(Aired on June 24, 2025)

The question of whether God creates evil has troubled believers throughout the ages, yet Scripture provides clear answers when we allow the word of God to interpret itself. Understanding this truth requires us to embrace God’s higher thoughts and ways, for as Isaiah declares, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). When we approach this subject with human wisdom rather than spiritual understanding, we inevitably stumble into confusion and contradiction.

The foundation for understanding God’s relationship to what we call “evil” rests firmly upon the bedrock of His absolute sovereignty. Scripture declares unequivocally that God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11), and this “all things” encompasses every aspect of creation without exception. The prophet Isaiah provides the most direct answer to our question when he records God’s own words: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). Here, the Almighty Himself declares His authorship of both light and darkness, peace and evil, establishing beyond doubt that nothing exists outside His sovereign will and creative power.

To properly understand this truth, we must recognize that God’s definition of “evil” differs vastly from man’s earthly comprehension as dust of the ground. The Hebrew word “ra” translated as “evil” in Isaiah 45:7 encompasses not merely moral wickedness but calamity, judgment, and adversity—the very instruments God employs to accomplish His perfect purposes through both vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. When Daniel proclaimed that God “doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35), he testified to this same truth that God’s sovereignty extends over all circumstances, including those we perceive as negative or harmful.

The spiritual significance becomes clearer when we understand that God’s creation of what appears as “evil” serves His ultimate purpose of conforming His people to the image of Christ. Paul reveals this divine strategy when he writes, “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). The “all things” includes what is evil, calamity, and suffering, yet these serve as instruments in God’s hands to produce spiritual transformation and growth in His elect. “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.” (Acts 14:22)

Scripture consistently reveals that God uses evil to accomplish His righteous purposes. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery—an act that was thoroughly evil—Joseph later testified, “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” (Genesis 50:20). This passage illuminates the divine principle: what is evil in human eyes serves God’s greater purpose of salvation and blessing. The brothers’ intentions were wicked, yet God orchestrated even their evil actions to fulfill His predetermined plan.

The book of Job provides another profound example of this truth. When Satan afflicted Job with devastating losses and physical suffering, Scripture reveals that these trials came only with God’s command and were bound by His sovereignty. God said to Satan, “he is in thine hand; but save his life” (Job 2:6), demonstrating that Satan’s destructive work operates under divine constraint and serves God’s purposes. Through Job’s suffering, God revealed His character, tested Job’s faith, and ultimately blessed him with greater understanding and material restoration. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”  (1 Peter 1:7-9)

Understanding God’s creation of evil requires us to believe that He does create evil. While God creates light and establishes peace, His creation of “evil” often manifests through His using natural consequences to unfold according to His purpose. When Paul describes how God “gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts” (Romans 1:24), we see this principle in operation. God directly implants wicked desires. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

The cross of Christ stands as the ultimate demonstration of how God employs evil to accomplish perfect good. The crucifixion represented the culmination of human wickedness—religious leaders plotting murder, disciples betraying and abandoning their Master, civil authorities perverting justice, and soldiers carrying out brutal execution. Yet Peter declared that Christ was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), revealing that even this greatest evil served God’s predetermined plan of redemption. What appeared as Satan’s victory became his ultimate defeat, and through God’s momentary abandonment of His Son came the means of salvation for all. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.” (Isaiah 54:7)

This divine principle extends to the spiritual realm where God uses darkness to call light into human hearts. Paul explains that “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Just as God created physical light by separating it from darkness, He creates spiritual illumination by causing believers in this age to experience the contrast between their former darkness and present light in Christ. “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” (Psalms 139:12)

The parabolic nature of Scripture reveals deeper truths about God’s creation of evil. When Jesus spoke “in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them” (Matthew 13:34), He demonstrated that spiritual realities require spiritual understanding. The natural man perceives only the surface appearance of events, seeing tragedy, injustice, and what appears to be meaningless suffering. However, those taught by Christ discern God’s hidden purposes working through evil to accomplish His Father’s eternal plan. “O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.” (Isaiah 63:17)

God’s creation of evil also serves to manifest His attributes that could not otherwise be displayed. Without creating the possibility of rebellion, how could God demonstrate His mercy and forgiveness? Without causing suffering, how could He reveal His compassion and comfort? Without causing injustice, how could He show His ultimate justice? Romans 9:22-23 explains that God endures “with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” in order “that he make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.” Both categories of vessels serve God’s purpose of manifesting His character.

The doctrine of God’s sovereignty over evil provides tremendous comfort to believers who understand that nothing touches their lives outside their heavenly Father’s permission and purpose. When David faced Shimei’s cursing, he recognized God’s hand in this evil, saying, “let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him” (2 Samuel 16:11). This spiritual perception enables believers to rest confidently in God’s goodness even when circumstances are hostile or appear meaningless. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” (1 Peter 4:12)

Furthermore, understanding God’s creation of evil prevents us from the dangerous error of dualism—the false teaching that suggests an eternal conflict between equally powerful forces of good and evil. Scripture knows no such division. Isaiah’s declaration that God creates both light and darkness, peace and evil, establishes that no power exists independent of or in opposition to God’s sovereignty. Satan himself operates only within divinely imposed boundaries and ultimately serves God’s purposes, though unwillingly.

The eternal perspective reveals the perfect justice and wisdom of God’s creation of evil. The injustices and cruelty from our limited temporal viewpoint will be vindicated when God’s eternal purposes are fully revealed. As Paul acknowledges, “we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). The believer’s faith rests not upon understanding every detail of God’s plan but upon trusting His character as revealed in Scripture.

In conclusion, Scripture clearly teaches that God creates evil as an instrument of His sovereign will, not as an end in itself but as a means to accomplish His perfect purposes. This truth challenges human understanding but aligns perfectly with biblical revelation of God’s absolute sovereignty, perfect wisdom, and His righteousness. Rather than diminishing God’s character, this doctrine magnifies His power and wisdom in using evil to accomplish His eternal plan of redemption and glory. As the apostle Paul concludes, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). And “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” (Romans 11:22)

Conscience – The Inner Voice of Accusing and Excusing – “… and Jesus Cried”. (Rom 2:15, Luke 19:41-44 ) Part 1

Study Aired October 14, 2023

Conscience

[ kon-shuhns ]
See synonyms for: conscience, conscienceless on Thesaurus.com
noun

1. the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action:to follow the dictates of conscience.
2. the complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual.

1. an inhibiting sense of what is prudent:I’d eat another piece of pie but my conscience would bother me.

Synonyms [some] for Conscience:

• • Scruples
  • Morals
  • Compunction
  • Mind
  • Ethics

• Inner Voice

• • Morality
  • Principles
  • Shame

• Awareness

• Spiritual being.

(All synonyms we will soon see match E-Sword’s equivalences.)

From my earliest memories and all the way until physically backed-up disciplines changed to verbal corrections, I got the first withering taste of an evil conscience at about age eight. Prior to that time of my conscience being pricked, the normal parental chastisements were taken in my stride. I was the middle child with an elder sister and a younger brother. It seemed that we didn’t get too many straps across the backside or legs to pull us into gear since the three of us were mostly convinced of change by an eye-to-eye reprimand. We mostly never repeated an offense to require further disciplinary action. 

However, at about age eight, I got the first real taste of consciously concealing and lying, and I got the utterly foreign emotion of crushing devastation. My insides felt like lead. 

You see, I loved anything that flew with inherent purpose: model aircraft and gliders and their real equivalents, along with birds and rockets. Following school one afternoon, while waiting for my bus to leave, I was mesmerized by a teacher on the oval throwing a boomerang quite some distance, and to my amazement, its perfect return to be caught midair with the teacher barely adjusting his step.

Soon after, upon visiting my uncle and aunt’s farm for a family lunch, I saw on a boomerang on the cabinet of their home. In the company of my brother and still younger cousin, and with my conscience dismissing me otherwise for not asking my aunt, I took that flying marvel outside for my sibling’s lesson in aeronautics, fully intending to return it unnoticed to its place. With the imagined sound of distant didgeridoos, I took a classic aboriginal stance and confidently hurled that device with all my might. A kitchen cutting board would have flown with more elegance; it immediately flap-flopped and crashed, breaking a ‘wing’. It was not aerodynamic, but my aunt’s son, the cousin, told me that it was an expensive and treasured display given to his mother by a friend. The looks in my brother’s and cousin’s eyes added to my devastation as I quietly returned the boomerang to its place on the cabinet fitted back together as one piece. 

I agonized for hours in silence, my conscience wanting to tell my aunt of my humiliation and yet my lying and hiding seemed less confronting. Later in the day, I eventually did come clean and told her with barely restrained gulping. She airily dismissed the affair and told me that it wasn’t of great value but a cheap souvenir from Central Australia. Nonetheless, my conscience for being shifty haunted me for years as I relived the devastation of an evil conscience. 

I understood for the first time from Presbyterian Sunday School (the Worldwide Church of God being too far to attend in those early days) the similar devastation Adam and Eve must have felt for disobeying God, their parent. They, too, tried to hide the imagined origin of their iniquity and themselves. The occasion was a God-designed spiritually inherent phenomenon that emerged to identify the humiliation of sin by weirdly pinpointing our pudenda as the origin of the entire affair and is only seen in clarity with spiritual eyes. My nakedness was not hidden in my pants but an accusing spirit that most disturbingly attempted to excuse for peace ~ and didn’t.

For the children that we are, if Adam and Eve’s sin weren’t so serious for all of humanity, their account and mine are quite comical. The reality is that this is precisely what humanity does; it trivializes sins with a wink and nudge and makes a mockery of God’s commands. Universally, in the family, church and government, the foundation of decent society, lies are downplayed, and good conscience is seared. Seared skin forms a callus that resists pain upon subsequent burning, particularly for one’s mind with the Lord’s word. The result is humanity becomes more the spiritually dumb, brute beast he is.

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

Ecc 8:10  And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
Ecc 8:11  Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Lackadaisical chastenings insidiously grow layers of a toughened conscience.

Ecc 8:12  Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: 
Ecc 8:13  But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. 

Seen above in Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 are both the positive and negative dynamics of a good and evil conscience. The result of good conscience provides the peace of the Lord’s ‘light yoke’ by him judging himself by accusing (judging himself) his conscience, for him to go forth to build his life more richly in the Lord’s word. Everyone detests being accused by others, yet being given the gift of judging oneself is a massive step in spiritual development.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

As understandably pretentious as it sounds, nobody outside the Body of Christ can effectively instruct the Lord’s Christs. They can inspire truthful concepts overwhelmingly only discerned by the Lord’s own, yet the non-spiritual man will, at best, vaguely see in spirit and truth and likely regress to uphold his own righteousness. Without the Lord adding to his spirit to connect with His spirit within, it is impossible for the embryonic called ones to grow in spirit (1Co 13:12, 1Co 2:12-26). 

Nonetheless, it rains on the just and the unjust alike. The unrighteous with a seared conscience who seemingly escapes chastisement likewise goes forth to richly live unrighteously, witless or minimally with uncertainty that his judgment is far off in the future. Like Esau, excused by his conscience, he dismisses his inheritance for the pleasure of satisfying his temporary physical hunger for maybe a miserable fifteen minutes as opposed to the unutterable eternal richness in a Husband. If we, as Esau, had listened to his accusing conscience, he would have realised he was utterly deluded in prolonging his earthly days by short-term pain in lieu of mental torture in the Lake of Fire that will seem an eternity, an unwanted prolonging of days. Quickly acknowledging one’s sin is always the least torturous option.

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Likewise, I saw that the boomerang was good for flying and a chance to demonstrate my knowledge of flight and be wise to my siblings. As the elder of the party, I unwittingly and unconsciously to my brother and cousin, incited shiftiness and lying in them that no doubt reinforced that inherent nature for a little more hardening of their hearts for their later experiences (A little leaven leavens the entire lump – Gal 5:9).

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Bam! There you go with that verse and the first case for humanity, the demonstration of an accusing conscience: Adam and Eve. “They knew that they were naked.” Their leaden, accusing conscience didn’t let up there. They very soon heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden and causing a malignancy of excusing evil by vainly hiding and then blaming.

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 
Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 

The nature of the Beast we are, and out of fear, is to hide the sin that causes us to mortifyingly feel naked and vainly mitigate humiliation. Exposed nakedness results in a genetic, God-created, alarming and impulsive emotion to cover up, to cover the “sin of nakedness” being learned by these two young nudies. Now, all sorts of marital accusations and justifications bent their ‘spiritual genetics’ for mankind’s torturous journey and ultimate rulership over sin.

Gen 3:11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

A sperm cell entering an egg instantly, as seen under an electron microscope, generates a flash of light energy, initiating new life. So, too, does an evil or righteous spirit. Eve’s conscience, entertained by the Serpent and with a God-blinded conscience, inherently desired to expand her (poetically speaking) highly receptive blank-page-mind capacity for knowledge. Her conscience lit up with a different spirit to her Lord’s to know good and evil. She was so excited she had to show Adam her newly acquired brilliance, and he, as do all besotted husbands, did eat. Then, the Lord unchained their conscience to accuse them of disobeying their parents (Christ and His Father). Their accusing and excusing game made them aware of a new and devastating emotion of conscience for mankind to use and abuse all the way into the Eighth Day of an analogical eight thousand years of re-creation.

Gen 3:12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. [… continuing accusations and excuses…]
Gen 3:13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

At this point, we will study the meaning of “conscience” – G4893.

Conscience
G4893.
Original: συνείδησις
– Transliteration: suneidesis
– Phonetic: soon-i’-day-sis
– Definition: 

1. the consciousness of anything 
2. the soul [spirit] as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other 
3. the conscience 

– Origin: from a prolonged form of G4894
– TDNT entry: 21:58,1
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Feminine 
– Strong’s: From a prolonged form of G4894; co-perception that is moral consciousness: – conscience. 

Total KJV Occurrences: 32 

• conscience, 31 [times]
• sake, 3 [times]

G4894.
Original: συνείδω
– Transliteration: suneido
– Phonetic: soon-i’-do
– Definition: 

1. to see (have seen) together with others 
2. 2. to see (have seen) in one’s mind with one’s self 
3. to understand, perceive, comprehend,
4. to know with another 
5. to know in one’s mind or with one’s self, to be conscious of 

– Origin: from G4862 and G1492
– TDNT entry: 7:898,*
– Part(s) of speech: Verb 
– Strong’s: From G4862 and G1492; to see completely; used (like its primary) only in two past tenses respectively meaning to understand or become aware and to be conscious or (clandestinely) informed of: – consider know be privy be ware of,

Total KJV Occurrences: 4

• Considered (1)
• Know ((1)
• Privy (1)

Of the thirty-one occurrences “conscience” is spoken in scriptures, its origin is from those expressions in Greek: 4983 ‘to be aware, to consciously know the spirit of truth or error.’

Adam and Eve set mankind on the path to knowing the difference between a good and evil conscience by obedience or disobedience to His word. Regardless of the upcoming ‘endless’ experiences of committing different crimes, they now inherently have their consciences righteously or unrighteously accusing or excusing them since they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A fullness of evil experiences was now set to exponentially assail the conscience of mankind. It all is an essential element in the beginning of re-creating a New Adam straight out of the gates of Eden.

Regardless of not knowing God’s laws, even the heathen know the difference between good and evil. All they have to experience is someone doing to them what inherently (instigated by Adam’s sin) outrages them if the same was done to them. Their conscience accuses or excuses them righteously or, for their own selfish welfare, excuses them and almost always impulsively hides in shame and self-righteousness.

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.

Rom 7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. 

We are being made aware of the spirit of a good conscience by the Law.

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 

Since Adam, the Lord is building a temporary temple within each of us to be destroyed ~ wryly, the original ‘strawman’ the Lord constructs and destroys by His will as the Master Potter to do as He pleases for our learning.

Our conscience, therefore, causes us to be aware of many underlying states of awareness of spirit that accuse us for subsequent and joyful compliance to the commands of Christ or, in contrast, the Beast within excuses us. Satan is the brilliant construct of God, epitomizing His nemeses, to bring about man’s awareness of his evil conscience since Satan is our God-designed second and preferred father from Eden (Joh 8:44). He is the arch-accuser, inspiring excuses, teaching his children a more relished way of interacting. The Serpent consummates us with his evil spirit that so easily connects with decaying flesh. He is a tool created specifically for our re-creating in our Lord’s perfection.

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 
Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

The Lord’s little flock are gladly being accused right now and, by our Lord’s sanctification, made to acknowledge their sins, thus excusing righteously.

Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 
Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 
Isa 1:19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 
Isa 1:20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 
Rom 2:2  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them [most eminently, us!] which commit such things. 
Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? [NO, we don’t! We welcome judgment.]
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? [… and a good conscience]
Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath [through excuses] against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 
Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing [their conscience not condemning them] seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, [… an evil conscience that brings…]
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the [spiritual] Jew first, and also of the Gentile [coming along after];
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace [via a good conscience], to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 
Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God. 
Rom 2:12  For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 
Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 
Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Rom 2:16  In the day when God shall judge the secrets [their conscience; their inner heart] of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. 

At this point, and a temporary break in Romans 2, I wish to introduce our brother Saul of Tarsus and his good conscience, even while breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s budding Elect. Saul was a devout Jew whose piety and passion for the Old Covenant Lord was peerless. His passion for the Law of Moses was founded in its outward administration, and he did it with all his murderous might with a near-perfect conscience.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem [for a jolly decent and most satisfying stoning of these miserable heretical Christians!]
Act 9:3  And as he [Saul] journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks [G2759 – 1. A sting]. 

You see, even Saul, who had the Law of Moses soundly in his heart with a good conscience, experienced the dichotomy of something neglecting that conscience. Already, at some undisclosed time, the holy spirit began to “prick” his conscience and create an awareness of an evil conscience wanting to rip apart all that he had studiously learned at the feet of Gamaliel.

Act 22:1  Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence [in good conscience!] which I make now unto you.
Act 22:2  (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) 
Act 22:3  I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
Act 22:4  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. [It is not a long shot to reason that he also killed children as the Law required in its “perfect manner of the law of the fathers;” (1Sa 15:3)]

Similarly to Job, Saul kept the Law nearly perfectly and, in doing so, had a clear conscience before God. Nonetheless, following his conversion and being renamed Paul, he no doubt felt dreadful remorse because of the pricks caused by the new creation within, his spiritual conscience (conversely, a formally physically perceived conscience is justified as absolving physically and thus excusing and innocent). Upon looking back in his mind and seeing the pitiful, anguished faces of those men, women and children he stoned connecting pleading eyes with his, he must have surely had a Peter-like stab in his heart similar to Peter’s account of his eyes connecting with Jesus’s eyes on the balcony and before Jesus’ death. Paul killed Christians in good conscience, unaware that Christ, the Lord of both the Old and New Covenants, had made a seismic change in how the Law was now to be kept.

2Ti 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 
2Ti 1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 
2Ti 1:3  I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 
2Ti 1:4  Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 
2Ti 1:5  When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith [an unfeigned faith cannot be manifested without a good conscience] that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 
2Ti 1:6  Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 
2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind [… that is, a good conscience of living righteously]
2Ti 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 

Nobody can be ashamed of a mind whose underpinning can only be a good conscience.

Returning to…

Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 
Act 7:60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Steven got the God-given earth-shattering understanding of Christ’s teachings; it was so conscientiously understood that it eclipsed the brutal stoning by his brethren.

Rom 2:17  Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 
Rom 2:18  And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 

That epiphany is what caused Steven to call out to God to not lay the charge of his murder against his brethren. Steven’s conscience connected with the Lord’s spirit and saw the excellence of the New Covenant to be kept spiritually. No doubt Paul’s later reflections further stabbed him in his heart upon recalling Steven’s powerful cry.

Jesus Christ, being God made in sinful flesh, epitomized every nuance of awareness for right and wrong since He created the mindful response termed “conscience.” Christ was painfully aware that the pinnacle of His creation in mankind which He designed to be a grievous sinning ‘machine’ constantly pricked his awareness to sin. Jesus thus felt dreadfully aware of what He created for purposeful destruction and man’s horrendous brutality towards his fellow man, particularly what was to imminently befall Jerusalem under Roman siege. He knew that mothers would be compelled to eat their own children rather than starve, and their children’s suffering increased their anguish for a harrowingly inevitable end. Jesus’ righteous conscience weighed heavily on Him for the extraordinary end-time event and outcome that His poor suffering ‘children’ of humanity didn’t yet understand. His following words are rich in good conscience ~ an agonizing principled awareness in every sentence: 

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

Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 
Luk 19:42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
Luk 19:43  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
Luk 19:44  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou [by design] knewest not the time of thy visitation. 

Conclusion

It is the spirit of God, His very essence of being, a micro-dose inseminated in man, that differentiates man from the beasts of the field who have no conscience. The spirit in man, and most imminently the Elect of God, gives them alone the capacity to rightly pursue a good accusing conscience that doesn’t excuse, hide or blame.

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart [the conscience of good and evil] concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. [Beasts with a conscience!]
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 
Ecc 3:21  Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 
Ecc 3:22  Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? 

Man’s “portion” without much of God’s spirit is to painfully learn through the evil experience of decaying flesh his utter incapacity to sustain spiritual growth in good conscience and not default to an evil conscience.

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 

Pro 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts [conscience] of the belly. 

1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

As seen in the “Worship” study, predatory wolves have no conscience in eating their prey alive. Yet, the positive side of wolves eating their prey in the morning and feeding their ‘young’ of the Church in the evening is a hard saying for a Gentile Christian to perceive, particularly being thrown “alive” into the Lake of Fire that requires spiritual conscience to know its merciful meaning as “food” for the Elect.

The conscience in Adam and Eve was pricked by their inner voice, accusing them of wrong and classically hiding and subsequently excusing and blaming. The only “law” they knew was not to touch or look upon the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It wasn’t a sin to see (“look upon”) where the tree was located; the looking upon it terminology indicated the spirit of lusting for the yet-to-experience evil consciousness in disobeying their God by entertaining the amplification of lust to eventuate the conscienceless act. That act boomeranged the devastating new emotion of an evil conscience and its trimmings of hiding, accusing, blaming and lying. Adam and Eve, in witless duty, placed mankind on the steel rails of always contending the knowledge of God to judge good and evil through their conscience, only without a greater portion of the holy spirit, to frustratingly default to an evil conscience.

Through God’s spirit in all mankind, Jews, spiritual Jews and Gentiles alike inherently know right from wrong. It is only given to the Lord’s Elect to worship in spirit and truth, having been given by God the spiritual keys to brightly connect with their Lord His consummative plan for them and mankind. Their brothers in Babylon have long overcome their frustration of not being able to contend their sins since they haven’t been given significantly more of God’s spirit. It is thus easier to believe that Christ did it all on the cross so that they do not have to die and are saved now ~ to them, it’s all just too hard to understand; it’s much easier to believe in Substitutional Theology.

Heb 10:21  And having an high priest over the house of God; 
Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled [cleansed] from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 
Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 

Next week, Lord willing, we shall look at many universal personal experiences of good and evil consciences.

The Book of Romans, Part 4 – Vile Affections

[Study Aired July 4, 2023]

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 
Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
Romans 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. 

Here are our verses from the last study to put this in context.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 

Paul has just given us a clue of how to properly understand the scriptures and the message of Christ. “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” We are to understand that the physical world is a type and shadow of the spirit. He mentions that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven … who hold the truth in unrighteousness … neither were thankful … Who changed the truth of God into a lie” which we should understand this as being “within” each of us. We each have and continue to hold the truth in unrighteousness until our carnal mind is destroyed. The carnal mind is our enemy and must be mercilessly killed. This happens to the called, chosen and faithful until the end in this age, and they are being trained to rule the world during the thousand years with Christ. Paul continues his message in our verses tonight. So, we must keep in mind that there is a deeper spiritual message being delivered.

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 

The carnal man will only see this as women and men having homosexual affairs. However, applying the principle of these words being a type, when Paul states “the things that are made” there is a deeper spiritual meaning. What does this mean according to the spirit? The women and men represent the believers of Christ, and the ‘natural use’ are the actions of those believers. They are following “another Jesus” and keeping the doctrines of their “church”.

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

Paul now explains why this happens and what God does in his wrath.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

“God gave them over to a reprobate mind.” This is the process of God’s plan for mankind. God is in total control, and women and men cannot do anything to change His mind.

Proverbs 22:1-8 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

We must first experience the “reprobate mind”, which is the natural carnal mind, in orderto fulfill the scriptures and the plan of God.

1Corinthians 15:44-49 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

We are first born “the image of the earthy” so all we can do is the following.

Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
Romans 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 

All the above represent false doctrines given to us by “another Jesus” and convince us to believe his lies. We think we are doing good in the churches of the world and do not realize we are under “strong delusion”. 

2Thessalonians 2:1-12 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Paul confirms we all “change the natural use into that which is against nature”.

Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. 

As the elect of God, we look back and see the things of the spirit. We all must see ourselves experiencing what Paul is describing even though we may not have experienced it naturally. These natural evils described while they are sinful are not the full truth of the matter. We must look within and see the spiritual meaning of these sinful deeds. The law of Moses teaches us about natural sin and the law of Christ teaches us about spiritual sin. Mankind will continue to be under “strong delusion” until they are given the ability to understand Christ’s mind. Only if we continue in Christ’s word will we be able to become “disciples indeed” and become free.

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

We must be careful to read the scriptures with the understanding “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made”. Of course, God is in control of this, and we are only living out what has been prepared for us since the foundation of the world. This is all about the final judgment to come upon mankind. As the elect we learn this first and are given the ability to bring the rest of mankind into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 25:31-46 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 

We all are the “sheep and the goat”, the “right and the left hands” and will go through the process of separation. The elect in this age and the rest in the ages to come. The vile affections are the false doctrines of the churches of Babylon which will be destroyed by God in the end.

Here are the verses for our next study.

Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 
Romans 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 
Romans 2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 
Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Romans 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 
Romans 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 
Romans 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 
Romans 2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 
Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

2Ki 24:1-20  “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth” – (Mat 23:35)

[Study Aired May 4, 2023]

2Ki 24:1  In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 
2Ki 24:2  And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
2Ki 24:3  Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 
2Ki 24:4  And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. 
2Ki 24:5  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
2Ki 24:6  So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 24:7  And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 
2Ki 24:8  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2Ki 24:9  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 
2Ki 24:10  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 
2Ki 24:11  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
2Ki 24:12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
2Ki 24:13  And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 
2Ki 24:14  And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 
2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 
2Ki 24:17  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 
2Ki 24:18  Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2Ki 24:19  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 
2Ki 24:20  For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

This chapter of 2 Kings discusses how Judah is taken into captivity, and it typifies for God’s elect the severity of God’s wrath upon our Adamic nature (Rom 11:21-22) that is identified by Christ as being guilty of “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Mat 23:35). It is through God’s goodness we are being judged and led to repentance (Rom 2:4), and it takes these seven plagues poured out upon us today, spoken of in Revelation 15:8, to have Christ enter our temple (1Co 3:16, Col 1:27). It is cleansed through a sanctification process (Joh 17:17) that washes us from our sins and iniquities by the flesh and blood of Christ (Joh 6:55) making it possible for us to go on to perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32). Christ never sinned but identifies with this process of overcoming and is the author and finisher of it in each member of the body of Christ (Heb 12:1-2, Rom 12:1-2, Rom 5:10).

Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, [2Co 3:18] and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled [“his goodness“].

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The final destruction of all flesh with Gog and Magog is the physical natural event that precedes the final destruction of all carnal thinking in the lake of fire, which is the time when those “seven plagues” will be poured out on all of humanity (Rom 1:20). The spiritually carnal minds of humanity will reason in glorified bodies (1Co 15:40) that they have done many wonderful works (Mat 7:22) and are not worthy of a judgment unto condemnation. Like all yet unconverted minds it is impossible to behold “the goodness and severity of God” and equate that goodness with a good work which requires God’s “forbearance and longsuffering” until we go through the process of judgment being accomplished by grace through faith (Col 1:27, Rom 8:9, Eph 2:8). That relationship of knowing Him in the spirit (Act 9:5) and no longer after the flesh comes at a miraculous appointed time (Joh 14:20), each man in his own order (1Co 15:23-24).

The main and hope-filled message to be taken from this chapter in 2 Kings is that if we are bound to the altar (Psa 118:27), God will receive His sons and cleanse our temples with a forbearing and longsuffering spirit that will do whatever it takes to wipe away the refuge of lies in our heavens (Heb 12:26-29, Rom 5:10). God sees clearly where we are in our spiritual growth and knows those things that are yet binding us to the earth. He has the power to destroy those things (Heb 12:27) and keep us bound to the altar (Joh 8:36).

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

We are admonished to not despise this process of overcoming this marred vessel that is being made anew as we die daily (Jer 18:4), which process is very graphically typified for us with the nation of Judah with all its failing kings and backsliding spirit that ultimately brings God’s great wrath upon the nation. When we seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness (Mat 6:33), we are tried by our Father who is a consuming fire, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom [by seeking it first (Mat 6:33)] which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.” God sets the stage for all our battles in life and provides the strength we need through Christ to go through the fiery trials, which is the grace [favor upon His children] that produces a new vessel which can “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Num 14:9). We need only acknowledge our sins in that process (Psa 32:5, Jer 3:13-14).

Psa 32:5  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:  

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

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.

We are blessed to progressively come to understand the depth of the guiltiness that is in all flesh revealed in what we do, or have done, in our life “between the temple and the altar” knowing that it is only Christ who can give us the power to overcome our wretchedness (Rom 7:24) to then turn back and see how we have been dragged to Him through the power of God’s holy spirit (Rev 1:12). That increase in our walk only comes through suffering with the body of Christ as we learn to bear each other’s burdens in this life (1Co 10:16, Gal 6:2) and gain a deeper and more profound respect for the recompence of the reward obtained through that communion into which we have been called (1Co 10:16). The question is how is this all done and accomplished, and the answer is by His faith that must be tried (1Pe 1:7, Rom 3:27) in order that we may endure to the end through Christ, typified by Moses in the wilderness of his day who esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward [Paul’s version of the same point (Php 3:8)]”  (1Pe 4:17, 1Co 11:32, Joh 6:44, 1Co 3:6, Heb 11:26-27). The reward of eternal life is what gives us such great incentive in this life as we lose our adamic life for His name’s sake, knowing that our fear of God is essential if we are going to be saved and heard in this life (Heb 5:7, Luk 12:5, Heb 11:7).

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Those who are raised in the second resurrection will go through a process of judgment, typified by what society will physically experience during the thousand-year reign of God’s saints, and every soul will come to that Gog and Magog moment in their hearts (Rev 20:8) where once the truth is known, the carnal knee-jerk reaction will be to contend with God, as we all did, and say “Why have you formed me this way, why am I guilty to this degree?” “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” [Mat 23:35, Rom 9:20].

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

2Ki 24:1  In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 
2Ki 24:2  And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
2Ki 24:3  Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 
2Ki 24:4  And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. 
2Ki 24:5  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 

In this opening verse we read, “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up” and  Jehoiakim “became his servant three years” representing how we must go through a process of judgment in the earth in Babylon, where we are of our father the devil, typified by Nebuchadnezzar whom we serve and who is God’s servant (Jer 27:6). When we come to our senses, we do what Jehoiakim did, “he turned and rebelled against him“, which is what the Israelites did when they forsook Egypt. We are witnessing with these verses an event that typifies for us how Christ in us gives us the ability to break out of the bondage of sin (Heb 11:27, Joh 8:36). This is only the start of that process for Judah whose rebellion against their taskmaster “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” is a short-lived victory as “the LORD sent against him [Jehoiakim] bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.“

God is intent on making the point to us that what we sow we are going to reap (Gal 6:7), which is why we read, “Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did“, and this is the section of our study where the title is based (Mat 23:35) which verse reads “And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.” Filling Jerusalem with the innocent blood that the LORD would not pardon is telling us that the Lord gives our old man no quarter as it cannot inherit the kingdom of God. However, if we are blessed to acknowledge that we are the man who is guilty of all, chief of sinners, then this captivity Judah is about to go into can be seen as a positive event for the new man that will be born out of all that suffering (2Ti 2:12). Filling Jerusalem with innocent blood is the same as what is being said in (Mat 23:35).

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

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

2Ki 24:6  So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 24:7  And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 

These verses demonstrate the hold the devil has on this world (2Co 4:4). Jehoiakim is dead, and spiritual death continues to reign through his son Jehoiachin. Satan has gained dominion over the land, which land typifies our bodies as expressed with this verse 7: “And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.” Taking control of the rivers is symbolic of taking control of what can bring life, and in the negative sense Satan can bring forth life and do signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible he would deceive the very elect (Mat 24:24).

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

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

2Ki 24:8  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta^H5179, the daughter of Elnathan^H494 of Jerusalem.
2Ki 24:9  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 

The death of Jehoiakim is not a deadly wound (Rev 13:3) as evidenced by the same spirit and ideology becoming manifest in: “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months” (vs 8). It is in Jerusalem where he reigns, which represents where God’s people come from and from where all these events are unfolding. God is showing us that we are beasts (Ecc 3:18, Jer 10:14) and that the best we can give God is copper [Nehushta^H5179 [2Ki 18:4)] regarding our process of judgment at that time in the court symbolized by the “three months” Jehoiachin reigned in Jerusalem. We judge in the court while we are in the court, symbolized by the age of Jehoiachin when he began to reign. However, that judgment proves to not be just in the end because we don’t yet see that we are ‘the man’ and bring nothing to the altar (1+8=9) (Joh 7:24, Joh 5:30, 2Sa 12:5-7).

2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan^H5180.

Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

2Sa 12:5  And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. [David’s judgements that are just and good in and of themselves]
2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 

H5179 nechûshtâ’ nekh-oosh-taw’

From H5178; copper; Nechushta, an Israelitess: – Nehushta.

H5178 nechôsheth nekh-o’-sheth

For H5154; copper; hence, something made of that metal, that is, coin, a fetter; figuratively base (as compared with gold or silver): – brasen, brass, chain, copper, fetter (of brass), filthiness, steel.

2Ki 24:10  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 
2Ki 24:11  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

In order to learn to judge justly, we must go through heavy trials, fiery trials (1Pe 4:12) which perfect the mind of Christ in us, giving us the ability to discern good and evil (Heb 5:14). So the judgment that has taken place thus far in life of Jehoiachin has not produced good fruit, good judgment, and God has caused Jehoiachin to err, and the sins of the fathers are now visiting the nation of Judah as God proclaims these words: “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.” It is typifying the fiery trials we must go through in order to enter into the temple of God (Rev 15:8).

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

2Ki 24:12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
2Ki 24:13  And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

All these details of the nation of Judah going into captivity are symbolized by these verses in the book of Revelation (Rev 18:11-18) and remind us that God is talking about what we have experienced, or are experiencing, and enduring through the grace and faith of Jesus Christ who is saving us through taking us into captivity out of which He will ultimately bring us. Being taken  “in the eighth year of his reign” into captivity is how the new man is formed, which is what the number eight symbolizes. It is the riches of the temple taken away that represent the word of God which must be purified within us through our trials for a season (1Pe 1:6-7, 2Co 4:8-12, Rev 2:10).

Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 
Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 
2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

2Ki 24:14  And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

The word “all” is repeated over and over, 6 times [the number of man], to remind us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and the “ten thousand captives” represent that flesh which has to be put off before we can inherit eternal life.

What has to go is all that is corrupt within us

“all Jerusalem” meaning all false doctrine, and false religion that God’s people leave.
“all the princes” those things and people that we have trusted in our flesh (Mic 7:5).
“all the mighty men of valour” the vanity of our flesh that is passing and those who we would trust in the flesh.
“all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained” coming behind in no gift and being yet carnal (1Co 1:7, 1Co 3:3-4) was the time when we trusted in all the “craftsmen and smiths” within us. None of that can remain and must go into captivity as well to be purified.
“all the men of might” represents the strength of our flesh God tells us is passing and vain. Moses’ natural strength was with him even at 120 years of age, and typifies for us the only strength that we should desire and that is the life of Christ through whom we can endure all things [12×10] as He gives us the power to put off our carnal hearts (Deu 34:7, Rom 2:29).
“all that were strong and apt for war” This group represents any pursuit in the flesh that is put before God. So if we labor to be rich instead of seeking the kingdom of God first (Mat 6:33), we are demonstrating a spirit that is “apt for war” explained this way in the book of James, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas 4:1-4).

Finally when we read “And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon” we are reminded of Christ’s words that tell us unless you are willing to give up all of these relationships, including your own life, ‘you are not worthy to be My disciples’ (Luk 14:26-27). God takes away our dependance on the natural little by little (Exo 23:29-30) until we become confident that there really is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:36-39). That painful process takes a lifetime, but God is faithful to start and finish this work in us through Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2, Php 1:6).

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Luk 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Php 1:6  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:

This statement, “And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon” tells us that there is no power in the earth that can save us except Christ in whom we are accepted and trust (Rom 5:10, Act 4:12). Those powers and principalities in our heavens are represented by “all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war” of which God will use via the king of Babylon, who represents Satan, to buffet those powers that represent our own self-righteous sins of iniquity which will chasten us (Jer 2:19) so that we are humbled under God’s mighty hand in this age (2Co 12:7, 1Co 5:5, 1Pe 5:6). Christ is far higher than those powers and principalities and uses them to humble us in this life (Eph 1:21).

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

There is a hope-filled verse tucked in the midst of all this destruction and death which reads, “none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land” (2Ki 24:14), and is repeated in 2 Kings 25:12, both groups representing the elect of God who are saved and remain at the expense of losing our lives, typified by the captivity of Judah. In chapter 25 of 2 Kings, the death of Zedekiah typifies our man of sin who must be destroyed. We lose our lives for each other by becoming vinedressers and husbandmen, symbols that reflect God the father who is the husbandman and Christ who is the vine and God’s elect who are the vinedressers (Joh 14:20). By God’s grace we become of a poor and contrite spirit (Isa 66:2) “the poorest sort of the people of the land” so that we can ‘occupy until He comes’ (Luk 19:13).

2Ki 25:12  But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

Luk 19:13  And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

2Ki 24:17  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 
2Ki 24:18  Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 
2Ki 24:19  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 
2Ki 24:20  For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Notice who is calling the shots once again and that is “the king of Babylon” who typifies the god of this world, and what he is doing is positioning the basest of men in rulership which is what God has given him to do (Dan 4:17). The “king of Babylon” is in charge however all the things that he has accomplished has been “through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence“

Mattaniah whose name was changed by the king of Babylon to Zedekiah is the negative example of being given a new name as opposed to the new name God gives the elect and that is hidden from the world (Rev 2:17, Rev 3:12).

Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Zedekiah being age “twenty one” and the amount of time that he ruled “eleven years” and his mother’s name “Hamutal^H2537” are all significant details that reveal that this king represents our transient flesh which is passing and unable to establish proper governance without Christ as our head. Because we know the demise of Zedekiah is coming, the two and the one in this case witness to the fact that the day of the Lord, in type and shadow, is coming upon this evil king who represents the man of perdition in our own hearts and minds. The eleven years [“The Ruin and Disintegration of the Perfection of the Flesh”] tells us no foundation [12] in Christ was going to be established with this king whose life, like ours, is like a vapor or dew that passes in the morning which is what Hamutal’s name means.

H2537 chămûṭal    chămı̂yṭal kham-oo-tal’, kham-ee-tal’

From H2524 and H2919; father in law of dew; Chamutal or Chamital, an Israelitess: – Hamutal.

Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

This last verse sets the stage for the last chapter of the book of kings revealing how God’s anger is a righteous anger that is against sin and always ready and wakeful over His word (Jer 1:12) to carry out His judgments upon our sinful condition that He created marred this way for His purpose of bringing us to see our need for a relationship with Him and Christ.

Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

We are told, “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth” to encourage us to know that God can take our marred condition and make something new and great via this process of judgment, “For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”

2Ki 21:13-26, 2Ki 22:1-2  “The Line and the Plummet”

[Study Aired March 30, 2023]

[We start with the last verse from last week’ study:  2Ki 21:12  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.] 

2Ki 21:13  And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 
2Ki 21:14  And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 
2Ki 21:15  Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. 
2Ki 21:16  Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. 
2Ki 21:17  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
2Ki 21:18  And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 21:19  Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 
2Ki 21:20  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. 
2Ki 21:21  And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 
2Ki 21:22  And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. 
2Ki 21:23  And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 
2Ki 21:24  And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
2Ki 21:25  Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 21:26  And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
2Ki 22:1  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.

The book of kings is a long, stretched out experience of good and evil events throughout history that remind us what the vanity of flesh is capable of and how God works all things according to the counsel of His own will; a work that will in time humble all of His creation (Eph 1:11-13).

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Being those “who first trusted in Christ” is the blessing and honor bestowed upon those who are being first judged in this life (1Pe 4:17), and given the power and boldness to put off our flesh as Christ did (1Jn 4:17). There is a definite correlation with learning to trust God as a result of our judgment as these verses make very clear in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10.

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? 

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

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 
2Co 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

In this second part of chapter twenty-one, there is a more detailed account of those judgments upon Jerusalem which represent the people of God who are up against all the various characters God uses to accomplish His judgment [in our lives] which He does via “the line of Samaria” and “the plummet of the house of Ahab.” It is the experience of “evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it” that we are looking at again, learning more deeply what these words mean for us today in Isaiah 45:7 via events that were written for our admonition (1Th 5:20) upon whom the ends of the ages are come (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11)

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

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, (2Co 4:15) which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, (2Co 4:15) upon whom the ends of the world are come.

2Ki 21:13  And I [the LORD God of Israel] will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
2Ki 21:14  And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 
2Ki 21:15  Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. 

The two other times we see the word “plummet” used in the bible are found in Isaiah 28:16-17 and Zechariah 4:10. Both verses express how God will judge His people through Christ who is typified by “the hand of Zerubbabel” in Zechariah 4:10 and “a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” speaking of Christ in Isaiah 28:16-17. His function as our high priest is described as one who knows how to destroy the hidden sin of our life using that plummet which represents God’s word he will lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet so that “the hail [God’s word] shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place” (Psa 19:12-14).

Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; [the body of Christ] they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth [Jer 22:29] .

Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. [“the hiding place“ of Isa 28:17]
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. [Heb 6:4-6, Heb 10:26]
Psa 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

In these verses (2Ki 21:13-15) it sounds like God is simply done with ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘the remnant of mine inheritance’ and cut it off completely as He did with “the house of Ahab” [2Ki 9:8], but it is the necessary experience of evil we must go through that separates us from God so we are brought to our wits’ end and cry out to him for deliverance. It is the flesh and bones of Christ’s body, the church (Eph 5:30), that “despised the day of small things” having to go where we don’t want to go by God’s hand, experiencing His correction which is never pleasant when you’re going through it (Psa 22:1, Mat 27:46, Joh 21:18, Heb 12:11), but it must happen (Heb 12:8) so that the desired effect will be achieved by our LORD who will “stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down” which will lead to our rejoicing in Him for these wonderful works to the children of men (Psa 107:31). Wiping a dish and turning it upside down are symbols of the actions that God must take against our sinful flesh in order for us to come to our senses and see our need for God’s continual cleansing through “the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5). He turns our world upside down as often as He needs to (Rom 2:4) and uses our own iniquities represented by “the line of Samaria” and “the house of Ahab” to accomplish this (Jer 2:19).

Psa 22:1  To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

God will not forsake His remnant, but He will forsake the first man Adam part of our existence that cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50, Mal 4:1), so when we read “I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies“, it is speaking again of God giving us over to our own sinful condition for an appointed time until we are delivered and are no longer “a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.” That does not sound logical to the law of sin in our members (Rom 7:23) that contends with the way God does things, causing us to err (Isa 63:17) and bringing us to our wits’ end so that we cry out, and yet it is through the trials and the storms of this life that we begin to cease from sinning (1Pe 4:1-2) and eventually stop asking God why did you form me this way? God delivers us, and a new spirit is given to us so that in the end we rejoice in how our Creator does things, as He brings us to our safe haven, Jesus Christ. “Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven” (Rom 9:19-21, Psa 51:1-3, Psa 107:28-30, Psa 62:7-8).

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

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

Psa 51:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Psa 62:7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 
Psa 62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Why does God chasten and scourge us? “Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.” He does so because He loves us and receives us through this process if we are His sons in this age (Heb 12:6). Enduring His wrath upon our old man is a miracle in itself that requires the life and strength and faith of Christ within us to do so (Gal 2:20, Php 4:13), and it is that suffering we go through which makes it possible for us to be of service to God, both now and Lord willing, if we endure to the end as the bride of Christ who will be made ready (2Ti 2:12-14, Rev 19:7-8).

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

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: [Php 2:12-13] and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 
Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law [Rom 7:23], then Christ is dead in vain.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer (Gal 2:20), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself [he cannot deny his own body (Eph 5:30, Mar 14:72, Rom 7:24-25, Php 2:12-13)].

Mar 14:72  And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept [the twice and thrice add up to 5, reminding us how Christ will not deny Himself of this work of grace through faith toward those who are bound to the altar (Psa 118:27)].

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

2Ki 21:16  Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. 
2Ki 21:17  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
2Ki 21:18  And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza^H5798: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

“Till he had” is telling us that degree to which we have been in bondage to the powers and principalities in our heavens without Christ, being overcome and held in bondage by the man of sin represented by Manasseh who is revealed in our life at the appointed time (2Th 2:5-7). That man of sin within us “fill[s] Jerusalem from one end to another; (Luk 11:50-51). It speaks to how sin has to come to that place of being filled up in our lives (Gen 15:16) until we are brought to our wits’ end and fed up with sin, like the prodigal son who was brought to see his need for our Father’s provision found only through Christ (Luk 15:17). Only then can we fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ through a lifetime of laying down our lives as servants of righteousness in our Father’s home (Luk 15:17-18) being no longer servants to sin (Col 1:24, Rom 6:18-20, Rom 6:14).

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

Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 
Rom 6:19  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 

“The rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” was written as a witness to the depths of what our flesh is capable of doing without Christ staying the hand of the devil and our not being given to be strengthened through Christ.

The place where our old man ends up is expressed with this verse “And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza^H5798: and Amon his son reigned in his stead”. There is no inheritance found in Christ for those who are only given to operate in their own strength, “in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza^H5798” (Php 3:9), where what we grow in this life comes from our own strength and is not the blessed treasure that is laid up in heaven by God through Christ in the life of His kind of first fruits who are given that increase by God (Mat 6:20, 1Co 3:6). Amon is the heritage of Manasseh, who represents the next generation of sinful behaviour that is going to continue to wax on as long as we continue to rely on our own strength and not rest in the Lord Jesus Christ (Lev 25:4).

H5798‛ûzzâ’    ‛ûzzâh ooz-zaw’, ooz-zaw’

Feminine of H5797; strength; Uzza or Uzzah, the name of five Israelites: – Uzza, Uzzah.

Total KJV occurrences: 14

Lev 25:4  But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, (Eph 2:8, Heb 4:11) a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 

2Ki 21:19  Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 
2Ki 21:20  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. 
2Ki 21:21  And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 
2Ki 21:22  And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. 

The next king of Judah is Amon, who is very much like Manasseh. His reign began at “twenty and two years old” and “he reigned two years in Jerusalem“. He did “evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did” and so the witness [2] of beginning his reign at 22 and ruling for that short two-year reign is a witness of the evil and corrupt pattern that had been established through Manasseh’s reign and passed on to his son who (1Co 15:33-34) “did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.“

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

2Ki 21:23  And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 
2Ki 21:24  And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

The death of Amon coming from his own servants who slew the king in his own house, reminds us how evil this anointed king was, whose own iniquities would chasten him to the point of death, iniquities symbolized by his own servants who slew him in his own house, his own temple (1Co 3:16) where that iniquity abided (Jer 2:19). 

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

There is change coming, however, as the people of the land know how egregious it is before God to touch His anointed king, and so they do the right thing by taking vengeance on all those who conspired against Amon (1Ch 16:22, Psa 105:15). These actions made way for “the people of the land”  to make “Josiah his son king in his stead” who would be a just king.

1Ch 16:22  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 

Psa 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 

2Ki 21:25  Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 21:26  And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

2Ki 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. 
2Ki 22:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. 

As mentioned earlier “Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza^H5798: and Amon his son reigned in his stead”. Amon’s fate was no different than that of his dad Manasseh who was “buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead“. 

It takes the final destruction of these two evil kings [Manasseh and Amon] witnessing to the sin in our own members, to bring about the new king Josiah who would walk “in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left” (2Ki 22:2).

Josiah’s reign was for thirty-one years in Jerusalem, and he was eight years old when he began to reign. The eight year old commencement date symbolizes the typical new man [8] who was going to be on display with this just king, and his reigning thirty-one years in Jerusalem can be seen as a positive number as well if we consider that the number 3 is connected to the process of judgment that must be upon anyone who is going to be a good ruler, and the [1] which reminds us that it is the Lord alone who can change our stony hearts and make it possible for us to become His servants who are “sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” through that process of judgment (2Ti 2:21). 

2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

That process is painful, as the title of this study “The line and the plummet“, reveals. It requires judgment and much tribulation through this life (Act 14:22, Heb 11:26), and yet the fruit that will be borne out of that suffering and the ultimate joyous liberty (Rom 8:21) of being changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, will far outweigh anything we have to go through in this life (Rom 8:18, 1Co 15:52, Joh 16:21).

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ [“A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow“] greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Joh 16:21  A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

[Study Aired January 12, 2023]

2Ki 16:1  In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 16:2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
2Ki 16:3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2Ki 16:4  And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
2Ki 16:5  Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
2Ki 16:6  At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. 
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
2Ki 16:10  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 
2Ki 16:11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 
2Ki 16:12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
2Ki 16:13  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
2Ki 16:14  And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
2Ki 16:15  And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16  Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:19  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 16:20  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

God’s word as shown in these verses (Isa 1:13-22, 1Pe 1:12-16) contrast so starkly with what king Ahaz did during his reign, which was in contrast to what Hezekiah the next ruling king of Judah would do for the nation of Judah. These verses in Isaiah (Isa 1:13-19) point to the reality of what must happen now in the lives of all those who are being dragged to Christ in this life (Joh 6:44). The verses in Peter’s writings confirm how we are to present our lives as a living sacrifice before God (Rom 12:1-2), bringing forth good fruit, meet unto repentance (Mat 3:8).

Isa 1:13  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 
Isa 1:14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Isa 1:15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. [Ahaz]
Isa 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isa 1:19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: [Hezekiah]

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 
1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 
1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Such an extreme turnabout from dark to light in character is shown from Ahaz to the next ruling king Hezekiah, typifying how we go from the corruptible seed of our father the devil to become an incorruptible holy seed in the hands of the Creator (1Pe 1:23).

1Pe 1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. 

What manifested in the life of Ahaz demonstrates the depth of depravity that our flesh can go to without God in our lives, as opposed to Hezekiah’s life that is typical of those who are called and chosen in this life and given power over the powers and principalities which we will wrestle against all our lives, becoming more than conquerors through Christ our head (Rom 8:37).

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

This seems to be the lowest point for Judah’s history in regard to the depraved way in which the people conducted themselves under the rulership of Ahaz. Their idolatrous lifestyle of the day is typical of our own lives, our own former conversation (Eph 2:2) that was full of our own idolatry until Christ, typified by Hezekiah, came in and began to tear all those idols down. This chapter of kings is like a pinnacle of evil, a ‘fullness-of-the-sins-of-the-Amorites’ moment in time, that is going to bring about great correction on the nation of Judah (Gen 15:16).

Multiple times we hear this well-repeated verse throughout the book of kings, “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,” which sins of Jeroboam led to worse sins in the lives of all those who embraced them. Those sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat were just as potentially prevalent in the heart of Adam as they are in the hearts of those who claim to know Christ as Adam and Eve did, but who are yet with hearts and minds that cannot be obedient to the commandments of God (Luk 6:46). God allows for this ebb and flow of evil, but the truth is the heart was always deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9) along the way from Adam on. It is only through Christ, typified by Hezekiah, that we can begin to truly lay our lives down in His service and no longer “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting” of Isaiah 1:13.

Before we get into our study, here’s a little snapshot of the history of Judah and king Ahaz taken from the web [Who was King Ahaz in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org] that will help us organize the historical details of this section of kings, as we learn how God’s hand worked all these events according to the counsel of his own will and for our admonition upon whom the end the age is come (Eph 1:11, 1Co 10:11). I want to draw our attention to this statement in regard to how the author of this article struggles with how evil Ahaz was, as opposed to his father before him, saying “so it is unclear why King Ahaz departed so completely from the teachings of the Lord.” The answer to God’s elect now is clear. It is God who caused this wickedness to become more pronounced in the life of Ahaz to demonstrate His sovereign power over the clay which we are, to make one a vessel of honor and another fitted to destruction (Rom 9:17-23).

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (typified by the lives of Ahaz and Hezekiah in this section of kings)
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

[Excerpt from Who was King Ahaz in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org]: 

“Ahaz was an evil king of Judah who became king at the age of 20 and reigned for 4 years with his father, Jotham, from 735 to 731 BC, and 16 years on his own, from 731 to 715 BC. Second Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28 record King Ahaz’s destructive practices, such as idol worship and sacrilege against the temple of the Lord. The actions of Ahaz contributed to the downfall of the kingdom of Judah, which the Lord brought about in 586 BC. Isaiah 7–10 speaks of the results and consequences of King Ahaz’s wicked ways.

Ahaz’s father, King Jotham, was one of the good kings of Judah (2Ch 27:2), so it is unclear why King Ahaz departed so completely from the teachings of the Lord. His repugnant deeds included sacrificing his own children, which was a great evil the kingdom of Israel had already been practicing (2Ki 16:3, 2Ch 28:3). King Ahaz also desecrated the temple as a result of his alliance with the king of Assyria, which came about in response to punishment God sent on Ahaz in the form of attacks on Ahaz’s land.

King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel had besieged King Ahaz’s lands, and, although they were not strong enough to defeat Ahaz, they did “inflict heavy casualties on him” (2Ch 28:5). Not only were Ahaz’s son Maaseiah and his second-in-command, Elkanah, killed, but over 100,000 soldiers were killed, and Judah’s cities were plundered. Many Israelites who were living in Judah were taken captive (verses 6–8). Because of all this, Ahaz appealed to the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, for help in defeating Aram and Israel. Tiglath-Pileser complied and attacked Damascus, capturing the city and killing King Rezin.

When King Ahaz met the victorious king of Assyria in Damascus, he saw a pagan altar there he wanted to copy for his own use in Jerusalem. So he sent plans to his priest Uriah, who finished the altar before Ahaz came back from Damascus (2Ki 16:11). Upon his return, King Ahaz made sacrifices on the altar to the gods of Damascus. He moved the altar of the Lord, and, although he still planned to use it for “guidance” (verse 15), Ahaz offered all the sacrifices on the new altar.

Ahaz’s sacrilege did not end there. To impress the king of Assyria, he removed the royal entryway of the temple as well as the Sabbath canopy, and cut the temple furnishings into pieces (2Ki 16:17-18, 2Ch 28:24). After shutting the doors to the temple, he placed altars at all the street corners in Jerusalem and high places for worshiping false gods in every city in Judah (2Ch 28:24-25).

The Bible is not clear on how Ahaz died, but it does say that, although he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, he did not earn a place in the tombs of the kings of Israel (2Ki 16:20, 2Ch 28:27). His son Hezekiah reigned after him, and, fortunately, King Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2Ch 29:2). He reversed what his father had done to the temple, purifying it and again consecrating it for worship of the Lord (verses 3–36). [End Quote]

2Ki 16:1  In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz^H271 the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 
2Ki 16:2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.

Pekah was in his 17th year of ruling Israel when king Ahaz came on the scene. Ahaz was 20 years old and reigned for 16 years in Jerusalem. We are told he did not right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father, and so these numbers take on a negative application telling us that it had been better for him to have never reigned in the first place (2Pe 2:21).

2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

The addition of Ahaz’s age when he began to rule at 20 years old and the length of his rule 16 years adds to 36 which numbers (3+6=9) adds up to the number of judgment (9) upon the flesh, (6) by way of a process (3).

Pekah being in his 17th year of reign when Ahaz begins his reign also adds to this story as (17) signifies the intent of all rulership which, in the positive, is to form the new creation, the new man which is the addition of (1+7=8), but that increase must come from God (1Co 3:6) and these stories are always to be understood as an admonition to which, Lord willing, we will take heed as we see the parable unfolding so we can be motivated to keep overcoming (2Pe 1:4). In the negative use, 17 points to upheaval and brokenness.

Gen 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Gen 37:2  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

God used this wicked king to accomplish His purpose of showing what was in the heart of the nation of Judah, telling us what is in the heart of all mankind until God begins to judge us and have those things burned out of our life (Jer 17:1-5, 1Pe 4:17). 

Jer 17:1  The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; [negative example of being bound to an altar of sin according to the counsel of God’s will]
Jer 17:2  Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 
Jer 17:3  O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 
Jer 17:4  And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever. 
Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

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?

We are being shown via king Ahaz’s bad example that we must be continually on our guard to follow Christ and to try the spirits whether they are of God or not (1Jn 4:1). This king’s actions were anything but godly. This was a time of judgment on Judah, now taking on a new elevated height, vis-a-vis wicked king Ahaz who was bent on deepening the nation’s idolatrous ways.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 

2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Ahaz^H271 means “possessor” or “he has grasped” [and what he was possessing was the wicked rule over the nation of Judah by walking in the abominable ways of the heathen.]

We can lay hold of something with a righteous intent to serve others, or we can lay hold of something or touch something for our own selfish personal pleasurable interests (Heb 11:25). Such was the case with Ahaz who was meant to lay hold of the nation and become a curse to them by the things he did (Pro 29:2).

Pro 29:2  When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

In the positive use of taking hold of something, Jacob was inspired to take hold of Esau’s heel, typifying how God’s elect would be overcomers of our carnal fleshly nature typified by Esau. This overcoming was predestined before we were born and is made evident to God’s elect via this prophecy that tells us so in Romans 9:11.

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

As certain as the prophecy is that there is a remnant that will lay hold of the righteousness of Christ (Gen 25:26), so too, does the scripture reveal that the first man Adam will lay hold of holy things that will bring about their death (2Sa 6:6). It is the oxen, representing the beasts which mankind are, that causes the ark to be shaken and then steadied by the other beast, Uzzah, that leads to his death (Ecc 3:18).

Gen 25:26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold^H270 on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

2Sa 6:6  And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold^H270 of it; for the oxen shook it.

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Ahaz  H271  ‘âchâz aw-khawz’

Strongs Definition:  — From H270; possessor; Achaz, the name of a Jewish king and of an Israelite: – Ahaz.  Total KJV occurrences: 41 

BDB Definition:  Ahaz = “he has grasped”
1) king of Judah, son Jotham, father of Hezekiah
2) a Benjamite, son of Micah, and great grandson of Jonathan
Part of Speech: noun proper masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H270

2Ki 16:3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2Ki 16:4  And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Notice how thoroughly corrupt this king was and how he used these evil practices of the heathen to keep control of the masses. It was “under every green tree” and in  “the high places, and on the hills” this all took place, typifying for us how these evil practices were steadily and healthily growing and being done in the high places and hills that represent our pride which causes us to hold fast to the practices of the heathen (Isa 57:3-5, Isa 57:7).

Isa 57:3  But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.
Isa 57:4  Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, 
Isa 57:5  Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? 

Isa 57:7  Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

Sacrificing and burning incense in these places tells us that there was devotion to these idolatrous ways and an ungodly attachment to these wicked practices, regardless of the fact that the LORD had already “cast out from before the children of Israel” these evil practices. Walking in the ways of the kings of Israel symbolizes walking in our flesh and holding fast to the traditions of men and not God’s (Mar 7:7-8), even to the extent that Ahaz “made his son to pass through the fire,” which is symbolic for us today of how we offer up our children to the traditions of Baal found on an altar that has its origins in heathenism “Christmas, Easter, New Years, etc.” Without an experience of evil such as the one that Ahaz was bringing upon the nation of Judah, we have no way to compare the good fruit from the bad, and so God’s modus operandi for all of humanity is revealed to us in these verses (Rom 6:20-21, Rom 7:5-6, Ecc 1:13 [CLV], Jer 10:2).

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 
Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

Rom 7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. [The experience of evil is the way that seems right to man and yet is inspired by the spirit of Satan that leads to death. (Pro 14:12)]

Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

2Ki 16:5  Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
2Ki 16:6  At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

Now God’s judgment and wrath was going to be poured out upon Judah by way of “Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel“. Rezin is a gentile king who is the wicked sword in God’s hand that will be used (Psa 17:13) to chasten and scourge the nation of Judah for their idolatrous ways. Rezin “drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day” signifying our total inability to remain faithful even in times of trials and tribulations unless Christ is there. We reflected on the taking of Elath a couple of studies ago with King Azariah that is worth repeating here [taken from  Study of the Book of Kings – 2Ki 14:19-29]:

“The life of Azariah ultimately ended up producing bad fruit, represented by his building of Elath^H359 that he restored to Judah, “He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers” (2Ki 14:22). Based on all that we read about the life of Azariah and what he ended up doing, it’s clear that his high-mindedness was manifested by disobedience as he went to burn incense in the temple when only the priests of Aaron were allowed to do so (Exo 30:30, Exo 30:37-38, Num 16:35), and then being smitten with physical leprosy, symbolic of his spiritually corrupt heart.  As always, we are reminded that this is written for our admonition. Unless we are washed by the blood of Christ that takes away our sinful condition, represented by leprosy, we would remain in the bondage the whole world is in, and that bondage is likened unto death – “being dead wherein we were held” (Rom 7:6, Joh 8:36, 1Jn 5:19, Mat 8:22, Rom 6:3).

H359‘êylôth / ‘êylath   BDB Definition:
Elath or Eloth = “grove of lofty trees”
1) a port on the north-east arm of the Red Sea
Part of Speech: noun proper locative
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H352 [properly strength; hence”

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Both Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria came up against Judah to make war against Judah who “could not be overcome” at this time, but there were casualties (2Ch 28:5-8).

2Ch 28:5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
2Ch 28:6  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. 
2Ch 28:7  And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. 
2Ch 28:8  And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

This battle does not represent ‘spirit against flesh and flesh against spirit’ as much as it represents flesh against flesh and how every man will be against his neighbor (Mar 13:12, Eze 38:21, Isa 3:5), as God uses that divisiveness to His glory to chasten the nations in question.

However, without the mind of Christ, when someone is in such a battle it normally means the battle is going to continue and ‘unholy alliances’ are going to be made, to assure victory for one of the parties. In the end, more death and destruction unfolds (Russia and the Ukraine as a modern example of that principle). Such was the case here with Ahaz who saw the writing on the wall for the nation of Judah. In typical in-the-flesh fashion, instead of seeking God through a prophet of the times, Ahaz sought out a physical ally to help give him the upper hand in battle against “Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel“. That aid came in the form of “Tiglathpileser king of Assyria” who consequently was very much an opportunist like Ahaz.

Mar 13:12  Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 

Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. 

This alliance being forged with “Tiglathpileser king of Assyria” is purely a survival tactic of Ahaz who tries everything to get the king of Assyria on his side in this battle, reminding him that “I am thy servant and thy son” which he was not any more than king Pekah was the son of Rezin the king of Syria. It all demonstrates that desperate times call for desperate measures, and instead of doing the right thing and tearing down the idols within Judah, Ahaz digs in his heels and despises the chastening of the Lord in type and figure, building up his fleshly army to further preserve his idolatrous reign over Judah, at least that is his hope.

Ahaz does what he is good at doing best in bribing the king of Assyria, confident that money will talk, which it did. “And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.” This misappropriation of the LORD’s gold and silver to further the conflict in the nation of Judah has become a theme for Ahaz. The silver in the LORD’s house typically represents repentance, and the gold in the LORD’s house is His words that have been tried in the fire and made pure. Ahaz instead uses those riches to further hold onto his fading empire that was full of idolatry, typifying for us how Babylon today has tainted all the doctrine of God leaving no stay of bread or water in the harlot system (Isa 3:1).

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, [Mar 7:7-8]

2Ki 16:10  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 
2Ki 16:11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 
2Ki 16:12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon. 
2Ki 16:13  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. 
2Ki 16:14  And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.

King Ahaz has victory on his side now, and instead of having a change of heart in regard to all the idolatry that has brought about this war, he reaches out to his priest Urijah to ask him to make a copy of the altar of Tiglathpileser that he is seeing in Damascus. This sending the fashion of the altar and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof, sounds a lot like, and is exactly the opposite actions of, these words which this unfaithful king could not implement for the nation of Judah found in Ezekiel 43:10-11.

Eze 43:10  Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. [Christ the pattern]
Eze 43:11  And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

How brazen can one man be (pun intended)! He not only comes back to offer polluted sacrifices with “his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar,” he also altered the brazen altar’s position in the temple taking it “from between the altar and the house of the LORD” to “the north side of the altar.” Moving that “brasen altar” is symbolic of taking away from the word of God and when we do this, judgment is what is going to befall us (Rev 22:19, 1Co 4:6), which is why his actions led it to be put “on the north side of the altar” where judgment comes from (Jer 1:14).

Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. 

All these unholy actions and false worship by Ahaz represent our former conversation, and admonish us today to continue to worship our heavenly Father in spirit and in truth (Eph 2:2, 1Co 10:11, Joh 4:24).

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: 

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

2Ki 16:15  And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16  Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

It’s not enough that Ahaz himself is going to worship in this manner, but his evil communications, his way of life, is going to be shared with the rest of Judah and his plans executed by Urijah the priest.

In this instance Ahaz is akin to ‘another Jesus’ and Urijah to the ministers of Babylon who serve out many meaty lies with all the religious pomp and pageantry that you would expect from such a wealthy harlot system as Babylon (Rev 18:6-7).

Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Jer 51:7  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones. 
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria. 

These next actions are just more of the same defiling of the temple of God we have seen unfolding, and we know that everyone who does this, which is all mankind in their appointed time, is going to be destroyed (1Co 3:17).

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Ahaz, who represents our carnal first man Adam, has no problem misappropriating any part of the temple of God, in service, in offering, in taking away, or adding; it’s basically a free for all for the first man Adam.

In this instance he “cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones,” which symbolizes taking away the means by which we can be washed with the word of God. Having no borders is an expression of lawlessness, no restrictions, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die (1Co 15:32).

1Co 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

Removing the laver is removing an implement that was used to wash the sacrifices, meaning the word of God would be taken away which is what this imagery symbolizes (Eph 5:26). 

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

Taking down “the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones” is symbolic of taking our minds off of the heavenly things which are above (Col 3:2-4) where we come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain help in time of need. Putting God’s word in a place that is stony represents how we prevent the word from growing because of our carnal behavior (Heb 4:16, Mat 13:5).

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Mat 13:5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: [the earth is the church (Jer 22:29)]

Taking it away from the oxen is symbolic of taking the word of God away from the strength of Christ, which is found in the elect who make up the church and are symbolized by those twelve oxen that hold up “the sea,” representing the sea of humanity who God’s pillars will be used to hold up and lead unto salvation (Isa 30:20, Oba 1:21). 

Isa 30:20  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

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

What Ahaz did here was no small feat as we consider the size of this brazen altar which was now no longer elevated but put down on the ground, on the stony earth from where Christ was raised so we could be washed by our high priest of all our iniquities (Rom 4:25). All of this moving around and shifting of this and that in the temple reminds us of how industrious Babylon has been and how effectively the word of God has been hidden by the millions of lies that exist within her walls (Rev 9:2).

Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

The last defilement of the temple that is spoken of being done by Ahaz is this one, “the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned^{(H5437 as in changed or altered)} he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.” This symbolizes what Babylon has done to Christ, who is our Sabbath, our covering, and the only door by which we can enter into life. We all in our appointed time moved that door to a place that suited our carnal reasoning so that the “the king of Assyria,” who represents Satan, could come and go as he pleases in what is supposed to be a most holy place that is not defiled in any way (1Co 4:6).

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

2Ki 16:19  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
2Ki 16:20  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead. 

2Ch 28:27  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead. 

These verses (1Co 3:18-19) are really apropos in regard to the life of Ahaz, which represents our carnal first man Adam who will not sleep with the kings but rather die and be buried without inheriting the kingdom of God. The wisdom of the world is what produces our foolish actions which don’t accord with God’s will that tells us to stop doing that, come out of her my people, and “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me” (Isa 1:13).

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Isa 1:12  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isa 1:13  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 
Isa 1:14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 
Isa 1:15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isa 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow [Jas 1:27, Heb 11:26].
Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

[Study Aired May 29, 2022]

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
Jer 40:7  Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Jer 40:8  Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jer 40:9  And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Jer 40:10  As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.
Jer 40:11  Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
Jer 40:12  Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
Jer 40:13  Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
Jer 40:14  And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

It is a sad day in the lives of God’s elect when the Lord uses evil men to rightly instruct His very elect. That is what we will see in this 40^th chapter of Jeremiah. Just as Pharaoh and Abimelech were used by the Lord to correct and instruct Abraham, when Abraham denied His wife to save his own life, and just as the Lord used Abimelech to instruct Isaac, when Isaac followed in His father’s footsteps and denied that Rebekah was his wife, even now a pagan ‘captain of the guard’ of Nebuchadnezzar’s army tells the prophet Jeremiah why the Lord delivered Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon.

Gen 12:18  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

Gen 20:9  Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
Gen 20:10  And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

Gen 26:9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

The Lord is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and His will is to judge and destroy the marred vessel which He made first of clay. He made it to be destroyed though His judgments:

Psa 9:16  The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

While there are always rebels in every country, Judah and Jerusalem are at this point a part of the Babylonian empire, and Gedaliah, a friend of Jeremiah, is also a friend of this world. So, Jeremiah has made friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, and the Lord is making even His enemies to live at peace with him:

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Luk 16:9  And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

This ‘Gedaliah’ is the grandson of a trusted scribe named Shaphan, who read the book of the law which Hilkiah the high priest found in the neglected house of the Lord. This all took place many years earlier at the beginning of the prophet Jeremiah’s service to the Lord for his own nation of Judah:

2Ki 22:8  And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
2Ki 22:9  And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.
2Ki 22:10  And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

When King Josiah heard the words of the law, he was sorely distressed because he realized just how far Judah had drifted away from the words of the law of Moses. So, he sent Hilkiah the high priest and Shaphan the scribe’s son, Ahikam and Ahikam’s father, Shaphan and two other men, Achbor and Asahiah, to Huldah the prophetess who “dwelt in Jerusalem in the college” to “enquire of the Lord” concerning what Josiah had heard read from the book of the law by Shaphan the king’s scribe.

2Ki 22:11  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
2Ki 22:12  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,
2Ki 22:13  Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
2Ki 22:14  So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.

Jeremiah had not yet been made manifest as the Lord’s certified prophet, but Huldah the prophetess delivered to the king the same message of judgment which Jeremiah would later deliver to his own people:

2Ki 22:15  And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
2Ki 22:16  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
2Ki 22:17  Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
2Ki 22:18  But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
2Ki 22:19  Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.
2Ki 22:20  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

So, this ‘Gedaliah’, whom King Nebuchadnezzar has made governor over Judah, is a long-time friend of Jeremiah. It was ‘Gedeliah’s father, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, King Josiah’s scribe, who had saved Jeremiah’s life when the people wanted to put him to death because He faithfully reported to the people what the Lord had told him to tell them. What the Lord told Jeremiah to tell the people was that if they did not repent of their rebellious ways the Lord would destroy the nation of Judah.

Let’s refresh our memory of what Jeremiah had prophesied nearly two decades before the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar:

Jer 26:1  In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
Jer 26:2  Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:

This threat against the life of Jeremiah, the Lord’s prophet, takes place “in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim” who reigned eleven years:

2Ki 23:36  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

Jer 26:1  In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,

Jer 26:7  So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
Jer 26:8  Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
Jer 26:9  Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

The patriotic people of Judah would have killed Jeremiah if he had not made to himself friends of the unrighteous mammon of this world in the person of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, the kings scribe:

Jer 26:24  Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

It is this ‘Ahikam’, who was prominent in the court of wicked King Jehoiakim, whose son, Gedaliah, has now been instituted by King Nebuchadnezzar as the governor of Judah, ending the physical Davidic line of succession to the throne of the kingdom of Judah.

Gedaliah was a friend of Jeremiah, but like King Josiah a few decades earlier, he did not see the need to inquire of the Lord in all of his ways, and as we will see in our next study, he paid with his life for not doing so.

Here is the story leading up to Gedaliah’s death:

Jer 40:7  Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Jer 40:8  Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jer 40:9  And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Jer 40:10  As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

The Lord had given Nebuchadnezzar the wisdom to pick Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, the scribe of righteous King Josiah, to be governor over the people of Judah. It was indeed a good choice because all the people and their leaders rallied around him:

Jer 40:11  Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
Jer 40:12  Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

It is part of our self-righteous, iniquitous nature to want to be near the things of the Lord, while at the same time refusing to submit to His words. Multitudes followed the Lord and listened to His parables, and ate His loaves and fishes and called Him ‘Lord’, but they still refused to do the things He told them to do.

The Lord’s words here are addressed to us and not to those who are not even given eyes that see or ears that hear:

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

One of the things the Lord requires of us is that we never lean to our own understanding and that rather we acknowledge Him in all our ways:

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Gedaliah typifies us after the Lord has begun His judgment upon His own house, because Judah has already been carried away to Babylon. Even then, he did not seek counsel from the Lord in His dealings with his subordinates:

Jer 40:13  Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
Jer 40:14  And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

Let’s not forget that all these “captains of the forces that were in the fields and all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries” are the very people who refused to obey the Lord’s words by the mouth of His prophet, Jeremiah:

Jer 38:17  Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
Jer 38:18  But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

Going forth to the king of Babylon’s princes signifies that we have acknowledged our transgression, and that we now welcome the Lord’s impending judgment. Isaiah had prophesied of this stage of our walk over seven decades earlier:

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

We are often self-righteously willing to forgo judgment on ourselves and on others. The Lord’s judgments just seem so lacking in mercy to us. However, the next verse of Isaiah 26 tells us what we will do if we are not judged in this present time:

Isa 26:10  Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

The Lord has indeed shown favor to those who escaped their Babylonian captivity, but the fact remains that they must be judged:

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?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

These Jewish refugees who fled their own judgment “will… not learn righteousness”, as Isaiah prophesied. Even “in the land of uprightness will [they… me and you] deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord” until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled in our lives:

Isa 26:11  LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
Isa 26:12  LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

“You have wrought all our works in us…” good and evil:

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither [“sold into Egypt” (vs 4)], but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart [our hearts] is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

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

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

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

If the Lord has predestinated us to be His first fruit elect, then there is simply no way we will be given to eat of the tree of Life, the doctrine and mind of Christ, without first going through the fiery sword which is in the hand of the Cherubims which are guarding the way of the tree of life:

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Enduring the fiery trials the Lord has predestined for us is “the way of the Tree of Life”.

Luk 12:49  I have come to throw fire on the earth. I wish that it had already started!
Luk 12:50  I have a baptism to go through, and I will suffer until it is over. (GW)

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

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:

These Jewish refugees symbolize us while we live under the illusion that Christ’s sufferings take the place of ours, and we need not suffer the Lord’s judgments upon the kingdom of our old man. As such we see no need to inquire of the Lord because we think we have escaped His chastening hand.

As we will see in our next study, Gedaliah, a type of that part of our “experience of evil” paid with his life because He thought he could avoid the judgments of the Lord:

Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

It is only when we come out of Babylon that we begin to develop the ability to discern spirits. Gedaliah is not capable of discerning the Truth in the words of Johanan, nor the murderous spirit in Ishmael. Johanan, as we will see, cannot hear the voice of the Lord, but the Lord has made him to know that Ishmael is in the service of the enemies of the people of the Lord.

Johanan, the son of Kareah, signifies our self-righteous old man who believes he can preserve the Lord’s kingdom without “going forth to the princes of Babylon” and without acknowledging his transgressions:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

‘Going forth to the princes of Babylon’ signifies that we understand that no man can enter the temple in heaven until the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

“No man was able to enter into the temple” means that all those who think they can escape the seven plagues of the seven angels, typified by the Lord’s judgment upon His people, are in for a rude awakening, as we will see in our next study. In chapter 41 we will see this unrepentant remnant has no intention of fearing the Lord more than they fear men. They are not given to hear the voice of the Lord through His servant and His proven prophet, Jeremiah.

These remnant Jews typify us while we presumptuously think we can avoid the Lord’s judgments upon us for our own rebellious ways. Whether it was our belief in the false doctrine of a so-called ‘rapture’ or a ‘place of safety’, both teach that we can avoid having the Lord to pour out the seven plagues of His wrath upon our rebellious sinful ways, and the Lord is having nothing to do with such lies:

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amo 3:8  The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

The Lord’s prophets all say the same thing. They all teach that the Lord is in the process of judging His creatures, beginning at His own house:

Jer 25:15  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18  To wit, [first] Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
Jer 25:19  Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

All nations will drink of the cup of the Lord’s wrath, but He begins inwardly at His own house, “Jerusalem and the cities of Judah”. That inward beginning does not exclude an outward dispensational fulfillment of these words. Christ came in the flesh before He comes to us inwardly in the spirit:

1Ti 3:14  These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Ti 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Jeremiah 25 demonstrates that the Lord will judge and punish all nations on the face of this earth, but He will begin that judgment with “the city which is called by My name” and they “shall not be unpunished”. There will be no ‘rapture’ or ‘a place of safety’ from His wrath, and a million sermons from 40,000 plus Christian denominations will not deter His chastening scourging judgment upon those whom He loves:

Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

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

Peter sums up the order in which the Lord will judge all mankind with these words:

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment 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?

The chapters of Jeremiah are telling us of the fate of those who think they can avoid the judgment of God by fleeing from that judgment. When we refuse to go out to the princes of Babylon, we will discover soon enough that “[we] shall surely drink of that cup” as we will see in the ensuing chapters of the Word of the Lord at the mouth of Jeremiah. We all, by nature go back into the world to avoid the Lord’s judgment, but the Lord will send “[His] servant” to find us there and see to it that “no man [can] enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels [are] fulfilled” (Rev 15:8). This is all repeating what the Lord told Jeremiah earlier in:

Jer 27:5  I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
Jer 27:6  And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
Jer 27:7  And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Jer 27:8  And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
Jer 27:9  Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
Jer 27:10  For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
Jer 27:11  But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

What we do and what we did when we believed in the false doctrine of a secret rapture or a place of safety was really nothing more than returning to Egypt. Returning to Egypt typifies returning to this world instead of being submissive to the instrument of the Lord’s judgments upon our transgressions. This is what happens to us when we do that:

Jer 46:19  O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
Jer 46:20  Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
Jer 46:21  Also her [Egypt’s] hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
Jer 46:22  The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
Jer 46:23  They [Nebuchadnezzar’s army] shall cut down her forest [the men of Egypt], saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
Jer 46:24  The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Jer 46:25  The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
Jer 46:26  And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
Jer 46:27  But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer 46:28  Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee [with His elect]; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

[by James Ramsay]

Brother Ramsay,

I’m very interested to hear it if you have found, or given a satisfactory explanation from anyone, concerning an answer to the question you asked at the end of your comment referencing the Hebrew word for evil “rah” in the context it’s used in Isaiah 45:7 and how it’s context in Genesis is compared when God spoke to Adam and Eve about not to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil (rah)? I’m searching too for an explanation since I read your spiritually stimulating question. Thank you brother Ramsay for any assistance in helping a fellow Christian brother in discernment of this word and how it
relates in these two scriptures.

Brother Whitson,

Isaiah 45:7 clearly states that God created “good and evil” but ask any Christian what that means and most assuredly they will find a way to exonerate God, who we will all agree is good, from having anything to do with evil. Most people I’ve encountered simply don’t think very deeply about this topic, so the fact that you’re asking about it now is encouraging. My hope is that what you are about to read is a satisfactory explanation to you or, at the very least, prompts you to conduct a deeper study of the subject.

For full disclosure, before you spend any time reading my response, my question was rhetorical; i.e. I had already started to find the answer sometime in 1994 when I was struggling with a number of issues in my life. I think it would be helpful to answer your question by first explaining what was going on at that time which prompted me to start looking into it and why it became so important to me.

1. I was a member of a legalistic church which I had been attending for 18 years that was
experiencing upheaval over doctrinal questions.
2. My youngest son, who was 7 yrs. old, had been diagnosed with OCD, a mental disorder that
was relatively unknown by the general public at the time.
3. I was taking college level courses in psychology, including Abnormal Psychology which, among
other things, dealt with the subject of frontal lobe injuries and their effect on decision making
and self-control.

If you haven’t yet detected the common denominator between all of these issues, let me cut to the chase: all three involved man’s will, something to which, up until that time, I had always assumed was free, meaning that I was free to choose to do and to think whatever I wanted.

While the other situations, especially the church changes, affected me, my son’s disorder was the worst. His condition disturbed me so much that one day I angrily, and undeservedly, rebuked God, demanding an answer to how He could hold my child accountable for behavior over which he had no control. During the next three months, God used my bible study as a rebuke of my understanding of Him and His relationship with mankind. That experience reminds me of how He answered Job, who essentially did the same thing.

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? (KJV)

Without any attempt on my part to organize a study on this topic, I was led to scripture after scripture which glorified God’s sovereignty and mankind’s subservience to Him. I had read these many times before, but suddenly they jumped off of the pages as if I had never read them before. Even though I have thought about and studied this topic for the past quarter of a century, I have never put this down on paper, so if you haven’t lost interest so far, I will share some of them below.

I will attempt to do this by answering the following three questions:

1. Why would God create good and evil?
2. Since the same Hebrew word for evil (ra’) is used in both Isaiah 45:7 and Genesis 2:9,17, what does ra’ mean?
3. Why would God create a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, place it in a garden with Adam
and Eve, then tell them not to eat of it?

Ephesians 1:11 introduces a concept of God’s sovereignty that most Christians, while still giving lip service to God’s omnipotence, offhandedly reject; primarily because they simply don’t understand it, and secondarily because their lived experience makes it difficult for them to believe it. To be clear, this is not evidence of Calvinism, but it does vividly describe the relationship between the creator and His creation in terms of whose will was, is and will be accomplished.

Eph 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will (NKJV)

Restated [we are] “being predestined (i.e. the will of humanity is not sovereign) according to the purpose of Him [God] who works all things according to the counsel of His will (the will of God is sovereign).” So, what does it mean when man describes God as sovereign?

Since scripture is the written word of God, we must appeal to it to even begin to understand this, and what we find is that God alone is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, meaning He is the only one who has the power and authority to create and destroy and is aware of all that is; i.e. He is not dependent on or influenced by anything other than Himself. The following passages confirm this.

Heb 4:13  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Rom 11:34  “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? (quoted from Isa 40:13 below)

Isa 40:13-14  Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?

Eph 4:4-6  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Col 1:16-17  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Rom 11:33  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Jer 32:17  Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

Psa 103:19  The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.

Job 21:22  Can anyone teach God knowledge, since He judges those on high?

Job 37:16  Do you know how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

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

Job 28:24  For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heavens,

Pro 15:3  The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Acts 15:18  Known to God from eternity are all His works.

2Ch 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

Jer 16:17  For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.

Psa 94:9  He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

The average person, Christians included, believe they have a ‘free will’; i.e. they believe, like God, they are sovereign, in this case limited in power, time, space and awareness but capable of making decisions which they believe are independent of any outside force or influence. In the Bible the term ‘free will’ exists only as a description of a type of offering to be given by the Israelites.

Examples of this are found in Leviticus 22:18-23, Numbers 15:3 and Deuteronomy 12:6. The concept that the will of each human is sovereign, in other words, free from outside influences, does not exist in the Bible although thousands of misunderstood scriptures are used by most Christians to support their belief that indeed it does exist. They are taught by those they believe have the authority to speak for God that in spite of the scriptures you’ve just read about God’s sovereignty that each one of us is capable of making choices contrary to our human nature and our physical circumstances outside of the influence of God, who they believe takes a ‘hands off’ approach to the decisions each human makes.

Generally, at this point I have lost people who are busy thinking of all the commandments, the ‘thou shalt(s)’, that are literally found throughout the Bible. The thinking goes something like this; why would God expect His people to keep multiple commandments, laws, ordinances and regulations in the Old and the New Testament if He didn’t expect them to have the ability to choose to do it? That is an important question and one that deserves an answer, so again, please be patient as I wade through this because the answer is remarkable and life-changing.

Let’s start with the story of Job by asking why God induced Satan to tempt Job? That question, in
and of itself, is spiritually challenging because when you ask most Christians what they think
happened in the story of Job they usually answer that Satan caused God to have Job tested. So if you haven’t read the first two chapters of Job in a while, read it again to reacquaint yourself with what actually happened. The context in which this story unfolds reveals a great deal about how God interacts with His creation, which includes the spiritual realm.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. (NKJV)

It is important to recognize that the sons of God, including Satan, presented themselves before the Lord just as a knight of King Arthur’s court would have presented himself before the king. The next time God and Satan interact, the same scene is described in Job 2:1 with an additional fact, ‘Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.’ Both verses depict the sons of God and Satan as subordinate to God.

A similar scene is described by the prophet Micaiah in 1 Kings 22:19 and 2 Chronicles 18:18. Since they are almost identical, I will only quote 1 Kings 22:19 here.

1Ki 22:19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.” (NKJV)

The scriptures above as well as several others in both the Old and New Testament depict what appears to be customary gatherings of angelic/spiritual beings around God’s throne as judgments and decisions are being made in a council style setting. What is unique about the four scriptures referenced above is that we get to view how God Himself makes those decisions and commands their implementation by the spirits who answer to Him.

What happens next in the story of Job is important in truly understanding what the book of Job is really about; specifically that man’s righteousness can only be self-righteousness unless God in His sovereign wisdom chooses to make that man righteous. It also elucidates Satan’s role in the created world including his relationship to his and our creator.

Job 1:7 confirms who is in control right from the beginning of the conversation.

Job 1:7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” (NKJV)

Servants do not address their masters like that and considering Satan had presented himself before the Lord, who was on His throne, the Lord is clearly not speaking to an equal. Besides, can you imagine that God had no idea where Satan had been or what he had been up to? Of course, He knew; He created him for a specific purpose.

When Israel was in captivity in Babylon, God used the prophet Isaiah to comfort them. In Isaiah 54, God explained through the prophet that He would once again bless them and remove tribulation from them.

Isa 54:8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says the LORD, your Redeemer. (NKJV)

He continues in verse 14 explaining that He would protect them from oppression, fear and terror.

Isa 54:14  In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. (NKJV)

He then makes a curious assertion in verse 15 stating that some will assemble against them, but not because of Me.

Isa 54:15  Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. (NKJV)

Then in verse 16 He explains what He meant when He said, “not because of Me.”

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. (KJV)

I emboldened “I have created the waster to destroy” because verse 16 explains how God implements His desires while James 1:13 explains why.

Jas 1:13  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. (NKJV)

Two points to note here:

1. The smith (blacksmith) creates ‘an instrument for his work’ which in the waster’s case is ‘to
destroy’.
2. The waster’s method of destruction here is to assemble those who would bring oppression,
fear and terror but is destined to fail because God has determined that ‘Whoever assembles
against you shall fall for your sake.’

1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18 both describe the same heavenly court as it is revealed to the prophet Micaiah, where God mandates a response to the King of Israel’s inquiry of Him regarding whether or not He would bless the King’s desire to take Ramoth in Gilead back from the Syrians.

1Ki 22:20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.

Notice in verse 20 how God has already pre-determined that the King of Israel would die and his endeavor fail; i.e. evil would come upon him. The only question to be revealed is how He would bring it about.

1Ki 22:21  Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’
1Ki 22:22  The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’

There it is! God reveals to us that He would ‘persuade’ the King of Israel to move forward with what Ahab already wanted to do thereby bringing about his own end at the hands of the Syrians. God agreed to use a ‘lying spirit’ who  through the prophets  would ‘speak unto [the king] smooth things, prophesy deceits’ (Isa 30:10 KJV)

1Ki 22:23 Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you. (NKJV)

Lamentations 3 confirms what you’ve just read:

Lam 3:37  Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Lam 3:38  Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good? (ASV)

It seems that Job’s admonishment of his wife’s outburst came from a common understanding of God at the time.

Job 2:10  You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil (ra’)? (AKJV)

So what does the Hebrew word for evil (ra’) mean? The answer to that question opens another door to understanding everything discussed up until this point. Religion has muddied the waters on this important topic because instead of simply depending on the original meaning of the word, doctrinal preferences impose additional definitions of the word ‘evil’ that didn’t originally exist.

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

Using Strong’s Concordance let’s break verse 7 down into the Hebrew words that the author used to better understand it.

I form [yatsar] (3335 to form, fashion) the light, and create [bara’] (1254 choose) darkness [choshek] (2822 darkness, obscurity): I make [asah] (6213 accomplish) peace [shalowm] (7965 completeness, soundness, welfare, peace), and create [bara’] (1254 choose) evil [ra’] (7451 adversity): I the LORD [Yhovah] (3068) do all these things [asah] (6213 accomplish).

Since we’re comparing this evil to the one God used to describe the tree in the garden of which He forbade Adam and Eve to eat, let’s look at Genesis 2:9.

And out of the ground made the LORD [Yhovah] (3068) God [Elohiym] (430 ) to grow [tsamach] (6779 to sprout, spring up) every tree [ets] (608 tree, trees, wood) that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree [ets] (608 tree, trees, wood) of knowledge [da’ath] (1847 knowledge) of good [towb] (2896 beautiful) and evil. [ra’] (7451 adversity).

The KJV translates ra’ in the following manner: evil (442), wickedness (59), wicked (25), mischief (21), hurt (20), bad (13), trouble (10), sore (9), affliction (6), ill (5), adversity (4), favoured (3), harm (3), naught (3), noisome (2), grievous (2), sad (2). It is noteworthy that Strong’s chooses to use a translation which occurs only 4 times out of the 629 times the Hebrew word ra’ is found in the old testament whereas 442 times it is translated ‘evil’.

Two of those times are found in Jeremiah 9:3:

Jer 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil (ra’) to evil (ra’), and they know not me, saith the LORD. (KJV)

Most of the translations use the word evil, and it could be suggested that this might be based on a doctrinal decision given that it is the Lord describing humans proceeding from evil to evil as opposed to God saying, “I make peace and create evil.”

In addition to the word ra’, notice another one that Strong’s seems to accentuate in Isaiah 45:7.

I form the light, and create [bara’] (1254 choose) darkness:

According to Strong’s, God forms the light and ‘chooses’ darkness? What a curious way to describe what He is doing. According to Strong’s, God does it once again later in the same verse when He supposedly ‘chooses’ ‘adversity’ instead of ‘created’ ‘evil’.

I make [asah] (6213 accomplish) peace [shalowm] (7965 completeness, soundness, welfare, peace), and create [bara’] (1254 choose) evil [ra’] (7451 adversity):

God ‘accomplishes’ ‘completeness, soundness, welfare, peace’ and ‘chooses’ ‘adversity’/evil? However, just like Strong’s ‘choice’ of definition of evil [ra’] in these verses, there appears to be a theological motive behind it when you look at the following actual definitions:

According to Strong’s the KJV translates bara’ 54 times and does so in the following manner: create (42x), creator (3x), choose (2x), make (2x), cut down (2x), dispatch (1x), make fat (1x). Once again, notice that Strong’s chooses to emphasize a translation which occurs only 2 times out of the 54 times the Hebrew word bara’ is found in the old testament over the 42 times it is translated ‘create’. An astute ‘Berean’ would be forced to ask the question, “Why?”

Let’s focus on 1 Kings 22:23 to highlight how once again we find the Hebrew word ra’ as found in Isaiah 45:7 and Genesis 2:9 is translated. Notice how the following versions translate ra’:

“. . . the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you.” (NASB 1995/1997)
“. . . the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.” (HCSB)
“. . . the LORD has determined to bring disaster upon you.” (ISV)
“. . . the LORD has decreed disaster for you.” (NET)
“. . . YHWH has spoken calamity concerning you.” (LSV)
“. . . the LORD hath spoken evil concerning you.” (KJV)

Once again it appears that most of the translations/versions strive to choose a translation for the Hebrew word ra’ that absolves God of any hint of moral evil by using terms that make one think of natural disasters, calamity, trouble or harm. Except for the literal translations this is evident in most other translations where the word ra’ is used.

Several important points become evident when reading the passages from 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles and Job.

1. God is intimately involved in the affairs of men
2. God holds a council meeting with spiritual beings/spirits around His throne to discuss specific issues
3.  God solicits input from these spirits regarding options to consider in responding to
circumstances
4.  Once God hears an option of His liking He mandates that the one suggesting the option carry
it out (in this instance a lying spirit/in Job, the one called Satan)
5.  Even though God does not personally tempt/carry out the mandate, He does take credit for
its successful completion in 1 Kings 22, resulting in the evil/disaster/calamity that He has
already determined will come upon Israel and Judah. After Job loses his children, flocks and
eventually his health, God reveals to him, and to us, what man is in relationship to Himself.
Both of these events had already been pre-determined by God according to “the counsel of
His will”.
6. These events were orchestrated, preserved and written for the benefit of the saints as
explained in Rom. 15:4, For whatever things were written before were written for our
learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
(NKJV)

These points are relevant in understanding why God, who is good, would create evil. In addition to making that case from the scriptures above, perhaps it would be impactful to hear it directly from God Himself.

The story of Joseph, a son of Jacob, in the book of Genesis is fascinating because it reveals so much about how God uses the evil He created. The important point in this discussion is made clear near the end of the story.

Gen 50:15  When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil (ra’) which we did to him.”
Gen 50:16  So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, ‘Before your father died he commanded, saying,
Gen 50:17  Thus you shall say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil (ra’) to you. Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.’ And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Gen 50:18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’
Gen 50:19  Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20  But as for you, you meant evil (rah) against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.’ (NKJV)

“But as for you, you meant evil (ra’) against me; but God meant it for good . . .”

What an enlightening statement! God used the corruptible human nature of Joseph’s brothers, in this case, jealousy, to commit evil (ra’), i.e. sell Joseph into slavery and plot to deceive their father into believing he had been killed by an animal, but “the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” was to use the brothers’ evil intentions “. . . to save many people alive.”

While we are given an insider’s view of the inner workings of the council of God in Job, 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18, God doesn’t always reveal that process in every decision made, but knowing that God uses evil (rah) to bring about good should help us better understand God and how He operates. Jeremiah 29 is another example of this:

Jer 29:4  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Jer 29:10  For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.
Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil (rah), to give you a future and a hope. (NKJV)

In Jeremiah 29:4, God admits He “caused (the captives of Judah) to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon”, but there is more evidence that a heavenly decision was made to take them into and bring them out of captivity in Daniel:

Dan 9:20  Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God,
Dan 9:21  yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.
Dan 9:22  And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.
Dan 9:23  At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision. (NKJV)

At the beginning of Daniel’s supplications (prayers) God commanded/dispatched Gabriel to reveal God’s plan to him. Without this understanding, scriptures like the following can be confusing to the modern mind:

Jdg 9:23  Then God sent an evil (rah’) spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech (KJV)

Or the following:

1Sa 16:14  Now the spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil (ra’) spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil (ra’) spirit from God troubleth thee. (KJV)

Or the following:

1Sa 18:10  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil (ra’) spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.
1Sa 18:11  And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. (KJV)

Or the following:

Amo 3: 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil (ra’) in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? (KJV)

The story of David taking a census of Israel and Judah describes God’s mandate being carried out in real time and reveals more about God’s active role in the process. First, God tells Moses in Exodus 30:11-16 exactly how to carry out a census. He warned the Israelites in verse 11:

Exo 30:11  When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered. (Berean Study Bible)

Yet 2 Samuel 24:1 provides a startling revelation regarding how God sometimes ensured that His people did exactly what He told them not to do:

2Sa 24:1  Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.” (Berean Study Bible)

So God told the Israelites, through Moses, what He required for an acceptable census in Exodus 30 and now He is requiring David to violate that process. Reading verse 1 alone might lead the uninitiated reader to assume that God got David to do this directly, but 1 Chronicles 21:1 reveals, once again, that God used the “waster to destroy” for this purpose:

1Ch 21:1 Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. (Berean Study Bible)

Joab, commander of David’s army, initially questioned the decision but did as he was ordered. Later in verse 8, David repents of his sin, even though God knew he was incited by a spirit to take the census without following God’s instructions. 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21 both relate the story more or less the same way from that point and again reveal much about the remarkable process God employs in enacting His will. The following is taken from 1 Chronicles 21:

1Ch 21:14  So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

The next two verses are simply eye-opening; a pestilence/plague is sent to kill 70,000 Israelites and the way God has it done is by directing an angel to stand between earth and heaven with a sword who starts and stops at God’s command.

1Ch 21:15  And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil (ra’), and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:16  And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
1Ch 21:17  And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil (ra’) indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

Astounding! David was incited by God through Satan to do what God had warned the Israelites during Moses’ time not to do and yet David is [giving an accounting] for it. Like all humans, David was corruptible and susceptible to being influenced by circumstances directed by spiritual forces. Unlike all humans, as a man after God’s own heart, David was given ears to hear God’s voice and eyes to see God’s spiritual servants.

David, in his sinful state as a corruptible human being, was provoked by an overwhelmingly powerful outside force to break a commandment of God and therefore could legitimately claim, although he never did, that he wasn’t responsible for taking the census. Even though God had planned this whole episode before David was even born and saw that it was carried out through the wiles of the ‘waster’, God still held Israel, who obeyed the command of their king, to [give an accounting], and, as a result, they were punished.

This is yet another example of what men (David) meant for evil, God meant for good; specifically showing us how God would use His sovereignty and love to overcome our sinful, corruptible nature and create in us a new nature once the new covenant was established through the sacrifice of Christ and His promised indwelling spirit given to us. Since the old covenant was still in effect, David was required to set up an altar for burnt offerings to the Lord.

1Ch 21:18  Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:19  And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
1Ch 21:20  And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
1Ch 21:21  And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

David then negotiates with the Jebusite to build the altar on Ornan’s threshing floor as God had commanded him.

1Ch 21:26  And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
1Ch 21:27  And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.
1Ch 21:28  At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
1Ch 21:29  For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
1Ch 21:30  But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD. (KJV)

In explaining God’s inclusion of all mankind along with the children of Israel as His chosen people, Paul, in Romans 11, unearths an insight that is confirmed scripturally but is largely unknown to modern Christians:

Rom 11:7  What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
Rom 11:8  as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”

“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day!” Paul is referencing the following:

Deu 29:4  Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.

Isa 29:10  For the LORD has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.

Isa 6:9  “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Isa 6:10  Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (NKJV)

God is literally closing the eyes and ears of those He has called, making it impossible for them to do His will. Today’s Christians who view themselves as God’s people in our time and who are aware of those passages, read them as past tense and do not apply it to themselves. However, Christ himself makes plain in Matthew 13 below of whom He is speaking (see also Mark 4:10-12 and Luke 8:9-10) as He answers why He speaks parables to the multitudes who throng to hear Him speak, i.e. the church of His day, those who are called, and therefore not chosen, as were His disciples. The following passage in Matthew 13 applies to any one of us if we are not chosen, and are therefore blinded and deafened; i.e., unable to hear His voice.

Mat 13:10  Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
Mat 13:11  He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Mat 13:12  Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Mat 13:13  This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
Mat 13:14  In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
Mat 13:17  For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

If we are “healed”, Paul’s message to the Hebrews in chapter 3:15 will apply to us:

Heb 3:15  ‘To-day, if His voice ye may hear, ye may not harden your hearts, as in the provocation,’ (YLT)

Of course it is reasonable to ask, “What happens if we are not chosen and therefore not healed, remaining deaf and blind to hearing or understanding God’s word?” The Christian world, by and large, blithely assumes that if one does not choose Christ as their savior, of his or her own free will of course, then they are consigned to a torment for eternity or, perhaps, ‘mercifully’ annihilated. In other words, the average Christian assumes that they have made the right choice and can therefore ‘see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their hearts’.

Now that we have broadened our perspective on how God interacts with the physical world and “works all things according to the counsel of His will”, let’s revisit the story of Job where Satan answers His creator’s question, ‘From where do you come?’

Job 1:7 So Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walkingback and forth on it.’ (KJV)

The Adversary answered the Lord truthfully since he knows his role and to whom he answers as is confirmed in 1 Peter and Job 12.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (NKJV)

Job 12:16  With him (God) is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his. (KJV)

The next five scriptures are often misappropriated by clergy and layman alike. Typically the one given credit as the protagonist in this story is not God, but Satan as if he is in some sense an equal to God. To those who have misread these passages, allow me to use a modified version of Inigo Montoya’s line from the movie, The Princess Bride:

“You keep [misreading those verses]. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Please read the following verses carefully and ask yourself, who answers to whom?

Job 1:8  Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?’
Job 1:9   So Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?
Job 1:10  Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Job 1:11  But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’

Satan knows who is in charge when he acknowledges that God has the power and authority to “stretch out [His] hand and touch all that he has” and God confirms it when He limits Satan’s power over Job in the next verse and as the tool he was created to be, Satan is given permission to destroy what is important to Job, i.e. what he feared most (Job 3:25).

Job 1:12  And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (NKJV)

After Job loses his children and most of his wealth God hosts another meeting with the angelic cohort including Satan where He once again challenges Satan.

Job 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.’

What an interesting admission: ‘you (Satan) incited Me (God) against him (Job), to destroy him without cause.’ This is why readers misunderstand who is the protagonist (God, not Satan) and who is the antagonist (Satan, not God). God knew the ‘tool’ Satan was created to be would respond with a desire to ‘destroy’ when presented with a challenge by his creator.

In response Satan answered the Lord and said:

Job 2:4  “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
Job 2:5  But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

Once again, God granted him authority and power to bring evil upon Job but with a limit.

Job 2:6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”

So now an important question must be addressed. Philippians 2 contains an interesting verse that is generally overlooked. Verse 12 is often quoted to encourage us to do our part; i.e. exercise our ‘free will’ regarding our salvation.

Php 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

The emboldened phrase is what is usually emphasized but that exhortation is followed by a huge qualifier:

Php 2:13  for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

In a quite emphatic confirmation of God’s sovereignty, Isaiah asserts that God will do what He wants.

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

We have already seen multiple times that what someone might have meant for evil, God meant for good or ‘. . . His good pleasure’. If it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure, then does it follow that this could include evil? Proverbs 16:4 clearly affirms:

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

Proverbs 16:1 confirms Philippians 2:13:

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, [is] from the LORD. (KJV)

Isaiah 63:17 frames it in no uncertain terms,

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, [and] hardened our heart from thy fear? (KJV)

Job 23:13-14 not only asserts that God is in control, He has many plans regarding you and me and that He does what He wants:

Job 23:13-14  But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans. (Berean Study Bible)

What are those plans? Following are some of the scriptures alluding to these plans and an interesting similarity between all of them is their connection to this revelation found in Ecclesiastes 1:13.

Ecc 1:13  I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: It is an experience of evil (ra’) Elohim (God) has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (Concordant Literal Version/CLV)

“[A]n experience of evil [God] has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it” was the wisdom given to Solomon as he inquired from God understanding about “all that is done under the heavens”.

The analogy of the Potter and the Clay in Jeremiah 18 highlights God’s relationship with ancient Israel as a physical nation under the physical application of a spiritual law.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

While the human potter can inadvertently mar a clay vessel, God would only do so for a specific purpose; i.e. “according to the counsel of His will”.

Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

God now gives the parameters for when He would bring evil/disaster/destruction upon ‘a nation/kingdom’ (in this case physical Israel/Judah/Jerusalem) and when He would bless/build up/plant the same.

Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil (ra’), I will repent of the evil (ra’) that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil (ra’) in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil (ra’) against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now everyone from his evil (ra’) way, and make your ways and your doings good.

Shockingly, in spite of God’s warning, the people admit they are incapable of avoiding God’s wrath.

Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil (ra’) heart. (KJV)

Solomon describes man’s condition in much the same way in Psalms 14:1-7 which Paul quotes in Romans as he reveals that God is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews.

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom  3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (KJV)

In spite of this God has declared that He will show mercy on whom He decides to show mercy, not because of what they do or have done.

Rom 9:15  For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”
Rom 9:18  Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Reading this section of Romans 9 is difficult for most Christians because it simply but plainly disrupts their worldview, just as it did for the Jew and Gentile in Paul’s time when he knew what any normal human’s reaction to what he’d stated so far would be. That’s why he then wrote:

Rom 9:19  You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

Paul then restates the response God gave to Job in chapters 38-42 in a shortened version.

Rom 9:20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Paul uses the same analogy of the potter and clay found in Jeremiah 18 to show God’s power to use the evil He created for ‘His good pleasure’, ‘according to the counsel of His will’.

Rom 9:21  Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Paul explains in the eighth chapter of Romans the full reason why humanity was given ‘an experience of evil/dishonor [by] Elohim (God) . . . to humble [us] by it’.

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

‘[T]ravaileth in pain together’ is an allusion to childbirth which for Eve became more painful after she and Adam sinned by disobeying God in eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil as described in Genesis 3:16.

Gen 3:16  To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.’

Stated another way, Eve listened to Satan’s lie and disobeyed God ensuring that both of them would become like God, knowing good and evil, and as a result bring evil (God’s wrath) upon themselves and in spite of Satan’s lie would eventually die anyway. Fortunately God already had ‘many such plans’.

I will end by allowing the scriptures below to speak for themselves and if you are given to see the joy that I now experience because of the promises made giving me the hope that now lies within me (and I pray that you will) then we can rejoice together now.

1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

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

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

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

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [not ‘exclusively’] of those that believe.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1 Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jer 34:12-22 You Brought My Servants into Subjection to You

[Study Aired April 3, 2022]

Jer 34:12  Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 34:13  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
Jer 34:14  At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
Jer 34:15  And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
Jer 34:16  But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
Jer 34:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jer 34:18  And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
Jer 34:19  The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
Jer 34:20  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
Jer 34:21  And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.
Jer 34:22  Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

In our last study we saw that Judah and Jerusalem had finally done the right thing and had set their Hebrew servants free while seeking the Lord’s mercy during the siege of the city by the king of Babylon. As we will see this week, the Lord sent the Egyptians to deliver the city and Judah, and once they were no longer under siege, Jerusalem immediately went back on their word to set their servants free.

Jer 34:11  But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
Jer 34:12  Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 34:13  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

The Hebrew word translated ‘turned’ is H7725, ‘shub’. Judah had ‘turned’ away from the Lord by rebelling against His commandment to release their Hebrew slaves. It is the same word that is used whether it is ‘turning to the Lord’ or ‘turning away from the Lord.

H7725
שׁוּב
shûb
shoob

A primitive root; to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point); generally to retreat; often adverbially again: –  ([break, build, circumcise, dig, do anything, do evil, feed, lay down, lie down, lodge, make, rejoice, send, take, weep]) X again, (cause to) answer (+ again), X in any case (wise), X at all, averse, bring (again, back, home again), call [to mind], carry again (back), cease, X certainly, come again (back) X consider, + continually, convert, deliver (again), + deny, draw back, fetch home again, X fro, get [oneself] (back) again, X give (again), go again (back, home), [go] out, hinder, let, [see] more, X needs, be past, X pay, pervert, pull in again, put (again, up again), recall, recompense, recover, refresh, relieve, render (again), X repent, requite, rescue, restore, retrieve, (cause to, make to) return, reverse, reward, + say nay, send back, set again, slide back, still, X surely, take back (off), (cause to, make to) turn (again, self again, away, back, back again, backward, from, off), withdraw.

Being in Egypt signifies being enslaved to this sinful yet self-righteous world. Egypt here is called “the house of bondmen”, and that is where we all are when the Lord sends His Word and begins the process of bringing us out of this world and out of the bondage we are under by nature. We cannot serve the Lord if we remain in Egypt, and the Lord will plague the world within us and destroy the firstborn within us and make a way through the Red Sea to get us out of this world. The death of the firstborn of Egypt within us is the negative application of the death of the firstborn of God. The firstborn of Egypt signifies the man of sin who sits on the throne of our heart until Christ begins the process of destroying him with the brightness of His coming into our heart to take His rightful place sitting upon the throne of our heart.

Exo 4:22  And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
Exo 4:23  And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Israel’s deliverance from Egypt signifies our being delivered from a life of self-righteous sins, and here in Jeremiah 34 the completion of our time in Egypt as bondsmen is signified by six years of bondage and being set free in the seventh year:

Jer 34:14  At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
Jer 34:15  And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

The spiritual significance of “letting [our]… Hebrew servant… go free” is to let Christ be free in our lives. When Christ is free in our lives, we become His servant, and we become the servants and slaves to righteousness. When we enslave Him, we reject Him as our master, and we seek to make Him and His Word serve us according to the idols of our heart. We do so because we are deceived, and we are slaves to sin and unrighteousness. That is exactly what we all do in our own appointed time.

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

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants [G1401: doulos, slave] of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants [G1402: douloo, slaves, same root word] of righteousness.
Rom 6:19  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

When we read, “The Lord hath made … even the wicked for the day of evil,” we must come to realize when the Lord tells us that He is not speaking of some particularly evil men, nor does it speak of a particular ‘day of evil’ which excludes the righteous man. The fact is:

Psa 53:3  Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Rom 3:9  What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

That Truth is so all encompassing that even our Lord included His own corruptible clay vessel when He said:

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

This story of the release and then the re-enslavement of our Hebrew servants is for our own personal admonition. It is a “Hebrew servant” because we are all ‘Hebrews’, and when we give our Hebrew slave his liberty, we are giving ourselves liberty. Therefore, it is each of us who releases our own Hebrew servant and then we bring him back into bondage. We do so when we repent of our rebellious, self-righteousness and then we “lose [our] first love” and go right back to our “own vomit… and… [our own] wallow in the mire”:

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Their “latter end is worse with them than the beginning” was certainly the case for King Zedekiah, who typifies our own doomed ‘man of sin’. It was also true for rebellious, self-righteous Judah, which typifies the loss of our first love for the kingdom of God within to be replaced with “the cares of this word and the deceitfulness of riches”

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; [Gives his Hebrew slave liberty]
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. [‘Working out our own salvation’ (Php 2:12-13) is more than our old man can bear]

That is what happened to King Zedekiah and to Jerusalem and Judah when they released their Hebrew servants while under siege and then went back on their word when the siege was lifted:

Jer 34:16  But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.

The Hebrew word translated as “turned” here in Jeremiah 34:16 is the same Hebrew word translated as “turned and returned” in verse 11. It means we do a 180 degree turn whether it is turning toward or turning away from our Lord.

Jer 34:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour:  behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

This 17^th verse of Jeremiah 34 is exactly what Paul said in the verse quoted earlier:

Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

Being “free from righteousness we are not at liberty to reap the fruits of that ‘liberty’… “behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth”.

We are “removed to all the kingdoms of the earth” because that is where our “trespasses and… iniquities” are common to all men. That is where we belong. When we are in rebellion against our Lord, we belong in ‘the kingdoms of the earth’ where we are ‘at liberty’ to reap the fruits of that ‘liberty’ – “liberty… to the word, to pestilence, and to famine”, or as the apostle Paul puts it in the very next verse of Romans 6:

Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

The choice to serve sin is an obviously bad choice:

Rom 6:22  But now being made free [liberated] from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Like Israel we are “marred in the Potter’s hand”, and we simply cannot choose to do what we know we should do, as Paul explains in the next chapter of Romans:

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Twice we are told that “[we] do that [we] would not”, and twice we are told “It is not I that do it, but sin that dwells in me”, because we are “sold under sin” by “the law of sin which is in my members”.

How did that law get there? Did we choose to be sold to sin under the law of sin in our members? No, we had no choice in the matter because there is but “one lawgiver”, and that law is in our members by His design and not by our fabled ‘free will’. It is that “one lawgiver” alone who is able to save and is able to destroy, and who is in the process of utterly destroying the kingdom of our old man and all that pertains to him, including his false doctrine of ‘free moral agency’.

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

It is only when we become aware of this Truth that we are brought to cry out to the Lord realizing that we simply cannot freely choose to be obedient to the Lord:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Only then, after the Lord has raised up a storm in our life that brings us to our wits’ end, will we be given to realize this Truth:

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

What a blessing it is to be free from the sin of believing that my salvation and your salvation hangs upon our ability to make the right choices and to do the right things. Indeed, we will by faith choose to do “good works”, but those ‘good works’ are “not of [our]selves, rather “[they are] the gift of God… which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

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

The truth cannot be stated any more clearly than this:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

That is the only way possible to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling”, all the while crying out:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

As long as we cling to the damnable doctrine of man being given a will that is free from God, we will be denying that our faith is “not of [our]selves, [rather] it is the gift of God”, and we will remain in rebellion against the truth that our salvation is only “by the faith of the Son of God” and “not our yourselves”.

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

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

This is exactly how Isaiah had already described this experience the Lord has given us. It is “an experience of evil”, and it is the Lord who “makes us to err from His ways” for the very purpose of giving us “liberty… to the sword… famine… [and] freedom from righteousness” so He can then humble us:

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

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

Any time we refuse to believe and obey the Lord and go our own self-righteous way and deny that it is He who works “both [what we] will and [what we] do” (Php 2:12-13), the Lord proclaims:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Jer 2:20  For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

Our own wickedness corrects us because the Lord “made us to err from [His] ways… to humble us”, and when we turn back again to Him, we do so only because He works that also “after the counsel of His own will”, not ours. What He is telling us is that when He says, “All things” what He means by that is “all things”.

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

We say we will obey the Lord and we agree to His commandment to give His word, our Hebrew servant, freedom to help us to overcome our sinful, self-righteous nature, then by His design, we turn and twist the Lord’s words to make His Words cover the idols of our hearts. It is all “after the counsel of His own will”, nevertheless He also requires that we “give an accounting” of “His workmanship” in us:

Luk 16:2  And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

This is how our own wickedness and backsliding corrects and reproves us:

Jer 34:18  And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
Jer 34:19  The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

Cutting the calf in half and passing between the two parts of the calf, is witnessing to the fact that we have each participated in the sacrificing of our Lord for our sins. Yet we witness against ourselves that we will not, of ourselves, turn away from our sins and our iniquities, and turn again to Him and obey His Words.

Jer 34:20  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
Jer 34:21  And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.

The army of the king of Babylon going up from besieging us and then us immediately reinstituting the slavery of our Hebrew servant, demonstrates that passing between the two parts of the calf means nothing to us at first. Our initial repentance is not a mature repentance. It is a carnal repentance because of the Lord bring trials into our lives to besiege us for a season.

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

As soon as the Lord gives us a reprieve from those trials, we immediately forget that we witnessed against ourselves, and we go right back to our old ways without skipping a beat.

Jer 34:22  Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

The Chaldeans, also known as Babylonians, had “gone up from you” because the Lord had sent Pharaoh to come up against the Chaldeans and had distracted them and caused them to lift the siege of Jerusalem for a short time:

Jer 37:5  Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
Jer 37:6  Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 37:7  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
Jer 37:8  And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
Jer 37:9  Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
Jer 37:10  For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

The message for us, if the Lord has given us to “know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”, is that we must go into Babylon and be chastened for our self-righteous iniquities. We must acknowledge that we have committed iniquity in going back on our word to set at liberty our Hebrew slave the moment the Lord showed His mercy and gave us a reprieve from our trials. The Lord forgave Judah and Jerusalem, and they immediately went out and grabbed their fellow Hebrews by the throat and demanded immediate payment. It is the same spirit against which the Lord Himself admonishes us in the parable of the servant who was forgiven an unpayable debt, only to demand immediate payment of a much smaller debt from a fellow servant.

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Only after we acknowledge our self-righteous trespasses against our Lord while in Babylon will we be dragged out of her:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

While we are refusing to acknowledge our iniquity we just naturally look to this world, to Egypt, to deliver us from our God-ordained chastening which we endure while we are in the bondage of Babylon. Isaiah prophesied of this inevitable part of our “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13):

Isa 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Isa 30:3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

For over seven decades, from the time of Isaiah to the time of Jeremiah and the dissolution of the kingdom of Judah, the Kings of Judah made alliances with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, as they sought protection from the Assyrians of Nineveh and later, in the time of Jeremiah, the same people were dominated by Babylon.

The lesson for us is to depend only on the Lord and not on our own understanding and our own worldly strength.

Pro 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Pro 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

If we have “favor with God and with man” we will never need to fear the king of Egypt or the king of Babylon. The Lord will give us favor with our very enemies:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart [self-righteous] is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

What that means inwardly is that all the energy we wasted in our self-righteous sinful ways will now be channeled into the Lord’s service and against our old man.

As a type of this process of making our enemies to live at peace with us, the Lord made the king of Babylon aware of the prophecies of Jeremiah, and the king of Babylon was solicitous of Jeremiah when Jerusalem was taken:

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

Jeremiah had not gone back on his word just because the Chaldeans had lifted the siege. Jeremiah had no Hebrew servants because he typifies those who love God and keep His commandments:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

If we keep the Lord’s commandments and we have a Hebrew servant, then we will give that servant His liberty, and we will “change not“, even when we come to see how much we had depended upon our enslaved Hebrew servant… our twisting of the word to fit it around our heart’s idols.

Psa 15:4  In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

Being rooted deeply in Christ is required to keep us from going back to our own vomit and to our own wallow in the mire of all the false doctrines of the churches of this world. “Come out of her My people” is not a popular doctrine, and it is given to very few to endure the “persecution…because of the Word.”

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root [Christ, (Isa 11:10 and Rom 15:12)] in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Mat 13:23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Jeremiah typifies and foreshadows those who are deeply rooted in Christ. He typifies the Lord’s elect who are faithful to His Words even as those words proclaim that we must all be carried away as captives to Babylon where some few will be granted to “acknowledge [their] iniquities” (Jer 3:13) and be dragged out of Babylon to return to the Lord and become rulers over the kingdoms of this world for a thousand years:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

“The earth [must be] destroyed”, because “the earth” symbolizes our corruptible clay vessel which cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and which the Lord destroys “at His coming”:

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

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

If the Lord destroys our “man of sin” in “this present time” and we are given to “endure to the end (Mat 10:22), then we will be given the greatest of all blessings, the blessing which we have now only in “earnest”:

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

This is “the redemption of the purchased possession”:

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

What we are learning is that when Christ said:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, [“whosoever readeth” (vs 15)] when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation [Reading these words] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. [“All these things” includes “Till the seven plagues… were fulfilled” (Rev 15:8)]
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

We are learning that “My words” includes this prophecy of Jeremiah and all the prophets and all of scripture, which is all “given by inspiration of the holy spirit…” and is applicable to the Lord’s elect in every generation since Christ.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) [that these words are spiritual and are being fulfilled in the lives of the Lord’s elect of each and every generation]

2Ti 3:16  All scripture [Old Testament prophets included] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

In conclusion, the Lord uses our trials to demonstrate to each of us just how shallow our repentance is to begin with. We say we will be obedient to Him, and we even set our Hebrew slaves free. The Lord reveals to us that we are quick to make liars of ourselves when the going gets tough. If the Lord has given us to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in this present time, then He comes into us and performs what He has appointed for us:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

We are all “His workmanship, created…unto good works…”

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

We are required to endure afflictions in this present time, but even in those afflictions we are being cured and made whole spiritually.

Jer 33:6  Behold, I will bring it [vs 4: “this city”, Jerusalem] health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Jer 33:7  And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
Jer 33:8  And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

Posted February 28, 2022]

Hi Mike,

I hope this email finds you well. I have a question I don’t want to bring anywhere else except to the people at IWWB. I know you always admonish us to focus on the inward kingdom within us, and I do my best not to give too much attention to the affairs of the outward world, but this is just too big for me to ignore.

With the world still in the grips of a deadly pandemic, experts warning us of a possible global economic crisis coming soon, and now with these recent events unfolding in eastern Europe which could possibly lead to a third world war, do you believe we could be witnessing the beginnings of the cataclysm that is spoken of in Matthew 24 which occurs just before Christ makes His visible return to this earth? I can’t recall a time in history when so many large scale events were all happening at the same time all over the earth.

Once again, I know we should be concerned with “the kingdom within” at this time, but I can’t help but feel a little anxious with what is happening outwardly right now. I know we should not “think above what is written” but I would like to hear your thoughts about this. Thank you always for your help and I’ll look forward to your reply.

your brother in Christ,

C____

Hi C____

Thank you for asking for ​my​ ​thoughts on what is happening right now as of February 27th, 2022.

You and I are in complete agreement in thinking that everything is pointing to the ​imminent return of our Lord. However,​ I hope to give you some encouragement and peace of mind even in the face of all the outward turmoil we see in the world around us.

I have been told that people have been predicting the return of Christ since the day He ascended into the heavens:

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Christ’s ascension into the clouds of heaven symbolizes Him entering into His elect who are even called “a great cloud of witnesses… by [whom] He judges the people”:

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

Job 36:28  Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly.
Job 36:29  Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?
Job 36:30  Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Job 36:31  For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.

Those who are “in Christ” also have Christ in them:

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Therefore we should not be anxious about His appearing because He is already here protecting us, providing for us and professing us before His Father. That is the very definition of ‘life eternal’:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

In answer to your question, ​yes, I do indeed expect that Christ’s appearing is imminent​,​ and the scriptures declare that we are all to have ​such a​ mindset:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

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 [G165​: ​’aion‘, age] are come.

Verse 34 of Matthew 24 makes it clear that our primary application of these words should be inward and spiritual, but verse 34 in no way denies the truth of these words of the apostle Paul:

1Th 4:15  What we tell you now is the Lord’s own message. We who are living now might still be living when the Lord comes again. We who are living at that time will be with the Lord, but not before those people who have already died.
1Th 4:16  The Lord himself will come down from heaven. There will be a loud command. That command will be given with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. And the people who have died and were in Christ will rise first.
1Th 4:17  After that, we people who are still alive at that time will be gathered up with those people who have died. We will be taken up in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever.
1Th 4:18  So encourage each other with these words. (ERV)

The holy spirit adds to these words this message through the apostle Peter:

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

So, yes, indeed, men have been expecting the appearing of Christ since the day He ascended, and that should also be our mindset.  Notice, we are told to “be found in Him in peace…” so “be anxious for nothing.”

Php 4:6  Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thankfulness make your requests known to God. (ACV)

We are living in the most exciting times in the history of mankind. This era is far more exciting than “the days that were before the flood” to which these days are likened by Christ.

Continuing on from where we left of in Matthew 24:

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Verse 39 is true both inwardly and outwardly. It is our old man who is being carried away and destroyed in the flood of the Lord’s words, while our new man remains to inherit a kingdom.

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

Reading further in Matthew 24:

Mat 24:40  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

These words are not a prophecy that 50% of mankind will be in the first resurrection, rather it is a statement that our old man will be “taken and destroyed” and our new man will remain to “inherit the earth”. It is also an admonition to be expecting the Lord’s appearing all the time.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts [the “old man” in all of us], made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Psa 37:22  For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

For those of us who are granted to believe these words they are both encouraging and exciting as we wait for the redemption of the purchased possession, which is the first resurrection:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

I hope this answers your question concerning my thoughts about the times we are living, and I pray you are as excited and as encouraged as I am.

YbiC, Mike