Matthew 15:1–20 Defilement Comes from Within

[Study Aired July 14, 2025]

The study focuses on Jesus’s interactions with religious leaders, highlighting the contrast between outward rituals and inward purity, and demonstrating Christ’s compassion and power. The study involves Jesus’s rebuke of the Pharisees’ traditions and His teaching on what truly defiles a person. 

Traditions and Commandments

Mat 15:1  Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus. They asked, 
Mat 15:2 “Why do your disciples break the traditions of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” 

The Pharisees and the Scribes represent the leaders of our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world, of which we were part at a certain stage of our walk with Christ. Coming from Jerusalem means that these Pharisees and Scribes or our brethren in Babylon worship another Jesus, and are therefore in bondage with their children.

2Ch 21:13  Instead, you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel. You, like Ahab’s family, have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to chase after foreign gods as if they were prostitutes. You have killed your brothers, your father’s family. Your brothers were better than you.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

Instead of worshiping the Lord, these Pharisees and Scribes focus on the traditions of their ancestors. 

Mar 7:3  For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 
Mar 7:4  And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. 
Mar 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 

When our worship is based on the traditions of our fathers, we make of no effect the word of the Lord. In other words, when we cherish the false doctrines of our fathers more than the truth of the word of the Lord, the word of God becomes ineffective in our lives.

Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 

In the word of the Lord, there are many instances where the traditions of the fathers blocked the people from seeing the truth of the word of the Lord. For examples, when Jesus had a chat with the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman was initially focused on the traditions of their fathers as follows:

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

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 
Joh 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.  

When Jesus asked for water, the woman’s response was to remind Jesus of the traditions of her Samaritan fathers who had no dealing with Jews. In addition, she being a woman means that Jesus shouldn’t have asked her for a drink. Later, the woman also told Jesus that their fathers worshiped on a mountain when she raised the issue that the place to worship was Jerusalem.  As we know, a woman represents a church, and therefore this woman initially signifies the elect when we were in captivity in Babylon or the churches of this world. At that time, we were focused on the traditions of our fathers, and therefore we did not want to have anything to do with the Lord’s elect, just as the Samaritans had no dealings with the Jews.

The question is, “What are these traditions of our fathers?” In the Bible, “the traditions of our fathers” refers to the oral and written laws, customs, and interpretations passed down through generations. These traditions include Christmas and birthday celebrations, physical baptism, Nicolaitan practices of having pastors lording over God’s people, adherence to the law of Moses, etc. 

In the book of Galatians, Paul reflects on his past life as a devout Jew, highlighting his zealous adherence to the “traditions of my fathers” before becoming the Lord’s elect.

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 
Gal 1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. 

Now, let’s turn our attention to the issue of washing of hands before eating which the Pharisees and the Scribes accused Jesus’ disciples of not doing. Our hands represent our works, and to eat signifies knowing the Lord through His word. Therefore, spiritually, washing our hands before eating means that we must purify our works before we can know Christ. In other words, it is our works which pave the way for us to know Christ. That is what those who live according to the law of Moses do. They think it is our works that save us. 

The disciples eating without washing their hands implies that it is not about works. It is rather through the Lord’s mercy that we are given faith to know Him. In other words, salvation is received through faith in Jesus Christ, not earned by good works, though works are seen as a natural outcome of faith. 

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 

Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 

When our worship is based on what we can do and not what the Lord will do through us, we end up obeying sets of rules which are in accordance with the law of Moses or the traditions of our fathers. That was what happened to us while we were in the churches of this world. The Pharisees and the Scribes accusing the Lord’s disciples of not washing their hands points to our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world accusing us of not having any physical works to show that we are serving the Lord. The multitude of Christians in the churches of this world attest to their good works while we, His elect, do not have anything to show. However, they forget that in the fullness of time, we shall have more children than them.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Mat 15:3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 
Mat 15:4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 
Mat 15:5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
Mat 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 

The traditions of our fathers go contrary to the word of the Lord. This is because while the Lord is seeking His people to worship Him in spirit and truth, because He is spirit, our traditions focus on physical worship which portrays itself in physical praise and worship, physical baptism, reciting of Bible verses, physical speaking of tongues, adherence to set rules and regulation, etc. 

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  

In verses 4-6, the Lord gave us an example of how we had perverted the word of the Lord regarding honoring our father or mother. This is because we had come to believe that if we give to the Lord what is due our fathers and mothers, then we do not have to honor them, although the word of the Lord says clearly that we should honor our fathers and mothers, so that we shall live long.

Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.  

Outwardly, it may sound like we want to please the Lord by giving to Him and not our fathers and mothers. However, the Bible teaches that love is a defining characteristic of a true follower of Christ. If we claim to love God but fail to show love and compassion to those around us, our claim is questionable. In other words, serving the Lord and caring for others are intertwined. 

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

The churches of this world are endowed with physical wealth while the individual worshipers are struggling financially. This attest that the tradition of our fathers in giving to God and not having any obligation to our brothers and sisters undermine the word of the Lord. It is not surprising therefore that the whore shall be judged in the fullness of time.

Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her (the whore), shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 
Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, 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,

Mat 15:7  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 
Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

At a certain stage of our walk with Christ, when we were in the churches of this world, we lived as hypocrites, which is defined in verse 8 as having the form of godliness in our worship of the Lord, but denying His power to transform us to become like Him. 

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 
2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 
2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
2Ti 3:8  Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 
2Ti 3:9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

The question is, “Why do we draw near to the Lord with our mouth and honor Him with our lips, but our hearts are far away from Him?” The answer is given in verse 9 which shows us that it is because of the teachings of doctrines of men which are perversive in the corridors of the churches of this world or Babylon, which had kept us in bondage to serving the Lord without transforming us into His image. In other words, at that stage of our walk with Christ, we could not serve the Lord in truth and in spirit.

The question is, “What are the doctrines of men?” The following is the Lord’s definition of what the doctrines of men are:

Col 2:18  Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he hath seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 
Col 2:19  and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God.
Col 2:20  If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, 
Col 2:21  Handle not, nor taste, nor touch 
Col 2:22  (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? 
Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. (ASV)

From these verses, we can see that doctrines of men show up in will-worship, the humility and severity of the body. In other words, these doctrines of men subtly promote what we think we can do. However, they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Any teaching that promotes what we can do by ourselves, and not what the Lord will do through us, is a doctrine of men. Our walk with Christ is a walk of faith, and faith is not what we produce by ourselves, but the faith of Christ given to us as a gift. We therefore bring nothing to the table. Everything is of the Lord. 

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.  

Let’s take a look at the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. To become a priest, one has to be part of Aaron’s linage. It has nothing to do with what one can do. It is determined by the Lord before one is born. In a similar vein, our status as the Lord’s elect is given and not attained by will-worship, humility and severity to our bodies. 

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: 
Eph 1:4  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: 
Eph 1:5 having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

What Defiles a Person

Mat 15:10  And he called to him the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 
Mat 15:11 Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man. 

Remember that on most occasions, it is the multitudes who seek the Lord. However, in verse 10, it is the Lord that called the multitude. The multitude in this case therefore represents the elect, which is a positive application of multitude. It represents the period when Christ comes to us when we are still under the sway of Babylon, when our eyes of understanding are being enlightened to know that we are defiled by what is within us and not anything external which comes through our mouth. 

The source of our defilement is the man of sin or our flesh, when he is sitting on the throne of our hearts and minds. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

As we shall see later in this study, it is out of our hearts that all kinds of sins of the flesh come from.

Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 

The sins mentioned here in Matthew 15:19 are the manifestation of the works of the flesh which are described as follows:

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

What strengthens the man of sin in our heavens or hearts and minds is false doctrines which serves as the blockage to the truth of the Lord’s words which sanctify us within.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth. 

As indicated in the case of the elders of Israel coming to enquire of the Lord from Ezekiel, the idol of their hearts, which is the same as the stumbling block of their iniquity, is what strengthens the flesh or the man of sin to defile the elders within and not what enters them through the mouth.

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.  

On the contrary, it is the truth of the Lord’s words which dethrones the man of sin or our flesh.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Mat 15:12  Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 

The Lord’s reformative teaching caused the Pharisees to be offended. According to Strong’s Dictionary, to be offended means to stumble. This shows us the double-edged sword nature of the word of the Lord. While to the elect, the Lord’s words lead to salvation, to our brothers and sisters in Babylon, represented by the Pharisees, the truth of the word of the Lord causes them to stumble and fall. 

1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 
1Pe 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 
1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 
1Co 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 

Mat 15:13  But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 
Mat 15:14  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 

Here in verse 13, the Lord is showing us that to the elect, every false doctrine which is planted in our hearts and minds by the evil one shall be uprooted. 

2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.   

In verse 14, the Lord saying that the Pharisees should be left alone is another way of saying the following:

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 

The blind leaders refer to the Pharisees who in this case represent the leaders of the church system of this world. The blind leaders of the blind means that the leaders of the church system of this world are blind spiritually and are therefore leading the blind who signifies our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. The end result of the blind leading the blind is that both will eventually fall in a pit. To fall into a pit means to become spiritually dead as shown in the following verses:

Eze 32:22  Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: 
Eze 32:23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.

Eze 32:29  There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

Mat 15:15  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 
Mat 15:16  And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
Mat 15:17  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 
Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 
Mat 15:20  These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. 

Peter asking the Lord to explain the parable of what defiles us in verse 15 and Jesus asking Peter whether he also did not understand, means that at that time, the disciples were not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven even though they were walking with Christ. This indicates that at a certain stage of our walk with Christ, we did not know Him through His words. 

Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 

Jesus explaining what defiles us to Peter in verses 17 to 20 show us that if we are called and chosen, just like Peter, we shall surely come to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. 

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. 

It is when the man of sin or our flesh sits in the throne of our hearts that out of it proceeds evil thoughts and all kinds of evil. On the other hands, eating with unwashed hands, which signifies knowing Christ through faith, even as we come to Him as we are. However, over time, His judgment of our old man shall result in our works (washed hands) being a sweet smelling offering to the Lord. 

May His Name be Praised for Choosing us in Him Before the Foundation of the World. Amen!!!

Conscience – A Defiled Conscience, Part 3

[Study Aired October 28, 2023]

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Thomas Baird (mentioned in Part 2), in his “Conscience” dissertation, highlighted one of the contemporary world’s outstanding classics of Christian literature: the “Holy War” by John Bunyan.

Baird’s expressive introduction to Bunyan’s ‘immortal’ essay is worth repeating; he says:

“In John Bunyan’s imperishable allegory of the “Holy War”, we have one of the most masterly portrayals of Conscience in all this vast world’s remarkable accumulation of literature. There is nothing like it outside the realm of [Biblical] inspiration.[end]
He conceives the soul of man to be a corporate town called “Mansoul,” situated in the Continent of Universe. Diabolus, who had just been deposed from his exalted position for sin, is depicted as ranging through space, searching for an opportunity to be avenged upon God for his punishment. He espies the corporation of “Manscoul” and determines to make an assault thereon. He formulates his plan of attacking in conjunction with other vengeful demons, and they approach the town and demand an audience. The inhabitants dispute their five responsible elders to interview the besiegers. Their names are as follows: Captain Resistance, Lord Innocence, Lord Will-Be-Will [Bunyan could have gone one step further and called him IWWB Will], Lord Understanding and Mr. Recorder. The latter is Bunyan’s inimitable name for Conscience.” [end]

I love the poetic names Bunyan chose for the cast and locations in his essay. When quite young, I remember having the “Holy War” read to our class in Sunday School, and those creative names inspired my imagination ~ and inward torment to avoid a Dante-depicted type of death.

Indeed, John Bunyan’s “Holy War” would have inspired millions upon millions of Christians to vacate some distance from Babylon with no whit that they never left since they were not given sufficiency spirit to endure. Sure, many put their hand to the plough and, through the heat of the day, have remained diligent their entire lives, unwittingly serving ‘another Jesus’.

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles [… and is NOT their fault!], 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 [we all once in Babylon] also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ [prompting a good conscience].
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 [… the dichotomy of weighing a good or evil conscience]. 

Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:62 embeds three primary forms of conscience. First, we have our conscience pricked to choose life or death. Like ALL humanity, and particularly Orthodox Christianity, shuffling out of Babylon, the New Jerusalem is too far a trudge to rebuild the walls with elegant buttresses and towers of her breasts defending her heart (Psa 48:11-14, Son 8:10). With a disturbed conscience we return to Babylon excusing our conscience with lies that the task is too great; accusing life as too difficult to worship Christ more than our physical spouses and children, let alone support them. We thus hide in Babylon in plain sight with our broad-is-the-way friends eating and drinking from the Lord’s stolen golden cup (Joe 3:5). Life is good; fight for our esteemed democracy, capitalism, socialism, Hagar’s ‘isms and, most fiercely, Zionism. We are now rooted in a “Defiled Conscience”, having murdered the Lord’s commands with imagined, more exciting and liberating ideologies.

Just as one could be infected with legions of evil spirits, the nuances of evil consciences are many, yet there is only one type of a good conscience, just as Christ and his Father are one in perfect conscience to which the Bride aspires. Paul and all the Apostles and Body of Christ, keep and instruct their brethren concerning the principles of a good conscience that opposes a defiled conscience. As such, this study on a “Defiled Conscience” is centered around its source of inspiration in Titus 1:4-16, Paul instructing Titus for consistency in sound governance within the Church and, particularly the individuals, the pillars. There are many nuances of a defiled conscience, however, and for brevity’s sake, we will largely confine attention to the evil of a ‘defiled conscience’ represented in the following scriptures mostly for one’s personal study and introspection.

Tit 1:4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. 
Tit 1:5  For this cause left I [Paul] thee [Titus] in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: 
Tit 1:6  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 
Tit 1:7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 
Tit 1:8  But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Tit 1:9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 
Tit 1:10  For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 
Tit 1:11  Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. 
Tit 1:12  One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies [an accusing conscience?].
Tit 1:13  This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Tit 1:14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth [by what kind of conscience?]. 
Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 
Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate [G96 – 1. ‘not standing the test, not approved’ – by a good conscience]. 

Returning to:

Tit 1:4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Right out of the gate is imbedded Paul’s undefiled conscience’s urgency to caution Titus to be an Elder of the highest demands. Paul refers to Titus as “mine own son after the common faith.” Since Paul and Titus are two of the Christs, they are in unity of mind with ‘the’ Christ. Paul’s practised good conscience joyfully obligates him to instruct Titus in the same “commandment”, indeed, the whole Church to be ‘common in faith.’

Tit 1:3  But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

Grace, mercy and peace are taken in our stride to be elements of a good conscience; however, what are their enemies causing the turbulence of a defiled (H3392) conscience?

Here defined is the term “defiled”.

Defile/Defiled H3392
– Transliteration: Miaino
– Phonetic: me-ah’-ee-no
– Definition: 

1. to dye with another colour, to stain 
2. to defile, pollute, sully, contaminate, soil 
3. to defile with sins

As seen in this study’s heading…

Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure [because a good conscience rules]: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

Spiritually, we see that a defiled conscience is one stained, polluted or contaminated by a different color compared to Christ’s White horse misrepresented by Satan’s colors. Namely, Satan’s spiritual deceptions of White followed by Red (color of man), Black (death) and Yellow (pale = disease) horses, depicting the progression from a foundationally unsound mind’s inability to choose a pure course of action resulting in a defiled conscience. Hence, this study’s heading scripture notes the unbelieving mind, being polluted by lies, is incapable of enacting a pure conscience since, and by the lying foundations of his own will, such a one insists on being ruled by idols of the heart. 

Psa 11:3  If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? 

As we know, if the foundation of the Temple we are is built on the sand of a defiled mind, our conscience is already conditioned for defilement, which is colored with many confusing Satanic shades from which to choose.  The only symbolic choice should be pure white, representing the Lord’s flawlessness. Yet, like Jacob separating the straked from the purebred stock, we all in Babylon are straked with some good mixed with a lot of evil, confusing our minds to inconsistently choose an undefiled conscience.

Gen 30:35  And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

Gen 31:7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
Gen 31:8  If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
Gen 31:9  Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

Understanding Jacob’s segregation of straked and speckled stock:

“Hybrid vigour is the increase in certain characteristics like growth rate, size, fertility, yield, etc., of a particular hybrid organism over its parents. Hybrid vigour is also known by some other names, including heterosis and inbreeding enhancement. Hybrid vigour occurs because the hybrid offspring’s traits are enhanced due to the mixing of genetic contributions of its parents.” – (Science ABC)

Jas 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted [spotless; free from vice, unsullied G4695 – Spiloo– Phonetic: spee-lo’-o– Definition: 1. to defile, spot – Origin: from G4696] from the world.

Jacob kept the speckled and spotted stock of sheep, goats and cattle for his hire of fourteen years under Laban, his father-in-law, with the deception that he was going to further remain and serve Laban (Gen 30:31; the entire story 30:25-43). Selecting the seeming weak of Laban’s flock for himself depicts the mixed nature of his family by the ten tribes from Leah’s and Rachel’s handmaid’s loins. These people make up the greater portion of the ten-tribe nations of Israel and represent the eventual saving of the entirety of mankind and Jacob’s prosperity. In the meantime, they symbolise distant Israel coming out of Egypt and into the wilderness to learn about their God and the Lord’s seeming weak, motley ringstraked Elect coming out of Babylon to become pure white, the nemeses of Laban’s seeming purity of Orthodox Christianity.

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Laban got to keep the outward uniformity of one color in all of his stock and the appearance and glory of wealth when, in fact, and by the absence of hybrid vigour, the livestock were unwittingly becoming inferior through inbreeding. Sadly, today the same physical condition is seen in much of Britain and Europe’s royalty and even society’s choosing of spouses who are spiritually impoverished yet rich in academia and positions of prominence, particularly the ‘inbreeding’ of harlot Christianity and the world.

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

Laban, the father-in-law representing the elder as do much later Joseph’s brothers, always mistreats the younger, not knowing that they will serve the younger all the way to the world serving Christ’s Wife. 

The Bride of Christ being unspotted from the world juxtaposed with Jacob’s keeping of spotted and ringstraked stock maintains the world’s blindness to the Lord’s plan for her and her rulership in Christ over mankind. The world only sees its unwitting whitewashed righteousness being superior to the rag-tag seeming inferior ringstraked nature of the ones the Lord calls his Elect.

Jacob, whose name means “heel holder or supplanter H3290 and H6117 – 1. to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow at the heel, assail insidiously, overreach”, with his God-given shifty conscience is meant for good and the future event depicting Christ’s Wife of an undefiled conscience having come out of Babylon.

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Luk 19:26  For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath [Christ and His doctrines] shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

The seeming condition of Jacob’s defiled spotted and ringstraked conscience is meant for good. His God-given vengeance against Laban and taking into his own hands to make right his hire ultimately pointed to Jacob’s son, Joseph’s rulership over all his brothers, inclusive of Laban’s family, representing all of humanity serving the younger, Joseph.

(The natural points to the spiritual ~ with poetic flare: In the deep, the depths of the Sea where the Beast resides with Leviathan, is a metaphorical boiling putrid mass of aquatic maggots, mankind (Job 25:6), feeding on each other’s dross and Saint’s ‘marine snow’, crumbs from the Lord’s table above providing enough spiritual enlightenment to wildly excite them. The Bride of Christ, on her journey coming out of the defilement of the Sea and Babylon, is given to righteously discern the nuances of Jacob and all other personalities in scripture to see the hidden parables and subtlety of a defiled conscience.

What is “marine snow”?: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/marinesnow.html 

The Sea is home to many allegorically unclean creatures, such as white, blind shrimps, feeding on this marine snow and algae from hydrothermal mineral-rich vents: https://www.livescience.com/31034-embargoed-eyeless-shrimp-discovered-deepest-volcanic-vents.html

Fearsome-looking Anglerfish carry their own ‘lantern light’ of spiritual enlightenment to attract the blind laity who live in a warm zone next to a Dante-like boiling vent and devour anything dead or alive that will barely fit into their exaggerated yawning jaws).

Apart from the spiritual indication of defilement inducted by Adam and Eve’s defilement of their minds, the very first time the term “defiled” is used is covertly in Genesis 34:2. As such, Mr Baird’s study on “Conscience” soundly and unwittingly submits to 1 Corinthians 2:14 in that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

We shall review the first scriptural noting of the term “defiled”, which is in Genesis 34:2.

Gen 34:1  And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 
Gen 34:2  And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

We know that the many spiritual connections of the term defiled are allegorically hidden in the nuances of other ensamples all the way back to Adam and Eve’s defilement of their land of physical and spiritual Eden (within) ~ they were subsequently spewed out of Eden. Adam and Eve set the path for the entirety of mankind being defiled while in Eden by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is synonymous with Satan staining God’s word a different color, contaminating Adam and Eve’s minds with confusion (Babylon) with the following words ~ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (Gen 3:4).

Lev 18:27  (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled 
Lev 18:28  That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

Notice in verse 27 that the people were already defiled by their forefathers’ (foundation of) bias for sexual idols of their hearts, so unwittingly, they would, by default, inherit defiled consciences.

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above [of the mind!], or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water [the word] under the earth [our bodies]:
Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

By the Lord’s design, it is only the Elect of God who are able to draw near to the Lord and have Him touch our lips and minds to create within an undefiled conscience.

Exo 20:21  And the people [the world] stood afar off, and Moses [the Elect] drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

It all is part of Adam’s curse for us all to initially be defiled and full of abominations that spew out of our spiritual nostrils to learn a good conscience from an evil conscience.

Though Dinah’s defilement by Shechem was one of man’s many ‘endless’ staining sins of the land with different colors, it was Cain’s shedding of righteous Abel’s blood that was the most distinguished sin after Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Num 35:33  So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
Num 35:34  Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

Cain and we all defile our land within by the shedding of our Lord’s innocent blood in the slaughterhouse of false doctrines. A false doctrine begins with a law for the mind to consider to obey or defy, subsequent to a dividing path of a good or defiled conscience.

As with the sins of Adam and Eve, Cain and Shechem are foundational in that they are first in their genre; all sin begins with a breach of God’s Commands. The sequential flow is a broken law, followed by the acknowledgment of the sin and its hopeful forever dismissal. If one’s mind excuses the sin, then it remains embedded to possibly sear one’s conscience and defile our Temple within. Typically, we go into hiding. However, the seared conscience is likely to further defile our land by blatantly continuing to perform fornication before the Body.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up [a seared conscience defiling one’s conscience] and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Once the “ensamples” (1Co 10:11) of all categories of sin are installed in the chronicles of scripture, that above-mentioned ‘sequential flow of broken laws’ should instantly stop by its filtration through our conscience. We either learn to joyfully comply with the Lord’s commands or suffer the torture of defiance until we do comply. Consistently failing to comply and for a rejected elect will land him in the Thousand-Year Reign to suffer without the holy spirit, continued dichotic suffering and bewilderment in failure for a guaranteed change in the Resurrection to Judgment. Conversely, consistent or random failure for a genuine Elect will cause him to be mindful of his Lord’s light yoke of no personal sweat for his prodigally tortured conscience to return to his Father and Lord. (Luke 15:11-32).

All forms of a defiled conscience result in a purged conscience by the shedding of blood, led by Christ the First Fruit, followed by the Elect in this age spiritually, and the world spiritually in the Lake of Fire.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things [all sins unto death] are by the Law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. [Therein is the mindfulness, the pricking of our conscience that our Lord died as our ‘ensample’ to follow]
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns [ensamples] of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Once we are immutably established in Christ at the First Resurrection, we don’t need further sacrifices of spiritually dying (blood) daily, since any kind of evil conscience is abolished. A good conscience is the nature of God, with evil being utterly foreign.

Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 
Heb 9:25  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 
Heb 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself [forever!].
Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? [In jeopardy of death is our constant search to retain a good conscience by dying hour by hour to our sins]
1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

Our hour-by-hour consciousness causes the Christ-centric to be highly aware of maintaining a good conscience by the shedding of allegorical spiritual blood to our sins. Such spillage is undefiled blood of a good conscience. Any other emission of blood, bodily fluids and waste symbolically defiles the building of the Temple we are.

All sixteen references in the Bible to the different nuances of our conscience are strongly interconnected; it is thus hard not to encroach on those individual studies and make a mishmash of cross-references and possible confusion. A “convicted conscience” is one such case in point since all the remaining fifteen instances (most yet to be studied) righteously or unrighteously convict or acquit one’s conscience for our actions. The following example is one instance speaking of the woman taken in adultery and her accuser’s consciences being stabbed, slinking off one by one,

Joh 8:9  And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 

Note that the young and brash were last to skulk off since life’s experiences hadn’t humiliated them sufficiently to draw experience for a timely decamp. It is a subtle case of the older old covenant school of Moses serving the younger Christ and His New Covenant Bride. 

The murderous Pharisees were in a dichotic state of having the Laws of Moses challenging their peace by this strange new conscience, convicting them of something utterly foreign to what they, since Moses, emphatically knew to be ‘right’, namely, and spiritually speaking… “A man’s foes shall be of his own household” (within – Mat 10:34-39). They now have a defiled conscience where once their conscience, as was Saul’s (Paul) and Job’s, pure by keeping the Law. The blood of this poor woman which would have satiated their consciences written in a good stoning was sharply polarised by a new conscience hidden in the meaning of this newborn chastisement to all parties of the affair, namely the sword of the word tumultuously dividing the bone and marrow of their consciences. (Saul kicking against the pricks of his conscience – Act 9:4-5).

Heb 4:11  Let us labour [Seeking a good conscience] therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 
Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [Convicting or excusing our consciences’]
Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [of our good or evil consciences’] are naked and opened unto the eyes of him [Christ] with whom we have to do. [to give an account of an evil or good conscience]

Synopsis

A “defiled conscience” opposes the word of God and is thus a polluted conscience, stained a different color to our Lord’s pure white vesture. Those who keep Christ’s commandments have no accusation from within or without challenging their conscience.

Those who have an accusing conscience excuse themselves with academic pseudo-spirituality that can bamboozle the spiritually weak conscience to believe a lie. Any of the scripturally mentioned aspects of an evil conscience cascaded from any one instance to create a legion of demonic confusion (Babylon) and imagined hiding from the light of the Word.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness [hiding] rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

Such a person assuredly has his evil conscience pricked, but his pride has the greater power to evade the truth, and he thus remains in darkness with a tortured conscience. He often angrily defends his defiled conscience, gnashing his teeth upon any who challenge him since force now is his only way to sustain his imagined integrity, subconsciously knowing that he is condemned by his conscience.

Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

The person who swiftly acknowledges his error has shed his chains of darkness and lives in the peace and tranquillity of a good conscience under Christ’s light yoke.

The Bride of Christ who goes before her sisters in Old Jerusalem has received a double portion of all forms of evil consciences. She is mightily strengthened and joyful by the sordid affair, having struggled out of the sea with putrefying sores and fallen seven times. 

Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman [wow, eh? The KJV uses a capital “W”], where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

The Bride of Christ thus doesn’t hide from her sins but delights in their exposure and, more so, in her Lord’s forgiveness and her upward growth. She has an undefiled conscience cleansed by her Lord.

So you may ask, ‘What happened to the exposition of Tit 1:4-16?!’ The answer is that you are now skilled, as many already are, in identifying a defiled conscience, and the fun part is identifying ‘who done it’, knowing that every aspect of those verses is a reflection of ourselves. For the maturing spiritual mind being released from defilement, your understanding will be elementary; in the vernacular, it will be the confidence of “no sweat” ~ since fear produces sweat from a pricked conscience. 

Eze 44:16  They [the budding Kings and Priests, the Bride of Christ] shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. 
Eze 44:17  And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool [keeping warm by our own works] shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 
Eze 44:18  They shall have linen bonnets [Turbans; a wife’s glory symbolised by her hair, Christ, and not one strand hurt] upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

Such a person is confident by their Lord’s word to come near to Christ and touch Him without a defiled conscience, knowing that she is her Lord’s workmanship, His Wife.

In the next study, always Lord willing, we will review our endemic nature of an “Evil Conscience”.

[Study Aired January 24, 2021]

Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jer 3:16  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
Jer 3:17  At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

We often read:

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Because no one of note on the world stage even knows we exist, we think that “the foolish… the weak… the base and the despised are all the result of our calling. Such is not the case, even though it is true that the world considers us to be all those things.

What we are told is that when Christ chose us, He found us in that state. That is His estimation of us, not just this world, but Him also. The Greek reads simply, “He has chosen the foolish of the world.” The English translation “foolish things” is taken from the single Greek word ‘moros’, which is the Greek root of our English word ‘moron’, simply meaning a fool. It is no compliment to be called a moron! Nevertheless, that is who God has chosen to confound the wise of this world. The fact that He can take a moron, and accomplish His plan and purpose through that moron, has the effect of humbling us as well as the wise of this world. Here is Strong’s definition of this Greek word ‘moros’:

G3474
μωρός
mōros
mo-ros’
Probably form the base of G3466; dull or stupid (as if shut up), that is, heedless, (morally) blockhead, (apparently) absurd: – fool (-ish, X -ishness).

Here is how is translated in the King James Version of the scriptures:

G3474
μωρός
mōros
Total KJV Occurrences: 13
foolish, 7
Mat 7:26, Mat 25:2-3 (2), Mat 25:8, 1Co 1:27, 2Ti 2:23, Tit 3:9
fools, 3
Mat_23:17, Mat_23:19, 1Co_4:10
fool, 2
Mat_5:22, 1Co_3:18
foolishness, 1
1Co_1:25

We are all spiritual and physical fools, or we would not qualify to be chosen of the Lord. The world certainly considers us to be the very definition of being a ‘fool’ when they hear words like “Love your enemies… resist not evil… turn to him the other cheek also…“ etc.

To the world it is blasphemy to declare that we are the anointed, the Christ of Christ, even though it is Christ’s Himself who tells us:

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

We all differ in the details of our “experience of evil” which the Lord has “written in [our] books” before we were 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. (ASV)

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. (CLV)

The scriptures reveal that there is one thing we all have in common, and that is the most insidious of all sins. It is the sin of self-righteous pride. The tendency the Lord has placed within all flesh to exalt ourselves, protect our pride, and give ourselves all the credit for what the Lord gives us to do is as natural as breathing.

Yet, if we are granted to believe what the Lord tells us, then we must all admit that the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias should be required of each of us simply because the Lord brings each of His elect to see and acknowledge our own iniquity and realize that the sins we are actually guilty of committing bear witness to the fact that all other sins mankind has ever committed are within our (my) flesh.

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.

I have never literally committed murder, yet the scriptures reveal that from the Lord’s perspective I am a murderer, because I am guilty of hating my fellow man at various times:

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

You and I are just naturally much too self-righteous to see ourselves as murderers. So what, if we have hated someone. “Even if we hate our perceived enemy at this very moment, what’s the big deal?” we self-righteously ask. After all, it is just natural to hate your enemies, and Moses actually told us to hate our enemies:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

The fact that Christian ministers think nothing of urging those in their charge to go to war and “fight for God, family and country” demonstrates how lightly they think of the doctrines of Christ and how lightly they think of their spiritual adultery. The fact that a so-called ‘great man of God’ can say “If you try to burn the American flag next to me, I will whip you if I can” and get a standing ovation for such blasphemous words, shows just how self-righteous we are as we ignore and literally despise Christ admonition to us…“resist not evil”. It is for this reason that the Lord declares:

Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

“Stones and stocks” are idols of our hearts” (Eze 14:1-9). “Stones and stocks” are all our false doctrines which we make light of as they nullify the doctrines of Christ, and yet we still claim Him as our husband. We are at this time in our experience ‘Christians’ in name only, insisting on eating our own spiritual food and wearing our own spiritual raiment, but calling ourselves ‘Christian’, just as Isaiah predicted of us:

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

‘Meat’ symbolizes spiritual food, and ‘apparel’ signifies “the righteousness of saints”. “Eat[ing] our own bread and wear[ing] our own apparel” here in Isaiah is the same as “committing adultery with stones and stocks:

Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

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.

The fact that it is “seven women” who are saying this is the same as saying:

Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

“Seven women” symbolize the complete church, the whole of Israel, “Backsliding Israel and treacherous Judah”, which have both apostatized from their own spiritual Husband.

When the Lord tells us “The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah” what He is telling us is that we will have that same experience, of feeling and being forsaken both within and outwardly. It is all a work of the Lord for our good. Being those few who are being judged in this age does not exempt us from experiencing being forsaken of the Lord Himself “for a small moment”. The fact is that our being judged in this age necessitates this feeling of being forsaken of all men and by God Himself “because as [Christ] is so are we in this world.

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

Our judgment is taking place at this very moment, and our heavenly Father is turning His back on our flesh as we are learning to die with Christ to our old man. “As He is so are we in this world” (1Jn 4:17). If it happened to Christ as He died, so it will also happen to us as we die with Him:

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

1 Peter 4:17 tells us when we “begin” our “day of judgment” spoken of in 1 John 4:17:

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?

Do we believe that:

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

Does being “crucified with Christ” exclude the most painful part of that crucifixion? Does our crucifixion exclude Isaiah 54:7-8? Are those words applicable to Christ alone? I think not! We to must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and feel rejected of God “for a little moment”.

We have all experienced and are experiencing the rejection of the entire world, both secular and religious. At some point while he was in prison at Rome, Paul’s own prophecy of Acts 20 came upon him.

Here is what Paul prophesied to us and to the elders of Ephesus, a city in the Roman province of Asia:

Act 20:17  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
Act 20:18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Act 20:19  Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Act 20:20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Act 20:21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 20:22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Act 20:23  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Act 20:25  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Act 20:26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Saul of Tarsus was zealous for the traditions of the fathers to the extent that he persecuted and wasted the lives of many who had come to know Christ.

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it:
Gal 1:14  and I advanced in the Jews’ religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

In that position, Paul was Aholah, the Lord’s wife who first forsook Him and committed adultery with the nations of this world. We all at some time ignore this commandment:

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life [politics, military service]; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

No soldier can be loyal to his country and the country of His enemy at the same time, and this world is the enemy of our Lord. These words were inspired of our Lord in admonition to you and to me:

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, [Aholah and Aholibah] know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

The rejection of Christ by the Jewish church of His day is typified by the older sister, Aholah. Paul’s rejection by “all they which are in Asia”, and the rejection of the apostle John by Diotrephes and “the seven churches of Asia” is all typified by Aholibah, the younger of the two sisters of Ezekiel 23:

Eze 23:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother [“the church in the wilderness” (Aholah) and “grievous wolves among you” (Aholibah)]:
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, [“Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, Gal 4:25] the Jewish Christian church… and Jerusalem [Aholibah… the Gentile Christian church which also committed adultery against Christ].
Eze 23:5  And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
Eze 23:6  Which were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
Eze 23:7  Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.
Eze 23:8  Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her [We bring the world with us as we come to know Christ].
Eze 23:9  Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.
Eze 23:10  These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous among women; for they had executed judgment upon her [We willingly give up scripture for lies, and we willingly send our sons and daughters off to physical war].
Eze 23:11  And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.
Eze 23:12  She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
Eze 23:13  Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
Eze 23:14  And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion,
Eze 23:15  Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:
Eze 23:16  And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
Eze 23:17  And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.
Eze 23:18  So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind was alienated from her sister.

Paul tells us that “all they in Asia be turned away from me”:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

It so happens that “all they which are in Asia” would certainly include “the seven churches which are in Asia” to whom John addresses the entire book of Revelation:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

While we have no scripture telling us specifically that Paul preached in Laodicea, we do have this:

Col 2:1  For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

Col 4:13  For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.

Col 4:15  Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
Col 4:16  And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

“The epistle from Laodicea” has not been preserved for us to read, but these verses demonstrate that Paul ministered to churches which “[had] not seen [his] face in the flesh”.

When he tells us “all they which be in Asia be turned away from me” that certainly would include the seven churches to whom John addresses the book of Revelation.

John Himself strongly hints at having this very same experience when he tells us of the power exerted over the church by an apostate named Diotrephes:

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

Just how advanced was the apostasy of the New Testament church, typified by a ‘harlot’ in Isaiah 1:21, Jeremiah 3:8-11 and Ezekiel 23? The answer is that it was complete in “seven women… the seven churches”:

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

Seven signifies completion, and the apostasy of the New Testament Church was so complete before the death of the apostles Paul and John that this is what happened to those who even attempted to remain faithful to the apostles of Jesus Christ:

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Three thousand were added to the church on the day of Pentecost:

Act 2:41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. [Three thousand men began dying to their old man on the birth of the New Testament church, while three thousand men physically died on the birth of the “church in the wilderness” (Exo 32:28)].

As a side note, three thousand men lost their physical lives under the law of Moses on the first physical Pentecost in the wilderness:

Exo 32:19  And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the [golden] calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

Exo 32:28  And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

Shortly after the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost another five thousand were added in one day:

Act 4:4  Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

Within just a couple of decades we read these words concerning the number of converts to the gospel who were still under the law of Moses [Aholah] in Jerusalem:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

Those “many thousands” of Jewish believers, typified in Ezekiel 23 by ‘Aholah’, fell away from the very Lord who bought them with His own blood, and even the Gentile converts in Asia (typified by ‘Aholibah’), forsook His apostle Paul and cast those sent to them by the apostle John out of the church. That is why the book of Revelation is addressed to “the seven churches of Asia (Rev 1:4).

The Jewish church of Christ’s day is called by the apostle Peter “the church in the wilderness”:

Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Inasmuch as Judaism preceded the New Testament church, Judaism, which was still in the New Testament church and law keeping, which until this day still in the New Testament church, is the older sister ‘Aholah’, meaning:

H170
אהלהּ    אהלה
‘ohŏlâh  ‘ohŏlâhh
o-hol-aw’, o-hol-aw’
The first form is in form a feminine of H168, but is in fact for the second form; from H168; her tent (that is, idolatrous sanctuary); Oholah, a symbolic name for Samaria: – Aholah.

Many in the apostate New Testament churches think that Judaism and law-keeping is spiritual adultery, and they teach against even reading the Old Testament. They may not realize it as such, but these Christians look down on those who are still under the law as sinners, and exalt themselves above Aholah, the symbol of “the church in the wilderness”. Little do they realize that the Lord Himself tells us that the apostate New Testament church is nothing less than Aholibah, of whom the Lord says:

Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Ezekiel tells us that backsliding Israel (Samaria) is symbolized by a whore named Aholah, and Judah (Jerusalem) is symbolized by Aholah’s younger sister, Aholibah, who we are told has committed adultery against her husband more than her older sister Aholah.

Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Moreover, this is what Christ revealed to the apostle Paul concerning these two sisters for our admonition:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye [Gentile Christians] being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands [by ‘Aholah’];
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God [have become ‘Aholibah’, who will soon forsake Paul and Christ].

While it defiles the land to return to an adulterous wife, the Lord has provided a means to put us to death and raise us up as a new man who can return to our husband and not defile the land, the place of His abode, the place of His dwelling:

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Rom 7:4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Rom 7:5  For when we were in the flesh [alive “to the law”], the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in [the physically impossible] newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

If we are “dead to the law through the body of Christ”, how can we possibly fall away from such a wonderful and blessed position to become Aholibah, the younger sister whose whoredoms exceed that of her older sister? We do so through the self-righteous apostasy which leads us to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness:

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.

This is where we will stop for today. Next week we will see that “ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness are typified by ‘Aholibah’, within us, and as such do not see themselves as “lascivious”.

Jer 2:1-9 You Defiled My Land, Yet I Will Plead with You

[Study Aired December 20, 2020]

Jer 2:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 2:2  Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Jer 2:3  Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
Jer 2:4  Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
Jer 2:5  Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Jer 2:6  Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
Jer 2:7  And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
Jer 2:8  The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Jer 2:9  Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.

One principle we must remember as we go through this study is that Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 both establish that when the scriptures speak of our children, our fathers, our city, or our country, they are really speaking of and to you and to me. Therefore, whenever we read:

Jer 2:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 2:2  Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Jer 2:3  Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

All those words apply to you and me. We really are “the apple of [the Lord’s] eye”, and any who touch us to harm and devour us “evil shall come upon them, saith the Lord.”

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 of his eye.
Deu 32:11  As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
Deu 32:12  So the Lord alone did lead them, and there was no strange god with him.

However, when the Lord causes us to want to be like the nations around us, then He will judge us by using those wicked nations and doctrines to judge us and bring us to see that we have lost our first love, we have placed ourselves under the oppressive doctrine of the Nicolaitans, we have Satan’s throne in our very midst, and we are spiritually dead while thinking we are rich and increased with goods. It is the Lord Himself who sends us plagues and evil spirits to us to cause us to err from His ways and harden our hearts from His fear:

Lev 14:34  When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

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.

Only after He has sent evil spirits to ‘make us to err from [His] ways, and harden our heart from [His] fear’, if He loves us as His bride in this present time (Rom 8:18), then we will suffer with the world, and we will be judged in this age, and be brought to see our “wretched… miserable… poor… blind and naked spiritual condition. Until He does so, we are completely blind to our “wretched and miserable” state:

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. [“To die shall you be dying” (Gen 2:17 CLV)]
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

It is our being judged by a loving Father that is the subject of this prophecy of Jeremiah:

Jer 2:4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
Jer 2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

‘Our fathers’ typify us ourselves. That is a rhetorical question if ever there was one. You and I are the “house of Jacob and the house of Israel”, and it behooves us to remember what Job said when He, too, was being questioned by the Lord:

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

It is not advisable to contend with and reprove God. It is much better to simply say:

Jer 2:6 …Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

However, the Truth for every man is that we are all designed by our Creator to ‘lose our first love’ (Rev 2:4) and become unfaithful to Him and begin loving “another Jesus”:

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

This is what we choose to do to our own spiritual Husband… “not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected [us to this vanity] in hope”:

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

The Lord is in the process of creating every one of His creatures “in His image”:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them. (CLV)

The process of judgment by which the Lord is dragging us to Himself requires that He first causes us to ‘err from His ways and harden our hearts from His judgments’:

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.

Those who possess the keys to the kingdom of God know and see that the very fact that mankind was formed of the dust of the earth on ‘the sixth day’ reveals the temporal and incomplete state of the Lord’s creation of all of mankind “in His image”.  Let’s read it again as inspired of the holy spirit for our edification:

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Gen 1:27 …creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

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.

“Very good” is not a synonym for ‘complete’. Six is the Lord’s number which signifies that which is not yet complete. Seven is His number which signifies that which is being completed, and we are being completed only after we are given to begin to “enter into His rest”:

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed [aorist tense] do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished [aorist tense] from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb 4:8  For if Jesus [Greek: ‘Joshua’] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Paul is not teaching anything that is not founded in the Old Testament scriptures, which had already revealed that Israel had not yet “entered into the Lord’s rest”:

Psa 95:7  For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.  Today, if you will hear His voice,
Psa 95:8  do not harden your heart as in the day of strife, as in the day of testing in the wilderness.
Psa 95:9  When your fathers tried Me, they tested Me and they saw My work.
Psa 95:10  For forty years I was disgusted with this generation; and I said, They are a people who err in heart; and, They do not know My ways,
Psa 95:11  to whom I swore in My anger, They shall not enter into My rest.

Physical Israel considered the promised land to be “His rest”, and they thought they had ‘entered into’ His rest. The Truth was and is that all the priests and all the people continued to die, generation after generation, but there is no death in the Lord’s true ‘rest’. Nevertheless, this is how the religious world feels toward us until this very day:

2Co 2:14  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

The judgments of this prophecy of Jeremiah are the work of the Lord who is even now “creating… mankind in His image”. He continues to reveal the details of His judgments by which He is creating us in His image:

Jer 2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

Exactly when does the Lord begin bringing us into a plentiful country to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof? We know that the Lord first comes to us while we are still in Egypt, signifying while we are still in this world following all its ways.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

If Christ waited until we were out of sin to come to us and give us life, then we would never be given life because we are His workmanship, even while we are yet “dead in [our] sins” (Pro 16:4 and Isa 63:17).

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of [our] 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.

After Christ comes to us, we, the Lord’s Israel, must first endure a symbolic forty years of wondering in the wilderness, where we “ten times” rebel against Him and His ways:

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23  Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

It is our old man who rebels and tempts the Lord “ten times” and “cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 15:50). When Moses wrote these words, Israel had already been given the law. They had been given the priesthood, and they had been instructed in how to approach the Lord. They had been sanctified and prepared to occupy the land. Nevertheless, our flesh is hesitant to depend entirely upon the Word of the Lord, and we want to first see for ourselves if we think we can take the land:

Deu 1:19  And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.
Deu 1:20  And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.
Deu 1:21  Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
Deu 1:22  And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
Deu 1:23  And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
Deu 1:24  And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
Deu 1:25  And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
Deu 1:26  Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:
Deu 1:27  And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
Deu 1:28  Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
Deu 1:29  Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
Deu 1:31  And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

Just a few months earlier, while yet at Mount Sinai, the Lord had sanctified the people and had proclaimed them to be “…a nation of priest and an holy nation”:

Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exo 19:7  And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
Exo 19:8  And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
Exo 19:9  And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
Exo 19:10  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
Exo 19:11  And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

By the Lord’s own design, to show us how unworthy of the kingdom of heaven our flesh is, the “kingdom of priests” proved to be just a shadow of the true “kings and priests” of:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Again, the antitype of the “kingdom of priests”… the four and twenty elders and the four beasts around the throne of God reveal to us who they themselves are and who they signify:

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Rev 5:7  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

As newborn “carnal babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4) we, too, are the priests of whom the Lord declares:

Jer 2:8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

That is what we do as carnal babes in Christ, who think we have been baptized in the spirit and yet have no clue of the fact that it is we who “cannot receive the things of the spirit for [the things of the spirit] are foolishness unto [us]” at that stage of our walk.

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.

As with so many things in scripture, the same symbol has both a positive and a negative signification. Coming out of Egypt in one sense signifies our coming out of sin. In a more mature sense, coming out of Egypt signifies that we are nothing more than “carnal babes in Christ” who are not yet even aware that we must yet pass from Egypt into forty years of rebellion in the wilderness, followed by years of warring against the giants we find to be occupying our promised land. After warring against the giants in our land, in the end we are forced to acknowledge that we cannot fight this fight on our own, and we begin being overcome of those giants. Only after we have been overcome by our own lack of knowledge and strength, and by our own weaknesses and passions, then by the Lord’s sovereign mercy, we are carried away captive into Babylon for seventy years. The Lord does not let His elect return to Egypt, but He does make them to be carried away into the lies and slavery of Babylon for a symbolic seventy years:

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.
Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian [Babylon] shall be his king, because they refused to return.

It is here in Babylon where we begin to complete our preparation to receive “the redemption of the purchased possession.” It is here in Babylon that we are brought to our wits’ end and begin to be delivered from slavery to all false and lying doctrines of men:

Mic 4:10  Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
Mic 4:11  Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
Mic 4:12  But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
Mic 4:13  Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn [a rod of] iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

The whole world is waiting for “the daughter of Zion” to be given a rod of iron to rule the kingdoms of this world as one single “kingdom of our God”:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption [Greek: G2506, uihothesia, sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

All the suffering of the judgments of this prophecy of Jeremiah are not worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us if we are granted to endure that suffering to the end of this age:

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

The “manifest sons of God” are also called “the Lamb’s bride”, and Paul even tells us:

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

We as “a chaste virgin to Christ” are therefore the “virgins” who make up “the Lamb’s bride”:

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

In Revelation 19 we are told:

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
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.
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The ‘blessing’ of being “called to the marriage supper of the Lamb“ is the very same blessing upon those who are given “part in the first resurrection” because the first resurrection and the marriage supper of the Lamb are both the same one event:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

It is the next chapter of Revelation where we are called both “the New Jerusalem” and “the Lamb’s wife”:

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

This “New Jerusalem” is also called “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”:

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Notice very closely that Romans 8:18 says, “the suffering of this present time.” It does not mention the suffering of the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs. They are not being considered in “this present time”. Neither is the suffering of those who are “cast alive into the lake of fire” considered to be “the sufferings of this present time”.

For this glorious reason Jeremiah declares:

Jer 2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.

“Your children’s children” are those who are the children of their Father Christ and “His generation”. The holy spirit poses the rhetorical question:

Isa 53:8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Act 8:33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

Here are those who will “declare His generation:

Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

It is not one modern-day Christian in a million who is given to believe or understand:

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

It is “Jerusalem above” who will “declare His generation”. Though we are few in number in this age, we will become the ‘mother… the Lamb’s bride” who will be the mother of all men of all time who will come up at the great white throne to be judged of their mother, the Lord’s elect of this present time, who will “fill Him who fills all in all”:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

That is our study for today. Here are the verses we hope to cover next Sunday:

Jer 2:10  For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Jer 2:11  Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
Jer 2:12  Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Jer 2:14  Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
Jer 2:15  The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
Jer 2:16  Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
Jer 2:17  Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Jer 2:18  And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Psa 106:1-11 “Remember me, O LORD, with the favour thy people”
Psa 106:12-20 “He gave them their request” Part A
Part Two Psa 106:21-29 “He gave them their request” Part B
Part Three Psa 106:30-39 “The idols of Canaan”
Part Four Psa 106:40-48 “He regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry”

Psa 106:21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
Psa 106:22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.
Psa 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
Psa 106:24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
Psa 106:25 But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.
Psa 106:26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:
Psa 106:27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.
Psa 106:28 They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
Psa 106:29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

“They soon forgat his works” of verse 13 from last week, and “they forgat God their saviour” in verse 21 of the first verse in this part B study entitled “He gave them their request” is a real testimony of how easily we can forget the miracles which our Saviour has done in our own lives, the “great things in Egypt” within ourselves.

Last week we looked at how Christ’s words and works are connected, and that in order to do the works, we must believe and keep the words and endure through this life with a longsuffering spirit which He is developing within each of His children as we build the temple of God. The building of Noah’s ark and our being led by the spirit of God to go where God would have us go as we are about our Father’s business (Luk 2:49), are typified by Abraham going to a place that he would later inherit. Christ emptied Himself to come to our land, our earth (1Jn 4:1-4), so that we can become His inheritance in the saints, and that is typified by Abraham going to a place which he would later inherit.

Joh 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

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.

2Co 6:6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

Eph 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world [primarily without for Abraham and primarily within for God’s elect], and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham [type of Christ], when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went (Rom 8:14-16).

What we are going to do at first is be shown that we can’t keep the words of life or do the works to which we are called without Christ, and so these verses are written for our admonition (Psa 106:13, Psa 106:21) and are the reason “He gave them their request” so that after we come to our wits’ end and cry out to God who alone can deliver us from ourselves, then we understand why we are blessed to be judged in this age: “Blessed are they that keep judgment”, as we’re brought to our desired haven, which is Christ, through that judgment (Psa 107:30).

The rich young ruler of Matthew 19:21 represents those of us who are not being judged to let go of our perceived many good works or supposed spiritual riches (idols wrapped around our hearts) to which we have acquiesced through the years and that we can’t at this stage give up, but must give up if we are going to follow Christ and go unto perfection or “If thou wilt be perfect”.

Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Mat 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. [these casting out of devils and cures which Christ is performing are the destruction of that rich man who “had great possessions” not physical possessions; spiritual powers and principalities which keep us blinded (Eph 6:12)]

Christ looks at the worldly part of us, the “rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven” part of us, which is yet blinded within us and He loves us (Mar 10:21), showing us how we ought to feel toward the whole lump within Christ’s body and in all this blinded world (Rom 11:16, 2Co 4:4). We’re reminded throughout this discussion with the rich young ruler that as God’s elect we have both the rich young ruler and Lot’s wife within us, and that it is only by the grace and faith of Christ (Eph 2:8) that we can we can come out of her (Lot’s wife or the rich young ruler) my people (typified by Lot – Joh 3:3).

All things are for our sakes including the contrast given from that pillar of salt within us “Lot’s wife” who is there to witness against our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts which miraculously need Christ to fulfill what Moses did in type and shadow in verse 23 of Psa 106 of our study in order to continue to save us from ourselves (Psa 106:23, Rom 11:19-26). Lot’s wife is the type used to demonstrate that it is the intimate and connected things to our flesh that God says we must not look back on, and in this instance both Sodom and Gomorrah, which represent the world, and Lot’s wife who represents Babylon within us, are things out of which we must miraculously come (2Co 6:17-18, 1Pe 4:18-19).

God gives us our request (“He gave them they’re request”) to show us our need to see the one event unto all men (Ecc 9:2-3). We learn through that contrast of being shown what we are, and when we acknowledge that there is no good thing within us, as Christ did, we are in fact being blessed to acknowledge our need for His mercy and truth to be always bound about our hearts.

Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

That pillar of salt, Lot’s wife within us, is good (salt is good (Luk 14:34, Mat 5:13), and she is there for contrast to remind us that we should not look back, and that the world within and without us is serving us in their unbelief and is there for our sakes (2Co 4:15). We narrowly escape day by day and press forward (1Pe 4:18 Php 3:14) forgetting those things which are behind and striving for the mark of the prize of the high calling in our Lord (Heb 12:1-2, parallel verses Rom 12:1-2).

When we forget Lot’s wife within us and lose sight of this lesson that there is no good thing within us, then we are losing our saltiness and can easily become conceited, not perceiving the contrast which is constantly in our heavens as the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Understanding and remembering the contrast of Lot’s wife within us, who is represented by salt, is how we avoid losing our saltiness. The law of sin which is in our members and Christ our hope of glory, who is in our members, are both there to the glory of our Father in heaven Who creates the light and darkness and has dominion over both these powers which are represented by the pillar in the wilderness.

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

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 [Col 1:27],
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

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:

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

Exo 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

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.

When we no longer know Christ after the flesh (2Co 5:16), and are striving to know the pleasant land (Psa 106:24, Col 1:27), heavenly Jerusalem which is above within each other (Gal 4:26), then we don’t allow ourselves to compare or become part of the number (2Co 10:12-13). Comparing is just another way of letting the salt within us be “trodden under foot of men” when we do that (Mat 5:13). God is giving the increase within us, and that increase is Christ. It is Christ alone who can judge righteous judgment and give us the power to no longer judge after the flesh but righteously and in the spirit (Joh 7:24, Joh 5:30). That ability to judge righteously can only happen as we learn obedience by the things we suffer as we go through the process of having those men within us “trodden under foot of men” (Heb 5:8, Mar 9:49). We are made to err, and it is God who hardens our hearts and allows the adversary within to “trodden down thy sanctuary” which is connected to our sub-title “He gave them their request”.

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.
Isa 63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

Seeing we must live by every word of God (Mat 4:4), we will see this process unfolding within our heavens as we die daily (trodden under foot of men) and decrease as Christ increases within us (1Co 15:31, Joh 3:30). We are trodden in the winepress of God’s wrath (Rev 14:20, Rev 14:7-13) and “tread under foot” by the gentiles within us (Lot’s wife, the salt that is good for contrast) for “forty and two months” Rev 11:2).

The negative measuring mentioned in 2Corinthians 10:12-13) is the measuring that naturally occurs in the court and is the very thing out of which we must incrementally come (Deu 7:22). We must put those things behind us, be about our Father’s business of measuring the temple of God, judging righteous judgment through Christ (the positive measuring of the new foundation (Luk 2:42, Luk 2:49, Rev 11:1) and not measuring the court where we judge after appearance (the old foundation with works that were measured against the flesh with the law for the lawless Rev 11:2, 1Ti 1:9).

Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: [the lake of fire for us today is being in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb]
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. [and here is how the sea of glass is formed within the body of Christ through that granted “patience of the saints” (Rev 4:6-11)]
Rev 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth (1Co 15:31): Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

We are blessed to “rest from their labours” (of Rev 14:13) if we are dead to sin and alive in Christ (Rom 6:11) Who is doing those greater works within us now “and their works do follow them” both to will and to do (Php 2:13). It is the ongoing judgment in our heavens that makes it possible for those works to continue to manifest within the body of Christ (1Pe 4:17, Joh 12:24).

Christ will return on a cloud to judge the earth: “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle”, and because the elect are judged in this aged and suffer the loss of all things in this age, they will be granted to be instrumental in reaping that great latter harvest.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Psa 106:21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

When we forget what great things our saviour does for us in Egypt, it is speaking to us today about when we forget the great deliverance from the bondage of sin that we once were in and could never free (Rev 13:4) ourselves from except for the gift of God’s grace and faith, the son of man setting us free (Eph 2:8-9, Joh 8:36).

These words are written in verse 21 because we live them, and in our appointed time we lose our first love and have to be jolted back into the spiritual reality of our high calling in Christ as we are received through chastening and scourging as His sons and daughters (2Pe 1:9-10, Rev 2:4-5, Heb 12:6-7, Heb 5:7).

2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: [if we diligently bring our body into subjection to Christ, and are being subject to one another as unto Christ we will “never fall” because as we mature we will bear each other’s burdens more and more fulfilling the law of Christ (Gal 6:2) preventing that falling because we are subject to one another as unto Christ (1Co 9:27, Eph 5:21, Eph 5:29)].

When we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”, he is going to show us those things which we are lacking or “if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you”. What we will be lacking will include giving all diligence to add to our faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (2Pe 1:5-8). These are the things that we cry out with strong tears unto our Lord for, and in that we fear, we are heard as Christ was in the days of his flesh, and God delivers us (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17).

Psa 106:22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

For further confirmation that this is speaking of the wondrous works that God does unto the children of men in the sea (Psa 107:15-21), we have this verse that puts us “in the land of Ham” (Gen 9:22, Gen 9:25, Psa 105:23, 1Ch 4:40) and also “by the Red sea” (Exo 14:13, Exo 14:31) where we witness these wondrous things that God is doing in our heavens, in the sea where he makes a way where there seems to be none (Isa 43:16-17).

Those wondrous things which He is doing are his four sore judgments in our land (Eze 14:21) which we must not despise knowing that He loves us and is preparing us through those judgments to become kings and priests who will be able to judge the world and angels one day because of this refining process we are blessed to be going through (Isa 26:9, 1Co 6:3).

Eze 14:21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

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

1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Psa 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

We are accepted “in the beloved”, and our flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (Eph 1:6, 1Co 15:50). It takes Christ who is typified by Moses to stand “before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.”

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

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

“Therefore he said that he would destroy them” will be fulfilled in the lake of fire, and Christ tells us who we should fear and to not worry about what men can do to our flesh anyway. We are to “fear him” Who is working all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11), and it is His will to save all mankind in time by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). Grace and faith are represented by the “five sparrows” and the witness of faith by the “two farthings”. We are precious to God, far more valuable than those sparrows, and we are told if “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10).

Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Luk 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Psa 106:24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:

When we believe not his word, we are despising the pleasant land where that word is suppose to be judging our earth and bringing forth the good fruit of righteousness that comes about as a result of that judgement or pruning (Joh 15:2) that can be rightly executed when we believe his word (Joh 10:38, Joh 14:12). When we despise God’s chastening we are despising his judgments and in effect despising “the pleasant land”(Pro 3:11, Heb 12:5).

The parable of the vineyard shows us that this is exactly what we are going to do to that pleasant land (despise it) until we are judged of God – 1Jn 4:17), and then through that judgment we will come to see the blessing of unity and of having a body of believers who are thriving and growing together in His love as opposed to a fragmented body that is cursed in the land because we are abiding with thorns and briars (Psa 133:1-3, Heb 6:8).

God is cultivating His garden, His pleasant land, Christ’s inheritance that is in the saints, by destroying those thorns and briars through judgment, and we are blessed to see each member add to that vineyard, witnessing discipleship as his purpose unfolds in the lives of God’s elect, a purpose which is “work[ing] together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Eph 4:16, Rom 8:28).

Psa 106:25 But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.
Psa 106:26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

The negative fruit of unbelief is to murmur against God, and so it says, they “hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD”. It’s not that they did not believe God, because even the devils believe (Jas 2:19-21), but it is because of the unbelief that God would finish what He had promised in their lives (our lives in type) and as such there was an unwillingness to follow him with a whole heartedness that is required if we are going to endure unto the end in seeing him who is invisible.

Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

If God is working with us in this age we can be assured that he will lift “his hand against them” and overthrow them in “the wilderness” within us, destroying those things within us, that are defiling the temple of God so that we can be saved (1Co 3:17-20). “He gave them their request” is the first step where God causes us to error and then if He is working with us in this age he corrects us for those sins in our life.

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

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.

Psa 106:27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

God hardens “our heart from thy fear” so that He can “overthrow their seed also among the nations”. That may sound very unfair to our flesh, but again when we are granted the bigger picture and understand that God is going to save all men, who are we to say to God that the way He is doing this is all wrong, or not fair?

Eze 18:25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

These verses in Ezekiel and Romans demonstrate our inability without Christ standing in the breach (Psa 106:23), to be able to accept the ways of Lord (Isa 55:8-9) and how important it is that we take notice of the severity and goodness of God (Rom 11:22) always binding mercy and truth around our necks understanding that it is Gods mercy and goodness being demonstrated to have all men exactly where the Lord wants them to be, and for our sakes (Rom 11:25-26, Joh 21:22, 2Co 4:15).

Psa 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

Joh 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Psa 106:28 They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

God’s word is spirit and life and it quickens us (Joh 6:63), so conversely, when we join ourselves unto the lies of Babylon represented by “Baalpeor”, we are eating “the sacrifices of the dead” or the dead who bury the dead (Luk 9:60) and who offer up dead words and works that have at this time been cursed for our sakes to show us that the increase can only come from God alone who waters and plants through the body of Christ (1Co 3:6). He has taken away the whole stay of bread and water from the world (Isa 3:1), and we are learning of the severity and goodness of God through these actions, knowing that this famine of the word in the land will serve God’s ultimate plan and purpose of saving all the world (Amo 8:11).

Psa 106:29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

We provoke God when we join ourselves unto the world (“Baalpeor” 1Jn 2:15-17) and Israel as God’s people today, the Israel of God, are called out of Babylon. These are the circumstances that God is working out all according to the counsel of his will (Eph 1:11) including “the plague brake in upon them” that must unfold for God’s purpose of creating a new vessel of honour within each of us. The only thing left to do now is to read.

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.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at part three of our study with a subtitle “The Idols of Canaan” where will look at the next nine verses of this Psalm 106 (Psa 106:30-39).

Psa 106:30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.
Psa 106:31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.
Psa 106:32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
Psa 106:33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
Psa 106:34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
Psa 106:35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
Psa 106:36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
Psa 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Psa 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Psa 106:39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

Hi Mike,

I am reading “What is the Difference Between Knowing and Believing We Are God’s Elect?”, and I was wondering:

2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Receive him not into your house, is spiritually speaking, right? I can have someone coming over in my physical brick house, a person who is not abiding in the doctrines of Christ, and have a coffee and a talk with him. Not recieving him in my house is speaking of not spiritually recieving his doctrines in my spiritual house. Am I correct ?

Your brother in Christ
R____

Hi R____,

You can have family members and friends who oppose the doctrine of Christ into your physical home, and you can eat physical food with them. What you do not do is to talk about spiritual matters with those who are not receptive to the doctrine of Christ. That is the meaning of “no not to eat.”

1Co 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

In other words, “receive him not into your house” is very similar to “cast not your pearls before swine…”

2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Christ himself physically ate at the house of Simon the Pharisee, who did not have the doctrine of Christ.

Luk 7:36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
Luk 7:37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that [ Jesus] sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Luk 7:38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Luk 7:39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Luk 7:40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

The Pharisees certainly did not “have the doctrine of Christ.” Christ even warned His disciples to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” They were “called [ Christ’s Jewish] brothers, yet when invited “to eat with Simon the Pharisee,” Christ “went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.” But Christ did not partake of the Pharisee’s spiritual meat. Instead He used the occasion to witness to Simon, the Pharisee:

Luk 7:40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
Luk 7:41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
Luk 7:42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Luk 7:43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that [ he], to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
Luk 7:44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped [ them] with the hairs of her head.
Luk 7:45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Luk 7:46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Luk 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luk 7:48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
Luk 7:49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

I hope this helps you to see that Christ could physically eat with a man whose doctrine was contrary to His own, and yet not allow that person into His own spiritual house. So it is obvious that we too can eat a physical meal with friends and family members whose doctrine is contrary to that of Christ, and if the opportunity arises to witness to them and they refuse the doctrine of Christ, it become a “witness against them.” But we are not to partake of their spiritual food or allow them into our spiritual house.

Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is the principle by which we live. We can feed our enemy spiritually, but we are not to partake of our enemy’s food spiritually. Be not overcome of evil ‘doctrine,’ but overcome evil ‘doctrine’ with good ‘doctrine.’

Luk 9:5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

Shaking off the dust from your feet is also a spiritual statement and not a physical ritual. We have no record of Christ ever performing that ritual as they were driven out of certain towns. The disciples were told to do it, but it is no more a required ritual than ‘drinking His blood’.

Mat 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Luk 9:5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

It is not that which is outside a man that entering into him defiles him. But that doctrine which is in our hearts which, if it is not that of Christ, will defile us.

Mat 15:11 Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.
Mat 15:18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings:
Mat 15:20 these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man.

I hope this helps you to see that when Christ or His apostles speak of eating with someone who opposes His Truth, that it is understood that it is “not that which enters into the mouth that defiles a man, but it is that which proceeds out of the mouth that defiles a man.”

Your brother in Christ,
Mike