1 Samuel 10:1–27 Saul Anointed King by Samuel

[Study Aired March 9, 2026]

Our study today focuses on the Lord’s sovereignty in establishing Saul as Israel’s first king. The study highlights how the Lord divinely empowered Saul to become the king of Israel. It therefore, shows us how the Lord is empowering us, His elect, to reign with Him when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

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.

Saul Anointed King

1Sa 10:1  Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

It is important to note in verse 1 that the Lord anointing Saul was for the purpose of making him captain over the Lord’s people or inheritance. That means that to become a king of the Lord’s people or inheritance, we must be anointed.

Deu 32:9  For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

The Lord’s inheritance is our inheritance. The Lord has shown us in His word that He will give us the nations as our inheritance.

Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 

Psa 24:1  A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

In Psalm 133:1, we are shown what the anointing does in our lives to ensure our kingship when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. It helps us to dwell together in unity with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, which is the pillar of the truth of the Lord’s word.

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 

The Lord is therefore training us as rulers within the body of Christ, so that in the fullness of time, we shall reign as kings with Christ. This training involves living in unity with our brothers and sisters as we go through suffering in this age to destroy our flesh. Living in unity implies being of one mind and speaking the same thing.

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

What We Must Go Through to become Kings

1Sa 10:2  When thou art departed from me today, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?

After anointing Saul, Samuel told him about what would happen to him on his way to become king of Israel. Therefore, it shows us what we must go through as anointed of the Lord in order to realize our kingship when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

The two men in verse 2 represent the Lord’s witnesses. The fact that the two men were by Rachel’s sepulcher implies that all of the Lord’s witnesses are going through the death of their flesh or the valley of shadow (meaning of Zelzah) of death in this age, through the Lord’s judgment.

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

We must note that the two men who serve as the Lord’s witnesses were to let Saul know that the asses have been found and that his father is worrying about him.  This is to let us know that when the Lord calls and chooses us to be become His elect, He ensures that our needs are met so we can serve Him in rest and quietness.

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 
Php 4:20  Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

Saul’s father caring about Saul after finding his lost asses is to show us the Lord’s care regarding us. The reason He cares about us is that He loves us dearly as His children.

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Jer 31:4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.

1Sa 10:3  Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: 
1Sa 10:4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. 

The plain of Tabor is a mountain near the hills of Nazareth. As we have indicated in previous studies, a mountain on a positive note signifies the house of the Lord or the church of the Lord’s elect. Saul going to meet three men on their way to God at Bethel affirms that it is in the house of the Lord that Saul was going to meet these three men, since Bethel means house of God. These three men represent the Lord’s elect who were going to offer sacrifice to the Lord.

Isa 2:2  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Saul meeting the three men at the plain of Tabor implies that if we are to reign with Christ, then we must come into the church of the Lord’s elect. That is where we learn to offer ourselves as living sacrifice to the Lord. It is important to note that Saul was going to meet three men at Mount Tabor. The number three means the process of spiritual maturity through the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh. The fact that the three men were carrying three kids and three loaves and a bottle of wine is to show us that offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord is a process attained through the Lord’s judgment of our flesh.

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 three men saluting Saul and giving him two loaves of bread in verse 4 means that in entering the church of the Lord’s elect, we are given to know Christ through His word, which is symbolized by the two loaves of bread given to Saul. The word of the Lord that we receive is through what every joint supplies in the assembly of the Lord’s elect as we are granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

It is instructive to understand that Saul was given two loaves of bread. The number two means a witness. It implies that in coming to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, we must compare scripture with scripture.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

1Sa 10:5  After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: 
1Sa 10:6  And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. 
1Sa 10:7 And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

It is on the hill of God or in the assembly or the church of the Lord’s elect that there is a Philistine outpost. This implies that it is in the church of the Lord’s elect that we pay attention to the deeds of our flesh.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

As we are aware, it is in the city of the Lord’s elect that we meet prophets with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps as they prophesy. Prophesying here means singing praises to the Lord with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps. Singing to the Lord is a form of prophesying as shown by the sister of Moses, who is called a prophetess, and the daughters of Philip, the evangelist, with seven daughters who prophesied.

Act 21:8  And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
Act 21:9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. 

Exo 15:20  And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 
Exo 15:21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Singing is a form of worship, and therefore it is in the church of the Lord’s elect that we learn to worship the Lord in spirit as we offer our bodies as living sacrifice to the Lord.

Rom 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

As shown in verse 6, it is in the company of prophets or the Lord’s elect that the spirit of the Lord comes upon us to turn us into another man, who is Christ. We must remember that it was when the disciples were together on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended upon them to turn them into Christ or another man.

Act 2:1  When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 
Act 2:3  And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The coming of the holy spirit into our lives is to lead us into the truth which is a requirement if we are to reign as kings, as we see the Holy Spirit came upon Saul.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

As indicated in verse 7, when we are given two loaves of bread as we come into the assembly of the Lord’s elect, and we are given the Holy Spirit to turn us into Christ or another man, then it means that the Lord is with us! It is not when things are going well with us that show the Lord is with us.  We may not feel His presence and we may be going through all kinds of trials and tribulations, but we must be assured that the Lord is with us as long as we are given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven through the Holy Spirit.

1Sa 10:8  And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do. 
1Sa 10:9 And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

It was in Gilgal that Israelites were circumcised when they went over the Jordan.

Jos 5:2  At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
Jos 5:3  And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 
Jos 5:4  And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 
Jos 5:5  Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

Jos 5:8  And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.
Jos 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 

What we are therefore being told is that it is by doing away with our flesh through the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh that we can offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord.

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 fact that in verse 8 Samuel told Saul to wait for him for seven days, to be told what to do implies that offering ourselves as a living sacrifice is a process. The seven days waiting for the Lord to come to us to offer the sacrifice pleasing to Him is the complete period of time in our lives that we go through the Lord’s judgment of our flesh. 

In verse 9, it was when Saul turned to follow Samuel’s instruction that the Lord gave him another heart and what had been said about him came to pass. It is through our obedience to the word of the Lord that we are given another heart. This is what it means to be given another heart:

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 
Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Eze 36:28  And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Eze 36:29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

1Sa 10:10  And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 
1Sa 10:11  And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? 
1Sa 10:12  And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? 
1Sa 10:13  And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. 

In verse 10, we are told that what Samuel said about Saul came to pass. This is to assure us that what the Lord has said in His word concerning us will come to pass in the fullness of time. 

Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.  

Many of those who knew Saul wondered what had happened to him. In a similar vein, many who knew us during our time in the churches of this world are wondering what’s become of us. Just as many wondered whether Saul was really among the prophets, many are not really sure whether we are among the Lord’s elect. However, time will tell who really is destined to reign with Christ. 

In verse 13, Saul came to the high place after prophesying. As indicated earlier, Saul prophesying is Saul singing to the glory of the Lord. This shows us that the high place which signifies the church of the Lord’s elect is where we should be. 

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Saul’s Encounter with His Uncle

1Sa 10:14  And Saul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were nowhere, we came to Samuel. 
1Sa 10:15  And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. 
1Sa 10:16 And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

Saul’s uncle represents our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world who are only interested in what the Lord has said to us. The Lord gave Saul wisdom to tell his uncle only what pertains to the finding of the asses and not his kingship. As the Lord told us, we must not cast our pearls before swine. That was exactly what Saul did.

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

The Choosing of Saul as King

1Sa 10:17  And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh; 
1Sa 10:18  And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: 
1Sa 10:19  And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands. 
1Sa 10:20  And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 
1Sa 10:21  When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

Just like the people of Israel, we have all rebelled against the Lord even though the Lord has wrought deliverance on our behalf in taking us out of the world (Egypt) to come and worship Him. In verse 19, we are shown the cardinal sin we have committed – we have rejected the Lord as king over our lives. The question is, “In what way have we rejected the Lord as king over our lives?” When through false doctrines we imbibed in Babylon or the churches of this world, we come to think that we have our own minds and make our own decisions. When we think we make our own decisions and do whatever we like, then we are the man of sin sitting in our temple claiming himself to be God. 

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

Samuel requesting the people of Israel to present themselves before Him by tribe and by thousands, resulting in the selection of Saul as king is to let us know that our election to reign with Christ, in the fullness of time, is not by anything we have done. It is wholly the work of the Lord. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world because He loves us!

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 
Deu 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

1Sa 10:21  When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. 
1Sa 10:22  Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. 
1Sa 10:23  And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 
1Sa 10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. 

The lot to determine the tribe, the family and the person to become the king of the people of Israel was a way of knowing the Lord’s decision in those days. This is because the Holy Spirit had not been given permanently to guide them. It was after Jesus ascended that the Holy Spirit took permanent residence in the Lord’s elect to guide us to the truth. However, since all things are working according to the counsel of the Lord’s will, every ruler appointed in this world is therefore of the Lord – whether it is through voting, military insurrection, assassination, etc.

Pro 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. 

Eph 1:11  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

It is important to note that when Saul was selected, he was nowhere to be found because he hid himself. He knew that the Lord has chosen him, but he hid himself. The first time that man tried to hide himself from the Lord was because of sin. In this case, it was Adam and Eve when they disobeyed the Lord. 

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. 
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?

This implies that Saul hiding from the kingship was because he counted himself not fit for the kingship because he thought he was unworthy. We are all like Saul when the Lord came to us to offer us the kingship of ruling with Him in the fullness of time. At that time, we all felt unworthy of such an honor by the Lord. However, the Lord did not give up on us. My brother and sister, are you thinking that you are unworthy of such an honor by the Lord? No, don’t give up!! Let’s continue to persevere until we possess the crown.

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

In the final analysis, the people overwhelmingly accepted Saul as their king. In the fullness of time, the world will overwhelmingly accept us as their kings when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

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.

1Sa 10:25  Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 
1Sa 10:26  And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.
1Sa 10:27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.

As shown in verse 26, the Lord will always find a way to support His chosen ones. The band of men whose hearts the Lord had touched represent all those whom the Lord has placed in our path of life, to help us achieve our goal of being able to reign with Christ in the fullness of time. Therefore, let’s not take for granted those whom the Lord directs to cross our path, whether they are part of the Lord’s elect or people who do not know Christ. 

On the other hand, there are those who don’t see what we see. Here in verse 27, these people are called children of Belial, and they represent our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world. They despise us and do not think we can ever become kings. Like Saul, we must hold our peace, and perhaps the Lord will open their eyes to see and their ears to hear that we are the saviors of the world.

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

May we continue in Him, even as we are dying to the flesh daily through His judgment. Amen!!

[Posted April 5, 2024]

Hello Mike…I hope you and Sandi are doing well!

I was wondering if the IWWB family of elders, brothers, and sisters are all on board with your personal response in concern of… “Is it Wrong to Gather with Family and Friends on Holidays?”

I was always of the belief that to participate by being part of (ie: physical presence) the festivities at any pagan holiday/traditions of men was something to avoid…even if we don’t actually participate in the fanfare of such… I, too, always assumed that we should never get involved in any type of Babylonian worldly matters…even at the cost of being shunned and persecuted for our spiritual understanding of the Word of God.

I, too, missed the point entirely through the years of the fact that God’s Word approves of such practice…meaning being involved to the point of actively being at a ‘traditions of men’ event if invited!

I’m a bit confused over it all and would appreciate any further insight you would care to give.

Thank you very much, Mike, and God bless.

YbitC
M____

Hi M____

The elders have all discussed this subject extensively and have come to see that Christ went to every holy day event just because that was the best time to reach the most people with His message which He knew would be rejected. Nevertheless, He went up in the middle of the feast and declared on the last great day of the feast of Tabernacles that any who would come to Him… “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters” giving life to all men:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Paul informs us that we can indeed attend a feast ‘if we are so disposed’:

1Co 10:27  If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.

Romans 14 and Galatians 4 make it clear that the Lord’s elect do not themselves keep days, months, times nor years:

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5  One man [who is weak in the faith] esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

It does not require being strong in the faith to observe days, months, times or years. It requires great faith to abstain from following the traditions of men:

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [G4747: stoicheion] of the world, and not after Christ.

These “traditions of men and rudiments of the world are clearly defined in Galatians 4 as “days, months, times and years”:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [G4747: stoicheion], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

If we follow in the footsteps of Christ and His apostles then we will declare Christ to be “Lord of the sabbath” and we willing to be rejected of family and friends, for letting them know that we do not observe days, months, times or years, just as Christ was rejected of His family and the society of His day. Yet we can, and at times we should, attend the feasts of unbelievers “if [we] are disposed to go” for the purpose of serving as an example of the love of Christ for His creatures. It is obviously all a matter of what is in our heart. Are we attending out of fear of rejection or are we attending to display the love of Christ? The Lord only knows the hearts of men, and He is quite capable of judging each of us based upon our motivations.

That is the consensus of our elders, and yes, we are all “speaking the same thing, we are of one mind and of the same judgment.”

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

YbiChrist, Mike

Hello Mike…Thank you so very much for the spiritual clarification in concern of my inquiry.

I will admit that I have always believed to stay clear of any type of traditions of men in whatever flavor they were made up of… I really do not know how I came to that conclusion but now feel like a “fool” for avoiding all of my family and friends over the many past years for not showing up to holiday/birthday functions when asked!

I do have another question though…

In Job, all of his children were killed on the ‘appointed day’ of one of his sons. I always believed it was a birthday celebration. Were the children destroyed because of the celebration on ‘his day’? If so how can we then attend such activities knowing that day only brings about bondage and spiritual destruction per-se?

Thank you, Mike!

ybitC…M____

Hi, M____,

I am pleased to hear that you realize how Christ and the apostles dealt with this subject. I pray you will continue to follow in the Lord’s footsteps and use the traditions of men as an opportunity to witness against those traditions by simply letting your family and friends know that your presence is not for the purpose of following men. Your presence with your family and friends on their traditional days is for the purpose of showing Christ’s love to them, just as Christ was in the synagogue every sabbath for the very purpose of healing people and telling them to pick up their bed contrary to the law of Moses.

Concerning Job’s sons, it is true they all died on the eldest sons [birth] day:

Job 1:4  And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:13  And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:14  And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15  And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Joseph told Pharaoh’s baker that he would be be hanged, and that took place on Pharaoh’s birthday:

Gen 40:16  When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:
Gen 40:17  And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
Gen 40:18  And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
Gen 40:19  Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
Gen 40:20  And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
Gen 40:21  And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
Gen 40:22  But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

In these stories, we are not the celebrants. We are Joseph, who foresaw what would happen on Pharaoh’s birthday, and we are signified by the messenger who escaped to tell Job of the death of his sons.

It is also incredibly instructive that the holy spirit has not given us the birthdays of even one person in all of scripture; not Adam, not Noah, not Abraham nor any of the patriarchs, judges, kings, prophets, and not even the Lord Himself, nor any of His apostles. There is a reason for that, and here is that reason:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

John the Baptist was beheaded on Herod’s birthday, but John never wavered in his witness of Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Joh 1:36  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

We, too, must be willing to die for what we believe, and the death of John signifies how we die daily, offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, and count ourselves as crucified with Him.

The “souls under the altar” signify all who have died daily with Christ and who have lived out the rejection and persecution promised to all who will be given to stay faithful to the end. They are not all necessarily literally killed for their testimony. The world hates the Lord’s elect, and that is what the Lord counts as murder:

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

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

Again, “The Lord looks on the heart” and judges accordingly:

1Sa 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

So do not be ashamed that you have missed a lot of opportunities to be with your family. You did what you did with a pure heart, and that is what you should continue to do with your new-found understanding. Do all that you do “as unto the Lord.”

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

I have made the very same mistake, but I, too, did it with the desire to please the Lord and to fear Him more than men, and the Lord knows that is still true.

Your brother who struggles with you,
Mike

[study Aired April 6, 2023]

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. 
2Ki 22:3  And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,
2Ki 22:4  Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: 
2Ki 22:5  And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,
2Ki 22:6  Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 
2Ki 22:7  Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. 
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. 
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. 
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.

Josiah, like Hezekiah, is one of the few kings of Judah who typifies Christ and in this section of Kings we see how God’s judgments unfolded through this section of his reign that was going to set the affairs of the nation of Judah in order, especially in regard to “the oversight of the house of the LORD.”

That oversight is revealed to have been lacking, and Josiah is the introspective king who sets out to change all that so that through those judgments that are brought upon “the house of the LORD” order can be restored and the breaches repaired spoken of in (2Ki 22:5).

2Ki 22:5  and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and let them give it to the workmen that are in the house of Jehovah, to repair the breaches of the house,

There were physical issues in the distribution of the silver to the workers on the temple which symbolize an unrepentant [silver] body of Christ that was sick from the foot to the head (Isa 1:5-6), with no humble and contrite heart that is softened, tender and yielded to God’s will, as was revealed to be the case with king Josiah, “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD.” Josiah typifies for God’s elect our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) who is working within each member of the body of Christ to create such an heart of humility and brokenness by which the works of God can manifest in the church (Isa 66:2).

Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 

Col 1:27  to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

Isa 66:2  For all these things hath my hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word.

Josiah sent “Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD” to “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house.” Josiah sent Shaphan to discover this point that there was much physical damage done that typifies the spiritual neglect during the reign of Manasseh and Amon and this was all about to change with Josiah in rule (2Ki 22:4-5).

This story of king Josiah is a shadow of Christ’s judgments that are now coming upon the years of corrupt and defiled leadership that came forth from these two kings Manasseh and Amon, and is written for our sakes to give us hope in how the Lord can and will search out the hidden places in our hearts and cleanse us from all our sins and all our iniquities (Isa 28:7, Isa 28:17, Zec 4:10), which is impossible to detect without this chastening process being brought upon us by the LORD (Psa 19:12, Psa 90:8, Isa 53:4-6, Col 1:24, Col 1:27).

Psa 90:8  Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 

Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all [function of the scapegoat and the means by which that function is being accomplished (Col 1:24, Col 1:27, Php 2:12-13)].

Col 1:24  Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, [Eph 5:30] which is the church;

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. 

King Josiah being eight years old reveals he is a type of the new man who has God’s holy spirit within him (Rom 8:9), and he is going to affect the nation that will be coming to learn what they were not doing right in regard to the “scroll of the law” that “Hilkiah the priest” finds in the temple. These events typify Christ (Josiah the type) stirring up the spirit of God within the temple of God that has been neglected (Heb 2:3, 2Ti 1:6). 

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

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. 

The “scroll of the law” is a type of the law found in Galatians 6:2, which is the law of liberty spoken of in the book of James (Jas 1:25) and the means by which the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), the temple of God which we are, can be restored, a law being typified by the “scroll of the law” which will be discovered in the temple and implemented by King Josiah who typifies our Lord who is doing that restorative work within us as our hope of glory (Col 1:27).

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 

What that “scroll of the law” can do for the nation of Israel if implemented is restore the breaches, and the means by which this is going to be accomplished is typified by the names that surround king Josiah’s life, his own name meaning “sustained of Jehovah” (Php 4:13, Rom 3:27) which is the only way this restorative work of the temple can be accomplished by those who are born of God and meant to be adorned as the bride of Christ (Jas 2:5, Deu 33:12, Rev 19:7) who will be raised up (Rev 12:5) in order to mature and become the  foundation of God’s government built upon Christ the chief corner stone (Mat 16:18, Psa 118:22). All those points are brought out with this one sentence:

2Ki 22:1 Josiah’s [sustained of Jehovah] “mother’s name was Jedidah [beloved], the daughter of Adaiah [Jah adorns] of Boscath [rising ground]”. PNB-kjv

Josiah’s life was typical of what Christ can do through those who are led of the holy spirit: “he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father” (Rom 8:14-15), and foreshadows those who will be granted to look into “the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein“. That continual pressing forward process, the “turned not aside to the right hand or to the left” part of our walk, is accompanied with tribulation that teaches us obedience as were given the faith and strength through Christ to endure to the end, God willing (Heb 5:8, Act 14:22, Mat 24:13). God’s elect are granted to walk in the light turning not aside to the right hand or to the left as the Lord cleanses us from all our iniquities (Psa 103:3-6) and show us what needs to be changed in our lives as we walk in the light, symbolized by “the scroll of the law“(Php 3:13-15, 1Jn 1:7, Psa 119:105).

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

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

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, [“press toward the mark for the prize“] as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin [“God shall reveal even this unto you“]. 

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

2Ki 22:3  And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,
2Ki 22:4  Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: 

We grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2Pe 3:18) as we are judged by God (1Pe 4:17), and those judgments and instructions of the LORD keep us on the straight and narrow path that takes us from “death to life” (Pro 5:1-6, Pro 10:17, Joh 5:24, Mat 7:14, Mat 22:14).

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

The eighteenth year (2×9 or 1+8 connected to judgment) is the year king Josiah sends “Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD” and he is the one who is sent to “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people.” 

Shaphan^H8227 typifies the holy spirit which is sent to God’s elect, the treasure in earthen vessels (2Co 4:7), that is able to lead us into all truth (Joh 14:16). Shaphan goes to “Hilkiah^H2518 the high priest” who represents that portion of God’s spirit that God has been given us and that He is working in our lives as our high priest (Eph 2:8-10 , Col 1:27). 

H8227 Shaphan  shâphân shaw-fawn’

From H8226; a species of rock rabbit (from its hiding), that is, probably the hyrax: – coney.

H8226śâphan saw-fan’

A primitive root; to conceal (as a valuable): – treasure.

H2518 Hilkiah chilqı̂yâh    chilqı̂yâhû khil-kee-yaw’, khil-kee-yaw’-hoo

From H2506 and H3050; portion of Jah; Chilhijah, the name of eight Israelites: – Hilkiah.

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

The work that is at hand in the lives of God’s elect is symbolized by this statement “that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people” and only made possible by God’s spirit working within us, symbolized by “Hilkiah the high priest” who is the one who will  “sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people”. Christ is the one who gives us the power to give an accounting of our sins in this age, which is what Hilkiah the high priest typifies for us today (Rom 2:4).

The “keepers of the door” who have gathered represents those who have watered and planted, but God must give the increase and that comes by way of the holy spirit that is sent and shed abroad in our hearts. The watering and planting is the Body’s part that we do with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who is working in us both to will and to do, giving the increase that comes from Him alone (1Co 3:6, Php 2:12-13, Rom 5:5, Rom 2:4). 

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

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

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?

2Ki 22:5  And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,
2Ki 22:6  Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
2Ki 22:7  Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

Those who have “the oversight of the house of the LORD” is speaking of the fellow labourers that we are in the Lord, “doers (Rom 2:13) of the work which is in the house of the LORD” who have been called to work together to “repair the house” each joint supplying in love what is needed “to repair the breaches of the house“.

Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

The body of Christ has many members but is one bread and one spirit (1Co 10:16-17). This multi-faceted body is typified by these different trades who were used to repair the physical temple of God, “Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.”

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? [Eph 5:30]
1Co 10:17  For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

To carry on with the analogy, once the gifts (the monies) are given to the builders of the house there was “no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully“, telling us that the work that God does in us through Christ is a faithful work that he will start and finish as he is the builder, the author and finisher of our faith (Php 1:6, Psa 127:1, Heb 12:2).

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:

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

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.

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. 

God’s wisdom is hidden from the world and foolish in the heart of the natural man, and it takes Christ in us as our hope of glory to find the truth: “I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD“(1Co 2:7, 1Co 3:19). This account of Hilkiah the high priest giving the book that he found to Shaphan the scribe to read is symbolic of how God’s spirit can lead us into all truth (Joh 14:16), and reveal things that have been hidden from us. 

1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 

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. 

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

The work of God is given to those “that have the oversight of the house of the LORD” and Shaphan brings this message to king Josiah who typifies Christ, “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”, which typifies for us how we acknowledge Christ who is typified by Josiah whose servants, “thy servants“, that represent God’s workmanship are given gifts to be used for the body, that is fitly framed by God (1Co 12:18) as we learn to operate in the measure of faith given (Eph 4:7) so we can demonstrate the right “oversight of the house of the LORD” and come to the same unity of faith to the glory of God (Eph 4:13).

1Co 12:18  But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

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

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. 
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. 

It is after we read and understand the word of God that we learn how spiritually lacking we are, it is “when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes“, a symbol of the elect who read, hear and keep the sayings of the prophecy (Rev 1:3) that convict us so that we mourn and sigh and cry for our own wretchedness and nakedness that is now exposed: “he rent his clothes“. In this case Josiah represents Christ who rends his heart and not his garments as he weeps over Jerusalem (Joe 2:13) typified by Josiah who sees the need for judgement upon the nation of Judah who have not kept “the words of the book of the law“(Rev 1:3, Rev 3:17, Luk 19:41).

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

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

Joe 2:13  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

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.

We must, at the command of the King, study to show ourselves approved which will benefit everyone in time (2Ti 2:15, 1Ti 4:16). This is what enquiring “of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found” will produce, in type and shadow. Until we do that God’s wrath continues to abide upon all unrighteousness of men “for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us” (Rom 1:18), and the reason being is that the natural carnal status of mankind leaves us in a state where “our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us”. It is only when we “enquire of the LORD” and seek him with all our hearts that we are promised that we will find him, which cannot happen unless we are dragged to His son (Jer 29:13, Joh 6:44).

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

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

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

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. 
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. 

Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asahiah went unto “Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe” and she in no uncertain terms explained the punishment that was going to come upon Judah: “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“. The number of men that went up to see the prophetess is significant as it is by God’s grace symbolized by the five men that the nation of Judah will learn of the Lord’s chastening grace for forsaking him.

Huldah is married to “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” creating imagery for us that tells us that she is a type of Jerusalem above the mother of us all whose lineage has someone in it who is a “keeper of the wardrobe” which symbolizes the words of God that are eternal and being preserved (Joh 6:68). Dwelling in “Jerusalem in the college” also reminds God’s elect today in type and shadow language where we dwell with knowledge which is described in this verse (1Ti 3:15).

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.(“Jerusalem in the college“) 

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.

This is the key point being made in this study “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“.  God grants the king to have that humble and contrite heart just as he does His elect, who sigh and cry for the abominations that are now being revealed to us just as they were to King Josiah (Eze 9:4). This sighing and crying which occurs is true of both Christ and His body (1Jn 4:17), and that’s the main typical message of this chapter of Kings. When God is working with you, He is humbling your heart which is a miracle because the natural status of the human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, not able to be known (Jer 17:9, Eze 36:26).

Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 

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

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

The fact that we are even inquiring of the LORD is a miracle as king Josiah demonstrates, and we have not because we ask not (Jas 4:2). Josiah not only asked, he asked with a humble and contrite heart and was heard “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD“. So God made him to be a type of a vessel of honour who demonstrated that God was working with him because thou “hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD“. That act of sighing and crying before the LORD also can remind us of this verse that says for the elect sakes those days shall be shortened (Mat 24:22).

Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

God will physically stop the destruction of this earth from unfolding because of the elect who will be the reason that God will not bring about utter destruction upon the nations of the world and then at the end of the thousand year reign the elect will fulfill the spiritual counter point of saving the world from physical destruction by saving all mankind in the lake of fire judgment (1Co 15:46, Rom 1:20, Oba 1:21).

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

Rom 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: 

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.

2Ki 18:1-37 “In what are you placing your hope?” – Part 1 (2Ki 18:1-12)

[Study Aired February 2, 2023]

This entire chapter can be summarized in three distinct sections:  2Ki 18:1-12, 2Ki 18:13-18  and  2Ki 18:19-37. 

In the first part we are introduced to King Hezekiah who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done” who had faith in the Lord, the God of Israel; “so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah who were before him“. Hezekiah is a type of Christ and those who have Christ’s spirit in them as their hope of salvation (Rom 8:9, Col 1:27), and Hezekiah’s rulership over the nation of Judah exemplifies this. In his strength but also in his weakness God used to perfect His purpose for Hezekiah and the nation of Judah as He does for His people today upon whom “the ends of the world are come” (1Co 10:11).

Rom 8:9  You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is not one of his. 

Col 1:27  To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The second part of this chapter, 2 Kings 18:13-18, is focused on “Sennacherib king of Assyria” who came  up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them, putting Hezekiah in a position where he sought peace with Sennacherib by giving him gold and silver from the temple of God, which actions only emboldened Sennacherib to further want to overtake the nation of Judah in war. Hezekiah turned to the Lord for deliverance with a humble and contrite heart that sought and hoped in the Lord in times of trouble. In this section of the study we will also look at how Hezekiah, who is a type of the elect, had to come to learn that one cannot make concessions with this world and expect that the trials will somehow be circumvented as a result of those actions.

The third part of the chapter, 2 Kings 18:19-37, is focused on how Sennacherib used Rabshakeh, who was a field commander, to send messages to Hezekiah and his foot soldiers to undermine their confidence in what Hezekiah could do in war against Assyria with the God of Israel as his helper and hope. Rabshakeh brought many fiery darts in the form of lies and unfounded accusations that he hurled at the nation of Judah and King Hezekiah but to no avail in the long run (2Ki 18:27-29). Rabshakeh is a type of Satan whose name means “the chief of the princes” (Eph 2:2), and he was used by God in His plan to deliver Judah and Jerusalem at this time (2Ki 19:34-35), enlightening our eyes of understanding (1Pe 1:12) to the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe (Eph 1:18-19). Judah’s enduring through these attacks of Assyria and Rabshakeh in particular is a type and shadow event of how the body of Christ has been promised we will be able to endure all the accusations and attacks of the adversary in our lives (Rev 12:10, Eph 6:16), and no doubt in the end, through the faith of Christ, will be more than conquerors through him  (Mat 24:24, Eph 2:8, Rom 8:37-39, Gen 32:28).

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:

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.

Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Tonight’s study will focus on the first part of this chapter:

Part 1 – 2Ki 18:1-12

2Ki 18:1  Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 18:2  Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

The king of Israel and the king of Judah are spoken of in the same sentence, and it being the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, tells us that a process of judgment is going to come upon the nation of Judah via Hezekiah the son of Ahaz who was the king of Judah at this point. Hezekiah was twenty-five years old and reigned for twenty-nine years giving us several prophetic clues about this king as well.

‘Twenty five’ is the first clue which reveals that when Christ is ruling in our heavens we are being witnessed to what a grace-through-faith relationship can accomplish (2 fives 5×5=25).

‘Twenty nine’ years as a ruler shows the dream is one, as another witness [2] of the process of judgment [3×3=9] coming upon the nation of Judah that is accomplished by grace through faith in the lives of God’s elect (2 and 9).

Hezekiah’s mothers name “Abi” means “fatherly”, and typifies for us the church whose head is our zealous Christ, who is our olam father who strengthens us to be consumed for the temple and it’s cleansing as Christ was and we are now (Joh 2:17, 1Jn 4:17, Heb 11:7). That zealousness is typified by the very unrelenting desire Hezekiah had to cleanse the temple of God and the nation of Judah.

H21 Abi
– BDB Definition: Abi = my father 
mother of hezekiah
– Origin: from H1
– Strong’s: From H1; fatherly;

2Ki 18:3  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. 
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.

In these verses we learn what it means to do what is “right in the sight of the LORD”, and that is only possible through Christ who is the vine, typified by this statement “according to all that David his father did.” David was a man after God’s own heart with right principles of leadership and similar attributes that were seen in Hezekiah’s heart as he was full of zeal to get the nation of Judah back on track.

The object of Judah’s worship was not toward God but toward “the high places” that symbolize the pride of life, and toward “the brasen serpent that Moses had made” that unto that day the children of Israel “did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.“

“Nehushtan” the “high places“, “the images“, and “the groves” were all destroyed at the command of the king.

The history of Nehushtan is understood in the story found in Numbers 21:8-9 and John 3:14-16 where a copper serpent was erected on a pole that the Israelites in the wilderness looked on in order to be healed when they were bitten by a serpent, all typical of how we overcome the fiery darts of the adversary, the devil, by looking unto Christ and His Christ (Rev 20:2, Gen 3:1, 1Co 15:55, Heb 12:1-2).

H5180 nechûshtân
BDB Definition:
Nehushtan = “a thing of brass”
1) name by which the brazen serpent made by Moses in the wilderness was worshipped in the time of king Hezekiah of Judah before he destroyed it

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H5178 = copper, bronze, lust, harlotry

Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, [Heb 12:1-2] shall live. 
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

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. [We look to Christ to confess our iniquities and are healed and forgiven (Lev 26:40-42, Rom 2:4)]

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth [Joh 6:29] in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting^G166 life. [Eph 6:2]

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? [Heb 2:14] O grave, where is thy victory? 
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; [By dying daily we do the same things as Christ did and overcome the power of death that Satan has and uses to try to hold us back from receiving aonion life that can only be accomplished through the faith of Christ (Joh 3:15-16). By mortifying the deeds of the flesh and being crucified with Christ, we fulfill that role of being saviors with Him (Oba 1:21) that was typified by Nehushtan (Gal 2:20, Joh 3:14, 1Co 15:31, 1Jn 4:17)].

Knowing Christ after the flesh can and did bring about many wonderful miracles that healed the people of his day as did Nehushtan in the wilderness, however these miracles were meant to point (1Pe 1:12) to the greater miracle of Christ’s spiritual healing that would come to the church on the day of Pentecost and going forward. Those who made Nehushtan an object of worship that they burned incense to, reflects a perverted understanding of only wanting to know Christ after the flesh [idols, crosses, rosaries, days, months, times, years, etc…], when in truth it is through the destruction of the flesh that the new man is birthed. The proper view of Nehushtan for God’s elect is to see it as a type and shadow of Christ and His Christ who have been quickened and “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Rom 4:25, Eph 2:5-6) in order that we may one day justify the world through our experience of suffering that God grants His people to endure in this life (Col 1:24). The seraphim around the throne of God in Isaiah (Isa 6:2) typify God’s elect in the book of Revelation (Rev 7:11), and that is the end result or finished workmanship of God that Nehustan only pointed to (Num 21:8).

2Ki 18:5  He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6  For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

We don’t naturally trust “the LORD God of Israel”, but if God is working with us as we are dragged to Christ through our trials (Joh 6:44), our flesh will be put off (Tit 2:11-12) and we will be able to identify the will of God for us in this life, as we are received of God through those trials (2Co 4:8, 2Co 1:9, 1Jn 2:16-17, Heb 12:6-7). Hezekiah is a type of the church that cleaves to Christ (Eph 5:24), demonstrating our love to Him by staying close to the body (Heb 10:25) and keeping God’s “commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses” (1Jn 5:2). 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

This statement about Hezekiah, “so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him” is a shadow of Christ and the elect who, from before the foundation of the world were ordained to bring forth spiritual fruit in the flesh unlike any before or after them as well “which he hath purposed in himself” (Eph 1:3-9).

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 
Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: [Joh 17:24, Joh 15:16]
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 
Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: [Rom 8:28]

2Ki 18:7  And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. 
2Ki 18:8  He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

When we are blessed to cleave to Christ and His body, we will be given power over the enemy going from glory to glory (2Co 3:18), destroying the giants in our land little and by little (Deu 7:22) as we resist the devil, which is what this verse is saying “and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not” (Jas 4:6-10). 

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Deu 7:22  And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. 

Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 
Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. [The question is not just who you are putting your hope in but also how are you putting your hope in our Father and Christ (Rom 2:4)]

The fruit of that resistance of evil (Jas 4:7) is what is being talked about in these verses as we are prospered of the LORD when we gain dominion over the devil and the powers and principalities that we wrestle against, which is typified by the words, “He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.” The spoils of war therefore go to the victor, and it is Christ who gives us the victory and who receives those spoils within us as typified by Melchisedec who typifies Christ who gave Abraham [who typifies the faith of Christ within us] the victory over the powers he went to war against. The tithe which Abraham gives back to Melchisedec represents our giving our whole life to Christ, and the lesser Abraham is blessed of the greater Melchisedec, as we are through Christ (Heb 7:2, Heb 7:7).

Heb 7:1  For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
Heb 7:2  To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 

Heb 7:7  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

If Christ is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12-14), then that overcoming will take out the hidden enemies in our lives within, like pride symbolized by “the tower of the watchman” right “to the fenced city“, which represents a heart that is unrepentant and not worked with, until God tears down [‘down with the tares’] that defense in the flesh through His word that will smite the “Philistines, even unto Gaza” that are within us.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings: [‘working those tares out of our lives through Christ’]

2Ki 18:9  And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
2Ki 18:10  And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

Here we see a contrast being made between Judah and Israel, and the numbers mentioned are again significant as at this point in the story they signify what is going to happen to the nation of Israel that goes into captivity.

It is in “the fourth year of king Hezekiah” representing the whole of something that coincided with the “seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel” that “Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it“. The whole nation of Israel [4] was at a point of being so completely [7] corrupt, that God was going to use “Shalmaneser king of Assyria [to come] up against Samaria, and besieged it“.

No trial is pleasant, especially one of this magnitude that had the city of Samaria besieged and at war for three years (Heb 12:11, 1Pe 4:12). Three is the number of the process of judgment our flesh has to go through in this life, and it is in the “sixth year of Hezekiah” and the “ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel” that Samaria was taken. Those numbers just remind us that the beast [6] in all of us has to be judged [9] by being taken into a captivity that only God can free us from through judgment (Joh 8:36, 1Jn 4:17, 1Pe 4:17).

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

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. 

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? 

2Ki 18:11  And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah^H2477 and in Habor by the river of Gozan^H1470, and in the cities of the Medes:

If we put these two words together, Halah^H2477 and Gozan^H1470, we are shown that this experience of going into captivity was a “painful” “cutting off” which brings to mind these verses that were in Mike’s study on Sunday (Exo 2:21-22, Exo 4:25-26). 

Halah – H2477  chălach
BDB Definition:
Halah = “painful”
1) a city or district in Mesopotamia under Assyrian control where the Israelite captives were taken

Gozan – H1470  gôzân
BDB Definition:
Gozan = “a cutting off”
1) the Mesopotamian city on or near the middle of the Euphrates where exiled Israelites were settled

Exo 2:21  And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.

Exo 2:22  And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

Exo 4:25  Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said,  Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
Exo 4:26  So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

The point being, we are all strangers in a strange land like Gershom the son of Moses until we are spiritually circumcised, as typified by this story of Moses’ son’s circumcision. It was Zipporah who represents the church who took a sharp stone that represents Christ to circumcise the foreskin of her son. Zipporah’s name means “little bird” as in a sparrow reminding us that we are precious to God and that we are the very-valued apple of His eye as He takes us through this painful process of being spiritually circumcised (Mat 10:31, Rom 2:28-29).

Zipporah – H6855 tsippôrâh  tsip-po-raw’
Feminine of H6833; bird; tsipporah, Moses’ wife: – Zipporah.

H6833 tsippôr    tsippôr  tsip-pore’, tsip-pore’
From H6852; a little bird (as hopping): – bird, fowl, sparrow.

Mat 10:31  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. [Mat 22:14, Mat 21:44]

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men [the beast on the throne (Rev 13:15)], but of God [Joh 4:23-24].

2Ki 18:12  Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

The heart of the first man Adam is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9-10) and obeys not the voice  of the LORD their God, but rather transgresses his covenant, and “all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded” who typifies Christ, they, we, “would not hear them, nor do them” (Luk 6:46, Rom 2:13, Mat 13:11,  Mat 13:16).

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

[God is in charge of the spiritual circumcision that happens through the church (Eph 3:10) or the non-circumcised in the world who know a way that is right in their own eyes that leads to death (Pro 14:12), “every man according to his ways”]

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

Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the second part of this section of chapter 18 of Kings that encourages us to see that, despite our wholehearted service to God, there is and will be things that need to be burned out of our lives in order to truly be placing our hope continually and deeply in what God has promised He can do for us as His little flock (2Ki 18:13-18, Php 3:14-15, 1Jn 1:7). 

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

God will not utter words that are not obtainable, and so the negative question asked of the king of Assyria, “In what are you placing your hope” can be answered with absolute assurance that our hope is in Christ our savior who tells us not to fear, as He makes known “what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27, Luk 12:32).

Act 6:1-15  They Were not Able to Resist the Wisdom and the Spirit by Which He Spake

[Study Aired January 15, 2023]

Act 6:1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Act 6:2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
Act 6:3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Act 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
Act 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Act 6:7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Act 6:9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Act 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Act 6:13  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Act 6:14  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Act 6:15  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

The holy spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, and three thousand people were added to the one hundred and twenty already noted as believers. There were devout Jews from every nation under heaven in Jerusalem that day who heard the wonderful works of God in their own language. This miracle of the gift of languages maximized the effect of spreading the message of the salvation offered by the death and resurrection of Christ.

Shortly after the miraculous events of Pentecost and the giving of the holy spirit, the apostles Peter and John healed a beggar who had been laid at the gate of the temple for decades and was known by everyone in Jerusalem. Peter and John gave the risen Christ His deserved credit for that healing and for doing so were arrested, along with the man they had healed. The Sanhedrin could not deny the wonderful healing of a man the whole city knew, and therefore they were compelled to let the apostles go free with the order not to speak in the name of Christ. The healing of this particular man and the arrest of Peter and John, as well as the man who had been healed, again served to maximize the message of the gospel of a risen Savior.

Act 4:14  And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Act 4:15  But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
Act 4:16  Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.
Act 4:17  But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
Act 4:18  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Act 4:19  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
Act 4:20  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Act 4:21  So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.
Act 4:22  For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

Five thousand members were added to the church that day, and the apostles went back to speaking of Christ in Solomon’s porch, and multitudes were being healed from cities all around Jerusalem. In desperation the Sanhedrin panicked again, and in spite of the fact that “they were healed every one” (Act 5:16), they arrested all the apostles for disobeying their orders not to speak in the name of Jesus. The arrests were made very publicly in Solomon’s porch in the presence of all the people of the city. The Lord’s response to those who had Him crucified and then imprisoned His witnesses was to open the prison by night and release all the apostles commanding them to return to the temple and continue teaching the people in the name of Jesus.

The Sanhedrin was embarrassingly blindsided the next morning when they convened, anticipating the opportunity of putting the apostles on trial for teaching the people that they and their leaders had crucified their own Messiah. However, when they sent men to the prison to have the apostles brought to appear before their council, they found the prison secure, but the apostles were not inside. It wasn’t long before someone reported that all the men they had imprisoned a second time were back in the temple teaching the people. The people had witnessed their arrest the previous day, and the disciples were forced to explain that the man they had crucified had freed them from prison and had commanded them to return to the temple and proclaim that the risen Christ had died for their sins. All they needed to do was to truly repent and believe on the risen Christ. This very public arrest for no apparent reason, other than being told to stop teaching in the name of Jesus, had the maximum effect of proving that though Christ was not visible, He was as alive and active as the wind and far more powerful than electricity. All the supernatural healings and the miraculous deliverance from the prison by the risen Christ were demonstrating the meaning of what He had explained to Nicodemus about being born again of the spirit:

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

This just had to be stopped, so the Sanhedrin again had the apostles arrested and brought before them. This gave the apostles another opportunity to witness to them and to tell them that they had crucified the Son of God and that it was the risen Christ who had freed them from their prison and was calling all Israel to repentance. It must be remembered that the apostles at this time did not believe that God was calling the Gentiles to Himself. Indeed, at this time Peter still has not been told that he ought not call any man common or unclean (Act 10:28). None of the apostles at this time would ever think of defiling the temple, much less destroying it.

Act 5:26  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned [for taking their teachers and healers away from them].
Act 5:27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. [Which is exactly what they had asked to be done.]

Mat 27:24  When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Mat 27:25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

Those who had Christ slain are in a very bad position. The man they had crucified now has twelve of His disciples teaching the people the very same things for which they had Him crucified. Instead of one man demonstrating their hypocrisy, there are now twelve, and their numbers are exploding as multitudes of the people in Jerusalem and the cities around Jerusalem, as well as many of the priests, are now also being converted to the Lord’s doctrines.

The Sanhedrin had every intention of having the apostles put to death just as they had done to Christ just a few months earlier. However, the Lord had a rabbi whose name was Gamaliel to convince them that if what the apostles were saying was not true then their work would be destroyed by God as He had destroyed so many others before them. However, if what the apostles were saying were true, then the Sanhedrin would find itself at war with God, a battle they were sure to lose.

Act 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Act 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Act 5:37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
Act 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
Act 5:39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
Act 5:40  And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Act 5:41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Act 5:42  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

The ‘higher power’, the Sanhedrin, had not beaten Peter and John when they arrested them after healing the forty-year-old man who was born lame and “laid daily” at the gate of the temple. Instead, they commanded them to stop teaching in the name of Jesus whom they had crucified. Peter told them at that time that Christ had commanded them to be witnesses to His resurrection and that He and John could not deny what they had seen and heard from Christ. Therefore, when they returned to the people and told them of their answer to the authorities, they continued to teach the people in the name of Jesus. The number of Christian converts continued growing as multitudes were hearing the gospel and being healed even after the apostles were commanded not to teach in the name of Christ.

This second arrest included all the other apostles and, thanks to the Lord’s words through the highly esteemed rabbi, Gamaliel, they decided to let them go again after they were all beaten as well as being commanded to refrain from teaching in the name of Jesus. The chief priest and the Sanhedrin were hoping the beatings would deter their determination to spread the words of Christ. Instead, it had the opposite effect of strengthening their resolve to remain faithful to Christ and ‘counting it a blessing to be counted worthy to suffer shame for His name’.

While Christ tells us to be obedient to the higher power, He never tells us to obey that ‘higher power’ when it commands us to disobey Him:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

We are all placed in the same position as the apostles. Every day we must decide… “Will I please men or will I obey the Lord’s commandments?”

It is in this spiritual atmosphere of a growing church that the apostles are again released to resume preaching Christ while performing miracles and healings which no one could deny.

While Christ was teaching in Solomon’s porch He never once said a single word about destroying the physical temple. Even the Sanhedrin knew that when He drove the money changers out of the temple, He was referring to His own body when He told them that they would “destroy this temple and I will raise it up”:

Here are Christ’s word which the children of the serpent twisted to their own evil purpose of having an excuse to demand Christ’s crucifixion:

Joh 2:13  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Joh 2:18  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, [You] Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Here is Christ clearly telling the religious leaders of the established church that they would destroy the temple of His body, and He would “raise it up.” The Jews twisted His words to say that He threatened to destroy the temple so they could have an occasion to put Him to death, and they knew very well He was referring to His own body when He made that statement. This is revealed in their petition to Pilate to set a guard over His grave after He was crucified:

Mat 27:62  Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
Mat 27:63  Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Mat 27:64  Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
Mat 27:65  Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
Mat 27:66  So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

“The last error [was indeed] worse than the first,” but it had nothing to do with Christ’s disciples stealing His body away. There was no ‘body’ to steal, and yet He showed Himself to over five hundred people at once. There was no denying that the Father had raised Christ up from among the dead, and had given Him all power in heaven and in earth:

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

1Co 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1Co 15:8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

The death and resurrection of Christ is as well-documented an event as is to be found in all history. Yet “His own” still deny Him until this day:

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

It is those who claim His name but do not do the things He says who do not receive Him to this very day. These early Jewish Christians had not yet learned that Christ would accept the Gentiles, but they were faithful to the understanding they had been given, and the Lord was blessing their service, and His church was growing. The Lord does not even begin to hint at having a relationship with the Gentiles until He sends Peter to the house of the Roman centurion in chapter 10:

Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

One of the Biblical definitions of ‘sin’ is: “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom 14:23). Therefore, it would have been a sin for Peter to even think about eating with a Gentile at this time:

Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

The point is that here in the sixth chapter of the book of Acts the entire church is still living under the law of Moses. No one, Stephen included, had any reason to want to see the temple destroyed. All the disciples are observing the weekly sabbath, the holy days, the clean and unclean meat laws, and all the many other laws of Moses. They have learned that they are not to hate their enemies, and they have learned that they “ought to obey God rather than man”, but they are still very entrenched in the covenant of circumcision, and they still believe that the Lord’s only people are Israelites and proselytes to Israel’s laws and doctrines, which are the law of Moses.

The temple in Jerusalem is currently central to their own doctrine. This will be the case even after it is revealed in chapter ten that the Lord is calling the Gentiles to repentance. The New Testament Jewish church will remain faithful to the law of Moses throughout this entire book of Acts, even after Peter visits the Gentile Roman centurion, Cornelius, and even after it is decided in Act 15 that the Gentiles need not be circumcised nor keep the law of Moses. The Lord still has not granted the Jewish church to dispense with the doctrine that physical pedigree, and being descended from Abraham, is of any advantage. The Jewish church in the book of Acts, by the Lord’s decree, simply is not yet “able to bear” the fact that the time will come when the Lord will reveal that He is “breaking down the wall of partition [the law of Moses] between [the Jews and the Gentiles] and is making of twain one new man so making peace” (Eph 2:15). That revelation will not be given until after the book of Acts. It will be given only after Paul arrives as a prisoner in Rome, where he will write many of his epistles.

We are just in Acts chapter six, and the Lord is blessing His new church with great growth among the Jews.

Act 6:1  And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Again, we must remember the word ‘Grecians’ has nothing at all to do with ethnicity. It refers only to the Greek culture and the use of the Greek Septuagint, which was read by these Jews who were the so-called ‘Grecians’. The disciples are sincere, and “of one mind and one accord,” but a physical body requires physical administration, and nothing which is physical is yet perfected, as our Lord so graphically demonstrated when He said this of Himself:

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

Luk 13:31  The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

It is natural to care for your own before others, and that was happening in the early church. Those who were of the Hebrew culture were being placed above and before those Jews who were of the Greek culture and who read the Greek scriptures.

Act 6:2  Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Peter is not saying that he is above waiting tables, but he is saying that feeding the flock spiritual food is far more advantageous for the flock than being fed physical food, as the Lord demonstrated with these words to Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus:

Luk 10:38  Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
Luk 10:39  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
Luk 10:40  But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Luk 10:41  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Luk 10:42  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

I had a woman brag to me that she was a ‘Martha’ because she was the one that got things done in her family. She obviously had not been granted eyes that see or ears that hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and in her bragging, she made it clear that she did not have the mind of Christ concerning Mary or Martha. We are not told Martha’s response to Christ, but we are told much later that she still believed that Christ could heal her brother Lazarus when he was sick:

Joh 11:1  Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2  (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
Joh 11:3  Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Joh 11:4  When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Joh 11:5  Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

Notice that Christ did not reprimand Martha and tell her to sit at His feet and listen to what He was saying. Christ knew that the meal had to be served, and He provided Martha for that very purpose. We are all ‘Martha’ before we are granted to become ‘Mary’ who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no [anxious] thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

There is no doubt, based on the sum of the Lord’s words, that Mary helped with the dishes after the Lord was finished speaking because the Lord never condones slothfulness:

2Th 3:10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

So, there is a time for both Mary and Martha within the body of Christ, and the appointing of these seven deacons demonstrates that Martha will always be in demand:

Act 6:3  Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. [of Martha’s serving tables – vs 2]
Act 6:4  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. [Mary’s seeking the mind of Christ first].

These words of the yet unknown apostle Paul had not yet been written, and yet they were already being demonstrated at the very beginning of the church:

1Co 12:27  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
1Co 12:28  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Each of us is an integral part of the one “body of Christ”.

Act 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

Every one of these seven names are ‘Grecian’ names. This indicates that the people agreed with those who had complained that the Grecian widows were being ignored, and they were happy to appoint seven Grecian Christians to see to it that did not happen again.

The apostles told the church to “look out among you seven men of honest report, full of the holy spirit whom we may appoint over this business [of serving tables].” The church had grown exponentially, and they had all things in common, yet some ‘Grecian’ widows were being overlooked. The apostles were given the wisdom to know that the people knew who those were who were already doing the work of a deacon, so they told the people to “look out among you seven men whom we may appoint over this business” of administering the physical needs of the congregation. These seven men were not placed over the apostles and given the purse strings of the church as is the case in many churches today where the ‘board of deacons’ is empowered to hire and fire the minister of the church. The fiscal funds brought into the church were “laid at the apostles’ feet” not at the feet of these seven deacons whom the apostles appointed over the work of ministering to the physical needs of the church. Neither did the apostles just take the words of the people that these men were fit to administer the physical needs of the congregation. The fact we are told “when [the apostles] had prayed, they laid their hands on them” tells us these men were well vetted before being given that duty:

Act 6:6  Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

1Ti 3:8  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
1Ti 3:9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
1Ti 3:10  And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
1Ti 3:11  Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
1Ti 3:12  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1Ti 3:13  For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

These early Jewish Christians had very high standards, and the disciples of Christ still have very high standards until this very day “that the word of God be not blasphemed.” Hypocrisy in the body of Christ blasphemes His name:

Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Tit 2:3  The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
Tit 2:4  That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5  To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Act 6:7  And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

This seventh verse gives us an idea why the Sanhedrin felt so threatened and wondered “whereunto this would grow”:

Act 5:24  Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

“A great company of the priests [the sons of Aaron] were obedient to the faith [of Christ].” This had to be stopped or the established church would lose its power over the people.

The Lord used one of the first deacons to be placed into the same position as our Lord. As we demonstrated above, those who rejected the offer to repent of what they had done to Christ, bribed men to lie about Stephen’s words just as they had twisted the words of Christ when they accused Him of saying He would destroy the temple.

Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

The holy spirit is not confined to doing the business of ministering to the physical needs of the congregation. Stephen was also used by the holy spirit to “do great wonders and miracles among the people,” and he was used by the spirit to witness to unconverted Jews while also doing the work of a deacon.

Act 6:9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

This was all lies. The apostles were still living under the law of Moses and had no intention of destroying the temple. They were still offering blood sacrifices in the temple as we learn in Acts 21:

Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

All the congregation of the New Testament church at this point were all Jewish, and they all “walked orderly and kept the law” of Moses at this time.

The Greek word translated as ‘suborned’ is G5260 – ‘hupoballo’ – and this is how the BT+ defines this Greek word:

Definition:
1. to throw or put under
2. to suggest to the mind
3. to instruct privately, instigate, to bribe or induce (someone) unlawfully or secretly to perform some misdeed or commit a crime
4. to induce (a person esp. a witness) to give false testimony

The Jewish Sanhedrin bribed men to lie about what Stephen had been teaching, using the same lie they used to condemn our Lord:

Act 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

We are not told to what extent the high priest and the senate of the people were involved in what transpires next, but we are told that “the elders and the scribes… caught him and brought him to the council.” The Greek word here translated as ‘council’ is G4892 – ‘sunedrion’. It is the same ‘council’ before whom Christ was brought to be sentenced to crucifixion just a few months earlier:

Mat 26:59  Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council [G4892: ‘sunedrion’], sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

It was the same council which had ordered the apostles to stop speaking at all in the name of Jesus.

Act 6:13  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Act 6:14  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Act 6:15  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Verse 14 is the record of a blatant lie being told against Stephen. It is the exact same lie that had been told against Christ just a few months earlier and used as an excuse to have Him crucified.

Next week we will see that Stephen has been given the backbone to stick to The Truth even unto death. We must all have that same resolve, or we are not worthy to be Christ’s disciples:

Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

[Study Aired December 8, 2022]

2Ki 13:14  Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 
2Ki 13:15  And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
2Ki 13:16  And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. 
2Ki 13:17  And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.
2Ki 13:18  And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 
2Ki 13:19  And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. 
2Ki 13:20  And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 
2Ki 13:21  And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. 
2Ki 13:22  But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 
2Ki 13:23  And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. 
2Ki 13:24  So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 13:25  And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

In last week’s study we learned that Jehoahaz besought the Lord to take the nation of Israel out from under the oppressive bondage of “Hazael king of Syria” and “Benhadad the son of Hazael“, and the LORD hearkened unto Jehoahaz and gave Israel a savior who we learn in this section of kings is Elisha who typifies Christ our savior. 

2Ki 13:3  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days. 
2Ki 13:4  And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 
2Ki 13:5  (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

The deliverance God gave Israel came as a result of Elisha, just as our deliverance is completely dependent upon Christ’s hand in our lives (Joh 10:28, 2Ki 13:16-17) and there are many instructive events which take place in this section of kings that show us how we are to make spiritual warfare in our walk in Christ as we die daily and are blessed to be “baptized into his death” (Rom 6:3).

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

2Ki 13:16  And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. [Php 2:12] And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. [Php 2:13]
2Ki 13:17  And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 

Without Christ our hope of glory within (Col 1:27), we cannot make war against the enemy within (Rev 13:4) and cannot understand the extent of the battle to which the Lord has called us that belongs to him (1Sa 17:47). In the end, the Lord will triumph through His people both to will and to do God’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom of God (Luk 12:32) through the destruction of the giants in our own land [our bodies, our hearts and minds] typified in this story by the nation of Syria which is oppressing Israel. God calls us to arm ourselves with His mind and to not take any anxious thought for the morrow because “the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands” (1Sa 17:47, 1Pe 4:1-2, Mat 6:34).

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

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. 

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

2Ki 13:14  Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 

Elisha is on his deathbed when these events transpire with Joash, and what we are being shown is in the sickness that he had “whereof he died” is the sickness we all have, which is found in these corruptible marred vessels that are in the hand of the Potter (Jer 18:4) who knows all our days and how they are numbered and meant to play out according to the counsel of His own will (Psa 139:16, Eph 1:11).

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.

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

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: 

What God is showing Joash, in type and shadow through Elisha, is that his deliverance and the nation’s are going to come through the death of his carnal nature which can only happen through Christ abiding in us (Ecc 7:2-4). He is mournful for the condition of Elijah, “And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face“, and does not yet understand the power that this situation represents (Luk 23:28-31) even though he alludes to it in his description and memory of Elijah, “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.“

Ecc 7:2  It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 
Ecc 7:3  Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 
Ecc 7:4  The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 

Luk 23:28  But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 
Luk 23:29  For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck [Gal 4:27]. 
Luk 23:30  Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 
Luk 23:31  For if they do these things in a green tree [Christ and his Christ], what shall be done in the dry? [1Pe 4:17-18, Joh 5:29]

2Ki 13:15  And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. 
2Ki 13:16  And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. 

It is in our weakest state where God’s strength is made perfect through us (2Co 12:9) as we learn to make war against the enemy within us with the word of God symbolized by “arrows“. The bow represents the strength of God’s arm in our lives (Gen 49:22-24, Gen 9:13), and the arrows represent the word of God (Num 24:8, Psa 127:4-5) which enables us to accomplish what God proclaims from His mouth (Isa 55:11).

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Gen 9:13  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 
Gen 9:14  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth [Rev 11:15], that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: [Heb 1:21]

Gen 49:22  Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
Gen 49:23  The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 
Gen 49:24  But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel).

Psa 127:4  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth [2Pe 1:4]. 
Psa 127:5  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate [2Ti 2:15].

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

Verse 16 further confirms where our strength comes from and how God is faithful to accomplish all He has set out to do through Christ (Joh 4:23).

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

The imagery of these words “And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands” represents our putting our trust in the strength of Christ in our lives who is represented by the bow. Elisha putting his hand upon the king’s hand reminds us that our victory in the Lord is not by might nor power but by God’s holy spirit (Zec 4:6). As mentioned earlier, it is all of the Lord both to will and to do of His good pleasure as we are instructed by the Lord to trust in His power in which we rest, “And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow (Php 2:12).” It is when we cast our cares upon the Lord, or rest in Him, that we learn of His mercy and great power and continual desire to deliver us from ourselves, “And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands” (Php 2:13).

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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 [resting our hand on the bow].
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [Typified by Elisha who puts his hand upon the king’s hand, Christ’s effectual working in His body (Eph 4:16).]

2Ki 13:17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. 

Then Joash was instructed by Elisha to open the eastward window and to shoot an arrow which symbolizes the need for our obedience to God’s word as we are led by the spirit to accomplish God’s will of overcoming the enemy within us (Act 5:32, Rom 8:14). God’s word is the “The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance” that if we are blessed to continue will set us free (Joh 8:31-32). We are delivered from the sin within our members, typified by Syria, and it is in “Aphek^H663” this battle takes place “till thou have consumed them“. Aphek represents the strongholds of our flesh which are giants in our lands that will be bread for us at the appointed time of their destruction (Num 23:30, Exo 14:9). It is at an appointed time, and the process starts by shooting an arrow toward the east, meaning the word of God comes into our heart and starts a process of judgment which destroys the man of sin within us who is destroyed by the brightness of His coming from the east unto the west (Mat 24:27, 2Th 2:8).

Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

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

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. 

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

H663
‘ăphêq    ‘ăphı̂yq
af-ake’, af-eek’

From H662 (in the sense of strength); fortress; Aphek (or Aphik), the name of three places in Palestine: – Aphek, Aphik.
Total KJV occurrences: 9

2Ki 13:18  And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 
2Ki 13:19  And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

This part of our study references back to Romans 6:1-3 where we are shown that initially we are repentant and do war against our flesh, but it is not enough to completely defeat the enemy within us as we can’t help but “continue in sin, that grace may abound”, so it is worded this way, “And he smote thrice, and stayed.“

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, [stop trying to overcome and not keep under ourselves, and just abide (stay) in sin] that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? [Rom 6:11] 
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [rather abide, (stay) alive in Christ and be dead to sin]

Joash has no idea how many times he should have smitten the ground, and yet the prophet was inspired to say that three times is not enough, that initial process of judgment is not enough as it caused him to “stay” and not move forward. This movement forward is what happens when we abide in Christ or stay in Christ in order to become His disciples indeed who go unto perfection on the third day, pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Joh 8:31-32, Luk 13:32, Php 3:14). In this story we see the number three being used to demonstrate judgment that is not complete, and the need to endure until the end (Mat 24:13) to be saved going beyond these verses in Hebrew 6:1-3, Lord willing.

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

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

‘Disciples indeed’ are permitted to go beyond this degree of overcoming by the grace of God that gives us the power to overcome our flesh. “Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times“, which is something that is permitted by God (Heb 6:3). The man of God being “wroth with him” typifies God’s wrath against our old man, and God knows the only way to go onto perfection is to have that man of sin within us smitten “five or six times” which represents the chastening grace of our Father in the elect’s lives that causes us to be received by the Lord (Heb 12:6-7). The earlier mentioned three [3] times smiting the ground is worldly repentance, but the [2×3=6] witnesses [2] to the process of judgment that brings about Godly repentance which moves us forward by God’s grace through faith [5] (2Co 7:9-10).

Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

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?

2Co 7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 
2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

The foundation of Christ in our lives [12] is preceded by the dissolution of our flesh, represented by the number eleven [“five or six times“=11]. We must endure His chastening from start to finish, in other words, in order to have Christ’s body built upon the Rock that is Christ [12] (Mat 21:44, Mat 16:18).

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

2Ki 13:20  And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 
2Ki 13:21  And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
2Ki 13:22  But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 

It is when Elisha dies that “the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year” showing us the natural way our flesh goes when Christ is no longer in our midst, who is typified by Elisha (Act 20:29-30, Joh 21:3).

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 

Joh 21:3  Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing [as opposed to when Christ was there giving direction Joh 21:6, Rev 7:9].

The Moabites invaded Israel’s land, and at one point “as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha“.  This situation is a parable for us of how the dead bury their dead or hide their sinful flesh that will be exposed through a resurrection which comes about as a result of our being touched by Christ who is the power of the resurrection (Joh 11:25). 

It is “when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, [that] he revived, and stood up on his feet“. Bones^H6106 are a symbol of our essence/substance/self but they are not the body and blood of Christ and the flesh and bones that together make it possible for God’s elect to be raised in heavenly places today with our Father and Christ, in earnest, in heaven (Eph 5:30, Eph 2:6).

H6106
‛etsem 
BDB Definition:
1) bone, essence, substance
1a) bone
1a1) body, limbs, members, external body
1b) bone (of animal)
1c) substance, self
Strong’s Number: from H6105 = to be vast, be numerous, be mighty , make strong, make mighty; to shut or close the eyes

These chapters in 2 Kings don’t follow a strict timeline as we see here with the writer being inspired to now return to remind us of the king of Syria who has been given a hardened and unbelieving heart to continue oppressing his neighbor, “But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.” We do not know if Hazael had heard of this miracle of a resurrection, but because of its placement here in scripture, right after mention of the man touching the bones of Elisha and reviving, it brings to mind how it is the Lord who opens and closes the hearts and minds to fulfill His will (Job 12:14, Rev 3:7, Rev 17:17).

The elect rising from the dead in the first resurrection will cause the world to believe at first, like certain Jews that believed on Christ but could not continue in that belief (Luk 16:31, Joh 8:31-32). This unbelief is centered around the inability to repent “but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent“, not until they are washed with the word of God and baptized with fire in the lake of fire (Joh 3:5-6). This resurrection of the nameless man was temporary, as all others were, until Christ comes (Psa 85:6, Isa 57:15,  Rom 7:9, Rom 14:7-9).

Luk 16:30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 
Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

Psa 85:6  Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 

Rom 7:9  For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died [Gal 2:20].

Rom 14:7  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 
Rom 14:8  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 
Rom 14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 

2Ki 13:23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

The Lord is not a respecter of persons but “because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob“, He will save all of humanity, which can only happen by going through a process of judgment that is shown us in the symbolic words of “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” [3 people]. 

‘Jacob’ is whom God loves while we are in this flesh as His elect, and ‘Esau’ our old man is whom He hates within us (Rom 9:13). The seed of promise matures and progressively goes from Jacob to Isaac, who is the more mature man of God being formed in us, leading to the father of the faithful Abraham, who typifies the matured creation that will go on to perfection on the third day as a result of coming into the unity of the faith through Christ (Luk 13:32, Eph 4:13). 

Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

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

Abraham is mentioned first because God declares the end from the beginning and knows that all men will be saved by grace through faith, typified by Abraham who is a type of Christ (Heb 11:8, Rom 5:19).

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; [Php 2:12] and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 

Rom 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Christ] shall many be made righteous [all in Adam (1Co 15:22)]. 

Jacob
H3290  ya‛ăqôb
yah-ak-obe’  
From H6117; heel catcher (that is, supplanter); Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch: – Jacob.   Total KJV occurrences: 349

H6117‛âqab
aw-kab’  
A primitive root; properly to swell out or up; used only as denominative from H6119, to seize by the heel; figuratively to circumvent (as if tripping up the heels); also to restrain (as if holding by the heel): – take by the heel, stay, supplant, X utterly.
Total KJV occurrences: 5

Isaac H3327yitschâq
yits-khawk’   
From H6711; laughter (that is, mockery); Jitschak (or Isaac), son of Abraham: – Isaac. Compare H3446.
Total KJV occurrences: 108

H6711 tsâchaq
tsaw-khak’  
A primitive root; to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn); by implication to sport: – laugh, mock, play, make sport.
Total KJV occurrences: 13

Abraham   H85‘abrâhâm
ab-raw-hawm’   
Contracted from H1 and an unused root (probably meaning to be populous); father of a multitude; Abraham, the later name of Abram: – Abraham. 
Total KJV occurrences: 175

H1 ‘âb
awb 
A primitive word; father in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application: – chief, (fore-) father ([-less]), X patrimony, principal. Compare names in “Abi-” Total KJV occurrences: 1214

2Ki 13:24  So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 13:25  And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel. 

After Hazael king of Syria dies, Benhadad his son reigned in his stead, and “Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war“. These cities that were taken represent the bondage of sin that our old man overtakes in us at an appointed time, and only by God’s mercy can we recover “the cities of Israel” (Pro 16:4). 

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

The “three times” that Joash beat Benhadad reminds us that overcoming in the Lord is a lifetime process of judgment where we must keep under our body, “and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1Co 9:27). This exercise of evil is one that is unavoidable as the body of Christ (Ecc 9:3, 1Pe 5:6, Act 14:22), and yet it is one that we can rejoice in, and again I say rejoice, because it is through this process of which we pray we never grow weary, which we learn of our Lord’s faithfulness toward His children and the certainty of our victory through Christ over our enemies within, “for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands” (1Sa 17:47).

Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 

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

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.

Exo 6:1-30 How Then Shall Pharaoh Hear Me, Who am of Uncircumcised Lips?

[Study Aired April 18, 2022]

Exo 6:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. 
Exo 6:2  And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 
Exo 6:3  And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. 
Exo 6:4  And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 
Exo 6:5  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 
Exo 6:6  Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 
Exo 6:7  And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 
Exo 6:8  And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. 
Exo 6:9  And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 
Exo 6:10  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 6:11  Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 
Exo 6:12  And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? 
Exo 6:13  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 
Exo 6:14  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. 
Exo 6:15  And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon. 
Exo 6:16  And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 
Exo 6:17  The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 
Exo 6:18  And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 
Exo 6:19  And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. 
Exo 6:20  And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 
Exo 6:21  And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 
Exo 6:22  And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 
Exo 6:23  And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 
Exo 6:24  And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites. 
Exo 6:25  And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. 
Exo 6:26  These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 
Exo 6:27  These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron. 
Exo 6:28  And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 
Exo 6:29  That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. 
Exo 6:30  And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? 

To understand chapter 6, we need to look at the closing verses of chapter 5 where Moses became bothered and discouraged and even asked the Lord why He sent him. Furthermore, Moses said to the Lord, “Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.”

Many of us have had similar experiences. The more we think we are getting closer to the Lord through the enlightenment of His words, the more we go through certain circumstances of suffering that discourage us. This caused us to become troubled and discouraged just like Moses. Do not think, however, that increased suffering is a negative sign. Our suffering is a sign that God is in the process of delivering us from our enemy within – the old man or the beast.

Exo 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 
Exo 5:23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Most of the first part of chapter 6 is devoted to the Lord’s response to Moses where the Lord was assuring Moses that what He has said, He is able to execute. The Lord assured Moses of His deliverance by reminding Moses of His name and His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The second part of chapter 6 deals with Moses and Aaron’s election.

Part One – The Lord’s Assurance to Moses

Let’s now examine the response by the Lord to Moses’ discouragement in the prior chapter as follows:

Exo 6:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. 

Here in this verse, we are being reminded that it is the Lord’s work to deal with the old man or the beast within, represented by Pharaoh. All we have to do is believe that the Lord will surely bring into completion what He starts.

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 work of the Lord in delivering us from the power of the beast within or the old man is characterized as being the strong hand of the Lord.

Neh 1:10  Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

Exo 13:9  And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

In the scriptures, the hand of the Lord on a negative note is judgment for the destruction of all that opposes or resists His will. So, the strong hand of the Lord is for the destruction of the beast or the old man within.

1Sa 5:9  And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

On a positive note, this hand of the Lord is the extension of His mercies to us.

1Ch 21:13  And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.

Ezr 7:28  And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

Exo 6:2  And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 
Exo 6:3  And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. 
Exo 6:4  And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exo 6:5  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

After Moses expressed his discouragement and bewilderment to the Lord, our Lord came to him to reconfirm His name and His covenant. In verse 2 and 3, the Lord said to Moses that He is Jehovah. and he appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but the patriarchs did not know Him as Jehovah. The name God Almighty, in Hebrew translation, means El Shaddai, the all-sufficient God. What this means is that we start our walk knowing the Lord as God of all supply and promise just like the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all died without enjoying the fulfillment of the promise. In their experience, God was the all-sufficient one but He was not Jehovah, who fulfills promises.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

On the other hand, Moses was being introduced to a God who fulfills His promises. When the Lord came to Moses in response to Moses’ discouragement, He came as Jehovah, the One who is and fulfills promises. God’s existence is not dependent on anything apart from Himself. So, what the Lord was telling Moses was that he and the people of Israel’s exit from Babylon is not dependent on Pharaoh’s mood or anything else, but it is solely dependent on Him.  In a similar vein, it is later in our walk with Christ that we come to know Him as Jehovah, the self-existing God and the fulfilling God. This means that we have come to understand that our progress in the faith, or our walk with Him, are all dependent on Him!! That is the time we really find rest in Him.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 

The Lord’s name is what He Himself is, and His covenant is His words spoken with a promise and confirmed with an oath. Our every day words spoken to each other are not covenants. However, a word spoken with a promise and confirmed with an oath is a covenant. The Lord referencing His covenant with the patriarchs in verse 4 is to let us know that what the Lord has promised, He will surely bring to pass. That was the assurance the Lord gave to Moses when he was discouraged. Today, the Lord is reaffirming His name and His covenant to us to assure us that He will never fail us. Although things may happen the way we do not desire, what is important is that His purposes and plans concerning us shall come to pass according to what He has written in our books. Every day the Lord is unfolding to us His will for our lives, and we must embrace it with joy knowing that the road He is taking us through will bring us to our safe haven!!

Psa 139:16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (ESV)

Exo 6:6  Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 
Exo 6:7  And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
Exo 6:8  And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

What we need to understand is that after the first conflict with Pharoah, Moses felt he had failed. The Lord’s reaction to Moses’ perceived failure was to give him further training. God would not send Moses again to Pharoah until he had received more training from Him. The first set of training that the Lord penciled out for Moses was to impress him with His name and covenant. The Lord reminded Moses that He is Jehovah, the self-existing one, who was, is and will be. He also reminded Moses of His covenant with the Patriarchs regarding the good land.

Verses 6–8 relate to the second set of training the Lord gave Moses, and it pertains to God’s word of assurance. We must pay attention to God’s word of assurance, the word that He speaks to us again and again. Have you been discouraged by the fact that you haven’t seen any significant progress with the death of the old man within you? Then, you are in the same place as Moses. Four things are mentioned here regarding the Lord’s word of assurance. First, the Lord said that He will deliver the children of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage. We, like Moses, are also being assured by the Lord that we shall be delivered from the beast or the old man within. We do not know how the Lord will accomplish this, but what we are aware of is that it will be through judgment (strong hand) that the old man would be put to death in our lives. It is the work of the Lord!! My brothers and sisters, what the Lord starts, He is able to finish. Let’s depend on Him!!

2Ki 19:31  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

Hos 6:3  Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. 

The second assurance given by the Lord to Moses was that He will take the children of Israel to Himself for a people, and He will be our God. Didn’t the people of Israel reject Moses’ words? But here the Lord is saying that they will be His people!! No matter what we are today in our own eyes or that of others, God is assuring us that we will be His chosen people. Sometimes, within us comes the voice of the old man powered by the devil that we are so far away from the Lord’s righteousness and that we are not fit for the kingdom!! Don’t condemn yourself. It’s time to take your eyes off yourself and look to Jesus!! On the day Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples kept looking at Him as He ascended. They were not looking at themselves. If they did so, they would have been extremely discouraged.

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.

It was while the disciples were gazing up into heaven that two men appeared to them to assure them that Christ will come to them. The two men in white apparel represent the two witnesses or the elect. The fact that they were wearing white apparel is to assure the disciples that they will be clothed with Christ’s righteousness when He comes to them!!

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.

The third assurance given by the Lord to Moses was for Moses to know that the Lord is Jehovah. As we have explained earlier, Jehovah means the self-existing one. This is to assure Moses that his work of delivering the people from their bondage does not depend on him but on the Lord. He does the work!! Our transformation to be children of the Lord is God’s work and does not depend on us!!

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

The fourth assurance given to Moses was that the Lord will bring the children of Israel into the promised land. Remember that the promised land represents our bodies. Thus, what the Lord is assuring us is that we shall overcome the flesh or the old man.

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

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Exo 6:9  And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 
Exo 6:10  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 6:11  Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 

Moses was also being trained in relation to the children of Israel’s unbelief and Pharaoh’s stubbornness. All the rebellious attitudes of our brothers and sisters who left us are all for our good or learning. As we shall see later, through the unbelief and Pharaoh’s stubbornness, Moses got to know his shortcomings and depended on the Lord alone. All the Lord’s elect ahead of us experienced the rejection by some of our own brothers and sisters and of course, Babylon at large. Let’s look at our Lord’s overwhelming rejection by all his disciples in the time of His need.

Mar 14:50  And they (His disciples) all forsook him, and fled. 
Mar 14:51  And there followed him a certain young man (Mark), having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 
Mar 14:52  And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. 

Mar 14:27  And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 
Mar 14:28  But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 

This is what Paul and John also went through:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 1:16  The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: 

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

All these experiences are for our admonition so that when we encounter such opposition or resistance from those we consider as our brothers and sisters in our walk with Christ, we will know that the Spirit of the Lord is with us and that we are doing something in line with His will and purpose.

The fact that we are being made aware of the stubbornness of Pharaoh is to let us know that the beast within, or the old man’s demise, is a process and not a one-day wonder. It takes a whole lifetime to become perfected!! Let us, therefore, not focus on temporal setbacks of sin in our walk with Christ as we desire to please Him. The old man will surely die, and its death is gradual – we die daily giving way to the new man after the image of Christ.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Exo 6:12  And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? 
Exo 6:13  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Here in verse 12, Moses told the Lord that he was of uncircumcised lips. This is reiterating what he said earlier in his encounter with the Lord in Exodus chapter 4 when he said that he was not eloquent and that he is slow in speech and of a slow tongue. Moses was complaining that the Lord had not done anything to make his mouth powerful such that it becomes easier for people to believe. As indicated earlier, Moses here was under training to lead the Lord’s people, and part of the training is for Moses to admit that he can of himself do nothing so that he would depend on the Lord wholly for the Lord’s work. It is not of him that wills or runs, but of the Lord that shows mercy. Success in becoming transformed by the Lord does not depend on ourselves by way of our skills, speaking, wisdom, etc. It depends wholly on the Lord!!

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

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

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

It is in this context that in spite of Moses realizing his inability to lead the people of God, the Lord was still insisting that Moses, together with Aaron, has the mandate to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Once we have been chosen by the Lord, it is the Lord’s work to bring us to completion. Why then, do we get distracted by what we are going through, knowing that it is the Lord’s work, not ours, to bring us to our safe haven?

Part Two – God’s Election

In verses 14–26, we are given the genealogy of Reuben, Simeon and Levi. The intention for this record of genealogy is to let us know, from Jacob to Moses, who were chosen by the Lord. Although Jacob had twelve sons, only three were represented here. This is to let us know that the elect must go through judgment as part of the process of becoming spiritually mature.

Exo 6:14  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

Reuben’s genealogy is mentioned here because Reuben was the firstborn and as firstborn, Reuben should have received the birthright – the double portion of Jacob’s inheritance. However, his act of incest by sleeping with his father’s concubine, Bilhah, made him forfeit the birthright. This birthright symbolizes the Lord’s election. What this means is that Reuben and his families were not called and chosen by the Lord to lead His people out of bondage.

Gen 49:3  Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 
Gen 49:4  Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. 

Deu 21:17  But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Exo 6:15  And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.

Simeon was the second son of Jacob and Leah. Simeon’s descendants became one of the twelve tribes of Israel. He and his brother Levi tricked the Hivites of Shechem and massacred all the males because one of them had raped Dinah, their sister. Later, Jacob deplored this deed. Simeon, being the second born, should have received the birthright after Reuben, the firstborn was rejected. However, Simeon and his family also missed out on the Lord’s election.

Gen 49:5  Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

Exo 6:16  And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 
Exo 6:17  The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 
Exo 6:18  And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 
Exo 6:19  And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. 
Exo 6:20  And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 
Exo 6:21  And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 
Exo 6:22  And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 
Exo 6:23  And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 
Exo 6:24  And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites. 
Exo 6:25  And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
Exo 6:26  These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 
Exo 6:27  These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah. As indicated, Levi participated in the massacre of Shechem males in retaliation to Dinah’s defilement. His three sons, Gershon, Kohath and Merari were ancestors of the three main divisions of the Levitical priesthood – the Gershonites, the Kohathites, and the Merarites. On his deathbed, Jacob cursed both Simeon and Levi because of their cruelty and wrath. Despite all the negatives, the Lord called and chose the tribe of Levi for the priesthood and specifically chose Moses and Aaron for the deliverance of His people. These lessons are all written for our admonition, upon the ends of the world are come.

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

What we are to understand is that our being called and chosen by the Lord is not because of what we have done or are doing. It was all done by the Lord before the foundations of the world. So, what we need to pay attention to here is that He who has called and chosen us will do the work to bring us to our inheritance. It is not our work. Let us therefore have confidence in Him that what He starts, He is able to finish!! This is why this genealogy was written in this part of the word of the Lord by Moses at the time Moses has despaired of leading the Lord’s people out of Egypt. The essence of this genealogy is to encourage us that in spite of all our weaknesses, what is important is being called and chosen like Moses and Aaron. Once our Lord grants us the grace to respond to His call, He is able to accomplish His will concerning what He has written in our books!!

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

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 
Zec 4:8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Zec 4:9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 
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; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. 

The question is, “How do I know that I’m called and chosen?” The fact that we are understanding the mysteries of the kingdom of God is a sure sign that we are called and chosen. Let’s not doubt our election!!

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 

Exo 6:28  And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 
Exo 6:29  That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. 
Exo 6:30  And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? 

The fact that Moses recognized his inability to convince the people of Israel and Pharaoh with his speaking by saying that he had uncircumcised lips has been repeated here in verse 30. This is to let us know that it serves as a witness and that it is established.

2Co 13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 

Gen 41:32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

This means that what Moses said in terms of having uncircumcised lips applies to us all and that at a certain point of our walk with Christ we shall come to realize that we do not have what it takes to do the Lord’s work. In other words, as we walk with the Lord, our inadequacies will become obvious to us, and the devil may use this to try to disqualify us from the prize. That is why the Lord brought Moses’ election here at this point by giving us his genealogy to convince us that it is not about our inadequacies that matters but about our election. However, on a positive note, the Lord uses this to let us know that it is not our work but His work so that we will wholly depend on Him!!

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 
2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

In conclusion, we will end this review with the story of Jesus in a boat with the disciples crossing the sea from one end to another. This is because the disciples had the mandate of the Lord to cross the sea just as Moses had been given the command to go to Pharaoh to let the Lord’s people go. Therefore, this story summarizes the import of chapter 6 of Exodus.

Mar 4:35  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 
Mar 4:36  And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 
Mar 4:37  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 
Mar 4:38  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 
Mar 4:39  And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 
Mar 4:40  He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 
Mar 4:41  And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (ESV)

What we need to understand is that Jesus had already spoken to the disciples that they should cross the sea to the other side. Once the Lord has spoken, it is done!! Crossing the sea to the other side signifies overcoming the flesh (sea) in order to enter the kingdom of God (the other side). This is what the Lord has to say about His words:

Isa 55:11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 

Thus, we are in the same shoes as Moses regarding what the Lord had promised. However, in crossing the sea (overcoming the flesh), there are challenges – the great windstorms of life. They come in diverse ways – sickness, financial difficulties, family troubles, distress, loneliness, rejection, etc. These are all part of the Lord’s judgment on our sea of flesh. The good news about all this is that Jesus is in the boat with us, just as the disciples were with him in the boat, and therefore, we cannot perish with Him. However, our natural tendency is to accuse the Lord of not caring while we are going through all these troubles just like the disciples and Moses did.

Mar 4:38  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 

Exo 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 
Exo 5:23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

When the storm was raging, Jesus was asleep. Another way of saying this is as follows:

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.

Since the disciples did not perish, we shall also not perish. At the appointed time, the Lord will awake in our situation to rebuke the windstorm. That is when we shall testify just like the disciples said, “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey?” What this means is that our Lord has full control of all that takes place in the spiritual realm (wind) and the physical world of flesh (sea)!!

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

May the Lord help us all to experience like the disciples of Jesus the fact that the Lord is in full control of everything that happens to us!! He is in our boat (within us) and therefore, we shall not perish!! Amen!!

Jer 35:1-19 The Obedience of the Rechabites

[Study Aired April 10, 2022]

Jer 35:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Jer 35:2  Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
Jer 35:3  Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
Jer 35:4  And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
Jer 35:5  And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
Jer 35:6  But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
Jer 35:7  Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
Jer 35:8  Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
Jer 35:9  Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
Jer 35:10  But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
Jer 35:11  But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
Jer 35:12  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 35:13  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
Jer 35:14  The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
Jer 35:15  I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
Jer 35:16  Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
Jer 35:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
Jer 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Our study today takes us back over eleven years to the time of King Jehoiakim, the son of King Josiah, and contrasts the obedience of the sons of Rechab to the commandments and precepts of their patriarch, to the disobedience of Judah and Jerusalem to the commandments and precepts or the Lord who had supernaturally delivered them from the bondage of Egypt:

Jer 35:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Jer 35:2  Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

The Lord places great value on us keeping our word. He puts so much value on it that even if we commit ourselves to a situation which will cost us dearly, He will bless us simply because we gave our word and kept it even to our own hurt. This is the mind of the Lord concerning what we are to do under such adverse circumstances:

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.

“A vile person is condemned; but… them that fear the Lord… sweareth to his own hurt, and changes not”. The Lord speaks to us through contrasts. A person who swears to his own hurt and changes not is contrasted with “a vile person” who swears to his own hurt then changes his mind rather than absorb the loss or the pain of keeping his word. “A vile person” who does not keep his word is a self-centered, always self-righteous person who will always justify the need to tell a blatant lie. We self-righteously call our lies ‘white lies’. We reason that we had to tell a lie, therefore it is ‘a white lie’, and if we had kept our word or if we had told the truth, it might have been worse and it might even have cost us our lives and who in this world wants to die???

Exo 20:19  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

The death of our old man should be the goal of every one of us so our new man can increase in us as John the Baptist told his disciples:

Joh 3:30  He [Christ, the new man within us] must increase, but I must decrease.
Joh 3:31  He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

It is not natural for us to see Christ as coming from heaven. It is certainly not natural to see Christ within us as coming from heaven. We all just naturally prefer hearing a sermon with smooth words to hearing the judgment of the Word of God upon our self-righteous old man.

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

‘Smooth things [are] deceits’ and that is what we all just naturally prefer to hear from those who minister to us.

That is why this chapter concerning events that took place well over eleven years earlier is being brought up at this juncture in this prophecy of Jeremiah. In our previous chapter, in the last year or two of the reign of King Zedekiah, who was the last king of Judah, Jerusalem and Judah were being besieged by the king of Babylon. Under the pressure of such severe judgment, which judgment was prophesied to come upon them by the prophet Jeremiah, the people of Judah and Jerusalem went into “the house of the Lord” and made a covenant with the Lord to let their Hebrew servants and handmaids go free, and as long as the siege endured they actually kept their word and granted their Hebrew servants their liberty, as we read in the previous chapter about the siege of Jerusalem under King Zedekiah by King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon:

Jer 34:8  This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
Jer 34:9  That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had given their word while under the siege to let their bondservants go free. However, immediately after the siege was lifted because the Lord had sent the king of Egypt to help Judah fight against the king of Babylon, the people of Judah and Jerusalem no longer felt the need to keep their word to those servants, and they demanded that they continue serving them, and went back on their oath and brought their Hebrew servants back into bondage.

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.

All of this is an actual historic fact which happened to Judah and Jerusalem, and it all “Happened to them and it is written for our admonition…”:

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things,

1Co 10:11 Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained. (CLV)

This whole story of the fidelity of the Rechabites, contrasting their fidelity to the commandment of their father with the infidelity of Judah and Jerusalem to the commandments of the Lord, is a type of each of us. We all agree to serve the Lord when He puts a heavy trial upon us, but as soon as the trial is resolved and our lives return to their normal state, we immediately and conveniently forget the covenant we made with the Lord to submit to His Words, represented by the covenant Judah made with the Lord to let their Hebrew servants, their own brothers and sisters, go free. The “Hebrew servants” represent each of us whom the Lord Himself has moved heaven and earth to deliver from the heavy oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Jer 34:10  Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

When we grant liberty to our Hebrew servant, we are typically being set free from our own bondage. That bondage is our own righteousness “which is of the law”:

Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

“The righteousness which is of the law [is] mine own righteousness which is of the law.” “Mine own righteousness” will rob me of my salvation “if [I] trust in [my] own righteousness, and commit iniquity” as opposed to “the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ”:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Eze 33:14  Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
Eze 33:15  If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity [“trust in his own righeouness” (vs 13)]; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

The Lord delivers us from the bondage of our own self-righteousness, and we still struggle to give Him the credit for all we do, good or evil. Nevertheless, that is what the scriptures teach consistently:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

I have emboldened all the evil which the Lord is working in the kingdom within us because every verse quoted is telling us what the Lord is working within each of us. We have all sold our brother into the slavery of the self-righteous sins of this world. We are all King Saul who is sent an evil spirit from the Lord. We are the wicked whom the Lord has created for our own day of evil. It is the Lord who hardens our hearts so He can make us err from His ways. We are the city in which the Lord has worked so much evil.

Place any of these verses outside of yourself and you have self-righteously attempted to reprove, contend with, and condemn the Lord for His sovereign position:

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

None of these things surprise our Lord because He is the One conducting all the affairs of this age:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

The Lord was not unaware of what would happen when He sent the armies of Egypt to help Judah to fight against the king of Babylon. He knew what He had “written in [their] book, even the days He had ordained for [them] before there were any of them”:

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

Jer 35:3  Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
Jer 35:4  And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
Jer 35:5  And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
Jer 35:6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
Jer 35:7  Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
Jer 35:8  Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
Jer 35:9  Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
Jer 35:10  But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

These Rechabites typify those who live by the faith of Jesus Christ as typified by all the Old Testament principles named in Hebrews 11:

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The Rechabites lived the lives of ‘strangers and pilgrims on the earth’, and they are commended of the Lord for being faithful to their father Jonadab’s covenant to live that kind of life.

Jer 35:11  But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

These Rechabites who are faithful to their covenant with their patriarch Jonadab to live as pilgrims in the promised land and to refrain from drinking wine and keeping that covenant even when tempted by the Lord’s certified prophet Jeremiah to drink wine, typify the Lord’s elect who are faithful to the covenant they have made with the Lord. In contrast to this spirit Christ poses this question to you and me:

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

The Lord knows that He Himself has made us all to err from His ways. He knows that He made us wicked first to endure our own day of evil, yet He poses this question to us, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say?” He gives us the knowledge of the benefits of being obedient to Him, and then He contrasts those blessings with the curses which come upon us as “the wicked” who He first made us to be for our own “day of evil”:

Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

What the Lord does not tell us right here is that He first gives every man “an experience of evil, [and He then brings every man] to his wits’ end”. What the Lord does not tell us right here is that all men must first “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, including these words:

Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

The scriptures reveal that we all call Christ “Lord, Lord” and do not the things He says, and we build our houses on the earth without Christ as our foundation before we hear and do His Words and build our house on Him as the Rock of our foundation:

Psa 107:25  For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
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 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Therefore, because the Lord Himself is orchestrating all we do, good and evil, these next verses are referring to our old man who is being brought to his wits’ end before he can be brought to his desired haven:

Jer 35:12  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 35:13  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
Jer 35:14  The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
Jer 35:15  I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
Jer 35:16  Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
Jer 35:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
Jer 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

These obedient Rechabites typify the Lord’s faithful elect who “tremble at [His] Words”:

Isa 66:1 thus saith the lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2 for all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Before we do what the Lord says, and before we are given to “tremble at [His] Word”, the Lord always first provides Himself “an occasion” to destroy our old man and all the self-righteous pride of His kingdom.

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

As Samson later demonstrated, it is the Lord’s own elect who first after being cleaned return to their own wallow in the mire. It is instructive that the Proper Names Bible renders this verse in these words:

Jdg 14:4 but his father and his mother knew not that it was of the lord, that he sought an occasion against the (wallowing) for at that time the (wallowing) had dominion over (he will rule with god)

Only “then”, after returning to our wallowing in the mire, after bringing us to our wits’ end, does He bring us to our desire haven. That method of operating is the “means” the Lord has “devised [by which] His banished be not expelled from Him”:

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

“God so loved the world” is not in contradiction to the admonition to us to “Love not the world”. The Lord, and the Lord alone, is able to ‘gather up ‘the world as a “new heavens and a new earth”. He certainly is not in the process of ‘gathering up again’ our disobedient, self-righteous, old first man Adam.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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.

At this time, we are in “corruptible, marred, vessels of clay”, and while in this state this is what the Lord Himself, through this same apostle John, admonishes us:

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

After healing the man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years, this is what Christ told Him and what He is telling us:

Joh 5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Because the Lord loves us, “a worse thing” is in the aorist tense and is ‘coming unto us’ when we return to ‘our own vomit or our wallow in the mire’. The very fact Christ admonished the infirm man ‘sin no more’ was done because He knew that was exactly what would take place in that man’s life and in our lives. When we think that Israel was incredibly forgetful and disrespectful and just plain stupid for accusing the Lord of bringing them into the wilderness to slay them with thirst after a mere three days without water, try going three days without water and see how grateful you feel. All of Israel’s rebellions typify us:

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CLV)

We are not the spiritual giants we might think we are when the flesh acts like flesh, and the fiery trials of life are sent to try our faith:

1Co 10:7  according as they also lust. Nor yet be becoming idolaters, according as some of them, even as it is written, “Seated are the people to eat and drink, and they rise to sport.
1Co 10:8  Nor yet may we be committing prostitution, according as some of them commit prostitution, and fall in one day twenty-three thousand.
1Co 10:9  Nor yet may we be putting the Lord on trial, according as some of them put Him on trial, and perished by serpents.
1Co 10:10  Nor yet be murmuring even as some of them murmur, and perished by the exterminator.
1Co 10:11  Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained.
1Co 10:12  So that, let him who is supposing he stands beware that he should not be falling. (CLV)

If we think we are ‘standing’ in our own strength, we are “falling”, and we aren’t even aware of our own iniquity. The Lord wants us to know that we ‘stand’ only in Him and He is the only sovereign:

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
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.

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:

The Lord wants us to know that He is working both the good and the evil “after the counsel of His own will” having devised means to bring even His banished to Himself (2Sa 14:14) thereby saving all men of all time:

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 45:8  Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

The Lord wants us to know that all the days of our lives were determined to be as they are “before there were any of them”:

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

The Lord even wants us to know that our sins are not really our sins at all. Rather, our sins are His work in our lives, hardening our hearts against His fear… after the counsel of His own will:

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.

He even anticipated our natural reaction to being informed of all of this:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

When facing the far superior numbers of troops of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, and Syrians united to fight against Judah and Jerusalem, King Jehoshaphat prayed this prayer to which Paul refers when he asks, “Who has resisted His will?”

2Ch 20:4  And Judah was gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also they came in to seek Jehovah from all the cities of Judah.
2Ch 20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court,
2Ch 20:6  and said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, are not You the God in Heaven? Yea, You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is power and might; and there is none able to withstand You.

As little as it appeals to our flesh, this is the answer Paul was inspired of the holy spirit to give us to his rhetorical question, “Why does He yet find fault [when it is He who is working all things after the counsel of His own will]?”

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

The Lord wants us to know that we have no right to be questioning our Creator, asking Him “Why have you made me thus?” He does go on to explain that the Potter is making one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. Then, lest any of us think that because we are the vessel made unto honor, therefore ‘enduring with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction’ has nothing to do with the vessels made unto dishonor, the Lord informs us that both vessels come from “the same lump”. Another way of making this statement would be to tell us that our new man comes out of the same lump from which our old man was made. This same apostle was inspired to inform us that all men are “sown in corruption [and] dishonor”:

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

The revelation “That was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” lets us know that the Lord makes both the vessel of honor and the vessel of dishonor of “the same lump”. The scripture is not referring to one individual versus another individual. Rather, the reference is to our old man, a “vessel… unto dishonor”, versus our “new man… [a] vessel unto honor… Christ in us… this treasure in earthen vessels… of the same lump”. All these references to being a vessel made unto honor reveal that we are one and all first the old man, first an earthen vessel, first a corruptible vessel of clay before “of the same lump” being “made unto honor”.

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?

That is part of the hidden wisdom found throughout scripture. Our old man is decreasing daily as our new man increases. Those two men are the basic subject of every story in scripture. That includes this story of the Rechabites who remained faithful to the covenant they had made with their father, Jonadab, the son of Rechab who had commanded them, saying, “Ye shall drink no wine.” Abstaining from wine is not the point being made. Fidelity to the Lord and our covenant with Him which He is working in us is the point being made by this story:

Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
Jer 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

These faithful Rechabites typify all who are given to repent of their self-righteous rebellion and disobedience and return to the Lord. They typify the “few… chosen” while Judah and Jerusalem in this story typify our self-righteous, rebellious old man who is still refusing to repent of his transgressions and his iniquity.

There are “great and precious promises given to our new man which make any suffering endured in this present time unworthy of being compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us:

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
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.

This world doesn’t know it, but the fact is that all men of all time are awaiting the appearing of our Lord when He will make manifest to all men those who are His obedient sons in this age.

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

Jer 26:1-12 This Man is Worthy to Die

[Study Aired December 19, 2021]

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:
Jer 26:3  If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
Jer 26:4  And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
Jer 26:5  To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
Jer 26:6  Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
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.
Jer 26:10  When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’S house.
Jer 26:11  Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
Jer 26:12  Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

Christ spoke only what His Father commanded Him to speak:

Joh 12:49  For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Where did such faithfulness get Christ with the self-righteous, religious people of His day? Where did His fidelity to His Father’s words get Christ with the very people He had just fed with His loaves and fishes? This is what Christ got for being faithful to His Father’s words:

Mar 15:13  And they [the very multitudes Christ had fed and taught] cried out again, Crucify him.
Mar 15:14  Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

Jeremiah typifies Christ since he, too, was faithful to the words he was commanded to speak to the Lord’s self-righteous, rebellious people.

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,

Here is the timeline Jeremiah gives us at the very beginning of this prophecy:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

This was not necessarily the first year of the reign of Jehoiakim. In Jeremiah 28 we are told that “the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah included the first four years and five months of his eleven-year reign.

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.

Jer 28:1  And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

Unless we have qualifying words like “in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, we must be very careful not to say exactly how near the beginning of the reign of a king, or anything else, is signified by the words “in the beginning of …” We can safely say that it means the event under discussion occurred in the first half of his reign, which also happens to be an eleven-year reign, just as Zedekiah’s was an eleven-year reign:

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.

We need to remember that the phrase “in the beginning of…” can simply mean ‘in the first half of…’ when considering this statement in the book of Revelation:

Rev 10:5  And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
Rev 10:6  And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Look at the verb tenses in verse 7:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin^{G3195 [G5725}, present tense] to sound^{G4537 [G5721}, present tense]^G2532, the mystery^G3466 of God^G2316 should be finished^G5055 [G5686: aorist tense], as^G5613 he hath declared^G2097 [G5656: aorist tense] to his servants the prophets.

As is often the case, the first two verbs are in the present tense, signifying a present Truth, but the last two verbs are in the aorist tense, signifying that the two preceding verses are presently true, and they will continue to be true in the aorist tense.

In this case we are not given how long the trumpet sounded, but we are told that the seven trumpets are the seventh seal, and we are told that these seven seals must be opened by Christ in us, in our ‘heavens’, before we can begin to know the revelation of Jesus Christ within us, and before we can hope to “read… hear… and keep those things which are written [in this book]”:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

“The time is at hand [to] read… hear… and keep those things which are written therein”, is the same as saying:

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see [aorist tense] all these things, know [present tense] that it is [present tense] near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass [aorist tense], till all these things be fulfilled [aorist tense].
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away [future tense], but my words shall not pass away [aorist tense].

The point being made is that the beginning of the sounding of the seventh angel is in the present tense, because it is present in every generation who reads this prophecy, but ‘the mystery being finished’ is in the aorist (is, was, and will be) tense, and the ‘as he declared to His servants the prophets’ is also in the aorist tense, because the judgment of God was, is and will be being declared by His servants the prophets. Knowing the tense of each verb is essential in understanding the timing of what is being discussed.

In Revelation chapter 5 we read that this book is sealed with seven seals. What that says about this book and the things written in it is this:

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

If we are being dragged to Christ, then we, too, will be shown an open door to the heavens, and we will begin to have Christ revealed to us:

Rev 4:1  After this I looked [aorist tense], and, behold, a door was opened [perfect tense] in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [aorist tense] was as it were of a trumpet talking [present tense] with me; which said, Come up [aorist tense] hither, and I will shew [aorist tense] thee things which must [present tense] be [aorist tense] hereafter.
Rev 4:2  And immediately I was [aorist tense] in the spirit: and, behold [aorist tense], a throne was set [imperfect tense] in heaven, and one sat [present tense] on the throne.

The meaning of the phrase “a door was opened in heaven” is that we are about to be given an exponential increase in knowledge of the things of the spirit. It will be things not heretofore known or understood; things like the spiritual significance of the four cherubim of Ezekiel 1 and 10 and things like the spiritual significance of the brazen sea, a woman and a manchild, etc.

With John, we begin to see Christ seated on the throne of our hearts and minds. Suddenly it seems that there is no one anywhere “in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth” who is worthy to open the book  which we were just told that we must “read…hear… and keep the things which are written therein.”

Rev 5:1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

We all have this experience. We are all dragged to see that the Word of God is our salvation, and yet we are sealed out of understanding what we somehow know is hidden within the Lord’s Words which we have not yet come to grasp. We want desperately to be given to read and hear and keep what we know is right here in our hands, and yet we still have not been given to know Christ well enough to begin to see the things of the spirit. That is the feeling we have which is expressed in these words:

Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

Then, just as we are about to give up hope, the Lord sends one of His elect with His healing words:

Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

“The revelation of Jesus Christ” is not just the book of Revelation. It has been said… ‘The book of Revelation is hidden within the book of Genesis, but the book of Genesis with all of its secrets is revealed in the book of Revelation.’

Just one example is “the seed of the woman” of Genesis 3:15 revealed to be the manchild who will  rule the nations with a rod of iron with Christ for a thousand years in Revelation 12:5:

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

The book of Revelation is simply the capstone of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end of all the Words of God:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This prophecy of Jeremiah is “the Word” of God, and the ‘Yahweh’ speaking these words is Jesus Christ Himself (Who is Jahweh?).

This is what Christ commands Jeremiah to tell His own self-righteous, rebellious people:

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:
Jer 26:3  If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
Jer 26:4  And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
Jer 26:5  To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
Jer 26:6  Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

These words are addressed to all who claim to know Christ and to worship in the Lord’s house. Only the Lord’s elect are given to see and hear these words. Only they are granted repentance. However, these words will be given to those who are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death, and they will be just as applicable at that time for those people as they are today for us.

What happened at Shiloh, many years before Jeremiah’s prophecy, must happen to the kingdom of our old man in this present time, and it must also be experienced by those who are in “the resurrection of damnation” (Greek: ‘judgment’), which will take place after the rebellion of all nations at the end of the thousand-year reign of “the Lord and His Christ”:

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Here is what happened at ‘Shiloh’:

1Sa 4:1  And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
1Sa 4:2  And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
1Sa 4:3  And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1Sa 4:4  So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
1Sa 4:5  And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
1Sa 4:6  And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
1Sa 4:7  And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1Sa 4:8  Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
1Sa 4:9  Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
1Sa 4:10  And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
1Sa 4:11  And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
1Sa 4:12  And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.
1Sa 4:13  And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.
1Sa 4:14  And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
1Sa 4:15  Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
1Sa 4:16  And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?
1Sa 4:17  And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
1Sa 4:18  And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died:  for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
1Sa 4:19  And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.
1Sa 4:20  And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
1Sa 4:21  And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
1Sa 4:22  And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

These five verses, verses 2-6 of this chapter of Jeremiah 26, are summarized by this admonition in the first chapter of the book of Revelation:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Revelation chapters 2-3 are an admonition against the seven churches of Asia. What Revelation 2-3 reveal is that “[we also] have not hearkened… to the words of [the Lord’s] servants the prophets”:

Notice to whom Revelation 1:3 is addressed:

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

“The seven churches” are not just the Lord’s elect. They certainly include the Lord’s elect, and it is only His elect who will read, hear and keep the things which are written in the prophecy of this book. However, the seven churches are located “in Asia”, which spiritually includes all the churches of this world and all who are in covenant with God. That means that “the seven churches” signify all the religions of mankind because of the covenant the Lord made with Noah:

Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

All of mankind, whether aware of it or not, are in covenant with the Lord, and we have all broken that covenant. This situation gives the Lord the occasion He is seeking to judge all men of all time, “each in his own order”:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Every man has “his own [appointed] order” in which we will all be “made alive… in Christ”.

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.

I will repeat the words with which we opened this study… Christ spoke only what His Father commanded Him:

Joh 12:49  For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

It was because Christ was faithful to the words His Father told Him to speak that He was at odds with the self-righteous, religious people of His day… the very people He had just fed with His loaves and fishes. This is what Christ got for being faithful to His Father’s words:

Mar 15:13  And they cried out again,  Crucify him.
Mar 15:14  Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

That is exactly what had happened to the prophets who prophesied before Christ, who did not diminish the Lord’s words of judgment. If you and I are granted to remain faithful to His words, this is what we will also hear from the established churches:

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.
Jer 26:10  When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’S house.
Jer 26:11  Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
Jer 26:12  Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

What happens to Jeremiah is exactly what Isaiah was inspired to tell us to expect from our families, friends and the historic established churches in every generation:

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water  withal out of the pit.
Isa 30:15  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

“Prophesy not unto us right things” means ‘Do not speak to us about the Lord’s judgments. Speak only about all His blessings He has promised us. Tell us He did everything for us on the cross.’

“Because you despise this word” means we all just naturally hate and despise the Lord’s judgments and His way of thinking. How could He fail to ask us what He should do with His creatures? It just isn’t ‘fair’ to our old man to be condemned to destruction. We despise that He has declared “that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 15:50).

We will continue this story, and see how we can expect to be treated by our Babylonian bound brothers and sisters in our next study, Christ told us what to expect if we refuse to diminish His words concerning His judgments upon our own old man and upon all the smooth, lying, self-righteous lies of the adversary:

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

If the Lord gives us the ability to value “the kingdom of heaven” and to see what is not visible to the natural man, then we will “Rejoice and be exceeding glad [to be] persecuted [with] the prophets [which were] before [us]”, and we will appreciate the truth of these verses:

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.

We are not naturally capable of appreciating those words, but to Christ within us “the kingdom of heaven” is “a pearl of great price” for which we will sell all we have to “lay hold on eternal life”:

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 26:13  Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
Jer 26:14  As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
Jer 26:15  But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
Jer 26:16  Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
Jer 26:17  Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
Jer 26:18  Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Jer 26:19  Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
Jer 26:20  And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
Jer 26:21  And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
Jer 26:22  And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
Jer 26:23  And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
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.

Mat 24:36-51, Mar 13:32-37, Luk 21:34-36

[Study Aired August 24, 2021]

Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the 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.
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.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mar 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Mar 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Mar 13:36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

In our last study we were told about the abomination of desolation and the coming of the Son of man. This happens early in our walk as we go into Babylon, and then Christ comes into our hearts and begins to destroy the false doctrines we set up as idols in our hearts. In this study Christ give us a warning to be diligent about keeping the sayings of the prophecy of the book of life. We are not given to know when the next age will begin so Christ gives us the following message.

Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.

Only the Father knows the day and hour He will send Christ to start the next age. We are given clues about how it will be at this time, but we are not given the exact date. Here is a clue:

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.

Today mankind is still eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage and does not know there is a flood coming. The elect are building the ark, which represents our work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope.

1Th 1:2-6 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: 

Being in the ark represents our salvation. Next we are given some details of the outcome of our salvation.

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.

The “one shall be taken” is our old man and his ways which must be destroyed. The “other left” is our new man. Next we are told to “watch” which means to do the work of God until the Son of man returns. Here is the work of God we must do, and when I say the work we must do I mean the work God is doing in us.

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

Eph 1:9-11 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 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: 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: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

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.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

This is a commandment in the form of a parable. The commandment is to be diligent in all we do. Peter tells us about the coming of our Lord and being diligent.

2Pe 3:1-18 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 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. 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: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 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. 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. 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. 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. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 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? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Christ now tells us what our reward is for being diligent.

Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Being the goodman of the house, we are given to be “ruler over all his goods”. The goods are the doctrines of Christ which destroy the mind of the old man in us. Next Christ warns us what will happen if we are given over to the doctrines of the world.

Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mar 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Once again Christ told us that we do not know the time of his coming. Here are Mark and Luke’s versions saying the same thing.

Mar 13:34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Mar 13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Mar 13:36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
Mar 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

If we are given the ability to ‘watch’ we will be accounted worthy to escape the judgment of the world. As we watch we are judged now. To end this study here are Paul’s thoughts of the return of Christ and what we should be doing until then.

1Th 5:1-28 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

[Next study in this series is here.]