is a positive application for this Hebrew word which is also translated as ‘black’:

Deu 32:9  For the LORD’S portion [is] his people; Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance.
Deu 32:10  He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple [H380: ‘iyshon, ee- shone’] of his eye.

Here is a negative application of this Hebrew word:

Pro 7:7  And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Pro 7:8  Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black [H380: ‘i yshon, ee- shone’] and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

6) H7840, ‘shecharcho reth’
shekh- ar- kho’- reth
From H7835; swarthy: – black.

This word appears only once in the Old Testament.

Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black [H7840: ‘shecharcho reth’], because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

7) H3648, ‘ka mar’
kaw- mar’
A primitive root; properly to intertwine or contract, that is, (by implication) to shrivel (as with heat); figuratively to be deeply affected with passion (love or pity): – be black, be kindled, yearn.

Positive:

Gen 43:30  And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn [H3648: ‘ka mar’, both black and yearn] upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
1Ki 3:26  Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned [H3648: ‘ka mar’, both black and yearn] upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].
1Ki 3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof.

Negative:

Lam 5:8  Servants have ruled over us:  there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand
Lam 5:9  We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness
Lam 5:10  Our skin was black [H3648: ‘ka mar’, both black and yearn] like an oven because of the terrible famine.

In Review:

The Positive Application of the Color Black

A black hair is a sign of cleansed leprosy. The first time the word ‘black’ appears in the King James is in Leviticus 13. The absence of a black hair indicates leprosy. The presence of a “black hair” is an indication that the flesh is healthy and is not leprous.

Lev 13:29  If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;

Lev 13:31  And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:

Lev 13:37 But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and [that] there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he [is] clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Black hair in The Song of Solomon is a sign of good physical, fleshly health in our ‘first love’.

Son 1:1  The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

Son 1:4  Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
Son 1:5  I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; [but] mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Son 5:10  My beloved [is] white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

The negative application of the color black

‘Black heavens’ mean judgment, which in turn breaks the famine. Israel had not seen rain for three years when Elijah prayed for rain:

1Ki 18:1  And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
1Ki 18:2  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

1Ki 18:43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
1Ki 18:44  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
1Ki 18:45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

The different Hebrew words for ‘black’ are often associated with the words ‘dark’ and ‘darkness’, because it is darkness and lack of light with which the word ‘black’ is associated.

Psa 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

The reason God’s “secret place” is darkness is that it is not given to the natural-minded, carnal-minded man to understand “the mysteries [Greek: secrets] of the kingdom of God], nor “the things of the spirit”:

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.

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.

Ecc 2:13  Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

Of course, God is the maker of both:

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

The Lord created darkness with a purpose in mind:

Isa 42:7  To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house [“spirits in prison”, (1Pe 3:19)].

Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

It is this fact that keeps Christ and His gospel hidden from men who cannot receive the truth, but for those who love and can receive Truth:

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

Next study we will see how this concept has been carried over into the prophecies of the New Testament.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series]

Valley of the Shadow of Death

[Study Aired July 22, 2025]

Introduction

The phrase “the valley of the shadow of death” appears in one of Scripture’s most beloved passages, Psalm 23:4. Yet this profound imagery extends far beyond David’s pastoral metaphor, revealing spiritual truths that resonate throughout the entire biblical narrative. Through careful examination of Scripture interpreting Scripture, we discover that this valley represents both our present experience in this world as God created it and the process by which Christ leads us through death unto life.

The Foundation: Psalm 23:4

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

The Hebrew phrase “gey tsalmaveth” (H1516, H6757) literally means “valley of deep darkness” or “valley of death-shadow.” The word “tsalmaveth” combines “tsel” (H6738, shadow) with “maveth” (H4194, death), creating an image of death’s overshadowing presence. This is not merely physical death but encompasses the realm where death’s influence pervades – fundamentally, the condition of not understanding God’s realm.

David’s declaration reveals confidence not in avoiding this valley but in walking through it with heavenly companionship. The preposition “through” indicates passage, not permanent residence. This suggests a journey with a destination beyond the valley itself.

The Spiritual Nature of Death

To understand the valley of the shadow of death, we must first comprehend what Scripture means by death itself. Paul provides the essential definition: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). Death, in its deepest biblical sense, is the condition of spiritual blindness – the inability to perceive or understand God’s realm, truth, and purposes.

This spiritual death manifests as the natural man’s limitation: “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” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The “death” condition is fundamentally about being cut off from spiritual understanding and sacred perception.

Christ illustrated this when He told the Pharisees: “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind” (John 9:39). The blindness represents the death state – the inability to perceive God’s kingdom reality.

Scriptural Precedent: Death’s Shadow Throughout Scripture

Scripture consistently portrays our present existence under death’s shadow of spiritual blindness. Job declares, “Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death” (Job 10:20-21). The phrase “shadow of death” appears repeatedly in Job (3:5, 10:21-22, 12:22, 16:16, 24:17, 28:3, 34:22, 38:17), emphasizing humanity’s predicament under death’s dominion of spiritual darkness.

The prophet Isaiah employs this imagery prophetically: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isaiah 9:2). Matthew’s Gospel applies this directly to Christ’s ministry: “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matthew 4:16).

Isaiah’s prophecy, quoted by Christ, reveals the universal condition: “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive” (Matthew 13:14). This spiritual blindness and deafness represents the very essence of the death state that overshadows the valley.

The Valley as Our Present Condition

From a spiritual perspective, this valley represents the world itself as God created it to serve His purpose. Scripture reveals that we are born into this valley, as Paul confirms: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). Death’s shadow encompasses not merely physical mortality but the condition God ordained for His redemptive purposes – the state of not comprehending His realm.

This world was created exactly as God intended, subject to vanity for a sovereign purpose: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). The valley experience is not an accident or deviation from God’s plan but an essential part of His redemptive design, where spiritual understanding is veiled until He chooses to reveal it.

The valley imagery appears throughout Scripture describing our earthly experience. Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) portrays humanity’s spiritual condition: “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest” (Ezekiel 37:1-3). This valley represents death’s dominion over humanity as God created it – the condition of spiritual deadness and lack of understanding – yet also God’s power to bring life from death.

Jeremiah speaks of “the valley of the son of Hinnom” (Jeremiah 7:31-32), which becomes “the valley of slaughter” – a type of death’s realm. These valleys represent places where death reigns, paralleling the spiritual condition of unregenerate humanity trapped in spiritual blindness.

The First Passage: Abel’s Walk Through Death’s Valley

Scripture reveals the first recorded passage through the valley of the shadow of death in the account of Abel, whose righteous blood established the pattern for all who would follow. “And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Genesis 4:8-10).

Abel’s death reveals that even the first righteous martyr walked through death’s valley, yet his blood continues to speak from the ground. The Hebrew word “tsaaq” (H6817) means to cry out or call for help, indicating that Abel’s blood perpetually appeals to God for justice. This establishes the foundational truth that the death of the righteous is never silent before God – it cries out with ongoing significance.

The blood of Abel typifies the blood of Christ, while the struggle between Cain and Abel represents the ongoing conflict between the first Adam and the last Adam within every believer. Paul writes, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). This inward conflict reveals the old man resisting the new, yet the quickening Spirit prevails. Abel’s acceptance by God through his sacrifice of “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Genesis 4:4) prefigures all whose deaths are precious in God’s sight because they approach Him through faith rather than works.

Hebrews confirms Abel’s continued witness: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4). Abel’s passage through death’s valley demonstrates that death cannot silence the testimony of the righteous – they speak even beyond the grave.

The Preciousness of Death in God’s Sight

Scripture reveals God’s perspective on our passage through death’s valley in Psalm 116:15: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” The Hebrew word “yaqar” (H3368) means valuable, costly, or weighty – indicating that what appears as loss to human eyes holds immense value in God’s sight. This preciousness encompasses both the physical death of saints and their spiritual death to self.

The context of Psalm 116 illuminates this truth: “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul” (Psalm 116:3-4). The psalmist’s deliverance came not by avoiding death’s valley but by crying out within it, discovering that even there, God’s presence transforms sorrow into salvation.

This heavenly perspective reframes our understanding of the valley experience. What the world sees as tragedy, God sees as treasure. The apparent darkness becomes the very place where His light shines brightest, where His saints are most precious to Him.

Typological Significance: The Pit and Prison

Scripture frequently associates valleys with pits, representing death and captivity. The psalmist cries, “I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand” (Psalm 88:4-5).

Joseph’s experience in the pit (Genesis 37:24) typifies descent into death’s realm, while his subsequent elevation prefigures resurrection and exaltation. Similarly, Daniel in the lions’ den and the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace represent passages through death’s valley with supernatural preservation.

The Hebrew word “sheol” (H7585), often translated as “hell” or “grave,” represents the realm of death. This corresponds to the valley’s depth, where death’s shadow is darkest. Yet Scripture reveals that even sheol cannot inhibit God’s presence: “If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Psalm 139:8).

Christ as the Good Shepherd Through the Valley

David’s confidence in Psalm 23:4 stems from the Shepherd’s presence. “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalms 23:1). This finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, who declares, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Christ not only leads us through the valley but enters it Himself as an example of our journey.

The rod and staff that comfort represent Christ’s dual nature as both protector and guide. The rod (Hebrew “shebet,” H7626) signifies authority and protection, while the staff (Hebrew: “mish’eneth,” H4938) represents support and guidance. Together, they symbolize Christ’s complete provision for our journey through death’s domain.

Christ’s own words confirm His role as our guide through this valley: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). He precedes us through death’s valley to prepare our way.

Most significantly, Christ brings light to dispel the spiritual blindness that characterizes the valley. As He declared: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). Through Christ, the valley of spiritual death and blindness becomes the pathway to spiritual life and understanding.

The Valley as Spiritual Transformation

Beyond representing our earthly condition, the valley of the shadow of death symbolizes the process of spiritual death to self that every believer must experience. Paul describes this transformation: “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” (Galatians 2:20).

This spiritual death involves walking through the valley where our old nature dies and Christ’s life emerges. The shadow of death becomes the means by which we pass from death unto life: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

The transformation includes movement from spiritual blindness to spiritual sight. Christ explained: “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind” (John 9:39). This heavenly paradox reveals the fundamental nature of spiritual transformation – the old man, who thinks he sees, must be blinded and put to death, while the new man, who acknowledges his blindness, is given spiritual sight and life.

The “I” that is crucified represents the old man who walks in spiritual darkness, confident in his natural understanding yet blind to God’s realm. The “I” that lives represents the new man to whom spiritual sight is granted. This death and resurrection occurs within the valley experience, where God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17), giving life to the spiritually dead and sight to the spiritually blind.

The valley experience becomes the place where spiritual eyes are opened and sacred understanding is granted to the new man, while the old man’s presumed sight is exposed as blindness and put to death. As Christ declared, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted” (Matthew 13:15). The valley strips away the old man’s false confidence in natural understanding, preparing the heart for the new man’s spiritual sight.

Cross-References: Walking Through Death

Scripture provides numerous examples of God’s people walking through death’s shadow with supernatural protection. The Israelites’ passage through the Red Sea typifies passage through death: “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left” (Exodus 14:22). The sea, representing death’s waters, parts to allow safe passage.

Similarly, their crossing of Jordan into the Promised Land symbolizes passing through death into resurrection life: “And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water… That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap” (Joshua 3:14-16).

Natural and Spiritual Applications

Naturally, the valley of the shadow of death encompasses every believer’s earthly experience. We live in a world under death’s dominion, facing mortality, suffering, and separation. Yet spiritually, this valley represents the transformative process by which Christ leads us from spiritual death to spiritual life.

The preciousness declared in Psalm 116:15 extends to both aspects. Our physical trials and eventual death are precious to God because they conform us to Christ’s image: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Our spiritual death to self is equally precious as it allows Christ’s life to emerge within us.

The promise extends beyond mere survival to victory: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

This victory finds its ultimate expression in Paul’s declaration: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). Here Paul quotes from Isaiah’s ancient prophecy: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8).

The Hebrew word “bala” (H1104) means to swallow completely, to engulf entirely. Death is not merely defeated or pushed aside – it is completely consumed and absorbed by victory itself. This represents the total reversal of the valley experience, where death’s shadow gave way to life’s substance, corruption yielded to incorruption, and mortality surrendered to immortality.

This valley, though dark, becomes the pathway to glory: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Conclusion: The Shadow That Leads to Light

The valley of the shadow of death reveals God’s redemptive purpose woven throughout Scripture. This valley is not our destination but our passage – the place where death’s shadow gives way to resurrection light. Through Christ’s presence and guidance, what appears as the darkest valley becomes the pathway to eternal life.

As we walk through this valley, whether in its natural manifestation through earthly trials or its spiritual reality through death to self, we discover that death’s shadow cannot overcome the light of Christ’s presence. Paul reveals the heavenly pattern: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

This verse connects the original creation command with our personal transformation in the valley. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2-3). Just as God spoke light into primordial darkness on the first day of creation, He speaks spiritual light into the darkness of our hearts while we walk through death’s valley. The “knowledge of the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:6) represents the very understanding that death’s condition lacks – comprehension of God’s realm and character. This light shines specifically “in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6), our Good Shepherd who guides us through the valley.

The ultimate destination of our journey through the valley is revealed in John’s vision: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). This promise encompasses the complete resolution of every aspect of the valley experience – death itself abolished, sorrow replaced with joy, crying silenced by perfect peace, and pain transformed into eternal glory.

The tears God wipes away are the very tears shed while walking through death’s valley. The death that will be “no more” is the death whose shadow we currently traverse. The sorrow and crying that will cease are the emotional companions of our present valley experience. When John declares that “the former things are passed away,” he includes the valley of the shadow of death among those former things that give way to the new creation.

Most profoundly, the spiritual blindness and lack of understanding that characterizes the valley will be replaced with perfect knowledge and comprehension of God’s realm. Paul reveals this glorious transformation: “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). Where once we walked in the shadow of spiritual death, unable to perceive sacred truth, we will see Him face to face and know even as we are known.

In Christ, the valley of the shadow of death becomes not a place of fear but of faith, not of ending but of beginning, not of separation but of union with our heavenly Shepherd who leads us safely home to that place where shadows flee away and we dwell in His marvelous light forever.

In the light of Christ, the valley of the shadow of death becomes the path of life.

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalm 119:18). Amen

The Book of Joel – Chapter 2:28-32, Part 4

For the holy spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. – Act 8:16.

[Study Aired Sept 7^th 24]

In the last Study of Joel Chapter 2:18-27, it concluded that our Aholibah-like cringeworthy shame for our graphically depicted spiritual whoredoms, is to be somehow cleansed from our hearts when our Lord said,

Joe 2:27  And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 

In the subsequent verses studied today, the Bride deeply reflects upon her Aholibah-like nature and is given by God to see his mysterious “spirit” is not given to Joel or any other prophet before the cross to see how God’s power might actually work. All Joel and slow-bellied Israel (Tit 1:12  evil Cretians typifying Israel) see is further ambiguity in parables. Just as we once did, Cretians, Israel and our unconverted families today throw up their hands in despair that the Lord’s word is too convoluted to understand and, anyway, parrot the deluded doctrine that they are saved by Christ dying in their stead (1 Cor 15:31 throws another spanner in the gears).

Joe 2:28  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 

The Lord’s “pity”, currently studied, is best expressed in his giving of himself in the form of the holy spirit, that is, God himself unified as Christ and his Father. That same unity is first bestowed upon his Bride in this age since the cross and for the most part understood by the following verses.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. (1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous). 
Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter [the holy spirit; Christ within!], that he may abide with you for ever [so that we by his power can keep his ‘comforting’ commandments];
Joh 14:17  Even the spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Joh 14:19  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you [one spirit]. 
Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

The holy spirit is NOT an entity or individual spirit being; it is the nature of Christ and the Father, who are one spirit. “He” is a pronoun, and scriptures personalise all sorts of things, such as sin and wisdom being “she,” a fountain being “she,” etc.; as such, the holy spirit is called “he.”  

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Pro 1:20  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

Jer 6:7  As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

Christ and the Father are the holy spirit as is his word and truth; it is HE that does the work within us and not some third person of the Godhead making up the diabolical trinity lie:

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son [Facetiously, no mention of an ‘uncle holy spirit’!].
1Jn 2:23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
1Jn 2:24  Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father [with no mention of another entity in the Godhead called the holy spirit].

Here is God’s spirit, his intrinsic holy spirit in Christ: 

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ [the same spirit as the Father!], he is none of his. 

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy spirit of God, [That is the Father and Christ!] whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The Lord’s Elect are the people who are increasingly satisfied by the works Christ does in them through the much-awaited holy spirit that is Christ and his Father, creating the New Man within. The work of the holy spirit, fulfilling the will of God in this New Adam, starkly contrasts with the works of the flesh, which make men dreadfully insufficient and ashamed. Our efforts without the holy spirit always result in the shame of not being able to keep His word.

Joh 5:38  And you have not kept his word in your hearts, because you have not faith in him whom he has sent.
Joh 5:39  You make search in the holy Writings, in the belief that through them you get eternal life; and it is those writings which give witness about me.
Joh 5:40  And still you have no desire to come to me so that you may have life.

Why had we “no desire to come to Christ”? Because we had insisted in our own fabled ‘freewill’ that we are responsible for every action and sin the holy spirit subsequently quenched from doing its progressive work.

1Th 5:19  Quench not the Spirit.

Eph 4:30  And grieve not [restrain its power] the holy spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

However, when Joel wrote his Book, the understanding of this inscrutable spirit of God no doubt remained a talking point among the dedicated believers for another 865 years before the Cross.

Act 8:16  For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them [Mostly the Apostles; and unidentified believers]; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 8:17  Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the holy spirit. 

A Frequently Asked Question: “Is the holy spirit a person?”

Study Significations

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

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

The meaning of the term “afterwards,” stated in the first verse of our Study, Joel 2:28-32, begs the question, after what will God’s holy spirit be poured out on all flesh? In fact, that statement covertly introduces Pentecost, scheduled to be fifty days after the cross in the process of seeding the New Covenant with the spirit of God, enabling “all flesh” to learn to keep all of Christ’s commands.

Here is a link to understanding the meaning of Pentecost: They Were All Filled with the Holy Ghost

The Body of Christ is highly familiar with the physical, termed in scripture as the “natural” that manifests in all created things before all physical things identify the mirror of the spiritual.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

To all curious believers, upon reading Joel 2:28-30, they are not much further ahead in understanding this nebulously expressed “spirit”. After all, for thousands of years, prophets and great men and women, bonded and free of God, prophesied, dreamed dreams and had startling visions that they directly and fearfully attributed to God. All of Israel and surrounding nations were very familiar with what the Lord demonstrated, most frighteningly with wonders in the heavens, mass killings of Israel’s enemies until their blood flowed, and huge columns of smoke issuing from Mt. Sinai with terrifying signs and astonishments.

There remained a still enigmatic key of clouded understanding in verses 31 & 32 that reads,

Joe 2:31  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. 
Joe 2:32  And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by the LORD. 

The prophets Zephaniah and Malachi didn’t much help either, but they amplified the reader’s foreboding. The only consolation is Joel’s statement that “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved”—but how, when all they ever knew was a physical ‘saving’? Besides, God had ‘saved’ Israel physically heaps of time before, yet He seemed still not satisfied!

Zep 1:14  The great Day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
Zep 1:15  That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
Zep 1:16  a day of horn blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.
Zep 1:17  I will bring such distress on mankind that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.

Mal 4:1  “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
Mal 4:2  “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
Mal 4:3  Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Vernacularly, who on earth is able to stand before those aforementioned terrifying images? Nonetheless, there is hope in the still-veiled statements of Malachi,

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
Mal 4:6  And he will turn the heart [H3820] of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” [‘NO! Not another curse; they are endless’, I hear the old Israelites say]

Heart H3820 Leb – Phonetic: labe – Definition: 1. inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding a. inner part, midst 1. midst (of things) 2. heart (of man) 3. soul, heart (of man) 4. mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory 5. inclination, resolution, determination (of will) 6. conscience 7. heart (of moral character) 8. as the seat of appetites 9. as the seat of emotions and passions 1a 2. as the seat of courage.

The hope is in understanding the yet-to-be-ascribed ‘new heart’ of the inner man that we, since the Cross, know as the New Adam drinking in the spirit of God that gradually changes a man’s heart to be one with Christ and our Father.

Eph 3:14  For this cause [being incredibly grateful that we do not have to rely on our own strength] I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is [‘was and will be’] named, 
Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his pirit in the inner man; 
Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 
Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

However, Joel, in the final chapter three, continues with a complex hope that generates even a level of faith (Gen 15:6. Rom 4:3) in all who read and cannot perceive that they will be dead in their graves for close to a symbolic and maybe literal 3,865 years before the Resurrection to Judgement (865BC to the cross + 2,000 to the First Resurrection + 1,000 years Rule with the Rod of Iron to the Second Resurrection).

So, are Aholah and Aholibah’s outrageous ‘porneia’ (Fornication: G4202 – Porneia – Phonetic: por-ni’-ah- Definition: 1. illicit sexual intercourse a. adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc. G4203 – Porneuo) connections just to damnably perverted for them not to be condemned to the contemporary (and deludedly) named “eternal hell fire” since in Joel 2:28 the ascribed “afterwards” seems to exclude all before the coming of this mystifying ‘spirit’ of God? And, are they, along with Jezebel, Cain, the sons of Belial (H1100), Judas, and the cryptic ‘man of perdition’ just too evil and ‘worthless’ to be included in the meaning of “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh”?

Belial H1100. Transliteration: B@liya’al – Phonetic: bel-e-yah’-al – Definition: 1. worthlessness a. worthless, good for nothing, unprofitable, base fellow. b. wicked c. ruin, destruction (construct)

The last verse, Joel 2:32, states clearly that “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” To the Israelites, unwittingly without the holy spirit, the only way they can believe in that deliverance is a physical ‘saving’ from their enemies, being witless of the dreadful irony that their (as are our) enemies are spiritually within. To them, symbolising the contemporary ‘Jews’ of today, covertly identified as Babylonian Christians, unconsciously believing in “another Jesus”, that the Aholohs and Aholibahs of the world are destined to burn forever in the delusionary hell fire. Even the Apostles initially didn’t fully realise that Christ didn’t come to be the mighty force to rout the Romans. But they, along with an undisclosed “remnant”, the Lord’s “little flock”, would, in Christ, go before the rest of the world of old Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom, Tyre and Babylon in and as spiritual sacrifice exemplars for the world’s ultimate ‘deliverance’ in the Lake of Fire.

(A recounting of Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.)

The point is that there are two primary “afterwards” (Joel 2:28) of many biblical ‘afterwards’ that almost all reflect a spiritual event after its physical representation.

The first is a physical ‘remnant’ under Zerubbabel, who went back out of the captivity of Babylon to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple (Ezra 3:1-13). Inscrutabley, they depict the second “afterwards”, a spiritual “remnant” after the cross and particularly Pentecost who are the Lord’s ‘remnant’, a little flock who alone the Lord hears them calling on the name of ‘THE Lord’ as opposed to “whosoever”, implying anyone, suggesting multiple millions of Christians unwittingly calling upon ‘another Jesus’ (as expressed in 2 Cor 11:4) will be delivered.

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time [since the cross] also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election [the Remnant] hath obtained it, and the rest [the world/earth] were blinded
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them [the world/earth symbolically Babylon] the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day [for the world before the cross and the world after the cross, bar the “remnant”].
Rom 11:9  And David saith, Let their table [the Old Covenant of circumcision without the holy spirit] be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
Rom 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

1Co 1:23  But we [The Bride of Christ] preach Christ crucified [in the power of the holy spirit], unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

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.

And so, even to this day, the Babylonian Christian ‘Jews’ and the Greeks who represent the entire world can read that the Lord’s spirit has come into the world but are not given of it to believe in its power through Christ. The final chapter 3 of Joel powerfully states that it will come to pass, that whosoever calls on the Lord’s name will gain understanding to be saved. There is a massive time lag in the statement that “it shall come to pass” and until the deliverance actually comes. Israel remembers endless accounts of them calling on the name of God to deliver them from their enemies, so what is going to be different with this perplexing and expected superior deliverance? Without faith, no wonder the weary physical labourers became cynical when failure to keep the Laws consistently was a chasing of the wind. So, this new and mysterious hope of keeping the Lord’s word didn’t seem to offer any startling consolation.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

What Israel and Solomon, in his creation of the Shulamite, couldn’t fully appreciate was that their Lord did build Israel’s physical house with intrinsic failure of man’s powerful bias for faith in himself.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

There in Psa 127:1 lies the double-edged message that the very same “Lord” that built and destroyed Old Israel would come in person in far greater amplification of the same spirit to build the new Heavenly Jerusalem; the still enigmatic “remnant”, as “black” as the curtains of Solomon’s Temple (Son 1:5) in for understanding of the Lord’s New Wife.

Joel and the ‘minor prophets preceded what the Lord told Daniel to “seal up the book until the time of the end” (Dan 12) since nobody could understand how the house of each person could be built without knowing the great “tarrying” in Babylon, Egypt, Sodom depicting Old Jerusalem for the much later “helper” (John 15:26-27), the holy spirit.

And, the last Chapter 3 of Joel next week for Babylonian Christianity, for Jews who say that they are Jews and are not, and say that they see, and don’t, “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” – Mat 13:13, except for the mysterious “Remnant” who see how that last Chapter correlates perfectly with Revelations.

Rev 8:12-13 – Part 2, The Fourth Trumpet

[Study Aired July 28, 2024]

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Again we want to notice that the seven trumpets are all signifying the beginning of the seven last plagues. The judgment of this fourth trump signifies the beginning of God’s judgment upon our ‘sun’, our source of light and knowledge, and the plagues “fill up the wrath of God” on this ‘sun” part of our lives. This fourth trumpet begins to reveal just how ignorant of Christ we are, how ‘in the dark’ as we live in the light of our ‘sun.’ It begins to reveal how ‘in the dark’ we are while thinking our ignorance and ‘darkness’ is ‘light’ and understanding. Christ has already made us aware of this fourth trump with these words:

Mat 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light [our ‘sun’] that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

The fourth vial is not limited to “a third part”. Therefore it is only when the Lord’s wrath against the kingdom of our old man is “filled up” in our lives that we are made to see and understand just how complete our apostasy from the doctrines of Christ is:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 16:8  And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Rev 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

The symbolism of blaspheming God for being scorched with the Sun is just another way of telling us that the Truth of Christ is beginning to show us just how great the darkness we are in is (Mat 6:23).

What is the moon that is smitten with darkness?

3) What is the ‘moon,’ and why is it “smitten with darkness?”

We have already shown that the moon is called “the lesser light,” and it was placed in the heavens “to rule the night.”

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.

The moon has no light in itself. All the moon can do is reflect some of the light of the sun and “rule the night” with its much “lesser light.” This ‘lesser light’ is displayed in the honor which thieves have for each other and the pride they take in their thievery, and the pride that a stumbling alcoholic takes in his drunkenness and the pride homosexuals loudly proclaim in their perverseness.

At times the earth comes between the sun and the moon, and there is no light at all from the moon. It is then that we realize that the light of the moon is of itself nothing more than darkness. The only ‘light’ the moon has is what it reflects from the Sun.

Once again it is Babylon’s doctrines in us which give us “the lesser light that rules the night” by reflecting a little of the light of the Sun. So the moon signifies our “bondwoman” mother, before we are, by the mercy of God, transformed into “the son of the freewoman.”  Once again, If our light is darkness, Christ is not yet ruling over His throne within us, and we are what very few have ever even heard of. We are “yet carnal… babes in Christ”:

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

We have all been in “darkness and the shadow of death,” and at “our wits’ end.” That is an essential part of this revelation which is these seven trumpets.

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Joh 5:33  Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
Joh 5:34  But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
Joh 5:35  He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
Joh 5:36  But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

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

Isa 60:19  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

The sun and the moon are both heavenly bodies. It is obvious that they are being used to signify our thoughts and our consciences while living in Babylon and living under the law. The literal moon has no mind to ‘confound’, and the literal sun has no conscience with which to experience ‘shame.’ Yet this is what Joel was quoting when warning Israel what the Lord would do to them for their stubborn rebellion against Him and His laws and His commandments:

What are “the moon and stars [that are] darkened [by] a third part?”

Like Joseph’s brothers, we think we are honorable men who would never steal a silver cup (Gen 44:8-9), and at the same time it is we who refuse to repent of selling our own brother into Egypt as a slave. That whole story of Joseph signifies us putting Christ on the cross. Like Job, we all think of ourselves as very good men who are “eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a champion to the widows” (Job 29:13-15). Like all of Christ’s apostles, we all think that we would never, ever deny our Lord (Mat 26:35). Until our moon is smitten and shines not for a third part of it, we are never made aware that it was our sins that killed our Lord, and that we have denied Him with an oath. This is the sun being turned into darkness and the moon into blood before we become the house of God to begin our continuing judgment.

Joe 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Eze 32:6  I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, [even] to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

“Man[kind] shall… live… by every [one of these] words (Mat 4:4). Which of “the things written therein”; which “words of the book of this prophecy [will we dare to] take away?” Even the apostles of the Lord kept the things written in His Word. Peter denied Christ right in front of the Lord as the Lord “looked upon Peter” (Luk 22:61). Peter was brought “to his wits’ end” (Psa 107:27) and “went out and wept bitterly” (Mat 26:75, Luk 22:62):

Luk 22:60  And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
Luk 22:61  And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62  And Peter went out, and wept bitterly [“At (his) wits’ end” (Psa 107:27)].

“All hope of being saved was taken away” from the apostle Paul and Luke when the sun and stars were darkened while they and all those with them were at the mercy of the sea for three weeks:

Act 27:20  And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away [“At their wits’ end” (Psa 107:27)].

We dare not add to nor take away from the Lord’s words which chronicle the ‘experience of evil [which] the Lord has given [us] to humble [us]”:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

The Lord gives us a solemn warning against adding to or taking anything from His Word:

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 [“the resurrection of life” (Joh 5:29)], and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.

What are the stars that are smitten with darkness?

4) What are the stars? We saw in the last verse of chapter one that stars are angels. The angels of these trumpets are God’s elect who “stand before God” and “keep the sayings of this prophecy.”

Rev 8:1  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

Zec 4:11  Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
Zec 4:12  And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden [oil] out of themselves?
Zec 4:13  And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these [be]? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

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

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

We are the ones who “keep the sayings of this book,” and it is we whose stars are smitten with darkness so that they shine not for a third of them. When our stars [the Lord sends us evil lying spirits] are darkened they work against us as we fight against God.

Jdg 5:20 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

“The stars obviously signify how the Lord used spirits to direct the events of that war just as he does in every war that has ever been fought.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

When we are not in the Lord’s presence it is because He has “put [us] out.” That is when:

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

When the Lord casts us out, there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”:

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Whether our stars are darkened or not, it is the working of our Lord.

Psa 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Jer 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

What is “the day?”

5) What is “the day”, and why is it dark for a third of the day?

“The day” all through scripture typifies the time we are in the light. The sun shines, and gives us light by which we see, in the ‘day’:

Joh 11:9  Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
Joh 11:10  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

 The ‘day’ is “the light of knowledge”:

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The day being darkened by a third signifies the process of judgment against the darkness of that ‘day’ which our old man considers ‘light.’ That is the symbolism of “one third of the day is darkened.” What we are being told is that this day of God’s judgment upon our old man is beginning, and it is getting dark, as these trumpets of judgment are being blown. It is only through judgment that we learn righteousness” and become “children of the day.”

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

There it is! The product of the Lord’s judgments, whether in this age or the next is always: “when thy judgments are in the earth, [Your seven seals being opened, seven trumpets being blown, and seven vials being poured out] the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15  That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Our God is “calling light out of darkness.” We will live by these words first. We will be darkened before we become children of the day.

Job 12:22  He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 2:9  But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

What is night?

6) What is night and why is the night darkened?

“Night,” we must remember, is called “the lesser light.”

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

The fact that the sun, moon and stars are all darkened, and the day and the night shine not for a third part of each, respectively, is a symbol which signifies how thorough this process of judging the darkness out of which we are being called is. Job 12:22, 2 Corinthians 4:6 and 1 Peter 2:9, all quoted above, are speaking of coming from darkness into light, and they are speaking of coming out of night into day. Night, throughout scripture typifies lack of knowledge, being deceived, living in darkness, ignorance and rebellion against the doctrines of Christ.

Joh 11:10  But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

Christ comes to us and begins His fiery work in us while we are yet in the darkness of deception and rebellion. He comes to us “in the night.” Christ does not come to us after we have decided to repent of our sins, as we have all been taught. It is He who comes to us “as a thief in the night” and then He “leads us [and drags us] to repentance.”

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: helkuo, ‘drag’] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth [Greek: ‘ago,’ brings, or drags] thee to repentance?

How is that accomplished?

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Summary

We have seen that the symbols of this fourth trumpet are:

1) the third part, which we have before demonstrated to be the symbol of the process of judgment into which this revelation takes us.

We have seen that:

2) the sun is the symbol of the greater light that rules our day and is the symbol of “the light of the knowledge of… God… in Christ.”

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We have seen that:

3) the moon has no light in and of itself, and is the “lesser light that rules the night,” out of which we are called.

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

We have seen that:

4) the stars are angels, and we saw that the angels that blow these trumpets, “stand before God,” just like the two candlesticks of Zechariah 4 and Revelation 11. We also saw again the verses in Revelation 19:10 and 22:9 which reveal that these angels are us, if indeed we are those who “keep the sayings of this book.”

We saw that:

5) the day is ruled by the sun and symbolizes the time of understanding and knowledge, which is being darkened by the falsehoods and heresies into which we are all predestined to fall.

Finally we saw that:

6) the night is the time of our walk which is ruled by the lesser light of the moon, and that it is out of this time of our walk that we are being called through the agency of this revelation of Jesus Christ.

Next week we will, Lord willing, begin our study of the last three trumpets of which we are warned:

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Here is what we are told of the first of these three trumpets after our sun, moon, and stars are “smitten with darkness so that the third part of them is darkened.” This first ‘woe’ is actually the 5th trumpet.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment [was] as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts [were] like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads [were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces [were] as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [ the teeth] of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings [was] as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power [was] to hurt men five months.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.

The Book of Joel – Chapter 2:1-11,  Part 1 – The Day of the Lord

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” –  Mal 4:5

[Study Aired July 27^{th 20}24]

The Day of the Lord

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 
Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 
Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 
Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 
Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 
Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 
Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? 

Introduction

The sequential step from “Repentance” studied in last week’s Chapter One of Joel is in rigid lockstep with the dreadfully enigmatic “The Day of the Lord”, the revelation of Jesus Christ signified in Revelations. For our former Babylonian selves, the obscure meaning of that term remained fearfully unsolved, regardless of our masking joyfulness with endless affirmations that “Jesus loves us” as we choked down the glazed death rings (doughnuts) and drank the awful coffee.

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. 

For the Berean student of Christ (Acts 17:10-15), and as far as joyfully receiving repetitive verses go, the following one in Matt 13 holds the key, yet it is equally baffling to the Babylonian mind. Even though Matt 13:10-17 was referring to the parable of the sower, Jesus’ answer to his Elect, primarily represented as the Apostles, though not solely named as such, ‘is, was, and will be‘ an ‘earth’ shattering realisation that it is only a very, very limited few who will be given to understand The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. It is they, alone, who in this age since the cross, and stealthy hidden in Gideon’s physical account, are given to go and fight the spiritual enemies within themselves as individual joints constituting the Bride of Christ.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias [Jehovah’s help], which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 

Gideon’s army (Jdg 7:18) is severely stripped from 32,000 to 300 men to fight the relatively massive Midianite army. In this case, the number 3 (3 x 100) carrying trumpets and lamps represents the progression of the Lord’s Elect, who see by the light of Christ’s spiritual word, the enemy in the dark and gloomy night approaching within and blow the war trumpet alarm to fight the giant enemies by Christ’s power and might, not by their strength.

Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped [like dogs, signifying faithful devotion] will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place [home, effectively back to symbolic Babylon].

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

This prelude brings us to the incredibly exciting understanding of “The Day of the Lord.”

Heb 3:15  As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
Heb 3:16  For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
Heb 3:17  And with whom was God [their Husband] angry [symbolically “bitter” – Col 3:19] for forty years? [because they couldn’t understand that He needed Shulamite-like kisses of espousal devotedness – Son 1:2] Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
Heb 3:19  So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.

Significations:

The first verse of today’s Study in Joel, Chapter Two, describes our formally fearful anticipation of “The Day of the Lord” in him being our enemy! In ancient Israel, an enemy was announced by blowing a trumpet. Today, after the cross, it is represented by Christ’s spiritual message to all to whom he has given ears to hear the trumpet and eyes to see the enemy and to spiritually divide the truth. It is the day of judgement first, “nigh at hand” for the Bride of Christ while she is in the flesh and for the remainder of the world represented as Gog and Magog, their ‘day of the Lord’ as unrefined spirit beings in the Resurrection to Judgement, the Lake of Fire.

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth [Gog and Magog as numerous as the stars of heaven] by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Christ’s Bride is the heavenly New Jerusalem above, who inherits Christ, him being “the holy mountain”; they, now in marriage, are unified as one ‘holy mountain’.

Isa 57:12  I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; 

Zec 8:3  Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and [New] Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. 

Our Lord’s holy mountain is established by much violence in our earth as Michael and his angels, meaning Christ, fight our battles within since Christ’s strength is made manifest in the ‘weaker vessel’ (1 Pet 3:7), the Woman, the Bride of Christ we hope and pray to be.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I [Christ] 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.

Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children [The Bride of Christ] of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land [you and I], if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Eze 33:3  If when he  [you and I] seeth the sword come upon the land [our spirit; our conscience], he blow the trumpet, and warn the people [Primarily, first judge yourself before you are capable of warning others, but not limited to your hypocritical self – 1 Cor 11:30];
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword [God’s word] come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

In the Gideon scriptures mentioned above, he represents Christ, and his 300 men are the selected Elect, having come out of the 32,000 men of Israel representing the world, fleeing Egypt and, later, Babylon, similarly and all spiritually representing Assyria, Sodom and Old Jerusalem. With three aspects of lust written in their hearts, they are the Lord’s selected faithful Elect, all remaining subject to (1) the lust of the eyes, (2) the lust of the flesh, and (3) the pride of life. This symbolises the progression (Number 3) of the Bride of Christ and the forgiveness of her lofty sins (pride) by her Lord’s faith and spirit.

Rev 11:8 And their [the joints of the Bride] dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Old Jerusalem, the disappearing Whore within each of us], which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where [Spiritually today if you hear his voice] also our Lord was crucified.

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.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he [the Bride alone since the cross] that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Isa 2:12  For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Isa 13:4  The noise of a multitude in the mountains, [Babylon within and the world] like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle [within the incipient Bride’s.
Isa 13:5  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land [of the Elect of God]. 
Isa 13:6  Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 

To the anxious Babylonian who unknowingly believes in “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4), ‘the day of the Lord’ is seen as one event of the outward return of Christ being witless of the obscure inference of a Second Resurrection, meaning, the Resurrection to Judgement. Even though he erroneously believes that Jesus loves him as he is, a certain doubt dogs his conscience because of verses such as Joel 2:2, and he dismisses it as a terrifying day for some other far worse sinner. Unwittingly for him, that day is the return of Christ, not for him, but for the Lord’s “little flock” Elect.

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [in one of the two resurrections]

Of course, ALL Christians confess their sins and call upon Christ’s name, not knowing that they worship “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4) since they insist upon eating and drinking their own doctrinal bread and water.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves [from Adam to the end of the One Thousand Year reign] shall hear his voice, 
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [the First Resurrection]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920 – meaning “judgement”, the Resurrection to Judgement resulting in salvation].

As former Babylonian Christians, verse 13 was all we needed to understand, as it speaks plainly, yet we did not grasp the meaning of “grace” in the following verse, which represents chastisement.

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

Grace is God’s “gracious love and favour.” But what does grace do for us? Well, when we sin, grace does much more abound with God’s loving Fatherly chastening and scourging until we are brought to see that it feels so good when we finally quit banging our heads against the wall of “turning grace into lasciviousness.” As formally did we, lasciviousness is precisely what our Babylonian brothers and sisters do. They think that they are solely saved by Christ’s work on the cross and that they don’t have to do anything because “Christ died for us, so we don’t have to die”! THAT IS LASCIVIOUSNESS – colloquially expressed as greasy grace.

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, [scourging, chastening, rebuking] grace did much more abound.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [G3811 – Paideuo- Phonetic: pahee-dyoo’-o – Definition: 1. to train children a. to be instructed or taught or learn b. to cause one to learn 2. to chastise a. to chastise or castigate with words, to correct] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Apart from the Bride of Christ, the entirety of mankind ever to exist, having unwittingly cast themselves as royalty and been thrown into the Lake of Fire, will most torturously, yet temporarily, while ‘chastising grace’ works its utterly devouring work, will assuredly give God the glory for its molten re-casting them as God’s fine gold.

Lam 4:1  How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Lam 4:2  The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 

Zec 9:3  And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets [Having cast her own righteousness]. 
Zec 9:4  Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire

Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city [Ephriam, Israel, Old Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom & Babylon – The Great Whore; you and I], that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

The Elect of God today, the Bride of Christ, has had her day of gloominess and thick darkness and is now joyfully receiving the ‘gloomy foreboding’ chastisement and eagerly being re-cast as her Lord’s fine gold in his image. At the First Resurrection, when Christ’s Bride ascends into Christ, her sisters and brothers remaining on Earth will, with loin loosening fear (As was King Belshazzar’s in Dan 5:1-7), bitterly lament for their day of darkness remaining throughout the One Thousand Year reign by Christ and his Christs (plural) rod of iron on into the early stages of the Resurrection to Judgement. Only then, and upon their acknowledgement of their waywardness, will their dawning glory break forth in Christ.

Luk 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luk 23:47  Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly [the Bride of Christ] this was a righteous man.
Luk 23:48  And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
Luk 23:49  And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things. 

Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

After the First Resurrection, Babylonian Christianity and the world will realise, with much consternation, that they are not resurrected to eternal life. They will experience fear, as “a great people”, the Bride of Christ keeps them in forced peace during the Thousand Year reign. Their future will remain jittery since they will see the apostles and other long-dead truthful followers of Christ now resurrected, similar to how Joseph’s brothers in Egypt felt when they found Joseph alive.

Continuing in the following verses of Joel, there is hidden “one event to all” mankind, beginning first with the Bride of Christ being devoured by her Lord’s fiery word. Upon her resurrection to life and inheriting her Lord as her Husband, she will be His very same fiery sword that prepares the world to be utterly consumed by fire from Eden at the end of the One Thousand Years when fire consumes Gog and Magog, the world.

Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

Eze 39:6  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [the entirety of mankind ever to have lived], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [age lasting fire until all mankind and the Devil and his angels are refined as gold in a furnace].

Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

At the beginning of the Resurrection to Judgment, the entire world will endure immense mental suffering, which will manifest as “blackness.” This is because every jot and title of the previous understanding of the Lord’s word is as dark as the curtains in Solomon’s temple that hide Christ and his Bride, who are likewise depicted as “black” to their understanding. As a result, people will believe that they are about to be engulfed in the lie of a physical eternal fire.

Son 1:5  I [The Shualmite who symbolises the Bride of Christ] am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem [the rest of the world], as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black [… it is useless in this day and age to understand me], because the sun [Christ, the noonday sun, burnt black all of her whoredoms] hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards [all symbolic 40,000 plus disunited Christian denominations realising that they are not invited to the wedding supper]; but mine own vineyard have I not kept [since, and now, Christ is her vinedresser and workmanship].

All in the Lake of Fire do not realise that the intense pain they feel is actually a part of their spiritual refinement, not literal burning while they are still alive since spirit bodies cannot die, but rather a much lengthier physical version of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s faith-building firey event (Dan 3:8-30). Those three young children (probably in their teens) no doubt felt dreadful consternation while being bound to be thrown alive into the furnace. Likewise, it is similar to Joseph’s brothers living every day for seventeen years with the expectation that Joseph will exact sudden fiery retribution upon them until their old man, their father, Jacob, died. Only then did they ever come to be at peace with their brother Joseph. The death of their old man signifies the ultimate end of the Lake of Fire coming upon the whole world as they come through that fiery experience, having been purified of the carnal-minded, rebellious old man.

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15  That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

It is Christ, our husband, who runs upon our proud walls and its embedded breasts like fortification towers of Old Jerusalem, denoting the formally proud yet, repentant Rahab-like whore we have been before we become purified by our Lord’s fire and made his Bride. The joints of the Bride, the Elect of God are the “they” who “run like mighty men”. Having been saved by Christ, she now goes forth in the Lake of Fire and likewise breaks down her sister Babylon’s proud walls and whorish ways.

Son 8:10  I [The Bride of Christ] am a wall, and my breasts like towers [having powerfully put off her whorish ways]: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.

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

Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall [not by chance] upon the sword, they shall not be wounded [H1214 – to cut off; gain by unrighteous violence].

The destruction of the Old Jerusalem we are is done in an orderly manner in Christ’s timing. We look forward to falling upon the sword of God’s word and are most certainly wounded in spirit and gained a contrite heart while yet we live.

Psa 118:16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

We are the city of Old Jerusalem being destroyed. God’s word enters through our eyes, which are the windows of the Lord’s spiritual understanding. Even though the wise virgins likewise sleep with the foolish, Christ, under cover of darkness, quietly puts his hand through the hole to the latch of our door.  Yet, and to the collapsing Babylonian world around us today in 2024, and at an undisclosed time of Christ’s imminent return, the Elect of God with him will climb upon the destroyed houses of man’s government and demonic spiritual ideologies. Christ’s wife, in iron rulership with him (Rev 2:27), will have come stealthily like a thief in the night yet in plain sight to force the Beast to submit to Christ.

Son 5:2  I [The wise virgins, the Bride of Christ] sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night [the dew is the ravishing life-giving word of God, enflamed by his kisses better than wine].
Son 5:3  I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? [He died, is resurrected and made pure and is returning to bless his Bride with her inheritance in Him]
Son 5:4  My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels [my heart ‘betwixt my breasts’, my seat of his spirit – Son 1:13] were moved for him.
Son 5:5  I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

(Myrrh is a dedicated anointing oil only for Aaron and his sons, representing the Bride of Christ and her priestly commission. It represents the pure unadulterated spiritual word of God. She, in unity with her husband, is anointed by him and made holy. Exo 30:32  Upon man’s flesh shall it [Myrrh] not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Exo 30:33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger [Expose Christ’s truth to a heritic], shall even be cut off from his people.)

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.

1Th 5:2-11  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, [who have perfect vision through the windows of their spiritual understanding] that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Most starkly, the following concluding verses of Joel’s expressions of The Day of the Lord are mirrored in Revelations, where Christ’s word (the sun) has become inky black to our collapsing world, and the 40,000 plus Babylonian Christian churches, depicted as the moon, worshipping “another Jesus” become even darker than the previous 2,000 years since the cross. At this point, Christ’s Christ, the “stars” with their testimony are likewise utterly hidden since their Lord has finished spiritually martyring them beneath him, their altar.

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

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

That “little season” has existed ever since the cross, yet, as seen in the spring growth of the fig tree, it is even at our door (Luk 21:29-33) and is to the Babylonian world, that dreadful Day of the Lord the Bride, paradoxically, has relished since understanding her jaw-dropping calling.

Lord willing, Christ has made the Bride ready for the ‘Return of her Lord’ in next week’s study.

Book of Obadiah – Oba 1:13 Thou Shouldest not have Entered into the Gate of My People

[Study Aired February 28, 2024]

Oba 1:13  Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

Oba 1:13  Thou shouldest not^H408 have entered^{H935 (H8799 Qal)} into the gate^H8179 of my people^H5971 in the day^H3117 of their calamity;^H343 yea,^H1571 thou^H859 shouldest not^H408 have looked^{H7200 (H8799 Qal)} on their affliction^H7451 in the day^H3117 of their calamity,^H343 nor^H408 have laid^{H7971 (H8799 Qal)} hands on their substance^H2428 in the day^H3117 of their calamity;^H343 

H408 – Al, not, no, nor, neither, nothing, do not, let not, let there not be, a negative particle

H935 – Bo, (Qal) to go, enter, come, come in/with/upon, fall or light upon, attack, come to pass, attain to, be enumerated, a primitive root

H8179 – Shahar, gate, from a primitive root H8176, Shawar, act as gate keeper, to split open, reason out, reckon, estimate, (Qal) to calculate, think Pro 23:7 (Used once in OT)

H5971 – Am, nation, people, persons, members of one’s people, compatriots, country-men, kinsman, kindred, from a primitive root H6004, Amam, to dim, darken, grow dark, eclipse, be held dark, be dimmed, grow dark (Used three times in OT)

H3117 – Yome, day, time, year, a working day, a day’s journey, days, lifetime, period (general), today, yesterday, tomorrow, from an unused root meaning to be hot

H343 – Ade, distress, burden, calamity, disaster, day of calamity from H181, Ood, brand, fire brand, (Used three times in OT) from an unused root meaning to rake together

H1571 – Gam, also, even, indeed, moreover, yea, neither, neither…nor, but, yet, though, yea though, again, alike, by contraction from an unused root

H859 – Attah, you, a primitive pronoun of the second person

H408 – see above

H7200 – Ra’ah, (Qal) to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider, have vision, regard, look after/at, see after, learn about, observe, watch, look upon/out, find out, give attention to, discern, distinguish, gaze at, a primitive root

H7451 – Ra, bad, evil, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, evil, worse than, worst, sad, unhappy, unkind, wicked, distress, misery, injury, calamity, adversity, injury, wrong, from a primitive root H7489, Rawah, to be bad, be evil, be displeasing, be sad, be injurious, be wicked, do an injury or hurt, do evil or wickedly, mischief, to break, to shatter, broken, be broken, be broken in pieces, be broken asunder

H3117 – see above

H343 – see above

H408 – see above

H7971 – Shalach, (Qal) to send, send away, stretch out, extend, direct, let loose, a primitive root

H2428 – Khayil, strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army, ability, force, from a primitive root H2342, Khool, to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained, whirl, whirl about, bear, bring forth, wait anxiously, be made to writhe/bear, be brought forth, be born, whirling, writhing, suffering torture, wait longingly, be distressed (Used five times in OT)

H3117 – see above

H343 – see above

H5971 (‘Am meaning a people, a flock) is from the root word H6004 aw-mam’ A primitive root meaning to associate; by implication to overshadow (by huddling together): – become dim, hide.

This root word appears three times in the Old Testament:

Lam 4:1  How is the gold become dim [H6004]! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Lam 4:2  The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

It appears in the prophecy against the Prince of Tyre.

Ezk 28:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Ezk 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
Ezk 28:3  Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide [H6004] from thee:
Ezk 28:4  With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Ezk 28:5  By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
Ezk 28:6  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
Ezk 28:7  Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

It also appears in the prophecy of Ezekiel 31. Similar to the prophecy against the Prince of Tyre, the Egyptian Pharoah has a heart lifted up, a proud heart: “Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height).”

We reap what we sow, and the consequences of a proud heart and striving to be tall in stature, striving to be counted worthy of respect, is that we are brought down:

Ezk 31:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezk 31:2  Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
Ezk 31:3  Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing [H6751] shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
Ezk 31:4  The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
Ezk 31:5  Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
Ezk 31:6  All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow [H6738] dwelt all great nations.
Ezk 31:7  Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
Ezk 31:8  The cedars in the garden of God could not hide [H6004] him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
Ezk 31:9  I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Ezk 31:10  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
Ezk 31:11  I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
Ezk 31:12  And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people [H5971] of the earth are gone down from his shadow [H6738] , and have left him.
Ezk 31:13  Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches…

Ezk 31:18  To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

A word related to H6004 aw-mam’ (meaning to overshadow (by huddling together) is shadow.

Shadow appears as three Hebrew words:

H6751 (tsaw-lal’) a primitive root meaning to hover over, to shade, twilight, beginning to be dark, shadowing. (2 appearances)

H6752 (tsay’-lel) meaning shade, shadow (4 appearances)

H6738 (tsale) meaning shade, whether literally or figuratively: – defence, shade (-ow) [49 appearances)

Sng 2:17  Till the day doth break forth, And the shadows [H6752] have fled away, Turn [H5437], be like, my beloved, To a roe, or to a young one of the harts, On the mountains of separation!

We are instructed to turn from (avoid) our shadows (our time in the night) and be more like Christ. The Hebrew word for turn is H5437 saw-bab’ meaning to revolve/change

Ezk 7:22  My face will I turn [H5437] also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.

It is our day of calamity that is our day of judgment. The trials that occur in the heat of the day are what force us to turn from our shadows (our time in the night). This day of calamity is the destruction of the old man and his old ways, and judgment is now on the house of God. It is the brightness of Christ that produces in us a desire to daily turn from (avoid) our shadows.

Calamity H343 ‘êyd is from the same as H181 (firebrand, raking together) (in the sense of bending down); oppression; by implication misfortune, ruin: – calamity, destruction.

Jer 49:7  Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
Jer 49:8  Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity [H343] of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.
Jer 49:9  If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
Jer 49:10  But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

Even when we sit in the darkness, we are not able to hide ourself, and we are saved by the light of Christ.

Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness [H2822], the LORD shall be a light unto me.

The word for darkness is H2822 (kho-shek’) meaning dark, misery, ignorance, death. The corresponding Greek word is G4655 (skot’-os) meaning darkness, shadiness, obscurity.

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Pro 2:10 When wisdom [Christ] entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Pro 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness

Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Mankind, in his darkened, black, fleshly, carnal state cannot see even his righteousnesses are filthy rags and that God creates both light and darkness.

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [hidden in the ‘letters’ of the Old Testament].

1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light [out of the letter and into the spirit]:

Psa 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Conclusion and Spiritual Principle. We are first darkness because we are all in Adam (the first Adam shall die), but through Christ we are turned from darkness to light (in Christ all shall be made alive), but each man in his own order.

Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Luk 1:79  To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

[Study Aired May 16, 2022]

Exo 10:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: 
Exo 10:2  And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD. 
Exo 10:3  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. 
Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
Exo 10:5  And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
Exo 10:6  And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Exo 10:8  And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
Exo 10:9  And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
Exo 10:10  And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 
Exo 10:11  Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. 
Exo 10:12  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 
Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 
Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 
Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 
Exo 10:16  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 
Exo 10:17  Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only. 
Exo 10:18  And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 
Exo 10:19  And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. 
Exo 10:20  But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go. 
Exo 10:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 
Exo 10:22  And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 
Exo 10:23  They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 
Exo 10:24  And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 
Exo 10:25  And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 
Exo 10:26  Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. 
Exo 10:27  But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 
Exo 10:28  And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 
Exo 10:29  And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. 

In the previous study, we saw that the plagues were having an effect on Pharaoh, as he came to admit that he and his people are wicked, but the Lord is righteous. He also agreed that the people of Israel should go and worship the Lord but that they should not go far. All these are to make us aware that the death of the old man or the flesh (Pharaoh) is a process, and that the mindset of the old man is that we can worship the Lord and still conform to the standards of this world.

We can see that the judgments (the plagues) were becoming increasingly grievous as we went from one plague to another. This increase in the intensity of judgment is to let us know that the Lord always prepares us to be able to bear His judgment. It is just like schooling; the test we pass in primary school cannot be compared with the examination we sit in the university. In a similar way, our trials increase in intensity as we mature in the things of God. However, the Lord prepares us adequately, so we can be able to bear our trials leading to the death of our old man.

1Ch 29:18  O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Job 11:13  If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; 

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

Today’s study continues with the Lord’s judgment of our old man (Pharaoh). Here we encounter the eighth and ninth plagues of the invasion of locusts and the covering of the land of Egypt with thick darkness. Let’s see what the Lord wants to achieve in our lives by sending us these plagues.

Exo 10:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: 
Exo 10:2  And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.

One of the key lessons the Lord wants us to learn is that the resistance to the things of the Lord by the old man within us, signified by the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, is all of the Lord. The Lord causes us to resist Him so that He will show us His signs.  In verse 2, we are given a reason for the Lord’s signs in Egypt – that we may know the Lord!! Indeed, the Lord’s ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts!! His wisdom is beyond comprehension. So, all our rebellious attitude toward the Lord at a certain point of our walk will lead us to know the Lord!!

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 

In the scriptures, additional reasons are given by the Lord for hardening our hearts and making it possible for Him to show us His signs and wonders. 

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Heb 2:4  God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

These verses in Hebrews show us that the Lord is delivering us through His signs and wonders to possess this great salvation. This salvation which the Lord is preparing on our behalf is precious. Let us not throw away this salvation when things don’t go the way we envisage as if the Lord does not care about us. On the contrary, these suffering are the signs and wonders of the Lord’s deliverance. Were the plagues meant for enjoyment? No, they produced significant suffering to the people in Egypt, and the Lord is saying here in Hebrews 2:4 that they serve as a witness of the great salvation the Lord is preparing for us.

The signs and the wonders (the plagues) also testify that the Lord will intervene in our circumstance in all the things we are afraid of in this life!! 

Deu 7:19  The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid. 

What are you afraid of? That what you are going through may kill you? That your children may be wayward? That you may not be able to take care of your family? Surprisingly, the suffering we are going through is part of the Lord’s plague (signs and wonders) in our lives is to destroy our fears so that we may walk in this life without fear!!

Another reason why the Lord hardens our heart just like Pharaoh is so that with His outstretched arms and mighty hands, he will perform signs and wonders in our lives to make us aware that God is with us!! Just as the tempest rose when the disciples were crossing the sea in a boat with Jesus also in the boat, we must come to understand that the Lord is with us!!

1Sa 10:7  And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

Finally, the signs and wonders of these plagues in our lives are also to assure us that the Lord will deliver us from our enemies (the beast within and everything that opposes us and seeks to destroy us).

Dan 6:27  He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

Exo 10:3  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

The Lord’s desire to get rid of the old man (Pharaoh) within us is reiterated here in verse 3 where the Lord told Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let His people go so that they can serve Him. As long as the beast reigns within our members, there is no way we can please or serve the Lord. Here in this verse, we are told that the old man is proud and refuses to humble himself before the Lord. This means that if we refuse to humble ourselves before our brothers and sisters who represent Christ, then the old man or the beast within us is dominating us. For example, our refusal to submit to counsel by our brothers and sisters or our elders (Moses and Aaron) are all signs that the beast within us (Pharaoh) is alive and active.  We must humble ourselves under the Lord’s mighty hand so that in the fullness of time, He will lift us up.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Submitting ourselves to God includes submitting to the counsel of our brothers and sisters. That is one way of resisting the devil to flee from us.

The Plague of Locusts

Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: 
Exo 10:5  And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot tbe able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: 
Exo 10:6  And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

To understand the spiritual significance of the plague of locust, let’s visit the Books of Joel and Revelation, where there was an invasion of locusts, and this is what happened:

Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. 
Joe 1:5  Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 
Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 
Joe 1:8  Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 

Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 

Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 

Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

Comparing Joel chapter 1 with that of Revelation 9:7, we can deduce that the invasion of locusts represents evil workers who are false apostles but appear to us as those carrying the truth of the gospel (On their heads are crowns of gold). This is confirmed in Joel 2:4 where the appearance of these evil men are described as that of horses. This same description is given in Revelation 9:7. These evil workers or locusts have tails like scorpions as shown in Revelation 9:10. As we are aware, the tail here means that these workers teach lies which cause us a lot of pain during our time in Babylon.

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

This is what Paul said about these false apostles:

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

There are two things we can learn from this verse. First, we, the elect, are a snare to both people of the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon just as Moses became a snare to the people of Egypt.

Jer 50:24  I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. 

During our time in Babylon, we were striving against the Lord and His elect who became a snare against us. This paved the way for the Lord to come with His judgment. In other words, this snare is the opportunity the Lord is seeking, to come and judge us.

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Secondly, verse 7 also assures us that through the tribulations we are facing, the old man or the beast within us is being destroyed. This is made obvious by the statement of Pharaoh’s servants, admitting that Egypt is destroyed.

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: 

Exo 10:8  And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
Exo 10:9  And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
Exo 10:10  And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 
Exo 10:11  Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

The old man within us, represented by Pharaoh, does not want us to serve the Lord wholeheartedly as portrayed by Pharaoh asking Moses to let only the men go and serve the Lord leaving behind the children, women and their possessions. Serving the Lord demands our all, and without that, there is no way we can please the Lord. The Lord makes this clear to us as follows:

Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 
Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 

Psa 103:1  A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 

Pharaoh’s request for Moses to go with the men and leave behind the cattle, the women and children has spiritual significance. As we are aware, the Israelite women represent the church. Leaving behind women as we go to serve the Lord means we are ignoring the importance of the church in our worship of the Lord. The importance of the church in our spiritual development cannot be overemphasized. It is through what every joint supplies that we become mature in our relationship with the Lord. Without the church, we would be blown about by every wind of doctrine. We are perfected by the church.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 
Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

Children are the result of the union between a husband and wife. Thus, children spiritually represent the righteousness of Christ that we attain through our union with Christ. Leaving behind the children to serve the Lord therefore implies ignoring the goal of our walk with Christ to bear His righteousness.

1Jn 3:10  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Leaving behind the cattle to go into the desert to worship the Lord means ignoring our means of livelihood to go and serve the Lord.

Zec 13:5  But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

What leaving our cattle to serve the Lord means spiritually is ignoring the need to work for a living while serving the Lord. This is what Paul had to say about this:

Act 20:34  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 
Act 20:35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Exo 10:12  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 
Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 
Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 
Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 

These verses highlight the coming of the plague of locusts and the destruction they caused. From Joel chapter 1, we can see the effects of the invasion by locusts.

Joe 1:9  The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn. 
Joe 1:10  The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. 
Joe 1:11  Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 
Joe 1:12  The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 

Joe 1:15  Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 
Joe 1:16  Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 

Joe 1:18  How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 
Joe 1:19  O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 
Joe 1:20  The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. 

The locust destroys all tree-bearing fruits in the field. Since we were carnal or worldly, even the little goodness in us is taken away, and we become worse off.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

The invasion of locusts makes the flock of sheep desolate because there is no food (Joel 1:18). As the Lord’s flock, the famine of the word of the Lord makes us desolate, forcing us to leave Babylon for greener pastures of the word of the Lord.

The rivers of water are dried up and the beasts of the field cry. Because of famine of the truth of the word of Christ, we, as beasts, are pained and therefore, cry out to the Lord for help.

Exo 10:16  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 
Exo 10:17  Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only. 
Exo 10:18  And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 

Pharaoh’s admission that he had sinned is to let us know the deceitful nature of the old man within us. In the previous chapter (8), Pharaoh also admitted that he had sinned. However, these sins committed do not lead to godly sorrow which leads to repentance. Pharaoh’s admission of sin is just the sorrow of the world which works death.

2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Exo 10:19  And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.

It is very insightful to note that the Lord turned on a strong west wind which caused the locusts to be cast into the Red sea. The west can signify the sea as shown in the following:

Eze 47:20  The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.

What this means is that all flesh (the sea) is a repository of evil and so every person who is dominated by the flesh is a potential locust (evil worker) to be used by the Lord to hurt His elect as part of His judgment against our flesh. That is why the Lord told us that He is sending us as sheep among wolves (evil workers or locust) in this world.

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 

The fact that the flesh is a repository of locusts is confirmed in Revelation chapter 9 where the locusts come out of the bottomless pit which represents the sea of flesh.

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 

Exo 10:20  But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

As we have said earlier, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, or our old man, by the Lord is for our benefit. This is shown as follows:

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

The Lord hardening Pharaoh’s heart, or causing the old man within us to resist Him, is for us to appreciate the mercies of the Lord and to learn to show mercy as a result. This is not obvious when we are frustrated by our old man within us as we resist the Lord. However, in the final analysis, we shall come to know His mercies. One of the qualities that the Lord is inculcating within us is being merciful. This is because it is through the mercies we have received that we can show mercy to the masses of humanity which will result in the ultimate salvation of the whole world. Therefore, inasmuch as we need the Lord’s mercy, we must also show mercy to others in our daily lives.

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.

Another lesson we can learn from the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is that we come to see that this battle against the flesh is not our fight. It is the work of the Lord to deliver us from the old man or the flesh. By ourselves we can do nothing. As we can see, the resistance put up by Pharaoh is incomprehensible. That is why the beast within or the old man is compared to a mountain. A mountain can only be removed, not by might nor by power, but by the spirit of the Lord!! It is the word of Christ that destroys this mountain or the old man.

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

The Plague of Darkness

Exo 10:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 
Exo 10:22  And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 
Exo 10:23  They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

The question is, “What is the spiritual significance of darkness?” The coming of Christ is the coming of light. So, Christ is the same as light, and light is the same as the word of the Lord. It is when light comes that we begin to see. Seeing means that we come to understand the mysteries of the word of the Lord. Darkness is the absence of light. This means that darkness refers to the absence of Jesus or the absence of the understanding of the word of the Lord. 

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 
Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

Psa 119:105  Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 

The plague of darkness is therefore the absence of the word of the Lord during our sojourn in this world and Babylon. This is contrasted with the presence of light in the camp of the Israelites who represent the elect. We, the elect, are given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. However, to the people of the world and to our Babylonian brothers and sisters, it is all darkness – that is, they are not given to know Christ or the mysteries of the kingdom. The fact that the darkness covered the land of Egypt for three days is to let us know this is all part of the process of spiritual maturity through judgment.

Exo 10:24  And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 
Exo 10:25  And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 
Exo 10:26  Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.

As we have explained earlier, leaving behind the cattle to go into the desert to worship the Lord means ignoring the rearing of cattle as a means of livelihood to go and serve the Lord. That is what our old man (Pharaoh) delights in.

Zec 13:5  But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. 

What leaving our cattle to serve the Lord means spiritually is ignoring the need to work for a living while serving the Lord. The effect of ignoring the need to work brings about the fleecing of the church as we see Babylonian pastors do. However, there may be times the church may support some of our brothers and sisters for various reasons for a period. This is what Paul had to say about this:

Act 20:34  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 
Act 20:35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Peter warned us about those leaders who fleece the flock of the Lord:

2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 

Exo 10:27  But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 
Exo 10:28  And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 
Exo 10:29  And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. 

We have explained earlier the need for the Lord to harden Pharaoh’s heart. It is for our sake.  In verse 28, Pharoah stated that he does not want to see Moses again, of which Moses also affirmed that he will not see Pharaoh’s face again. Not beholding Pharaoh’s face again is the same as saying that the old man or the beast within shall not dominate us again. In other words, its death has come!!

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

We are grateful to the Lord that He has brought us this far. Our confidence is that, like Moses, we shall not see Pharaoh (the old man) again as the Lord is able to bring to completion what He has started!! May His name be praised!! Amen!!

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

Psa 139:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Psa 139:2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Psa 139:3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
Psa 139:4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Psa 139:5  Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
Psa 139:6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

“And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight” Heb 4:13

Psa 139:7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Psa 139:11  If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Psa 139:13  For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

“Fear not, thou worm Jacob” Isa 41:14

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psa 139:17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

“Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume” 2Th 2:8

Psa 139:19  Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Psa 139:20  For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psa 139:21  Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psa 139:22  I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

There are four distinct parts to this Psalm 139; the first describing God’s omnipotence, the second section giving us insight as to how God sees all of His creation, the third section more specifically how He sees the church, the body of Christ the workmanship of His hands, and the fourth describes how God brings light out of darkness through the judgment upon the church (1Pe 4:17). That judgment brings us to loathe sin and have a strong desire to overcome all wickedness in this age through Christ so that we can be blessed and holy to have our part in the first resurrection (Rev 20:6).

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

Psa 139:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

This first verse sets the stage for this Psalm to help us see that God is not searching us out because He doesn’t know us, anymore than He did not know where Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:9, Heb 4:13-14). Rather, God is judging the elect today for whom these verses are initially written and bringing us to give an accounting for who we are in Adam so we can become a new creation through this process of having the Lord bring us to know ourselves in Him (Pro 20:27-30, 2Co 13:5).

Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

Pro 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Pro 20:28  Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
Pro 20:29  The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
Pro 20:30  The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

God’s elect are “chief musicians” meaning we are first fruits or principle players in His spiritual orchestra which he is orchestrating (Joh 15:5) and glorifying God through the judgment we are experiencing that will in turn make the body of Christ ready (Rev 19:2-8) to be those kings and priests whom God has predestined for the very purpose of judging the rest of His creation (Rev 5:10, Oba 1:21).

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

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

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.

Psa 139:2  Thou knowest my downsitting^H3427 and mine uprising^H6965, thou understandest my thought afar off.

God knows the desires of our hearts because He is the one who has put those desires there in the first place (Psa 21:2, Psa 139:14-15), and God understands our thoughts afar off, our downsitting^H3427 and uprising^H6965 because they were ordained from the foundation of the world that we would continue in the Lord, or “continue in the blood of her purifying” as it is described in the old covenant for a woman who had conceived a man child (Eph 1:4-6, Lev 12:2-4, Joh 8:31-32).

H3427 yaw-shab’ downsitting

A primitive root; properly to sit down (specifically as judge, in ambush, in quiet); by implication to dwell, to remain; causatively to settle, to marry: –  (make to) abide (-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell (-ing), ease self, endure, establish, X fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit (-ant), make to keep [house], lurking, X marry (-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set (-tle), (down-) sit (-down, still, -ting down, -ting [place] -uate), take, tarry.

H6965 koom uprising

A primitive root; to rise (in various applications, literally, figuratively, intensively and causatively): – abide, accomplish, X be clearer, confirm, continue, decree, X be dim, endure, X enemy, enjoin, get up, make good, help, hold, (help to) lift up (again), make, X but newly, ordain, perform, pitch, raise (up), rear (up), remain, (a-) rise (up) (again, against), rouse up, set (up), (e-) stablish, (make to) stand (up), stir up, strengthen, succeed, (as-, make) sure (-ly), (be) up (-hold, -rising).

Psa 21:2  Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Lev 12:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. [Lev 14:5-6]
Lev 12:3  And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Lev 12:4  And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. [Lev 14:7, Rev 15:8]

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Abraham’s seed was only typical of the holy seed God is forming through Christ (Gal 3:16), so they answered him in the next verse: “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” Joh 8:33

Psa 139:3  Thou compassest^H2219 my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

What exactly is happening when we follow Christ is that we are losing our life and gaining His life (Mat 10:39, Joh 3:30) by way of the winnowing process we are undergoing as the first fruits who are being ripened through judgment in this life (Mat 3:12).

H2219 zârâh zaw-raw’ compassest

A primitive root (compare H2114); to toss about; by implication to diffuse,  winnow: – cast away, compass, disperse, fan, scatter (away), spread, strew, winnow.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

We are His wheat which He is gathering into His garner, even as He burns up the chaff with unquenchable fire within us. When He “compassest^H2219 my path and my lying down“, it is through this process of judgment that we come to cease from sinning (1Pe 4:1, 2Ti 2:12) as our faith becomes tried in the fire that compasses us.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Being “acquainted with all my ways“, the good and the evil, the Lord knows how to deliver us from all sin (1Pe 1:7, Pro 16:4, 1Co 10:13, 1Jn 2:1).

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

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

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Psa 139:4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

All our days are numbered and written in His book (Psa 139:16 – ASV), and this message is prophesied and spoken of throughout the word of God, every book written, and every book being written and that will be written doing exactly what God ordained that specific book to do for the overall purpose of bringing all of His creation unto salvation through Christ. Our God is so great that He writes these books in advance and says, “This is what I’m going to do declaring the end from the beginning” (1Co 15:28, Gen 4:4-7, Isa 46:10).

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

1Co 15:28  And when all things [Eph 1:11] have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.

Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

[Through the grace and faith of Christ, we bring this fat to God which is our whole life being given as a living sacrifice (Eph 2:8, Rom 12:1, Eph 1:11)]

Gen 4:5  but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. [In our appointed time, this is us (Pro 16:4, Eph 1:11]
Gen 4:6  And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it. [In other words, in time Cain will be saved, but in the order that God has ordained]

Let’s look at these following verses (Jer 1:9-12, Joh 3:27, Heb 10:7) which witness to the fact that “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether“

Jer 1:9  Then Jehovah put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:
Jer 1:10  see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said Jehovah unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.

Joh 3:27  John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven.

Psa 139:5  Thou hast beset^H6696 me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

This fifth verse explains what happens when God’s hand is on us “behind and before” encompassing us in the fire which purifies our hearts as we are sanctified through His word that is used to “beset^H6696″ our old man and bring us into alignment with the will of God (Isa 40:3).

The word “beset^H6696” really shows us what God is doing to our old man so that we can cease from sinning and live the rest of our lives to the will of God (1Pe 4:2, Joh 6:40)

H6696 tsûr tsoor  beset 

A primitive root; to cramp, that is, confine (in many applications, literally and figuratively, formative or hostile): – adversary, assault, beset, besiege, bind (up), cast, distress, fashion, fortify, inclose, lay siege, put up in bags.

1Pe 4:2  that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Joh 6:40  For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Psa 139:6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Like the miracle of physical birth [Both of these verses are to be understood inwardly (1Th 5:3, Joh 16:21)] that typifies our being born again and finally brought to mature sonship in the Lord (Eph 4:13), the journey that gets us there is through knowledge that is “too wonderful for me“, meaning it is too high for our old man to understand.  However, with the mind of Christ it is very possible to understand and see and hear as the spirit searches all things, even the deep things of Christ which we see through a glass darkly, a glass that represents our earnest relationship in the flesh (Eph 1:14). David was inspired to say these words for our benefit so we don’t forget the journey that we are on as the body of Christ being “fearfully and wonderfully made”, and we can rest in the Lord knowing that “Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written” (1Co 2:14-16, 1Co 2:10).

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.

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Next time, Lord willing, we will continue with the 2nd part of this study subtitled “And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight” Heb 4:13.

Psa 139:7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Psa 139:11  If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Psa 139:13  For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

Isa 50:1-5 The Lord Hath Opened my Ear - Discussion

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Isa 50:1-5 The Lord Hath Opened My Ear

[Study Aired November 24, 2019]

Isa 50:1  Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. 
Isa 50:2  Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. 
Isa 50:3  I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. 
Isa 50:4  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 
Isa 50:5  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

The fact that the scriptures begin with the story of the physical creation testifies to the theme of all the rest of scripture. That theme is: ‘the vessel… of clay [Adam] was marred in the Potter’s hand, so He is making it again, another vessel, as it seems good to the Potter to make it.’

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 CLV correctly interprets Jeremiah 18:4 in the Qal stem:

“and marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he has turned and he makes it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make.” (CLV)

The Qal stem in Hebrew equates to the aorist tense in the Greek. Both are spoken with no regard to any tense, but rather are a simple statement of fact. In other words, the message being delivered is a simple true statement of fact. In this case, the fact is God “is making” His clay creature, Adam and all in him, into another vessel, a “new man”, made with the spirit and mind of God.

What is not said in Jeremiah 18:4 is that in the process of making the “vessel of clay another vessel” the Lord Himself has made a “day of evil” for “the vessel of clay”:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

So, the Truth of the Lord’s Word is purposely contained only in its “sum”, and it cannot be known by quoting only one verse of scripture:

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

If we know and believe the Lord has made all things for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil, then we must accept the fact that Isaiah 50:1 is part of “the day of evil” for which the Lord’s harlot wife was made:

Isa 50:1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

The words “Your mother” are addressed to this “great harlot” (Rev 17:4). Notice how the holy spirit goes from “your mother” to “I have sold you”. Then it goes from “your transgressions” back to “your mother”. The fact is that these words are being spoken to “whosoever reads” (Mat 24:15), and to any of the Lord’s people to whom He has given eyes that see and ears that hear… the things of the spirit” (Mat 13:9-15 and 1Co 2:13-14). This “great harlot” is none other than God’s own first wife, whom He Himself labels as a harlot in this very prophecy of Isaiah:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

Has any of this taken the Lord by surprise? Is the Lord wringing His hands because of our adulterous ways? Absolutely not! The Truth is that He is “working all things after the counsel of His own will… for our good (Eph 1:11 and Rom 8:28).

After “[He] has made us to err” He will then “return the tribes of His inheritance” by chastening and judging us for our sins, and dragging us back to Himself.

It is all written in each of our books before we were ever born:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

Look at the very next few verses which are part of the introduction to this entire prophecy:

Isa 1:26  And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Isa 1:27  Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
Isa 1:28  And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

The “transgressors and… sinners” are our rebellious carnal mind which is destroyed within us by the fire of His Words. That is accomplished in very few indeed in this age, but through those who are chosen in this age, the carnal mind of “every man” will be destroyed in “the lake of fire… the second death… prepared for the devil and His angels”:

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

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.

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

The only works which “abide” the fire are works which are purified by fire. All others are burned up by the fire, and the ‘fire’ is the Word of God (Deu 33:2; Jer 5:14; Jer 20:9; 23:9, Rev 11:5). Only those who overcome the lies and false doctrines of the adversary during “this present time… shall receive a reward”. This “reward” for those whose works endure the fire is contrasted with the “man [whose] works are burned” who “shall suffer loss” of the reward given to those who are in the first resurrection (Rev 20:1-6).

Contrary to what we have all been taught about those whose works are burned up by the fire, notice what we are told about what that fire does to “every man”:

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 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire [“the lake of fire”, Rev 20:14-15).

The “fire” of scripture is not designed to torment with no other purpose in view, rather, as a symbol of the word of God, it is designed to chasten and scourge us until we repent of our rebellions and sins. Repentance which produces the “fruits of repentance” is the fruit of the fires which “shall try every man’s works of what sort it is”.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

This is all exactly what the Lord tells us He does to us when we commit spiritual adultery against Him:

Isa 50:2  Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

The Lord poses two questions: 1) Why when I came was there no man? and 2) Why was there none to answer? Does anyone really believe the Lord did not know the answer to those questions? If so, why then does He go on to ask two more questions: 1) Is My hand shortened at all that I cannot redeem? Or 2) Have I no power to deliver? Then He goes on to demonstrate that He has all the power in the world to redeem and to deliver just as He delivered Israel out of Egypt: “Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.”

To answer the Lord’s questions in the bluntest of terms, the Lord Himself reveals this to be the reason “there… was… no man… when [He] came, [and] there was none to answer”:

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

“All these things happened unto [Israel of old], and they are written for our admonition… (1Co 10:11), and Christ tells us the same was true of “those Jews which believed on Hm” but could not “continue in His word”. The Israel and Jews during Christ’s days in the flesh were the same as the Jews and Israel of old. Christ tells us of both, “(His) Word had no place in [them]” (Joh 8 37):

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

One tool the spirit uses to keep the truth hidden right out in the open is the fact that the Word of God is both light and darkness as is demonstrated by that cloud which is Christ at the Red Sea:

Exo 14:18  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the  camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

The very same “pillar of the cloud” which was darkness to the Egyptians was “light by night” to the Lord’s Israel.

That “pillar of the cloud” was Christ, and He had the same effect upon men when He “emptied Himself” of His divinity and came down to this earth in the form of a man.

Php 2:6  who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Php 2:7  but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;

So Christ “emptied Himself“ of His divinity to come down into the realm of the flesh, which is the realm of death. He is no longer a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and yet even in His humbled position as sinful flesh (2Co 5:21), He still has the effect of being light to those who are His and darkness to those who are not His.

As it was when Christ was in the flesh, so it is now. It is those “who believed on Him who wanted to kill Him because they “[could] not receive [His] words”:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
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.

That is “the doctrine of Christ”:

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

That doctrine has never changed. From Genesis to Revelation Christ has always taught “Many are called but few are chosen… in this present time” (Mat 22:14 and Rom 8:18). Israel was typically “the fewest of all people”:

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

“The doctrine of Christ” has always taught that the natural was first “and afterward that which is spiritual” (1Co 15:44-46). He has always taught that the seed of the serpent would first wound the heel of the seed of the woman, then the seed of the woman, Christ, would in the end bruise the head of the seed of the serpent, who Christ has just informed us includes “those… which believed on Him”.

The point being made by “the doctrine of Christ” is that He makes all things for Himself, to the extent that He “makes the wicked for the day of evil” [and He] forms light and darkness and He creates evil. These are His own words:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

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

The Lord explains why “there was no man… when He came [and] when [He] called, there was none to answer”. Here it is in His own words:

Isa 50:3  I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. 

We have demonstrated in previous studies that when the Lord speaks of “the heavens and the earth” He is speaking of our heavens and our earth:

Job 37:2  Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.
Job 37:3  He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

Lam 2:1  How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

There are few indeed who understand how Christ could be in heaven while He was on earth:

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is [Greek present tense] in heaven.

Read this Biblically-based study entitled ‘What and Where Is Heaven’ to understand how the Lord can say He “covers the heavens with darkness”: http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/what-and-where-is-heaven-2009/

‘Darkness’ in scripture symbolizes the absence of Truth and lack of understanding. The healing of the man who was born blind in John 9 typifies how every man is first born spiritually blind “…that the works of God should be made manifest in [us]”:

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

The total spiritual darkness of the ‘heavens’ of our old man is the “darkness” with which the Lord “covers [our] heavens” before he does this:

Isa 50:4  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 
Isa 50:5  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

This all happened to Isaiah, and it is written for our admonition (1Co 10:11). But why has the Lord chosen us instead of people who are without a doubt far more qualified to speak and to lead others than we are?

The Lord wants us to understand why He has chosen us and why He has “opened [our] ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”:

Deu 9:3  Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
Deu 9:4  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.
Deu 9:5  Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deu 9:6  Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

‘The land’ of any people is speaking of the people of that ‘land’. When the Lord speaks of “this land” He is speaking of us as His people, and He is telling us who and what we are. He is telling us we are not a righteous people. “Stiffnecked” means ‘rebellious’, and He is telling us we are a very rebellious people who just naturally hate the bright light of His Words. This is what the Lord wants us to know about ourselves as we all are by nature:

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

We just naturally hate the light and love the darkness because we are just naturally adulterous, both physically and spiritually. “[Our] deeds are evil” by nature, by being “in Adam” (1Co 15:22). That is what Christ meant when He told “those Jews which believed on Him… you cannot hear my words”:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

“My word has no place in you… because you cannot hear my word”. Those are Christ’s own words here in John 8. It is no accident that the very next chapter is the story of the healing of the man who was “blind from his birth”.

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

This man was “of age”. He was an adult, and he had never once seen the light of day:

Joh 9:18  But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
Joh 9:19  And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
Joh 9:20  His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
Joh 9:21  But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for this adult man when He was first able to see? We should all be able to identify with this man because this man typifies us. We can all remember when we, too, were spiritually blind as a bat, and then one day we saw things we simply could not have seen before because His words had no place in us (Joh 8:37), and we simply could not at that time “hear [His] Word”:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

There was a time, and I remember it well, when I simply could hear neither the Lord’s word nor His voice. Every one of us has had that very same experience. Our blinded eyes were opened, and we began to see “the things of the spirit”. Our deaf ears were opened, and we began to hear the voice of the True shepherd. Until that time, we were completely blinded by the lies of our spiritual darkness, and we could not hear the Lord’s words because we could hear nothing but “the voice of a stranger… another Jesus." This Truth is revealed in the very next chapter of John:

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Recognizing the voice of the True Shepherd is a very rare gift. It is as rare as being healed of being blind since birth, and when we cannot make that distinction we are ignorantly being led about by “the voice of strangers” or what Paul calls “another Jesus”:

2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

For no other reason than:

Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him [us].

Jesus, who through His Father’s spirit is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11), comes by us and sees our blindness and our spiritually deaf condition, and He takes mercy upon us and heals us. Now we can see and now we can hear and distinguish the voice of the True Shepherd from the voice of a stranger.

That is the message of these last two verses of our study today. It has been all a miraculous work of “the Lord God [who] has given us ears that hear and eyes that see the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:9-15):

Isa 50:4  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 
Isa 50:5  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

That’s our study for today. Here are next week’s verses:

Isa 50:6  I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
Isa 50:7  For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
Isa 50:8  He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
Isa 50:9  Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
Isa 50:10  Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
Isa 50:11  Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.