“The Spiritual Significance of Directions”

North, South, East and West

[Study Originally Aired January 7, 2025
Revised and re-recorded January 28, 2025]

Introduction: Understanding Direction in Scripture

In our pursuit of spiritual understanding, we must begin with Jesus’s foundational teaching that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20). This truth transforms our study of directional references in Scripture from mere geographical indicators to profound spiritual realities. When God established physical directions in creation, He provided patterns that would reveal spiritual truth, for “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20).

God deliberately established directional patterns from the beginning of creation. This pattern became physically visible when “God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night” (Genesis 1:16). By setting the sun to rise in the east and set in the west each day, God created an enduring natural cycle that would teach spiritual truth. The prophet Malachi captured this teaching purpose: ”For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles” (Malachi 1:11). Through this daily journey of light, we learn how divine revelation progresses to completion in our lives.

To understand these spiritual patterns, we must rely not on natural reasoning but on divine wisdom. Paul emphasizes this necessity: “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). As Jesus taught, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Therefore, we must approach directional references in Scripture seeking their spiritual significance.

The Divine Pattern: Israel’s Tribal Arrangement

God’s arrangement of Israel’s tribes around the tabernacle provides our first complete picture of how directions reveal spiritual truth. This wasn’t random positioning but deliberate placement teaching eternal principles. Each tribe’s location carried specific spiritual meaning that would illuminate God’s working in our lives.

On the east side, God positioned Judah: “On the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies” (Numbers 2:3). Through Judah would come Christ, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5). This eastern placement established that direction’s connection with divine revelation, just as natural light first appears in the east.

The south side belonged to Reuben: “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben” (Numbers 2:10). As Jacob’s firstborn who lost his birthright through sin, Reuben’s position revealed how the south represents progressive testing and judgment in our lives. His story shows how God uses circumstances to reveal and deal with what lies within us.

Continuing with the tribal arrangement, God placed Ephraim on the west side: “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim” (Numbers 2:18). Ephraim had received a blessing of multiplication from Jacob: “his seed shall become a multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19). This western position reveals how God brings His work to completion and fullness, just as the sun completes its daily journey in the west.

Finally, the tribe of Dan occupied the north: “The camp of Dan shall be on the north side” (Numbers 2:25). The name Dan means “judge,” establishing the north’s connection with God’s judgment and authority. This positioning teaches us how God’s authority works in our lives through judgment to accomplish His purpose.

The Language of Direction: Hebrew and Greek Insights

The original Hebrew and Greek words for directions provide deeper insight into their spiritual significance. Each directional term carries meaning that illuminates how God uses these patterns to accomplish His purpose in our lives.

The Hebrew word for north, tsaphon (צָפוֹן), derives from a root meaning ”to hide or treasure up. ” God reveals this connection through Solomon’s instruction to ”lay up (tsaphan) my commandments with thee” (Proverbs 7:1). Just as precious things are carefully stored until the right moment, so God’s judgments from the north are released according to His perfect timing. The Greek equivalent, borrhas (βορρᾶς), relates to strength and hardness, reinforcing the north’s connection to God’s unmovable authority and judgment.

The south’s Hebrew designation, negeb (נֶגֶב), literally means ”to be parched” or ”dry, ” referring to desert regions. This parching process pictures how God uses testing to reveal what lies within us, as seen powerfully when Christ was ”led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matthew 4:1). After forty days in this desert testing, angels came and ministered to Him, showing how God’s testing ultimately brings refreshing. The Greek term notos (νότος) reinforces this pattern – connecting to moisture and rain, it reveals how testing leads to spiritual renewal, fulfilling the prophet’s words: ”For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud” (Isaiah 55:10)

In Hebrew, east is mizrach (מִזְרָח), from zarach meaning “to rise or shine forth.” The Greek anatole (ἀνατολή) carries the same meaning of rising or dawning. Both terms connect directly to sunrise, reinforcing how God’s revelation dawns progressively in our lives, as “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18).

The Hebrew ma’arab (מַעֲרָב) for west comes from a root meaning “to grow dark,” referring to sunset. Similarly, the Greek dusme (δυσμή) means “a setting.” Rather than suggesting negative darkness, these terms speak of completion – just as each day finds completion at sunset, God brings each aspect of His work to its appointed conclusion.

These linguistic foundations reveal how God embedded spiritual meaning even in the basic terms for direction. As we study how Scripture uses these terms, their root meanings enrich our understanding of God’s working in our lives. This aligns with Solomon’s observation that “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

The North in Scripture: A Place of God’s Judgment and Authority

Scripture develops the north’s spiritual significance far beyond Dan’s initial placement. Job provides foundational insight when he declares, “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7), connecting the north with God’s absolute authority over creation. The Psalmist reinforces this, declaring “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (Psalm 48:2), linking the north specifically with God’s kingship and throne of judgment.

The prophet Ezekiel deepens this understanding through his dramatic vision: “a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it” (Ezekiel 1:4). This appearance from the north preceded God revealing His throne and glory, showing how experiencing God’s judgment prepares us for deeper revelation of His nature.

Through Jeremiah, God reveals how He uses northern powers as instruments of His judgment: “Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 1:14-15). Yet this judgment serves His redemptive purpose, for He promises restoration through this same direction: “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers” (Jeremiah 3:18).

Isaiah illuminates the north’s significance when recording the king of Babylon’s proud boast: “I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14). This reveals the north as the place of highest authority – a position belonging to God alone. As Isaiah further declares, “I am the LORD, and there is none else… I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7). Through this authority, God works all things according to His will, establishing His kingdom within us.

The South: A Direction of God’s Progressive Judgment

Building on the north’s establishment of judgment, the south reveals how God’s judgment progresses to accomplish His purpose. This progression begins with Reuben’s placement on the south side of the tabernacle. Just as Reuben’s position changed through testing, the south represents how God’s judgments work progressively to transform us.

Just as He told Satan regarding Job, ”Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand’‘ (Job 1:12), every testing from the south operates within His set boundaries. The progression of these tests follows His perfect timing, for ”to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Job provides a key witness to how God uses the south for progressive testing: “Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north” (Job 37:9). This verse reveals how both directions serve God’s purpose – the north establishing judgment and the south advancing that work. The progression through the south appears powerfully in Ezekiel’s prophecy when God commands him with threefold emphasis: “Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field” (Ezekiel 20:46). This repetition emphasizes the progressive nature of God’s work through this direction.

The Psalmist captures the transformative nature of God’s southern working when he prays, “Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south“ (Psalm 126:4). These streams in the south speak to how God’s judgments flow progressively, bringing transformation as they advance. The context reveals the joyful outcome of this work: “When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing” (Psalm 126:1-2).

North and South: The Progression of Judgement

The distinction between the north’s judgment and south’s testing is crucial. North’s judgment establishes God’s authority, like when God told Job from the whirlwind, ”Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). This judgment firmly establishes God’s sovereign rule.

South’s testing, by contrast, works progressively to reveal and purge what opposes God’s life within us. This appears when God tested Abraham: ”And it came to pass after these things, that God did test Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). Testing reveals what lies within, as Moses explained to Israel: ”to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

Both judgment and testing serve God’s purpose, but in different ways. Judgment establishes His authority and right to rule, while testing progressively reveals and removes what opposes His life. As Isaiah declared, ”when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9).

North and South: The Boundaries of Judgment 

Unlike east and west which continue without end, both north and south reach definite boundaries. This natural pattern reveals important truth about God’s judgments and testing. As David observed, ”As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Significantly, David did not say ”as far as north from south, ” because those distances are measurable and finite.

The finite nature of the north and south appears clearly in creation. Traveling north, one eventually reaches the pole and can go no further – any continued movement becomes southward. The same limitation occurs when traveling south. This natural boundary reminds us that God’s judgments and testing serve specific purposes and have appointed ends. As the prophet Isaiah declared, ”In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind” (Isaiah 27:8).

This truth brings comfort during times of judgment and testing. Job learned this when God appeared to him from the whirlwind, revealing that even his intense trials had prescribed limits. The Lord reminded him, ”Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed” (Job 38:11). Just as God sets bounds for the sea, He sets boundaries for every judgment and testing.

The finite nature of judgment appears again when God promises restoration: ”For the Lord shall not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies” (Lamentations 3:31-32). All judgment serves His purpose of transformation, leading to the prophet’s confidence: ”The Lord doesn’t enjoy sending grief or pain.” (Lamentations 3:33 CEV)

The East: The Direction of God’s Glory and Light

The east holds special significance as the direction from which God’s glory and revelation proceed. As mentioned earlier this pattern begins in creation itself when God said “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” (Genesis 1:16). He established the sun’s daily rise in the east as an enduring pattern teaching how spiritual light and understanding come to His people. After creating man, “the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden” (Genesis 2:8), and when man sinned, God placed cherubim “at the east of the garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:24), establishing the east as both the direction of divine glory and the way back to God’s presence.

Ezekiel witnessed this connection dramatically when “the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory” (Ezekiel 43:2). This appearance carried such power that “the earth shined with his glory,” showing how divine revelation illuminates everything it touches. When Israel’s disobedience caused God’s glory to depart from the temple, it moved eastward in stages, “Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.” (Ezekiel 10:18-19), yet God promised restoration would come from the same direction, as the prophet later saw the glory return “from the way of the east“ (Ezekiel 43:4).

This pattern of revelation from the east finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, for “in him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). The wise men declared, “We have seen his star in the east“ (Matthew 2:2), following this light to find Him who would later declare “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). This connects the east’s natural light with Christ as the source of all spiritual illumination.

The east’s association with God’s glory reminds us that even divine revelation serves His sovereign purpose. When the Psalmist declares, “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge” (Psalm 75:6-7), he emphasizes that all true advancement comes from God alone, not from any direction or means.

The West: Completing God’s Work and Gathering His People

The west in Scripture reveals how God brings His work to completion and gathers His people. Just as the sun completes its daily journey in the west, this direction teaches us about the fulfillment of God’s purposes. This completion pattern begins with Ephraim’s placement on the west side of the tabernacle. Through Ephraim’s blessing of multiplication and fruitfulness, the west reveals how God’s work reaches its full increase.

The west’s completion pattern demonstrates God’s sovereign control over every work’s fulfillment. Nothing reaches completion except according to His purpose and timing, for ”In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11).

The west’s connection to completion appears powerfully in God’s promise to Joshua about the Promised Land: “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast” (Joshua 1:3-4). This western boundary, marked by the setting sun, represented the full extent of their inheritance.

The Psalms connect the west to the completion of God’s praise and glory: “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised” (Psalm 113:3). This shows how God’s work extends throughout the whole earth, from beginning (east) to completion (west). Similarly, Isaiah declares “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun” (Isaiah 59:19), revealing how God’s glory fills the entire earth as His work reaches completion.

Christ particularly connects the west to the gathering and completion of His work: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). This gathering work culminates in His promise that “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). The progression from east to west in these verses shows how God’s revelation leads to completed gathering.

The Unified Working of All Directions

Understanding how these directions work together reveals the completeness of God’s purpose. We see this comprehensive pattern first in God’s promise to Abraham: “And the LORD said unto Abram… Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever” (Genesis 13:14-15). This all-encompassing view represented not just physical territory but the fullness of God’s spiritual promise.

Isaiah reveals how these directions serve God’s gathering purpose: “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 43:5-6). Each direction receives specific commands that reveal its role in God’s complete work – the north must “give up,” showing release of judgment; the south must “keep not back,” allowing progression of judgment; while east brings forth “thy seed” and west completes the “gathering”.

The prophet Ezekiel witnessed this comprehensive working through the four living creatures: “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle” (Ezekiel 1:10). These four faces, looking toward the four directions, show how God’s authority extends everywhere. Their movement according to God’s spirit – “And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went” (Ezekiel 1:12) – reveals how all directions serve His sovereign purpose.

Practical Application of Directional Truth

Understanding these directional patterns transforms how we view and respond to every circumstance in our spiritual journey. Each direction reveals specific aspects of God’s work in us, helping us cooperate with rather than resist His purpose.

When facing judgment from the north, we recognize God establishing His authority in our lives. Rather than resisting these experiences, we can submit like Job who declared “He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). This understanding helps us yield to God’s establishing work, knowing His judgment serves His perfect purpose.

The south’s progressive testing reveals God’s transformative work advancing in our lives. Like the Psalmist, we learn to pray “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). God’s testing process accelerates our spiritual growth as each trial reveals and purges what opposes His life within us.

When divine revelation comes from the east, it brings increasing light and understanding to transform our walk with God. The prophet captured this progressive illumination: “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward” (Isaiah 58:8). As Hosea declares, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning” (Hosea 6:3). Each new day presents fresh opportunities for increased spiritual understanding.

The west reminds us that God will complete what He has begun, bringing every aspect of His work to its appointed conclusion. Paul expressed this certainty: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). When circumstances seem to hinder or delay God’s purpose, the west’s completion pattern encourages our faith to trust His perfect timing.

These directional workings ultimately point to internal spiritual realities, fulfilling Christ’s declaration that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20). The north’s judgment works within to establish God’s authority in our hearts. The south’s progression moves us through internal testing that reveals and purges what opposes God’s life. The east’s light illuminates our understanding of spiritual truth. The west’s gathering brings all these workings to completion in our experience.

This internal working aligns perfectly with God’s promise through Ezekiel: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Each direction serves this transformative purpose as God works to conform us to Christ’s image.

Conclusion: The Perfect Pattern

These directional patterns ultimately reveal the perfection of God’s working in every aspect of our lives. From the north’s establishment of divine authority through the south’s progressive testing, from the east’s revelation to the west’s completion, each direction serves God’s purpose of conforming us to Christ’s image.

The prophetic visions of both Daniel and Ezekiel reveal how God orchestrates all powers and movements according to His directional purposes. Daniel’s vision of the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward demonstrated how God uses even earthly kingdoms to accomplish His purpose of judgment (north), testing (south), and moving toward completion (west). Notably, the ram’s inability to push eastward aligns with our understanding that God alone brings revelation and glory from the east.

Together, these prophetic visions reveal how God maintains absolute control over all directional movements in creation. Whether through spiritual beings or earthly powers, every directional movement serves His sovereign purpose, for ”all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand” (Daniel 4:35).

This comprehensive understanding brings peace amidst life’s various circumstances. Whether facing judgment, testing, revelation, or completion, we recognize each experience as part of God’s perfect pattern. As Paul declared, ”we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

May this understanding of Scripture’s directional patterns deepen our walk with God and strengthen our faith in His sovereign working. For truly, ”of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36)

(Key verses: Genesis 49:22-26)

God declares the end from the beginning, and as such, He also works all things in between according to a perfect plan and purpose which nothing and no creature can alter. Everything works 100% according to His counsel and pleasure:

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

The theme of the last days brings these truths to light, even as it is in our last days when God’s work from the beginning is unveiled to us through His judgment (Ecc 3:1-11). This is when the revelation of Jesus is given to us through the process of spiritual conversion (Joe 2:28-31; Mat 13:30; Mat 24:1-51; Act 2:14-21; Rom 2:5; 1Pe 1:13; Rev 1:1-18):

Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

It is indeed fitting that it is also in the final section of the book of Genesis that we see how this theme of the last days is brought to us through the words of Jacob before he died, after living in Egypt for the last seventeen years of his life. It was the time to tell his sons “which shall befall [them] in the last days”:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

These sons of Jacob are all spiritual types of “the Israel of God”, His elected few, who are being judged in this age (Gal 6:16):

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

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

In previous discussions we already touched on Jacob’s words to Reuben (meaning “behold a son”), Simeon (“to hear”), Levi (“joined”), Judah (“praise”), Zebulun (“habitation”), Issachar (“reward”), Dan (“judge”), Gad (“a troop”), Asher (“blessed”) and Naphtali (“wrestlings”). In this discussion we want to look at a few aspects in the lives of Joseph and his offspring. Of all Jacob’s sons, Joseph’s story is the best known as he was the firstborn son from Jacob’s favourite wife, Rachel. Rachel had to endure the pain and humiliation of seeing how the other women in Jacob’s life bore him ten sons altogether. Joseph and his brother Benjamin were the last two sons born to Jacob via Rachel. What a lesson it is for us to be like the husbandman to wait for the precious fruit of the earth:

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.

This is also what the meaning in the name of Joseph wants to emphasize. Joseph’s name means “the Lord will add” or “increase”. Here are the final words of Jacob to Joseph:

Gen 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
Gen 49:23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
Gen 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Gen 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
Gen 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Joseph’s life presents one of the clearest pictures in the scriptures of what the elect of God are enduring in this life to learn how we indeed will possess our souls through longsuffering and patience (Luk 21:19). Let us take each of these verses which contain these words of Jacob and briefly discuss how they apply to us.

“Joseph is a fruitful bough [Hebrew: “bên” = son], even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches [Hebrew: “bath” = daughter] run over the wall…”

The Hebrew word “bên” (translated “bough” in that verse) means “son”, and the Hebrew word “bath” (translated “branches”) means “daughter”. These two words have the same root in the Hebrew, namely “bânâh” which relates to the building of an offspring – whether sons or daughters:

Psa 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psa 127:4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Psa 127:5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

We know that Joseph is a type of Christ, as his whole life pictures the favour and work of God in Jesus Christ whom God established as His Son and through whom a huge spiritual offspring will be brought forth (Psa 2:7; Mic 5:2; Mat 3:17; Joh 1:14; Joh 5:26; Joh 14:13; Act 13:33; 1Co 15:22-28; Col 1:15; Heb 1:5). In this sense, Jesus was also given the role which the wife plays into a relationship. The reference to this female role through the Hebrew word “bath” also relates to the few whom Father has ordained to be set apart in this age to bear much fruit for Him through Jesus (Joh 6:44):

Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

The apostle Paul also gives this spiritual relationship between the Father and the Son, which reflects in the relationships between Christ and the church, and the husband and wife in earthly terms, for our understanding (Rom 1:20):

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

It is the church, the branches of the vine, who “run[s] over the wall” to be used by God to bring in the rest of humanity through His judgment in the lake of fire (Neh 9:27; Oba 1:21; Luk 22:29; Col 1:28; Rev 20:14-15):

Act 1:7 And he [Jesus] said unto them [His disciples], It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

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

Of all the sons of Jacob, Joseph was indeed the most fruitful and blessed, although he was taken through the most difficult journey of all Jacob’s sons. This confirms such an important spiritual lesson in the lives of God’s elect that it is indeed through much tribulation that God’s elect will be qualified to be in the blessed and holy first resurrection and to be the saviours of the world (Rev 20:4-15):

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The fruits of the spirit cannot be achieved by a wishy-washy name-it-and-claim-it attitude which so many are caused to believe. To find the fiery trials of God something to complain and murmur about is indeed strange to those who are called to suffer with Christ, as they know that is how God’s elect will be brought to rulership (Php 1:29):

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

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

This is what Joseph’s life teaches us. It is Christ in us who supplies everything we need to be fruitful to the glory of the Father (Php 4:13; Col 1:24-29):

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

“…The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him…”

These words spoken by Jacob to Joseph indeed were fulfilled throughout His life. As it happened to Joseph, we ourselves can testify how the calling of God can be seen from a very early age in our lives. Joseph did not ask for the coat of many colours, but his father gave it to him, which caused Joseph to be the target for his envious brothers:

Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

We know that all things we have were given to us by God, and as such, He is the One who sets us up to experience the things which will form us. It is within our “last days” that we are enabled to “read”, “hear” and see how we live and “keep” the testimony of Jesus in our lives (Mat 4:4; Rev 1:1-3). It is indeed through words and actions that the condition of one’s heart is expressed and revealed (Psa 11:2):

Psa 64:3 Who [the wicked/the enemy] whet [Hebrew: “shânan” – point/pierce/teach] their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.

Jer 9:3 And they [treacherous men] bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Arrows, in this sense, equal words, and in spiritual terms, this is what archers do – we speak and act according to what the heart determines, whether for good or evil. The elect of God knows the words of truth through the Archer, Jesus Christ (Isa 49:1-3; Joh 1:1-5):

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 14:10 Believest thou [Philip] not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

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

The elect also know that they indeed “in times past” were the target of the arrows of evil, including the false teachings and deceptive words coming from the mouth of false prophets (1Jn 4:1-6; 2Pe 2:1-3):

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.

When we say we know the truth, as Jesus said His true church would know, we are indeed wearing our coat with many colours, and we become the target of the hatred and vileness from those who deny the true Jesus. Because Caleb and Joshua were given a different spirit to see the heavenly perspective of the promised land, their report was rejected by the moaning and complaining majority who rather accepted the reports of the other ten spies who only saw the difficulties in the promised land. These ten spies are representatives of our flesh who only focus on the perspectives of the natural mind (1Co 2:14):

Num 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Num 14:7 And they spoke to all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
Num 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

The fear of the Lord negates the fear for men. Caleb and Joshua feared God and spoke the words of truth, and they became the target of hatred and belittling. In our time of being belittled and being cast down by men, God’s glory appears:

Num 14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

As it happened in the hearts of Caleb and Joshua, we know that God sees the intent of the heart where the archers shoot their arrows (1Sa 16:7; Jer 17:10; 2Co 10:7). This also needs patience as our intentions will only become clear at the appointed time:

1Ti 5:24 Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

This is also revealed for us in the life of king Amaziah of Judah. Amaziah did the right things initially, even “that which is right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart” which was only revealed much later in his reign of 29 years in Judah (2Ki 14:1-4):

2Ch 25:1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2Ch 25:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

After Amaziah and the army of Judah conquered the Edomites, he fell in love with the idols in Edom’s temples and built his own sanctuaries filled with these idols. This caused him not to be able to listen to wise counsel, and he followed his own understanding of things which led to his death. Naturally we do not know the depths of the deceit of our own hearts, and therefore the truth of God’s multitude of counsellors is such a vital aspect to help us being faithful until the end (Mat 18:15-17; Rev 17:14):

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

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

The life of Joseph also proves that the motives of our hearts will be challenged until the end. After living with Joseph in Egypt for seventeen years with their father, the brothers of Joseph could still not accept that Joseph’s heart and his motives were totally different from theirs. This came out after Jacob’s death:

Gen 50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
Gen 50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
Gen 50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

“…[Joseph’s] bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)…”

Nevertheless, through all of Joseph’s trials and the false accusations from his family and those who opposed him in Egypt, Joseph always kept strong and committed to the truth. Joseph’s heart was taught to serve and do good to them who hated him, and God’s hands strengthened his hands in all of this. It is when we are emptied of our strongholds and high thoughts of self, that God’s mind becomes our strong tower and powerful mountain:

Psa 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

Pro 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

When we are given the servant’s heart to understand it is more blessed to give than to receive, we shoot powerful arrows of truth and love, and we do not miss the mark of being a true shepherd in God’s flock (Jdg 20:16; Mat 20:25-28; Joh 10:1-18). It is then when we witness how the Lord fights for us we can then see how our enemies, even the spiritual wolves, turn on themselves, and the fear of God will come on them (Mat 7:15-20):

Psa 64:7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
Psa 64:8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
Psa 64:9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
Psa 64:10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

God’s arrows are His words which are the “demonstration of the spirit and of power” of God (1Co 2:4). It is His word which destroys all arguments against the truth as we progressively learn how to use His powerful arrows within our spiritual warfare (Isa 5:28):

Psa 120:1 A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
Psa 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Psa 120:4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

“…Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb…”

Joseph was given “one portion above [his] brethren” by Jacob when Joseph brought his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob for his blessing:

Gen 48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Gen 48:22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

In physical terms Joseph was given this double portion of the firstborn through his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as both of them became independent tribes with a full inheritance according to all the sons of Jacob:

Gen 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

“…The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”

This is what Moses had to say about the offspring of Joseph through the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh also indicating the fulfillment of the double portion of rulership over the earth and the heaven for God’s elect:

Deu 33:13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
Deu 33:14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
Deu 33:15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
Deu 33:16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
Deu 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

We know Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph, which represents the fleshly man, while Ephraim was the second born, representing the spirit man, Jesus Christ (1Co 15:45-49). Ephraim was blessed above Manasseh by Jacob, as also confirmed in Moses’ blessing (Gen 48:5-21). Ephraim’s name means “God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Gen 41:52). The sons of Ephraim indeed were “mighty men of valor, famous throughout the house of their fathers” (1Ch 12:30). However, one of the prominent judges of Israel, namely Gideon, came from the tribe of Manasseh. This double portion indeed relates to the “blessings of the deep that lies under” and the “blessings of heaven above” respectively. This blessing of Joseph is the type of the blessing of God’s elect in rulership over the physical eon (even during the so-called “thousand-year reign” on earth) and their ultimate rulership in the spiritual eon, even the lake of fire (Rev 20:4-15):

1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Till The Seven Plagues Are Fulfilled
The Scapegoat
The Teaching of Rain and Archers
Who Knows The Truth?
Rev 17:12-18

(Key verses: Genesis 47:27-31; Gen 48:1-20)

[Study Aired August 6, 2015]

In the final section of the book of Genesis we see that Jacob is brought back into focus as he and his whole family were provided for by Joseph during the seven year famine which was on the whole world (Gen 41:54-57). Joseph’s whole family was drawn nearer to him to come and lived in the country of Goshen in Egypt:

Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

Jacob was under Joseph’s care in Egypt for seventeen years before his death, and this period of seventeen years corresponds with the time when Joseph was under Jacob’s care in Canaan, being his favourite son:

Gen 37:1 And Jacob lived in the land of the travels of his father, in the land of Canaan.
Gen 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, came tending the flock with his brothers. And he was a youth with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them.
Gen 37:3 And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age…

This favour on Joseph caused much hatred in the hearts of his ten brothers who eventually sold him into slavery which took him through thirteen years of trials and tribulation in Egypt before he was appointed ruler over Egypt by the Pharaoh at the age of thirty (Gen 41:46). All of Joseph’s trials were eventually for the benefit of not only his family but for the whole earth, typifying the salvation process which God is bringing to fruition in Jesus Christ (1Co 15:22-28; 1Ti 2:1-6):

Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Psa 105:23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

Joseph was Jacob’s “son of his old age” and “the time drew nigh that Israel must die” makes Jacob, in this sense, a type of our old man, the first Adam. God has given the first Adam a specific time period to rule us before the new man Christ, typified by Joseph, takes us through our years of trials and tribulation before we are given final dominion over our flesh through Christ’s rulership in our hearts and minds (Rom 6:1-18):

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

These are the two ages (Greek: aiōn = eon) we must live through – the earthly or the age of the first man Adam and the spiritual age of “the Lord from heaven”, before God will be “all in all” in spirit:

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

It is the time of Jacob’s final years on earth when Joseph started ruling over Egypt, even as the dying of our old man brings an end to the first age in us and Christ’s rulership is established in us (1Co 10:11; 2Co 5:1-2):

Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph….

This theme of the restitution of all things is central to the scriptures, and this truth is driving the life and purposes of the elect of God. Albeit in the form of spiritual promises and types, this last section of the book of Genesis highlights this theme of restitution in the life of the family of Joseph, as we also see the promise of a land and a huge offspring repeated in the final interactions between Joseph and Jacob:

Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

Gen 47:30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

“Thy hand under my thigh” is a way that was used in those days to make a promise. We also saw this between Abraham and his servant when the servant had to promise Abraham that he will find a wife for Isaac according to Abraham’s directions:

Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
Gen 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
Gen 24:4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

It is indeed only those with the spirit of Christ in them that can make true and faithful promises. It is only in Christ that all God’s promises are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’:

2Co 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

By the natural things we understand the spiritual things of God, as we also know that the thigh naturally transmits the idea of power and strength. The thigh is naturally the most powerful section of the human body which relates to action and movement (Rom 1:20; Gen 32:25; Eze 24:4; Rev 19:16). In the scriptures the thigh is also the place where a sword was attached (Psa 45:3; Son 3:8). No one else except those sealed with the earnest of the spirit of God in this age, armed with the sword of the spirit, are given this spirit of truthfulness to do His commandments and act faithfully to fulfill God’s promises in and through them (Psa 119:160; Mat 7:24-25; Joh 6:63; Eph 6:10-17):

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

It is within this position of authority and power that every son of God operates to be an overcomer to fulfill every promise of God concerning His spiritual inheritance, as typified through Joshua and physical Israel:

Jos 21:43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
Jos 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Jos 21:45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

We know that these words were written to be fully understood in its spiritual application as physical Israel has not as yet achieved this promise. It is all about the new spiritual “land” which is what the life of Christ introduces. Jacob asked Joseph to place his hand under Jacob’s thigh which emphasizes this powerful position of trust given to God’s elect to bring all in Adam into this “promised land”. In this physical eon it is only Christ’s elect who are given “the holy spirit of promise” until we are finally redeemed from this earthly body and this physical cosmos:

Eph 1:13 in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

This position of authority is what Joseph typifies, and he was the only one from all Jacob’s children that could be trusted with the request of Jacob:

Gen 47:31 And he [Jacob] said, Swear unto me. And he [Joseph] sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

The fleshly old man will have to eventually bow and acknowledge the rulership of the spirit man. Joseph indeed physically fulfilled this promise to Jacob when Jacob died (Gen 50:12-13), but before his death Jacob needed to remind Joseph about a few important details concerning this inheritance:

Gen 48:1 And it happened after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Gen 48:2 And one spoke to Jacob, and said, Behold, your son Joseph comes to you. And Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.
Gen 48:3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.
Gen 48:4 And He said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you. And I will make of you a multitude of people, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.

One of the things which Jacob brought to Joseph’s attention was that Egypt, which typifies our flesh, is just a temporary provision and was never supposed to be a lasting dwelling or something in which we can put our trust. The spiritual promises of God are much more to be relied on than to trust in the best the flesh can present, despite the flesh’s very convincing presentation. The two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, although both were born in Egypt, will share in the future inheritance of the sons of Jacob:

Gen 48:5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who are born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; like Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Gen 48:6 And your issue, which you father after them, shall be yours, and shall be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
Gen 48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still but a little way to come to Ephrath. And I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; it is Bethlehem.

Here Jacob is introducing very important detail of the birthright through these two sons of Joseph which relates to the spiritual inheritance of the chosen elect. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh represented Joseph’s “double portion” in the inheritance of the sons of Jacob:

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

This “double portion” bestowed on Joseph is the blessing that caused Joseph also to prevail above his progenitors, even his older fleshly brothers, as expressed by Jacob later (Deu 21:15-17):

Gen 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
Gen 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

These blessings connected to the firstborn is only fulfilled in the elect of God who are the ones who are a “kind of firstfruits” of the firstborn in the spirit, namely Christ (1Co 15:23; Jas 1:18; Rev 14:4; Rev 3:14). These are the ones who are drawn to Christ by the Father to be “separate from [their] brethren” (Mat 10:36-39; Joh 6:44). They are indeed given rulership on the earth during the symbolic thousand-year reign, and as they will also be the rulers and judges in the lake of fire – the true double portion (1Co 6:1-2; Rev 20:4-15). These two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh have nothing to do with the rulership of physical nations, even powerful physical nations like Britain and the United States of America, as some claim in their spiritual blindness. God is indeed working a “spirit of slumber” for those who are persuaded by these strong and convincing delusions in our time (Rom 11:8; 2Th 2:11). Jesus even warned the physical Israelites that God’s election is on those few who will be born through the spirit of God, which is the true “remnant according to the election of grace” (Mat 20:1-16; Rom 11:5-11; Joh 6:63):

Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Through God’s direction, Jacob will also apply this same principle with regard to the distinctions in the blessings of these two sons of Joseph. Jacob could not distinguish properly, in physical terms, because of his failing eyesight:

Gen 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
Gen 48:9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place. And he said, Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.
Gen 48:10 And the eyes of Israel were dim for age; he could not see. And he brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

Because of Jacob’s problematic eyesight, there were therefore no physical prejudices involved which naturally interfere in decisions we make when our judgment is blurred by physical delusions. Carnal observations will always play their natural deceptive roles when we do not have spiritual insight. Jacob himself was the second born after his twin brother Esau, and he received the blessing of the firstborn from his father Isaac because of the deceitful acts of himself and Rebekah, but also because of Isaac’s physical dying condition and weak eyesight (Gen 27:1-46). We can only have spiritual insight when we find out that our physical senses are not to be trusted and that the flesh and its deceitful heart (with its lusts and pride) are our biggest obstacles to receive the spiritual inheritance of the Father:

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Pro 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

Because Jacob could not trust his physical senses, he could only follow the spiritual patterns set out by God:

Gen 48:11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought I would see your face, and, lo, God has showed me also your seed.
Gen 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed his face to the earth.

Even in the life of God’s elect the flesh masks and blinds us not to see the obvious ways and works of God. Joseph, blinded by his fleshly preferences, could not properly perceive that the son whom he placed at his right hand would be the one on whom God’s favour rested:

Gen 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left toward Israel’s right hand. And he brought them near to him.

Joseph placed Ephraim in his right hand, but was seemingly more concerned of Jacob’s right side. Joseph knew that the right hand was a very important position to take note of, but his own judgment was failing. From the scriptures we learn that the position on the right hand is that of spiritual favour, authority and power (Exo 15:6; Exo 29:20; Deu 33:2; Jdg 5:26; Psa 48:10; Psa 110:1). We must therefore take careful note who and what we place on our right hand because that determines our spiritual judgment on important matters:

Mat 26:64 Jesus saith unto him [Caiaphas, the high priest, the night before His crucifixion]: Thou hast said [that He, Jesus, was the Christ, the Son of God]: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Jacob honoured the “right hand” of Joseph and the son who stood on that side, which was Ephraim, the youngest or last born of Joseph:

Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands. For Manasseh was the first-born.
Gen 48:15 And he blessed Joseph and said, May God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who fed me all my life to this day,
Gen 48:16 the Angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow like the fishes into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

As with all of God’s elect it is a humbling and devastating experience to see how our natural spirit wants to dictate and go against God’s spiritual choices, as typified here by Joseph:

Gen 48:17 And Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it was evil in his eyes. And he held up his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father. For this is the first-born. Put your right hand on his head.
Gen 48:19 And his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he is, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

Our natural preferences are not God’s choices, and this is one of the bitter pills to swallow if we are indeed able to stomach this truth (Rev 10:10):

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Joseph is humbled, but it is only in humility that we will be able to eat the book given to us which enables us to reach to the higher thoughts of God (Mat 4:4; Rev 10:10). This is when we can admit that we have not arrived in spiritual fullness in order for us to grow in maturity:

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

Jacob assured Joseph that this is how God ordained both of the sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were to be blessed – by the younger or last born:

Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

The last born, Ephraim, is “the greater” as his name also means “double fruitfulness”:

Gen 41:52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

Ephraim, in this sense, represents the firstborn of the spirit – the rivers of living water, even Jesus Christ, even His elected “firstfruits” who will come with weeping, but rule with joy:

Jer 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Christ and His spiritual works in us are “the greater” works, and it is on those “greater works” in which those who believe in Christ concentrate:

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

The greater works are the inward works in the heart of mankind, which is now only the privilege of the elect who are given the faith of Christ to believe and do the Word of the Father:

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

———–

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Why Are They Blessed?
Rev 1:16 – Part 1
Rev 1:16 – Part 2
Rev 1:17
Is There Spiritual significance to Being Right or Left Handed?

Audio Links

The Spiritual Significance of Biblical Locations – Part 1

Zion, Earth, Ephraim, Israel, Admah and Zeboim

Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Hos 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

Introduction

Where is this ‘Zion’ the Lord has chosen for His habitation, and who is the ‘earth’ the Lord wants to hear His word? The fact is that the Lord has not chosen physical Zion for His habitation, and it goes without saying that the physical earth is incapable of hearing the Word of the Lord. Yet the scriptures are full of such instances where the holy spirit uses the names of various Biblical locations to make very deep and important spiritual statements which are completely missed and hidden from those who know nothing about the meaning of those names and what took place there. The meaning of the names and the events which occurred at these various locations tells us what the Lord means by the spiritual statements He makes concerning the various Biblical locations.

A sister asked me, “I wish someone would do a study on the meaning of the names of Biblical cities and places!” I told her that I had been intending to do just that.

A couple of weeks later a brother wrote in and asked:

“If you could please expound on the types and shadows of Ephraim, Israel, Admah and Zeboim and the spiritual anti-type for today?”

He went on to quote:

Hos 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Hos 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
Hos 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
Hos 11:10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
Hos 11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
Hos 11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

While the numbers of places in the scriptures are very numerous and the explanation of the spiritual meanings of all of them could fill volumes, we will cover some of the most prominent and most misunderstood Biblical locations, and demonstrate what the spiritual meaning is of these Biblical locations. In doing this, we will discover once again that the entirety of scripture concerns itself with just two men – the old man and the new man. If we do not know the Biblical meaning of places like ‘Zion, earth, Ephraim, Israel, Admah, and Zeboim’, then these names will be nothing more than rather boring historical information to us.

Let’s start with the spiritual meaning of the names of the places we have just read in the order in which we have mentioned them:

Zion

This is where we first see the name ‘Zion’ in the scriptures:

2Sa 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
2Sa 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.
2Sa 5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
2Sa 5:8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

Not understanding the principle of “the dream is one” many attempt to separate “the city of David”, Zion, from Jerusalem. That is like attempting to separate Christ from His Father, or Christ from His body. The stronghold of Zion, “the city of David”, and Jerusalem are the same in the scriptures, as these verses in 2 Kings 19 demonstrate:

2Ki 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou [Hezekiah] hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
2Ki 19:21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

As with every word, ‘Jerusalem’ also has a negative application as the exact opposite of a “virgin daughter”. Physical Jerusalem, as a type of the physical churches of this world, symbolizes the great whore of Revelation 17-18, and those chapters in Revelation are based upon the fact that spiritually Jerusalem is called ‘Sodom’ and a ‘harlot’ in the Old Testament prophets:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isa 3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Isa 3:17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.

The symbols of the book of Revelation are based upon the symbols given to us in the Old Testament, where we see Zion and Jerusalem first as our old man whose religion is in rebellion against God, and then after Zion is taken captive into Babylon and she is destroyed for her sins, she will become “conformed to the image of [Christ]” via a spiritual resurrection from that dead and dying state to become ‘Jerusalem above, the mother of us all’:

Psa 87:5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.

Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

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.

“The dream is one: God [showed] Pharaoh what He [was] about to do”, and the daughters of Jerusalem and the daughters of Zion are one, and God is showing us what He is doing within us:

Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Earth

The earth too, is first seen in its temporal dying state. It is in this state that we all have our beginning, and it is in this temporal dying state that we are all as mere beasts taken out of the ground that is this earth:

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

As ‘beasts of the field’ we are “the beast” of Revelation 13, which comes up out of the sea, just as “the earth” was made to come up out of the sea:

Gen 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Gen 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Christ, called both “The Truth, [and] the tree of life” Himself, also comes “out of the earth”:

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

When we read “not that is first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual” it is manifested that Christ, who created all things, is excepted from that statement:

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Christ, and Christ alone, had to ’empty Himself’ of His divinity in order to “spring out of the earth” through being “made of a woman, made under the law”:

Php 2:6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Php 2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
Php 2:8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. (ASV)

In the very next verses of 1Corinthians 15, Paul tells us who God considers the ‘earth’ to be:

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Our old “first man Adam” must be “conformed to the image of [Christ]”, and for this to happen our “old man” must first die, because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.”

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

This ‘conformation to the image of His Son’ is the very same thing as “the image of the heavenly” of 1Corinthians 15:49. It is also called “a new earth”:

Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Isa 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Paul has just explained to us who the ‘earth’ is in Biblical terms:

1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Yes, Jeremiah 22 is addressed to Judah and Jerusalem as the harlot who is about to be carried away into Babylon to become that very city, and it is in that self-righteous and unrepentant condition that we are all being addressed when our own Creator cries out to us:

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel?

As we pointed out concerning the names ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Zion’, the principle of “the dream is one” is again to be applied to the names ‘Ephraim’ and ‘Israel’. As with the Pharaoh, the Lord is showing us what He is doing to us.

Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

These words are not primarily for an ancient people, who were indeed “deliver[ed] into Assyrian captivity” and carried away into Nineveh. The spiritual message is for us, and it is the very same message we are given at a later stage when Jerusalem and Zion are carried away captive into Babylon.

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

Babylon and Nineveh were sister cities which were both in the plains of Shinar, and “the dream is one” principle applies to those two cities also. They are both the enemies of the people of God who are used by God to chasten His people.

Ephraim and Israel

Ephraim and Israel are one and the same. Ephraim was the younger of Joseph’s two sons, and in that story, Ephraim is used as the type of God’s elect to replace the older son who represents “that which is first” which “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”.

Here is where we first see the name Ephraim:

Gen 41:50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Gen 41:51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
Gen 41:52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

Here is the meaning Strong gives the name ‘Ephraim’:

H669
אפרים
‘ephrayim
ef-rah’-yim

Dual of a masculine form of H672; double fruit; Ephrajim, a son of Joseph; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory: – Ephraim, Ephraimites

So Ephraim was a very fruitful tribe and was the largest of all the tribes of Israel.

Several years later, when Jacob had come down to Egypt, he summoned Joseph to his house so he could bless Joseph’s two sons. This is what happened at that time:

Gen 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
Gen 48:9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Gen 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
Gen 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
Gen 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Gen 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.
Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Gen 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
Gen 48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
Gen 48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
Gen 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

“Truly his younger brother shall be greater” is a Biblical principle which is demonstrated from Abel to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph to King David to the new man, who is greater than our old man. Joseph’s own story concerning his relationship with his ten older brothers, and Israel’s blessing of Joseph’s sons were both used by God to make us aware of this principle:

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

So Ephraim was placed above his older brother Manasseh, and when the kingdom of Israel was split after the death of King Solomon, Israel’s name was placed upon them as he had prophesied, “Let my name be named on them.” Even with the name of Israel on them, the northern kingdom of Israel completely apostatized long before the southern kingdom of Judah.

Hos 11:12 Ephraim [Israel] compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

I used to wonder for many years what was the significance of the splitting of God’s nation on this earth. With very little spiritual perception in me at the time, it appeared to me that Judah typified the Catholic Church, while Israel typified the Protestants who had broken away from God’s true people. However, I realized that Catholicism could never have been said to be God’s “faithful… saints”, so I struggled to understand that the spiritual type is that Christianity is typified by Israel, and that though Christianity has Christ’s name, it does not have His doctrine, which is typified by His food and His clothing:

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.

Israel, also known as Ephraim, thus becomes typical of the apostatized Christian religion, while Judah, in this verse of Hosea 11, typifies God’s “faithful… saints. Christendom has the name of Christ, but it is not, in any way, faithful to His doctrine.

It is for that very reason we read:

Hos 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Hos 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
Hos 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.
Hos 11:10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
Hos 11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
Hos 11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

Israel placed his name upon Ephraim. That is why we see them so closely connected throughout the prophecies of the Old Testament: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel?” In this context Israel is the bondwoman wife of Abraham, who we are told is a type of those who are in Christ. What we do not want to acknowledge is that Christ has children by a bondwoman wife before  they become His children of the freewoman:

Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

In Hosea 11 Israel typifies those who want and have Christ’s name, but cannot and will not do what He says to do:

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

Christians who have Christ’s name, but “do not the things [He] say[s]”, like Admah and Zeboim, will be delivered up to be destroyed as those two cities were destroyed.

Hos 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Hos 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
Hos 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

Admah and Zeboim

The question we were asked was, “Could you expound on the types and shadows of Ephraim, Israel, Admah and Zeboim and the spiritual anti-type for today?”

To answer that question, as with all the other Biblical names we will be considering in this series of studies, we must first know what happened to Admah and Zeboim. The fact is that these two cities were among “all the cities of the plain” which were destroyed in the destruction of the far more recognized names of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Deu 29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

God has made it known that having His name, without having His mind and obeying His commandments, is of no value at all, but will rather bring upon us the same destruction by “His anger and … His wrath” like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim.

It is out of this destruction of the kingdom of our “old man” that God brings forth our “new man” who, through that dying process, will be “conformed to the image of His Son”.

Hos 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

Here we have God rhetorically asking how He can deliver up His backslidden people to be destroyed as He destroyed the cities of Admah and Zeboim “in His anger and in His wrath”. At the same time He informs us, “I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not destroy Ephraim.” It all serves as a perfect example of how God pours out His wrath upon His very elect first, and destroys the rebellious, carnal mind within them first, before He drags all the rest of mankind to himself. It all serves to demonstrate that “all things come alike to all [and that] there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked”:

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

Those verses in Hosea 11 demonstrate that all men of all time are, in the end, “not appointed… to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us [all men of all time] to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

What these verses also demonstrate is that God’s elect are not immune from His wrath upon their rebellious, carnal-minded “first man, Adam”, who will be destroyed by God’s wrath, and will through that destruction, be raised up as a new man who will be conformed to the image of Christ:

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

In this study we have seen that Zion, the earth, Israel, Admah and Zeboim, one and all, are first used to typify our first “old man” who was created “marred… in the Potter’s hand” for the express purpose of demonstrating how incapable he is of inheriting the spiritual kingdom of God. We have also seen that a “new man” is in the process of being birthed through that destruction, fulfilling our Lord’s words:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Joh 12:33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Next week, Lord willing, we will discuss the spiritual significance of a Biblical place called heaven, where we are told God dwells within His kingdom, which is called “the kingdom of heaven”.

We have already discussed the Biblical opposite of ‘heaven’ which is ‘the earth’. Next week we will discuss what is commonly misunderstood to be the opposite of heaven, a Biblical place called variously, the valley of Tophet in the Old Testament and Gehenna in the New Testament. It is very poorly translated as ‘hell’ in the King James Version, and we will discover once again that there are several Biblical names for this same place, and we will see again that it was the history of this location which gives us its spiritual meaning.

[The next study in this series is here.]