Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number Fourteen = Spiritual Progress and Spiritual Progression

[Study Aired February 20, 2026]

If the negative application of the number 13… 6+7, reveals the rebellion of our carnal mind (Gen 14:4), and on the other hand its positive application reveals the beginning of our deliverance from that rebellious mind (Gen 37:1, Gen 41:46), fourteen tells us what comes next. What follows is the beginning of our deliverance from the power of “the law of sin and death” that we have not attained but we are now definitely in the process of attaining:

Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
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 [G5046: telios] , be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

That verse 13 is the spiritual significance of the number 14.

#14 in the Old Testament

There is great spiritual significance in the lives of the wives of the patriarchs. The fact that Sarah and Rachel were barren for many years signifies how our carnal-minded old man flourishes and matures long before our new man is even born or makes his appearance in our lives.

In the case of Jacob’s two wives ,we see this same principle at work. Here is the first time we see the number ‘fourteen’ mentioned in scripture:

Gen 31:41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Jacob worked for his father-in-law, Laban. Living on the eastern side of the Euphrates river, Laban signifies Babylon in scripture. For 14 years Jacob worked for Laban to pay for Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Like each of us who once attended church services, Jacob was deceived into marrying Leah. Laban had told Jacob that he could have the only wife he loved. That was Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. In the words of Christ, Laban had “compassed sea and land” to get Jacob to marry his oldest  daughter.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell [G1067: ‘Geenna’, signifying the lake of fire] than yourselves.

Jacob was furious when he discovered that he had not been given the wife he had been promised. In that sense Leah signifies the churches of Babylon who deceive us into believing they are the true bride of the Lamb. Leah, the unloved wife is given to us for our good works… attending services regularly, tithing faithfully, going on missionary journeys, supporting the building fund… etc. etc. However, we receive her while still in deception. The second wife is the truly loved wife. She is given in advance of expected labor which must and does follow. That is the message of these New Testament verses:

Eph 2:8  For by [chastening] grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves [not because we have earned our salvation]: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. [Rachel was given to Jacob before he had worked the second seven years. Rachel was given, “Not of works…”]

Spiritual progress has now just begun to take root, and we just now beginning to see how Laban, who signifies our Babylonian experience, has been taking advantage of us for many years. As always it takes even more years, six more years, before we are granted to begin to “come out of her.” This is what Jacob told Laban to Laban’s face:

Gen 31:41  Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

This ‘spiritual progress’ is the significance of this number 14, which brings us to the second time this number appears in scripture:

Gen 46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

Here is what brings us to begin to experience true spiritual progress in our lives. It is signified by “the sons of Rachel” who signify the Lord’s elect as contrasted with his ten brothers who sold him into Egyptian slavery:

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

As all those who peddle the gospel and spread the lies of Babylon will do to us, Joseph’s bothers did indeed “bow themselves to the earth before him”, then he revealed himself  to them before sending them back to bring Israel down to him:

Gen 45:24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. [Do not blame each other for what God has done]
Gen 45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
Gen 45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph [is] yet alive, and he [is] governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.
Gen 45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Like Pharaoh, who signifies God the Father handing rulership over to His Son Christ in Genesis (Gen 41:41), and then this same figure, a Pharaoh “who knew not Joseph” signifies the adversary in the very next book of the Bible (Exo 1:8), Jacob himself signifies the Lord’s anointed when contrasted with his twin brother Esau (Mal 1:3, Rom 9:13), then he signifies the Lord’s rejected anointed when he bows down to his own son, Joseph :

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

This is where we are informed that it is “the sons of Rachel” who begin to have a spiritual experience, as signified by Rachel’s fourteen children:

Gen 46:19 The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
Gen 46:20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Gen 46:21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
Gen 46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

It is we, signified by the “fourteen…. Sons of Rachel”, who will maintain a constant sacrifice of 14 lambs every day at the feast of tabernacles: (We plan to do a series of studies on the spiritual significance of the holy days which God gave to Israel. It will be very revealing).

Num 29:13 And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks [rebellion of the flesh], two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:

Notice what is offered on the last day:

Num 29:32 And on the seventh day seven bullocks [complete submission], two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:

Looks what happens on the eighth day, that “last great day of the feast”, the day which signifies both new beginnings when “the eighth is of the seven.”

Num 29:35 On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
Num 29:36 But ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: one bullock [God is all in all], one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish [Seven lambs on the eighth day signifies the progression is now complete]:

The diminishing bullocks signify that mankind has progressed from obedience to the rebellion which follows the thousand-year reign, signified by the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. The rebellion is expedient and gives God the “occasion” He is seeking to destroy all flesh and to bring about the completed unity with God which is signified by our sacrifice of the lambs on the eighth day “the last great day of the feast.”

Lev 23:36  Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD:  on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

Only those who have died first in this present age and have “filled up in [their bodies] that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ” will be given to make this proclamation with our Lord:

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 [to give to all mankind making “God… all in all”, (1Co 15:28)].
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive [the Lord’s ‘very elect’, (Mat 24:24)]: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Fourteen In The New Testament

There are three sets if fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ, demonstrating our progression (3) toward the beginning of our spiritual progress (14).

Mat 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Three (spiritually maturing) fourteens (spiritual progressions) bring us to the beginning of  our New Man. Three ‘fourteens’ brings us to Christ.

“Fourteen years” are mentioned in the context of learning to rejoice in our sufferings for Christ and ‘taking pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.’

2Co 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
2Co 12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
2Co 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2Co 12:5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
2Co 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but [now] I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or [that] he heareth of me.
2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2Co 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
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.
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Paul’s had not needed to go up to Jerusalem for fourteen years until the question about whether Gentiles must be physically circumcised came to a head:

Gal 2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

“Fourteen years after” what?

Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called [me] by his grace,
Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Gal 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Gal 1:18 Then after three years [of preaching in Damascus] I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Gal 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
Gal 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

Let’s go back to Genesis to see how the story of Joseph and his brothers parallels our New Testament experience. Joseph’s rule began in his fourteenth year in Egypt. The Pharaoh made Joseph the ruler of Egypt because the Lord had given Joseph to know what He was doing. The Lord had revealed to Joseph there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Two periods of seven years encompass fourteen years. Thirteen years earlier the Lord had shown Joseph that his brothers and his mother and father would bow themselves down to the earth before him. Because the Lord had given Joseph to know these things, his brothers hated him.

The Jews hated Christ and His apostles for the exact same reason. Even the apostles struggled to accept Paul as an apostle. There are many Christians today who think Paul is less of an apostle than those who knew Christ after the flesh. Peter, Paul and Barnabas had all been made to know by the events at the house of Cornelius the Gentile Roman Centurion, that God had placed no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. However, even the Lord’s apostles struggled for many years to accept such a revolutionary doctrine (Acts 15, Acts 21). Joseph was given from God to know that there would be seven years of great plenty followed by seven years of drought and famine.

We just naturally think of seven years of famine as a very negative time of starvation and suffering. Indeed it is a negative experience for our flesh, but this physical famine signifies the “famine of the Word” which drives Joseph’s brothers to come and bow themselves to the ground before him. I will include Genesis 37:2-3 to establish Joseph’s age at the time he was sold by His ten brothers into Egyptian slavery:

Gen 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

Israel then sends Joseph to check on his brothers and his father’s flocks. His brothers see him coming in his ‘coat of many colors’, and they conspired to strip him of his coat of many colors and murder him. Instead of murdering him. Judah talks his brothers into selling Joseph as a slave into Egypt.

The end of Joseph’s 13^th year in slavery is also the beginning of his delivery from his servitude, and that happens in Joseph’s 14^th year in Egypt. It is at the beginning of this fourteenth year when the Lord gives Joseph to know in advance what He is doing with Egypt at this time. It is “an answer of peace” to Egypt, which for the purposes of this story becomes a type of God’s rulership over ‘the kingdoms of this world:’

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.

Gen 41:16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, [It is] not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Gen 41:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
Gen 41:18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Gen 41:19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
Gen 41:20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
Gen 41:21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they [were] still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
Gen 41:22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
Gen 41:23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, [and] blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
Gen 41:24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told [this] unto the magicians; but [there was] none that could declare [it] to me.
Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh [is] one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he [is] about to do.
Gen 41:26 The seven good kine [are] seven years; and the seven good ears [are] seven years: the dream [is] one.
Gen 41:27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them [are] seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
Gen 41:28 This [is] the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God [is] about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh [Amos 3:7]
Gen 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
Gen 41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
Gen 41:31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it [ shall be] very grievous.
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.
Gen 41:33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:34 Let Pharaoh do [this], and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
Gen 41:35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
Gen 41:36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
Gen 41:37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find [such a one] as this [is], a man in whom the Spirit of God [is]?
Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, [there is] none so discreet and wise as thou [art]:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Gen 41:43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him [ruler] over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I [am] Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over [all] the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

What does this fourteen-year period signify as it relates to us?

Gen 41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same [city].
Gen 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

What does ‘corn’ signify, and what does this mean for us?

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

In this parable ‘corn’, the same as ‘seed’, signifies “the Word of the kingdom.” Joseph “gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much…”

Gen 41:53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
Gen 41:54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
Gen 41:55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians [Egypt here signifies those who are in Christ in this present age], Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do [Luk 6:46… ‘Do the things that I say’].
Gen 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

What is the spiritual significance of all of these things which begin in our 14th year?

Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish.
Mat 25:3 They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: [Had not put up grain for  the famine]
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 Afterward [At the great white throne] came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Here is what “I know ye not” means.

Gen 42:5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: [after the door to the wedding feast is closed, (Mat 25:10-13)] for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
Gen 42:6 And Joseph [ was] the governor over the land, [and] he [it was] that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him [with] their faces to the earth.
Gen 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
Gen 42:8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. [Not knowing Christ is the same as Christ saying… “I know you not”]
Gen 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; [“I know you not”, Mat 25:12] to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

Joseph was a prophet. All the prophets prophesied of coming judgments upon the Lord’s own people, and they were hated for this foreknowledge in every generation. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all the rest of the prophets were  hated and rejected by those to whom they were sent, just as Joseph’s brothers “hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.”

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

It is the same today. Those who know God and know what He says will happen are “hated of all men.”

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

It is only through “much tribulation that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

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

The Lord incentivizes us with these and many other such promises:

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

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

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

2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

Our fourteen years of spiritual progression Is, Has Been and Will Be being lived out in our lives. If we are ‘wise’ we will have plenty of grain stored up for the famine. We will have plenty of oil, and we will be ready for the bridegroom’s coming, and we will be careful “that we receive a full reward.”  

The Book of Amos – Chapter 8:1-14 –

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

[Aired January 25,2025]

Chapter 6 ended with Amaziah [‘am-ats-yaw’], the priest of Bethel, distancing himself from Amos and the Lord’s dire prophesies warning Israel, led by Jeroboam, about her impending exile. Both Amaziah and Jeroboam, detesting Amos’s delivery, sarcastically advised him to go to Egypt and teach a people who might welcome him. (and would probably fearfully listen in lieu of what the Lord did to Egypt many years previously).

Amaziah and Jeroboam’s response is typical of our like responses to the Lord’s prophesies against our old man, valiantly trying to hold on to his imaginary precious flesh, fearing what our family and friends could ridicule for what this little Church pompously taught of rulership, instigated by Isaac in Genesis 27 and repeated by Joseph to his alarmed parents and brothers-“Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (Gen 37:10).

What Amaziah, Jeroboam and we didn’t realise by rejecting the Lord’s word was that we fulfil Amos 7:9, stating, “And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword“. We typically hide from hearing the Lord’s still, small voice and seeing our mind’s visions behind us so that we can excuse ourselves when knowing full well that we are repeating a lust without humiliatingly and repeatedly asking forgiveness, semi-consciously knowing that we are a double-minded man. Israel and we become desolate of understanding scripture whenever we, the priests of spiritual Israel, repeatedly refuse to hear and walk in Christ’s commands; it is the equivalence of going back to Babylon’s vomit.

The Bride of Christ hears the prophecies of Amos and the sum of God’s word; thus, we hear Amos’s prophesies are not against us, the spiritual Israel of God and the house of Issac fulfilling Amos 7:16, Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 

Remembering that Amos is a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore figs, indicative of being a shepherd of the Lord’s flock and a gatherer of only luscious ripe figs, discarding the ‘naughty’ (Jer 24:1-10). Consequently, the Lord’s Elect are forewarned and far more accepting of “the coming day of bitter mourning” and relish the rich summer gleanings emblematic of the approaching peak of the spiritual richness for the Lord’s harvest from us leading to co-rulership with him.

Significations

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

Amo 8:1  Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
Amo 8:2  And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 

The term “summer fruit” appears in scripture only once besides the Book of Amos. It is mentioned when Ziba (tsee-baw), the servant of Mephibosheth (mef-ee-bo’-sheth = [wryly meaning… ] exterminating the idol) in 2 Sam 16:1-4 sought David and his loyal men as they were hiding from Saul’s wrath in the wilderness. Ziba brought them indispensable food supplies for their much-needed sustenance. The saga in 2 Sam 16:1-4 and Amos 8 blend for a double witness against Saul, our disappearing old man of flesh for the new kingdom typified by David, spiritually within. Notice that David is referred to as the King, even though he is the king-elect in waiting, as are the Lord’s Elect referred to as royalty before the coronation (1Pe 2:9).

2Sa 16:1  And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple [a yoke; team – since David had more than two men in his company] of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
2Sa 16:2  And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.
2Sa 16:3  And the king said, And where is thy master’s [Saul’s] son? [possibly David’s dearest friend, Jonathan] And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
2Sa 16:4  Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find Grace in thy sight, my Lord, O king.

Ziba – tsee-baw’- Definition: Ziba = statue 1. a servant of Saul whom David made steward of Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth.

The narrative linking 2 Sam 16:1-4 with Amos 8 symbolises the transition from the old kingdom to the new. Saul, aware of his impending replacement by David, sought to kill David, similar to Herod’s attempt to kill the infant Christ, symbolising the new King replacing the old. Like Cain, Herod and Saul, we detest the insult that our works are not acceptable to God, once again valiantly trying to sustain our position on God’s throne.

As Amos prophesied, “The end is come[ing] upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more”, embodying the Elect’s transition in this generation since the cross. Nonetheless…

Deu 31:8  The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” (BSB).

Amo 8:3  And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 

Verse 3 outwardly illustrates the inevitable result of our years of warning and chastisements from our Lord’s prophesies to which we paid scant attention, let alone sincerely acknowledging our sins. If our dispassion continues thumbing our noses at the Lord, our howlings will culminate too late for the First Resurrection, dawning resurrection to Judgment on the Eighth day, the Lake of Fire, where initially, there certainly will be much-anguished howling.

Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Just as winter is anticipated by autumn, so, too, is the last of the summer fruit of peak richness of God’s word in our lives, whereby if we haven’t laid up our Lord’s wisdom, knowledge and understanding, we, too will as are the last summer fruit on a tree, are not as plump as the first fruit, and are often blemished and mouldy and wither, cast forth; disapproved in silence. Nonetheless, the Lord’s Elect spiritually, even though raised in judgment to much howling, will gradually see that God all along had a gloriously bright future for them, as too will the Bride’s children following the Lake of Fire and gratefully bow in honour of the God-head.

1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

One of the most potent examples of experiencing dreadful silence will be an Elect who has not on a wedding garment.

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

Amo 8:4  Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 
Amo 8:5  Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 
Amo 8:6  That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 

The New Moon (the church) is when it is between the Earth and the Sun on its orbital path. Since it does not have an atmosphere that will present an aura of light identifying its location, it is temporarily not observable. Hence, only its side facing the sun is illuminated and not observable by the Earth. However, it only takes a couple of days before a cresent sliver of New Moon becomes visual. That illustration perfectly portrays our mostly former devious ways of avoiding feeding hungry and thirsty souls. Our double-mindedness of being in the full light of the sun on one side yet utterly dark on the other side facilitates underhanded transactions of businesses on great waters of the deep for personal gain, establishing an occasion for the Lord to bring an occasion against the Philistines within.

Jdg 14:4  But his [Sampson’s] 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.

Understanding the term, ‘Making the ephah small’ is broadly explained as “Falsifying the balances by deceit”. Selling grain in the dark of the New Moon denotes a falsified measure of wheat by volume compared to a legally registered ephah of liquid that would weigh a good sight more for the same volume if that scale measured the sale of wheat (‘wet’ volume is weightier than dry). It spiritually is the practice of magic arts, charms distorting the Lord’s word for the unwary, hungry soul innocently seeking a just deal in truth and not getting quality grain for the fee charged. Our Lord strongly commands us to burn such falsifications with the fire of his word. Upon Paul’s powerful witness, many people believed, and Acts 19 expresses their indignation for the likened “refuse of the wheat” bought by deception. The scraping of grain left in the bottom of a bin in ancient times would have wheat chaff and even dirt in the presentation-maybe even a desiccated mouse and weevils.

Act 19:19  And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas [Grace through faith in chastisement].
Act 19:20  So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.

Therefore, considering that silver represents the word of God stolen in false dealing from the laity, we, in Babylon, as the Priests of God, furnish ourselves with deceptively shiny shoes (Amos 8:6), ostentatiously presenting our walk as righteousness for the Church to glorify.

Mat 15:14  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 

Mat 23:5  All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
Mat 23:6  They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7  the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.

Amo 8:7  The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 

Our Lord is our adversary while we are sinning. When we are inflated with our righteousness, he will never leave us in that state of filthy works, not letting a jot or tittle of deception leaven his Body, the Church.

Num 32:23 [If we do not subdue the land by casting out the giants…] But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. 

Mat 5:25  Reconcile quickly with your adversary [Christ] while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
Mat 5:26  Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Amo 8:8  Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. 
Amo 8:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 

Ancient dwellers on Earth, forever searching for unknown gods, were easily spooked by unusual events in nature and the heavens deemed vital for worship to appease ill favour. The flood described represents the entirety of the event, just as the sun setting at noon signifies a solar eclipse, especially if a New Moon completely obscures the sun and casts total darkness and foreboding upon men in its path across the Earth.

Deu 4:19  And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

A respected Elder in the Body who was recently taken from the Church during a significant moment in his spiritual journey symbolises the sun setting at noon, leaving him in complete darkness, while those left remained spiritually enlighted from the noonday sun on a clear day.

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jer 15:9  She that hath borne seven languisheth [complete whoredom and resulting desolation]: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

The Lord’s very Elect, the “residue”, is glad that the sword of God’s word consumes their enemies within.

Amo 8:10  And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

One of the most significant biblically ‘mourning for an only son’ was when Joseph was Jacob’s only direct heir from Rachel, whereby Joseph’s shifty brothers feigned his bloody death by a wild beast. For Jacob and the Father, for Christ’s death, it was a ‘bitter day’. Nonetheless, and for both occasions, as with a mother following a difficult birth, their mournings turn into joy.

Gen 45:25  And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
Gen 45:26  And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.
Gen 45:27  And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
Gen 45:28  And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. 

The Lord’s Body is highly conversant with famine’s meaning and spelt out in those classic verses 11 and 12. Its effect is a result of us glorifying ourselves, having unwittingly seized our Lord’s throne and his very seat-it is the nature of the Great Whore, unrecognisably to the world, idolising herself in plain sight (Rev 18:7). Having rejected our Husband’s word, the repercussion is salvation at our hands; and good luck with that! It is by hearing and keeping those things written that we, conflictingly for the unspiritual mind, save ourselves.

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.

Amo 8:13  In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 
Amo 8:14  They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. 

It is in the immaturity of our youth depicted as fair virgins and young men that we fail to establish a foundation of righteous living by our Lord’s every commanda perpetually wretched condition of man since Adam. It is only the Lord’s Elect since the cross that is given in this age to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom and be spiritually strengthened.

Luk 8:9  And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
Luk 8:10  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

We, upon our deadly wound being healed, having ‘found God’ and rapturously, yet deludedly lauding that we are saved, are swearing by the sin of Samaria by smugly pointing to ‘that evil sinner over there, a tax collector’ (Luk 18:9-14) in Dan and Beersheba within, atrocities that we self-righteously claim we would never do. Yet, unless our righteousness exceeds the works of the Law, we remain in our filth equal with Old Jerusalem and Babylon.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind [the Lord’s spirit within] I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 

Jer 51:62  Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
Jer 51:63  And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
Jer 51:64  And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Next week, always Lord willing, Christ, through Amos, wraps up the Book summarising our destruction and not leaving us in despair, but blesses us with recreation, in unity with him and the Father.

Ezekiel 36:22–38 I Will Put My Spirit Within You

[Study Aired Nov 11, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

Today’s study looks at the intervention of the Lord in our lives to make us learn righteousness as we are given the resources we need to become the Lord’s sons. The resources mentioned in the verses we are studying include putting within us a new heart and a new spirit by taking away our stony heart of flesh, sprinkling upon us clean water, multiplying the fruit of the tree, the increase of the field, restoring our desolated and waste cities, and making our land like the garden of Eden. In our study today, we shall go into details of what all these resources imply to us, His elect.

Being given these resources is the same as being clothed with the full armor of the Lord in order for us to wage a good warfare.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
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 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The Lord’s Concern for His Holy Name

Eze 36:22  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 
Eze 36:23  And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

To understand these verses, we need to go back to the previous verses (Ezekiel 36:19-21) which show us how we had strayed as the lost sheep of the Lord and as a result, we have desecrated His name among the heathen. This is what we captured in the previous study:

Eze 36:19  And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
Eze 36:20  And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
Eze 36:21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

Being scattered among the heathen and dispersed through the countries implies conforming ourselves to the standards of this world such that we were not different from the people of this world. We therefore became worse off as we dishonored the name of the Lord. Going forth out of our land in verse 20 means we lost complete control of our bodies as our flesh sits in our temple, claiming 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.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

Verses 19 and 20 therefore, show us what it means to be marred in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, in the acceptable year of the Lord, He had pity on us and came to us with His judgement to cause us to learn righteousness so that we do not continue to drag His Holy name in the mud. Verse 21 therefore shows us the mercy of the Lord as He makes us again into another vessel as it seems good to the potter (our Lord Jesus Christ).

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

Verses 22-23 in Today’s study therefore show us the Lord coming to us to deliver us from our sins. This intervention is not because of what we have done but it is as a result being jealous for His name sake, such that we do not drag His name in the mud.

Exo 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous,is a jealous God:

Psa 23:3  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psa 106:8  Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

1Jn 2:12  I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

Eze 36:24  For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 
Eze 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

In this age, what the Lord is doing is calling us out of various nations and gathering us together as the New Jerusalem as we possess our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord. This gathering from the nations is also highlighted in Isaiah 11 as follows:

Isa 11:11  At that time the Lord will use his power again to recover what remains of his people in Assyria, Upper and Lower Egypt, Sudan, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath, and the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12  He will raise a banner for the nations to gather around. He will gather the outcasts of Israel and bring together the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Isa 11:15  The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian Sea. He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River with his scorching wind and divide it into seven streams so that people can walk over it in their sandals.
Isa 11:16 There will be a highway for the remaining few of his people left in Assyria like there was for Israel when it came out of Egypt. (GW)

Here in Isaiah, we are given additional information about how the Lord is gathering us together from the nations. The Lord is drying up the gulf of the Egyptian sea and dividing the Euphrates river with His scorching wind to make a way for His elect to be gathered together. The Egyptian sea refers to the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and traditions and the Euphrates river also describes the false doctrines which sustains Babylon or the physical churches of this world. It is through the scorching wind that we shall have power over, or be not hurt by, these false doctrines.

The scorching wind is a symbol of the judgement that the Lord is taking us through in this life which will enlighten our understanding of the truth of the Lord’s words and at the same time destroys these false doctrines in our heavens which had kept us bound in Babylon. The clean water in verse 25 is the truth of the word of the Lord which cleanses us from the filthiness of idols of the heart resulting from the false doctrines of the Egyptian sea and Euphrates river.

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

Verses 24 and 25 together with Isaiah 11:11-16 therefore show us how the Lord is dealing with us in this age to possess our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds and therefore do not conform to the standards of this world.

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.

A New Heart and a New Spirit

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. 

The new heart that the Lord is giving us signifies the new man within us that is created after the image of Christ. The taking away of the stony heart out of our flesh refers to the dying of the old man or flesh within us through the Lord’s judgement. As our old man (stony heart) is dying, we are giving birth to the new man which is symbolized here as the heart of flesh.

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

This new heart is the same as the clean heart that David yearned for when Nathan the prophet came to confront David about his adulterous relationship with Bethsheba.

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

In verses 24 and 27, the Lord is also telling us that He will put a new spirit within us. This is the Holy Spirit that the Lord promised His disciples on His ascension day, and was given to the disciples on the day of Pentecost.

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

It is this Spirit that the Lord has freely given to us which makes us realize our status as the sons of God or His elect. This spirit quickens our mortal bodies to walk in the Lord’s statues and to keep His judgements as shown in verse 27.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

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.  

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 uncleanness: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 
Eze 36:30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. 

Dwelling in the land that the Lord gave to our fathers means being given to possess our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord. In verse 28, we are therefore told that the requirement of becoming part of the Lord’s people or His elect, is being given to dwell in the land or possess our bodies, which means being an overcomer. That is when our Lord becomes our God. This is a process which takes a lifetime. The goal of our walk is therefore to possess the land. Revelation chapters 2 and 3 show us the reward awaiting us if we are able to overcome our flesh or possess our bodies.

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Being saved from all our uncleanness in verse 29 implies being delivered from our sins. Our deliverance from sin is through the Lord’s judgement of our old man or flesh.

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are also told in verse 29 that the Lord shall not lay famine upon us but increase the corn on our behalf. The ‘corn’ signifies the truth of the word of the Lord and it is the same as ‘the multiplying of the fruit of the tree’ and ‘the increase in the field’ as stated in verse 30. When the Lord comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness, that is the time that our eyes are opened and ears start to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God. This period is ‘the increase in corn’ or ‘the multiplying of the fruit of the tree’ or ‘the increase in the field’ that the Lord has promised us in verses 29 and 30.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Eze 36:31  Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 
Eze 36:32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. 

We have to come to the place where we recognize our iniquities and abominations before we can be helped by the Lord. This is what the Lord told Isaiah:

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

Loathing ourselves in our own sight for our iniquity and our abomination in verse 31 is an experience that we have all gone through after the Lord opened our eyes to see the filth we have left behind. We were just like the prodigal son as we wasted away, thinking we were enjoying life.

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

In verse 32, the Lord is reminding us that it is not because of any good thing that we have done that He came to us, but it is because of His name.

Eze 36:22  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

Eze 36:33  Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 

As we are aware, our cleansing from all our iniquities is a lifelong process, although here in verse 33, the Lord is saying that we shall be cleansed ‘in a day’. We know that a day in the sight of the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. Thus, the day of our cleansing refers to the period of our lives when the Lord comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to destroy all that offends in our walk with Him. During this period, the Lord is saying that He will cause us to dwell in the cities. As we have indicated in previous studies, cities represent the churches. The Lord causing us to dwell in cities during the period of our purification is to let us know that it is while we remain in the assembly of the Lord’s elect that we are cleansed from all unrighteousness through what every joint supplies. That is why we are admonished not to forsake our gathering together as we see the day approaching.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
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.

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The building of the wastes in verse 33 signifies our being marred (waste) in the hand of the potter and therefore He makes us into another vessel fit for His purpose.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Eze 36:34  And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 
Eze 36:35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. 

The land which lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by here in verse 34 refers to our flesh when we are under its dictates. Our condition of being unfaithful to Christ is obvious for the people of the world to see when we were in the churches of this world. The desolate land being tilled therefore means that our flesh shall be judged by the Lord.  It is through the Lord’s judgement that we learn righteousness and transition from a desolate land to become like the garden of Eden which was nourished by one river which is the truth of the word of the Lord. When this river leaves the garden of Eden which also signify the assembly of the Lord’s elect, it divides into four rivers which nourish the world including Babylon. The four rivers therefore represent the whole of the false doctrines of this world.

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

Gen 2:10  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
Gen 2:11  The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
Gen 2:12  And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
Gen 2:13  And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
Gen 2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

The name of the first river is Pison which means ‘dispersive’. It goes to the land that is filled with gold, bdellium and onyx. This land here is Babylon or the physical churches of this world who had the truth of the word of the Lord but turned the truth into images of men. The result is the dispersive nature of the word which has created many denominations and divisions in Babylon.

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

The second river is called Gihon which means ‘bursting forth’. The bursting forth implies that the river has become a flood of false doctrines that sweeps away humanity, just like the flood in Noah’s time. The third river is called Hiddekel which means ‘rapid’. Just like the Gihon river which burst forth, the river Hiddekel is rapid and easily sweeps away humanity just like a flood. The fourth river is Euphrates and it means ‘fruitfulness’. As we are aware, it is this river that nourishes our brothers and sisters in Babylon, who are deceived into thinking that the word they receive in Babylon is fruitful.

Again in verse 35, we are told that the waste, desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and inhabited. This refers to our transition from Babylon or the physical churches of this world into the church of the Lord’s elect or the firstborn where we are protected (fenced) by the Lord as He brings in His elect to inhabit the city of new Jerusalem.

Psa 91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psa 91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

It is worth noting that the Lord giving His angels charge over us is to keep us in all our ways. The angels that keep charge over us are our leaders or elders. Through the multitude of counsellors of the elders, we are given direction to keep us in all our ways.

Rev 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

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

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

We shall Come to Know the Lord

Eze 36:36  Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. 

Our being made into another vessel fit for the Lord’s purpose will make the people around us recognize the hand of the Lord in turning our lives around as our light shines before men.

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Eze 36:37  Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 
Eze 36:38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

As we are gathered together in the New Jerusalem, we shall come to know the Lord through what every joint supplies.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

May His name be praised for His wonderful work towards us. Amen!!

Audio Download

Ezekiel 4:1-17  The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

[Study Aired February 12, 2024]

Introduction

In today’s study, we are going to look at what the Lord told Ezekiel to do regarding an imminent siege of Jerusalem. In the ancient times, building a wall around a city served as the primary means of protection from an enemy. In times of war, if a city is fortified by its walls, then an enemy would surround the city wall and lay siege to it. The rationale to lay siege to a city is to starve the inhabitants of food and water which would result in the surrender of the inhabitants. Laying a siege often took months and even years, but ultimately, it was an effective way of conquering a people. 

In this study, the Lord was using Ezekiel to foretell an impending siege of Jerusalem. Sieges of ancient Israel serve as fitting allegories of how the Lord comes into our lives by causing us to surrender to Him when we are dominated by the flesh. Being dominated by the flesh serves as walls which keep the Lord from intervening in our circumstances. Although it causes a lot of suffering when we are under siege by the Lord, as we are starved of the word of the Lord which is our food and water, we end up surrendering to Christ. Let’s take a look at one of the sieges that Israel suffered and what came out of it. We should always remember that these things are written for our admonition of whom the end of our world is come. 

2Ki 6:24  Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria.
2Ki 6:25  And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.
2Ki 6:26  Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
2Ki 6:27  And he said, “If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” 
2Ki 6:28  And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 
2Ki 6:29  So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” 
2Ki 6:30  When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body— 
2Ki 6:31  and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”
2Ki 6:32  Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” 
2Ki 6:33  And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” (ESV)

From the siege, we can see how the people living in Samaria suffered. There was severe famine in Samaria such that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels. One of the four sore judgments of the Lord is famine. As we are aware, famine signifies the lack of the word of the Lord.

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

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

Samaria here represents Babylon where there is lack of truth of the word of the Lord. In the absence of the word of the Lord, we seek after the wisdom of men which is here represented by the donkey’s head. In the scriptures, a donkey, or an ass in the negative sense, symbolize the Lord’s children who have gone astray. Thus, a donkey’s head represents human wisdom and that is what is taught in Babylon, which we paid so much for during our days there in Babylon, just as the donkey’s head was very expensive in Samaria during the siege.  

Hos 8:8  Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.
Hos 8:9  For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers. 

Jer 2:23  How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
Jer 2:24  A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

The second effect of the siege which is also related to famine is that dove’s dung was sold for five shekels. A dove represents the Holy Spirit. When the Holy spirit is gone (Ichabod), that is, when the presence of the spirit is gone, we cling to the tangible residue of the spirit which is the letter of the word, which kills.  This comes at a cost. For example, being trained in the letter of the word in Bible schools are expensive ventures.

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.

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.

When the glory of the Lord has departed, the church becomes a place where we become worse off as we end up spiritually putting our sons and daughters to death. This is signified by the two women who killed and ate one of their children and were disputing about having the other child also killed for food.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

It is in this dire situation of our siege that Christ comes to call us. However, our testimony would not be accepted by our brothers and sisters in Babylon as they regard us as “leprous” because of our message. We are therefore forced to come out of the cities since we are considered leprous. In the fullness of time, the Lord will come and use us as the four lepers outside the gates of the city of Samaria to bring abundance of food to the city. The four lepers mean the whole of the elect of every generation who will be used to bring the truth of the word of the Lord to all humanity.   

2Ki 7:3  And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 
2Ki 7:4  If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 
2Ki 7:5  And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

2Ki 7:10  So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 

2Ki 7:16  And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.

This story shows us that the Lord’s siege in our lives is for our benefit. With this in mind, let us look at what the Lord is trying to tell us about the impending siege of Jerusalem.

Eze 4:1  “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 
Eze 4:2  And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around. 
Eze 4:3  And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel. (ESV)

In these verses, the Lord told Ezekiel to demonstrate a siege against the city of Jerusalem as a sign for the house of Israel. Ezekiel was to engrave the name of Jerusalem on a brick and to prepare a siege against the brick, which represents Jerusalem. As we indicated in the introductory portion of the study, it is when we are dominated by the flesh that the Lord forces us to surrender to Him by laying siege against us. The fact that Jerusalem was going to be under siege demonstrates that they had gone astray. 

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

As we know, Jerusalem, which is and is in bondage with her children, symbolizes Babylon or the physical churches of this world. The false doctrines in Babylon which had become the idol of the hearts of its children have become a wall that bars the Lord from coming to His elect in Babylon. The Lord therefore raises a siege against us in Babylon to cause us to surrender to Him. 

Eze 14:1  Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came to me:
Eze 14:3  “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, 
Eze 14:5  that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.

In verse 3, Ezekiel was required to use an iron griddle as an iron wall between him and the city. The use of iron demonstrates to us the inflexible decision by both parties – Ezekiel and Jerusalem. In this case, Ezekiel represents Christ, and Jerusalem signifies Babylon. This means that there is no way the Lord will abandon the siege in this life, and in the same manner, our brothers and sisters in Babylon have resolved not to surrender to Him in this life. In other words, the Lord is never going to relent in His siege of Babylon and likewise, our brothers and sisters are not going to surrender to the Lord in this age!! The Lord told Ezekiel in verse 3 that this siege will be a sign for the house of Israel. In the Bible, signs on a positive note can mean the Lord’s deliverance as shown in the following verses:

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

Jer 32:21  And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;

What this implies is that this siege by the Lord will work for the good of the people of Israel or Babylon. It is through this siege of Jerusalem that we became starved for the word of the Lord which precipitated our exit from Babylon to become saviors for our brothers and sisters in Babylon and the rest 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. 

Eze 4:4  Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. 
Eze 4:5  For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 
Eze 4:6  And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. 

As we have seen in the Bible, it is only our Lord Jesus Christ who bore our iniquity. Ezekiel represents the Lord Jesus who bore our iniquity while He was living here on earth. As He is, so are we. We are the live goat that was set free into the wilderness to bear the iniquity of the people of Israel. Our suffering here on earth therefore complements the suffering of Christ. 

Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The number of days that Ezekiel was required to lie on his left side was 390 days. The number 3 means the process of spiritual maturity through judgment. The number 9 means God’s judgment. Ezekiel also symbolizes the elect. What this means is that throughout our lives here on earth, we are being judged, or going through suffering, as we fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. That is how we bear the iniquity of our brothers and sisters in Babylon and the world, just as Christ did for all humanity. From a physical perspective, the 390 days, which is equivalent to 13 months, represent the duration of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army if we take out the five months interval that the Chaldean army withdrew when they heard of the Egyptian army’s approach.  

Jer 52:4  And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about. 
Jer 52:5  So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 
Jer 52:6  And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
Jer 37:5  Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. 
Jer 37:6  Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 
Jer 37:7  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. 
Jer 37:8  And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.

Ezekiel is also required to lie on the right side for forty days, with a day equivalent to a year. The number forty can signify the duration of the Lord’s judgment. It can also symbolize the period of time that we are found lacking the ability to know the Lord’s ways as we persist in our evil ways. What we are being told is that the siege of the Lord in our lives is to bring us to acknowledge that of our own selves, we cannot worship the Lord, and therefore we have to surrender to Him to take control of our lives.

Gen 7:17  And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

Gen 8:6  And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

Eze 4:7  Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. 

Here in Verse 7, Ezekiel is told to set his face toward the siege of Jerusalem and his arm shall be uncovered. As we have indicated, Ezekiel represents Christ. Thus, setting his face toward the siege in Jerusalem describes the Lord’s unwavering determination to persevere with the siege of Babylon. It is through this siege that the Lord’s arm shall be uncovered; that is to say that as a result of the siege, the works of the Lord shall be made known. Just as the Lord prophesied against Jerusalem during His days, we are also called to do the same. That is, part of our calling entails making known to those who will hear us, the siege of Babylon (Jerusalem) which has resulted in the lack of the truth of the word of the Lord. This is one of the Lord’s words against Jerusalem while He walked here on earth. As He is, so are we. We are to make known to our brothers and sisters in Babylon of this siege when an opportunity avails itself. 

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Eze 4:8  And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

As the Lord’s elect, we are restrained by the hand of the Lord through the Holy Spirit regarding our actions until we have achieved our purpose here on earth.

Pro 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (ASV)

2Th 2:6  And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he (the beast within) may be revealed in his own season. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.

The Lord sometimes even uses the devil to restrain us. For example, the Lord used the devil to restrain Paul from going to Thessalonica. 

1Th 2:17  But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
1Th 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

Eze 4:9  Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
Eze 4:10  And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. 
Eze 4:11  Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. 
Eze 4:12  And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 
Eze 4:13  And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. 

During our time in Babylon when we were under siege, there was famine of the word of the Lord. This is symbolized by the measured amount of food, meat and water that we received. In verse 12 the barley cake was to be baked with the dung that comes out of a man, thus defiling the bread to be consumed. This implies that in Babylon, the word of the Lord is defiled with human wisdom which comes out of our bodies if we are to please the Lord. The defiled word of the Lord is the false doctrines of human wisdom and traditions. Verse 13 emphasizes the point that in Babylon, we eat defiled words of the Lord among the people of the world. 

Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 
Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 

Mar 7:5  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 
Mar 7:6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 
Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Mar 7:10  For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 
Mar 7:11  But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
Mar 7:12  And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 
Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 

Eze 4:14  Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Eze 4:15  Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. 

Until the Lord comes to us with His brightness, we always think that we have not taken in any false doctrine of man’s tradition and wisdom. Ezekiel’s comment that his soul has not been polluted as he has not eaten any abominable flesh is the same as Peter saying that he has not eaten anything that is common or unclean when the Lord came to Him in a dream. It is as the Lord begins to unveil the mysteries of the kingdom to us that we come to see that we have taken in false doctrines all along. 

Act 10:9  On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: 
Act 10:10  And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Act 10:11  And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 
Act 10:12  Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 
Act 10:13  And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 
Act 10:14  But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 

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

As a result of Ezekiel’s petition, the Lord allowed him to use cow’s dung for man’s dung. This is to tell us that the defiled word of the Lord which is eaten by our brothers and sisters in Babylon is better than the wisdom and traditions of this world without Christ.

Eze 4:16  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: 
Eze 4:17  That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity. 

To break the staff of bread in Jerusalem means to bring about famine of the word of the Lord in Babylon. This famine comes as a result of the siege brought about by the Lord. Whenever bread and water are weighed and measured out for consumption, then it implies that famine is biting hard. As we are aware, famine represents the lack of the truth of the word of the Lord in Babylon. In Ezekiel 14:13, we are given a reason why the Lord brings famine to His people through a siege.

Eze 14:13  Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

It is because the people had sinned against the Lord that there was famine. The laying of siege in our lives by the Lord is an inescapable experience. This is what the Lord did to His own people of Judah, which we must live it out in our lives as His elect:

2Ki 25:1  And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.
2Ki 25:2  And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 
2Ki 25:3  And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 
2Ki 25:4  And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. 
2Ki 25:5  And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 
2Ki 25:6  So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
2Ki 25:7  And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

These things are written for our admonition, upon whom 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. 
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 

May the Lord continue to sustain us in Him to do that which is pleasing in His sight. Amen!!

Lam 5:1-22 Part 5, He Knows Our Frailty For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust (Psa 103:14)

[Study Aired September 9, 2023]

This final part of the Book of Lamentations rigidly complies with its namesake ~ Lamentations. It finishes on the same afflicted and morbid note for the hopeless results from the works of the flesh. However, the Bride of Christ brightly sees Lamentations’ tedious cheerlessness as her former state that the world’s churches routinely see as ~ lamentations –  only relevant to Old Israel.

The Lord’s people daily endure tedious trials that never seem to abate. Yet, if we could indulge some levity and fun, Walter Brennan’s “Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don’t It” lyrics sound like our former selves and Babylon, only seeing the hopelessness of Lamentations and upon the proven hopelessness of our own strength, moved to do nothing! Quite the opposite of the Shulamite’s vitality. 

I like Brennan’s dry style when he breaks his lyricism by classically snapping back to a dreary reality in the last sentence of most verses. Here is one sample of the ten in the accompanying link.

“My shoes untied but I don’t care
I ain’t a-figurin’ on goin’ nowhere
For I’d have to wash and comb my hair
And that’s just wasted effort.”

https://www.songlyrics.com/walter-brennan/life-gets-tee-jus-don-t-it-lyrics/

Pro 26:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. 
Pro 26:14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. 
Pro 26:15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. 

Brennan’s “Life gets tee-jus, don’t it” parody is juxtaposed against the jarring, impassioned reality of Christ’s last words on the cross and similarly reflects the Saint’s feeling of hopelessness while knowing that the trials are temporary.

Mar 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [Phonetic: el-o-ee’ lam-ah’ sab-akh-than-ee’]

Of course, the Lord’s singularly true Church knows He hasn’t forsaken them, and Babylon lives uncertainly.

Isa 54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
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 this last chapter of Lamentations theme is consistently weeping and moaning, we will launch right in without restating the entire chapter. In the individual’s private study, understanding and reflecting upon each verse’s wording seems relatively easy with E-sword. A babe in Christ will have almost no difficulty corresponding scriptures and musing spiritually.

Lam 5:1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach [scorn; taunt; shame].

We ask, “What is come upon us?” Ultimately, it is the flesh. The flesh is alienated from the spirit; the two cannot remain “one” without the spirit overwhelming the flesh’s corruption and its reproach. Even so-called clean flesh simply burns up in the presence of God, most dramatically in this present time and experienced by the Bride of Christ. It is our former self, the Great Whore we were, who conspicuously yet unwittingly had her ominous title stamped in invisible ink on her forehead. She most eminently holds the term “reproach” for her uninformed widowhood while claiming to be married to ‘the Christ.’

Jer 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a harlot’s forehead, you refused to be ashamed.

A harlot’s forehead projects the outward haughtiness of the mind within; the old temple slated for destruction. The forehead identifies the entire ensemble of a harlot by our unconscious seeing her peripheral nuances of conceit in her eyes and facial expressions; hence, the forehead potently identifies her entire persona.

Rev 18:6 Reward her [the whore/harlot within] as she has rewarded you, and double to her double, according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix double to her. 
Rev 18:7 As much as she has glorified herself and has lived in luxury, so much torment and sorrow give her. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow; and I do not see mourning at all. 
Rev 18:8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine. And she will be consumed with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

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

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 [all humanity alive at that time], 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 [the beginning of the Eighth Day, the Resurrection to Judgment].
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 [interchangeably the Whore], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [Aionian – for that brief age; age lasting].

Lam 5:2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 

The Bride of Christ learned that she doesn’t want a physical inheritance; as she walks away without a glance back, she gladly hands over her decaying, lusted vanity of vanities to her libertine sisters in Babylon to indulge.

The Bride must be diligent in not being like brother Esau and her degenerate sisters who, for a flirtation of lust for a season, forgot her Lord’s gift.

Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

We will likely become bitter for all the Lamentations we endure seemingly endlessly while the Lord apparently doesn’t hear our cries ~ just like Christ on the cross.

Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

A morsel of meat is some heresy or lawless act we hold dear or even a relatively innocuous thing that insidiously controls us.

Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 

Of course, for the Bride of Christ, all sins can be repented, preferably acknowledged quickly. Only trampling underfoot, as did Esau figuratively for the holy spirit, results in a more dramatic repentance in the Resurrection to Judgement.

Lam 5:3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 

Outwardly, Yes! ~ And don’t we know it?! All spouses, parents, brothers, sisters and friends have abandoned us, symbolically coming after us with swords and staves of doctrinal falsehoods. We drank the same water with them, paid tithes and got ‘blessed’ by Satan. Yet, most happily, the Lord’s flock have abandoned them who remain unwittingly as Babylon like unsuspecting widows.

Mar 14:48 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? 
Mar 14:49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.
Mar 14:50 And they all forsook him, and fled.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

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

Lam 5:4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. 
Lam 5:5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. 
Lam 5:6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 
Lam 5:7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. 
Lam 5:8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
Lam 5:9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

With Artificial Intelligence rapidly approaching, even now in our homes, it will no doubt become more a curse than a blessing, and we will be identified as enemies of the State and its wilderness of filth. As such, ‘buying’ the word of God will become impossible unless we diligently focus on becoming wise virgins with sufficient oil.

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Lam 5:10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. 

Whenever I read the word “black”, I “look upon” the Shulamite, the Bride of Christ, for her immutable blackness of understanding on the part of Solomon, typifying a blind and starved world remaining insensible beneath the dark overcast hiding the Lord’s word.

Lam 5:11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 

Yes, the Babylonian churches are ravished by other women, in lockstep with males missing their privy members and injured in their stones (Deu 23:1), gelded pastors incapable of delivering the seed of truth. Individually, we must be watchful for the woman within attempting to rule over our Husband, Christ.

Lam 5:12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. 

Of course, Jesus was the most eminent “prince” hung up by his hands while the eunuchs taught in the congregations.

Isa 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. 

2Ki 2:23 And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 
2Ki 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Lam 5:13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. 

That scripture is reminiscent of Sampson grinding and children of Canaanites stuffed into bull idols and baked alive in their metal bellies, not to mention the corresponding children of Israel falling under the ‘wood’ and yoke of Old Covenant doctrines that would, in this life, burn with the hay and stubble.

Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Of course, and for us, causing our children to go through the fire is forcing the Lord’s word upon them or any unbelieving spouse. Its dual interpretation happens when we or Babylon teach false doctrine.

Deu 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 
Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

The prefix ‘necro’ is close to the humiliating label necrophiliac, a rapist, fetishist, nymphomaniac, killer, and masochist. One of three Hebrew terminologies is H4191 – 1. to die, kill, have one executed, dead [mentioned 132 times] a. (Qal) 1. to die 2. to die (as penalty), be put to death 3. to die, perish (of a nation) 4. to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct. From those expressions, we see by putting our children or any babe through the fire, we kill them by cutting off their ears and blinding them through false doctrine for premature death.

Lam 5:14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. 
Lam 5:15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. 
Lam 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! 
Lam 5:17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. 
Lam 5:18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. 
Lam 5:19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. 
Lam 5:20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? 
Lam 5:21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
Lam 5:22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.

On that ‘happy’ note, the Book of Lamentations finishes, but not for the Lord’s people. Every dire outcome decreed upon our old man we know has a positive and literal everlasting spiritual blessing for the new heavenly Jerusalem within. We remember our Husband’s “song of songs” penned by Solomon and are inflamed by His spirit and He for us.

The Lord’s Elect has utterly rejected her former self by her Husband’s strength. His wrath for her reproach He has turned her mourning into dancing.

Psa 30:10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. 
Psa 30:11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 
Psa 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

This concludes this short series of the Book of Lamentations.

Acts 20:1-20  I Kept Nothing back that was Profitable unto You

[Study Aired July 23, 2023]

Act 20:1  And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.
Act 20:2  And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,
Act 20:3  And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.
Act 20:4  And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
Act 20:5  These going before tarried for us at Troas.
Act 20:6  And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.
Act 20:7  And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
Act 20:8  And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
Act 20:9  And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
Act 20:10  And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
Act 20:11  When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
Act 20:12  And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
Act 20:13  And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.
Act 20:14  And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.
Act 20:15  And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus.
Act 20:16  For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.
Act 20:17  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
Act 20:18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Act 20:19  Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
Act 20:20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,

Paul waited for the uproar against him, caused by Demitrius the silversmith idol maker, to come to an end before he left Ephesus for Macedonia.

Act 20:1  And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.

The Roman province of Macedonia is where Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea are located.

Act 20:2  And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,

It was without any doubt the same exhortation he gave in his epistles to the Philippians and the Thessalonians and all his other epistles, because he tells us in his second epistle to the Thessalonians:

2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

This exhortation shows how the many spurious books claiming legitimacy are not to be trusted. “Nor by letter as from us” reveals that Paul knew the adversary would stoop as low as was needed to deceive the Lord’s flock – even to the point of forgery:

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.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

This is typical of the “much exhortation” Paul was giving the churches of Macedonia and all the churches he had established. They all knew what he meant by “the temple of God” because the gospel is always the same gospel which he preached in all the churches:

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

Even Peter affirms that “all [Paul’s] epistles” were consistent in their message:

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things [“the promise of His coming” – vs 1-13], be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  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;
2Pe 3:16  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.
2Pe 3:17  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.

“The ignorant and unlearned… being led away with the error of the wicked” do not understand the “is, was, and will be” nature of the Words of Christ which “shall not pass away”:

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things [God’s elect in every generation since Christ], know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation [reading these ‘is, was, and will be’ words, (Rev 1:8)] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

“My Words” (the words of Christ) are not just the words He spoke in the gospels. ‘His words’ are the entire Bible which was all written under His inspiration, and it all has an inward (is), and outward (past and present), and a dispensational (end time, climactic) application. The kingdom of God is within us (Luk 17:20-21), the kingdom of God has been within the Lord’s elect in every generation, and the kingdom of God will be dispensationally both inward and outward, as a “thousand-year” kingdom, before the consummation of the ages (Rev 20:1-6).

Act 20:3  And there [in Greece] abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.

No one hates the Lord’s elect more than false and apostate brothers. The holy spirit protected Paul, and it protects us also. It was the holy spirit who saw to it that someone there in the church in Greece knew what the Jews were planning to do to Paul. In chapter 23 it is Paul’s own nephew who the holy spirit gave to overhear that the Jews were planning to kill Paul, and he came and told Paul:

Act 23:12  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
Act 23:13  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.
Act 23:14  And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
Act 23:15  Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
Act 23:16  And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.

Act 20:4  And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
Act 20:5  These going before tarried for us at Troas.
Act 20:6  And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.

We need to take note that Paul, being a Jew, during this period in the reformation of Christ kept “the days of unleavened bread” there in Philippi before “sail[ing] away from Philippi” for Troas:

By using the pronoun ‘we’, Luke informs us that he was traveling with Paul. There were eight traveling companions accompanying [Paul] into Asia including Luke. They were from the various churches which had contributed to the gift from the Gentile churches to the saints in Jerusalem. It was very effective to have these men from each of these cities to go with Paul up to Jerusalem to deliver their gifts in person to the Jewish saints who had suffered for Christ’s sake and were sharing their spiritual blessings with the Gentile churches.

Paul’s words to this effect demonstrate that the book of Romans was written during this third and final missionary journey which lasted at least four years, with a year and a half at Corinth (Act 18:11) and then two years in Ephesus (Act 19:10):

Rom 15:25  But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.
Rom 15:26  For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
Rom 15:27  It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

Macedonia was where the churches of Berea, Thessalonica, and Philippi were located as indicated on this map of Paul’s third journey:

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

Achaia would include the churches in Cenchrea and Corinth whom Paul instructed about this matter, again revealing that the two books of Corinthians were also written during Paul’s third missionary journey:

1Co 16:1  Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
1Co 16:2  Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
1Co 16:3  And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
1Co 16:4  And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.

There was no gift for the saints at Jerusalem at the end of the second journey. It was during the second journey that Paul first established the church in Corinth after speaking to the pagan Athenians on Mars Hill:

Act 18:1  After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

At the end of that second journey, Paul simply spent a very short time in Ephesus after spending “a year and six months” in Corinth (Act 18:11). When he left Ephesus, he landed in Caesarea and “went up and saluted the brethren [in Jerusalem and] went down to [Syrian] Antioch”:

Act 18:20  When they [Aquila and Priscilla] desired him to tarry longer time with them [in Ephesus], he consented not;
Act 18:21  But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
Act 18:22  And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church [at Jerusalem] , he went down to Antioch.

The book of 1 Corinthians appears to have been written from Macedonia during Paul’s third journey, about a year before writing 2 Corinthians.

2Co 2:13  I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence [from Troas] into Macedonia.

2Co 7:6  Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus [to Macedonia with good news from Corinth – vs 13];

2Co 7:13  Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all [Corinthians].

1 Corinthians 16:2 is not instructing us to prepare to make a contribution for the offering plate when it is passed around on Sunday morning. It is instructing those in Corinth to prepare their offering for the drought-stricken saints in Jerusalem in advance of Paul’s coming to them, “that there be no gatherings when I come.” Paul simply wanted such mundane things to be done in advance so he could concentrate on preaching the gospel while there with the Corinthians.

This is what Paul wanted to do when he came to Corinth. This, as we continue this study, is what Paul was called to do:

Act 20:7  And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached [G1256: ‘dialegomia’, most commonly translated as ‘dispute’ or ‘reason’] unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech [G3056: ‘logos’, word, words] until midnight.
Act 20:8  And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
Act 20:9  And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

Here is Strong’s definition of the name, ‘Eutychus’:

G2161
Εὔτυχος
Eutuchos
yoo’-too-khos
From G2095 and a derivative of G5177; well fated, that is, fortunate; Eutychus, a young man: – Eutychus.
Total KJV occurrences: 1

Eutychus was “taken up dead”! Not ‘as dead’ but he had actually died. Indeed, he was “fortunate”:

Act 20:10  And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
Act 20:11  When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked [G3656: ‘homileo’, “to converse with”] a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

Notice the definition of this Greek word ‘homileo’:

– Transliteration: Homileo
– Phonetic: hom-il-eh’-o
– Definition:
to be in companywith
toassociate with
to stay with
to converse with, talk about:with one

Anyone who thinks our speakers teach too long, or that our discussions last too long, take note.  However, we, too, could very likely talk all night about the love and provision of our Lord if one of ours was also raised up from the dead:

Act 20:12  And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
Act 20:13  And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.

The way Luke presents this story makes it appear that Paul stayed up fellowshipping all night with the brothers there in Troas, “intending to leave on the morrow”, and then walked all day the next day to Assos.

Act 20:14  And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.
Act 20:15  And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Trogyllium; and the next day we came to Miletus.
Act 20:16  For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

Paul had spent “three years” in Ephesus and had made many friends. He obviously felt that he did not have sufficient time to spend with them all. Therefore, he sent for the elders to come to him at Miletus:

Act 20:17  And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
Act 20:18  And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
Act 20:19  Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:

If we fail to realize that “the Jews” of Christ’s day and “the Jews” of Paul’s day signify the established Christian churches of our day, we will get nothing out of what either Paul or Christ mean when they warn us about “the Jews” in all their denominations:

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Mat 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

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

Mat 23:29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

Those are seven woes in the book of Matthew pronounced upon the leaders of the established church of Christ’s day, indicating the complete apostasy of that great harlot system. Those leaders took great pride in being Abraham’s children but did not do the works of Abraham:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

It is the leaders of the established churches of today who are doing the same thing with the words of Christ. The established church of Christ’s day signifies the established churches of our day who claim the name of Christ but do not do the things He says to do. Just as the Jews sought to kill Christ, Christian leaders of our day encourage those in their charge to get involved in the militaries and politics of our day because they “cannot hear [Christ’s] word”:

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

Luke repeats these same woes three more times, signifying the process of the judgment of that great harlot system:

Luk 11:42  But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Luk 11:43  Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
Luk 11:44  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

It is impossible to hear the Lord’s words when He has not given you ears to hear.

Joh 12:40  He [God] hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; ) unto this day.

Paul and all who know the voice of the True Shepherd do hear the words of our Lord, and like Paul we are to withhold nothing from those in our sphere of influence who are given eyes that see and ears that hear:

Act 20:20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,

“From house to house” does not mean that Paul went everywhere knocking on doors casting his pearls before swine and giving that which is holy unto the dogs:

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

Christ specifically prohibited his disciples from going house to house.

Luk 10:5  And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
Luk 10:6  And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
Luk 10:7  And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.

On the other hand, the early churches were established in the homes of those who offered their homes for that purpose, as Paul informs us:

1Co 16:19  The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

Col 4:15  Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.

Phm 1:1  Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,
Phm 1:2  And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:

That is the “house to house” to which Paul refers, and why he held nothing back. Though he held nothing back that should not be taken to mean that everyone to whom he ministered received his doctrines and admonitions, as we learn in his first epistle to the Corinthians:

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1Co 2:3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect [he “held nothing back”]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
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:

From whom is this wisdom “hidden”? Paul again holds back nothing. Here are the first four verses of the very next chapter of 1 Corinthians:

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

The obvious answer is, “Yes indeed, we are all at first, ‘carnal… babes in Christ’ while we are in the churches of Babylon. At that time in our walk, we certainly are ‘yet carnal, and walk as men’.”

1Co 3:5  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
1Co 3:8  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Part 3

[Study Aired March 27, 2023]

Today, as part of our study of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we shall look at the life of Isaac to help us grow in our knowledge of Christ. As we indicated in the previous study, the birth of Isaac symbolizes the coming of Christ into our lives. Our lives follow the same pattern as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Although the details of our lives are different, our relationship with the Lord follows the same pattern. As we go through the experience of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with Joseph being part of Jacob’s experience, we come to realize that these three men do not represent three separate individuals, but three aspects of one complete person in his relationship with the Lord.

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

Isaac’s life depicts the rest we have in Christ. His father Abraham had amassed all the wealth for him to enjoy. At the point when he needed to get married, his father Abraham took the initiative to get him a wife (Rebekah) who was very beautiful. Isaac did not fight any battles. For example, on two occasions when his servants dug a well, the inhabitants of the land claimed the wells, but Isaac did not contend with them. What this means is that the coming of Christ in our lives is the beginning of our 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.

In our study today, we shall therefore take a critical look at certain aspects of Isaac’s life and what they teach us about our walk with Christ. 

Knowing God Through Isaac

Our Exit from Babylon – the Coming of Christ in our lives.

The birth of Isaac marks the coming of Christ into our lives which results in our exit from Babylon where the truth of the word of the Lord has been adulterated by false doctrines emanating from human traditions and wisdom. In this new life in Christ, our eyes are opened and our ears begin to hear the truth of the word of the Lord. This is demonstrated by the fact that Isaac dug again the wells his father Abraham dug which had been filled with earth by the Philistines. The Philistines here represent Babylon. The earth here symbolizes all the false doctrines which include human wisdom and traditions. What this means is that the gold and silver of the word of the Lord have been turned into images of men. As a result of the earth filling the well, spring water was not coming out. During our time in Babylon, we experienced significant famine of the word of the Lord which was caused by the Lord to facilitate our exit from Babylon.

Gen 26:15  For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
Gen 26:16  And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 
Gen 26:17  And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 
Gen 26:18  And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

The Offering of Isaac – The Death and Resurrection of Christ 

Gen 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 

Gen 22:6  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 
Gen 22:7  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
Gen 22:8  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

From a spiritual perspective, the offering of Isaac by Abraham typifies how God, our Father, offered His beloved son, Jesus Christ, for us. During the journey to Mount Moriah, Isaac carried the wood to be used for the burnt offering of himself. This shows how Jesus carried the cross through Jerusalem for His crucifixion. Incidentally, Mount Moriah later became Jerusalem.  Even though in the case of Isaac, he was not sacrificed, it was as if he had died and came back to life after that experience. So, the whole experience of Abraham preparing to offer Isaac is to foretell of the coming Messiah’s (Jesus) death and resurrection. As Abraham told Isaac his son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering, and that lamb is Christ. In another perspective, we, like Isaac, represent the scapegoat with Jesus being the other goat that was offered as sacrifice for our sins. If we are to fulfill God’s purpose, therefore, we must be like Isaac as we offer our lives as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service.

Lev 16:7  And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 
Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 

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. 

Ishmael’s mocking of Isaac – Babylon persecuting the church

Gen 21:8  And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 
Gen 21:9  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 
Gen 21:10  Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 

The birth of Isaac did not stir up any trouble. It was rather his growth that brought about controversy. As we can see, Ishmael was found mocking Isaac. In Galatians 4:29, we are given to know that this mocking is the same as persecution. Ishmael represents Babylon, which is in bondage with her children. Babylon is characterized by the persecution of the church of the firstborn (the elect) as our Lord made it clear as follows:

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

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

As Paul indicated, Hagar represents Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children. That is Babylon, which symbolizes the physical churches of this world.  The elect represents Jerusalem, which is above, that is destined to inherit the promise.

Heb 6:12  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Isaac, the inheritor of Abraham’s Inheritance – Learning to Rest in the Lord

Gen 25:5  And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 
Gen 25:6  But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. 

Isaac becoming the inheritor of Abraham’s possessions is a type of Christ who has been appointed heir of all things, and if we are found in Him, then we are also destined for the inheritance just like Isaac.

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 
Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 
Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 

What we need to understand is that Abraham did all the work to amass the wealth for Isaac. Just as God the Father did all the work for our Lord Jesus Christ, we are also privileged to have Jesus doing all the work as we rest in Him.

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

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 Famine in the Land

Gen 26:1  And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
Gen 26:2  And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

Gen 26:6  And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 
Gen 26:7  And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. 
Gen 26:8  And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 
Gen 26:9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

As we can see, the Lord had to warn Isaac from going back to Egypt. Whenever we are starved of the word of the Lord (famine), there is the tendency to become worldly (Going to Egypt). It is during times of famine of the word of the Lord that our weaknesses are exposed by the Lord.

In the case of Isaac, his inability to believe that the Lord will surely protect him from any harm or danger became obvious as he lied about Rebekah being his wife. As we know from the word of the Lord, the church is where we are fed with the word of the Lord. Anytime we are starved of the word of the Lord, our relationship with the church suffers as the deep union with the church (wife relationship) is sacrificed for a superficial relationship (sister relationship) as we see Isaac saying that Rebekah was his sister instead of being his wife.

These periods of famine are common during the early part of our walk after we have left Babylon to become part of the heavenly Jerusalem. We were not prepared to lay down our lives for the wife of Christ, the church just as Isaac refused to lay down his life for Rebekah when he went to Gerar. However, as we mature spiritually, we are able to lay down our lives for the church irrespective of the circumstance we find ourselves in even as our Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for the church. 

1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

Isaac Prospered – We are to grow in spiritual insight.

Gen 26:12  Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 
Gen 26:13  And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: 
Gen 26:14  For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

The physical prosperity of Isaac refers to our growth in spiritual riches as our eyes are opened and our ears hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God. As Christ comes to us, we begin our spiritual growth (riches in Christ) as our Lord cleanses us of all that offends and enlightens our understanding to know Him better. This is what Paul and Peter had to say about our spiritual blessing:

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:

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.

As we grow in spiritual riches, we are envied by all men, just as the Philistines became envious of Isaac’s prosperity. This envy is what drives our being hated by Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children, resulting in us being dead in the streets of the great city – which represents spiritually, Sodom and Egypt where our Lord Jesus was crucified.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

This strife or hatred is exemplified on two occasions when Isaac’s servants dug a well, and there was contention. This means that it is as we search the scriptures and we become enlightened by the truth of the word that we are hated by the world.

Gen 26:19  And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 
Gen 26:20  And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. 
Gen 26:21  And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

Isaac’s Marriage – Our Marriage to Christ

The scriptures did not go into as many details about the life of Isaac as it did with Abraham and Jacob. However, when it came to Isaac’s marriage, a whole chapter was devoted to it. This is because the marriage of Isaac is significant, and it represents the church’s marriage union with Christ. From this marriage chapter we can glean a lot of spiritual truth and what is required of God’s bride.

Gen 24:3  And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 
Gen 24:4  But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

Gen 24:8  And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

Gen 24:15  And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. 
Gen 24:16  And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. 
Gen 24:17  And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. 
Gen 24:18  And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. 
Gen 24:19  And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
Gen 24:20  And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

There are several truths we can glean from this marriage chapter of Genesis. The country Abraham had left spiritually signifies Babylon where we worship another Jesus. It is from Babylon that Christ came to pick us as his bride. It also means that we cannot marry just any person. We must marry from our kindred – our fellow elect. When Abraham’s servant asked if the potential bride to Isaac refuses to come to Canaan, Abraham told him that in that case, the marriage must be called off. If we want to become the bride of Christ, then we must be prepared to leave Babylon.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Abraham’s servant went with ten camels. In the Bible camels are used to represent one’s wealth or possession. What this means is that God has made available enough resources for His bride to be joined to her husband Christ. As stated by Peter, God has given us everything we need for life and godliness through His great and precious promises that we might be partakers of His divine nature. 

Gen 24:10  And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. 

Gen 12:16  And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

Gen 24:35  And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

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. 

In order to identify the bride, Abraham’s servant set a criterion. The requirement is that the potential bride must give him water to drink and also quench the thirst of the ten camels. As we are aware, water signifies the word of God. Thus, we must be able to feed God’s people with the word of God first. In addition, Rebecca voluntarily offered to fetch water for the camels. The similarity between camels and human beings is that they are all beasts.  Thus, Rebecca giving water first to Abraham’s servant and later fetching water for the camels signifies that the preaching of the word of God is first to the elect, and then later, through the bride, the word of God will be preached to all humanity. 

Gen 24:11  And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. 
Gen 24:12  And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. 
Gen 24:13  Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: 
Gen 24:14  And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. 

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

Camels drink a lot of water – about 20 gallons of water a day. Thus, giving water to the ten camels means fetching about 200 gallons of water.  That is a huge task to undertake.  It takes someone who has compassion or is merciful to the camels to execute such a task voluntarily. What we are being taught here is that the salvation of the world is impossible looking at it from a human perspective. However, with God all things are possible. Secondly, it takes someone who cares for the beast, just like Rebecca to have compassion or to show mercy to the camels. We, who have received mercy from God are therefore required to be merciful to the whole of humanity in the fullness of time. Thirdly, our service in the house of God as we feed our brothers and sisters with the word of the Lord must be voluntary and without charging for our services. As we can see, Rebecca fed the camels voluntarily and without cost. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

Mat 10:8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 

One key characteristic which we need to pay attention to regarding Rebekah, who represents the elect, is the fact that, although she had never seen Isaac, she was willing to go to him to become his wife. Our husband, the Lord Jesus, is so pleased when we believe in Him even though we have not seen Him. This is what He told Thomas who was looking for something tangible:

Joh 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 
Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 

That is why as we mature spiritually, signs and wonders become a rare experience. This does not mean that the Lord will not miraculously intervene in our circumstance when the need arises. He will always come to our aid but what we are to avoid is looking for the spectacular to convince us that the Lord is with us. As we can see, as the church matured, signs and wonders became a rare occurrence. We are therefore warned by the Lord about deception which will abound as a result of signs and wonders as we are getting closer to the end of this age.

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Another key characteristic of Rebekah who symbolizes the bride of Christ was her submission when she saw Isaac and realized who he was. Immediately when Rebekah saw Isaac, she put on her vail and covered herself. 

Gen 24:64  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 
Gen 24:65  For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. 

The putting on of the vail symbolizes Rebekah’s submission to Isaac, just as the bride of Christ (Rebekah) must submit to her husband, Christ (Isaac). 

1Co 11:3  But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 
1Co 11:4  Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 
1Co 11:5  but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

Our submission must therefore be complete – we must submit to our Lord Jesus Christ in everything. 

Eph 5:24  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Through the life of Isaac, we get to know about the marriage feast of the lamb. 

Gen 24:63  And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. 
Gen 24:64  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 
Gen 24:65  For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
Gen 24:66  And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. 
Gen 24:67  And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

We can see how both Isaac and Rebekah were eager to meet each other. Our Lord Jesus Christ is so eager to be united with His bride, the church. It is when we meet face to face that perfection shall come!!

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 

1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

Ooh, what a great joy that will be when we see our Lord face to face!! Amen!!

2Ki 6:1-33  “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them”

[Study Aired September 29, 2022]

In the first section of this chapter of 2Kings (2Ki 6:1-7) we will read how the sons of the prophets want to leave the place in which  they are dwelling because it is too narrow, and how they want to collectively build a place where they can live in Jordan. This symbolic action of building a home in Jordan represents the building of the church which is the body of Christ (Col 1:24), and it is expedient that Elisha, who is a type of Christ and the head of the church who builds the house, come with them (Psa 127:1, 2Ki 6:3).

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.

2Ki 6:1  And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 
2Ki 6:2  Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
2Ki 6:3  And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
2Ki 6:4  So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
2Ki 6:5  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
2Ki 6:6  And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
2Ki 6:7  Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.

In the middle section of this chapter (2Ki 6:8-23),  we look at the way in which we must do spiritual battle as the body of Christ in a healthy church built by Christ, which battles of faith (1Ti 6:12) are defined for us in several parables that are connected with physical war, which we know represents the spiritual wars that rage within the body of Christ (Rom 1:20, Eph 6:12).

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.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

2Ki 6:8  Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
2Ki 6:9  And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. 
2Ki 6:10  And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. 
2Ki 6:11  Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
2Ki 6:12  And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 
2Ki 6:13  And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 
2Ki 6:14  Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. 
2Ki 6:15  And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
2Ki 6:16  And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17  And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 
2Ki 6:18  And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 
2Ki 6:19  And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
2Ki 6:20  And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
2Ki 6:21  And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
2Ki 6:22  And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 
2Ki 6:23  And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

The last section of the chapter (2Ki 6:24-33) is a type and shadow of what depravity will come upon the earth at the end of the age and how evil men will wax worse and worse, causing the love of many to wax cold (Mat 24:12-13), as the Lord allows many who were once convinced of our Lord’s imminent return, to begin to say that He delays his coming (Luk 12:45-46, 2Pe 3:3-4).

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Luk 12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 
Luk 12:46  The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 

2Ki 6:24  And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 
2Ki 6:25  And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. 
2Ki 6:26  And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 
2Ki 6:27  And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 
2Ki 6:28  And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 
2Ki 6:29  So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 
2Ki 6:30  And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 
2Ki 6:31  Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. 
2Ki 6:32  But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 
2Ki 6:33  And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer? 

—

2Ki 6:1  And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
2Ki 6:2  Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
2Ki 6:3  And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.

The sons of the prophets are a type of the elect, and they tell Elisha, who is a type of Christ, “The place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.” No matter where we go, the way is going to be strait and narrow as followers of Christ, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few [Mat 22:14] there be that find it.“

Going together as each man brings a beam of wood to build a place in Jordan where the prophets will dwell is symbolic of the strength that each joint supplies to build up the body of Christ in love (Eph 4:16). The strait way therefore becomes easier when everyone does their part in love and we are all given to be our brother’s keeper. This discipleship that Christ talks about in John 13:35 is represented by the cooperation in erecting this building in Jordan, just as it is also typified by the building of Noah’s ark which represents the body of Christ being built up in this age as we move with fear to accomplish the work God has called us to be faithful unto in this life (Heb 11:7.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

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

What an honor and joyous revelation to know that it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32) and to believe that He can do this through Christ who is the one who is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2). Christ longed to have this relationship which we have right now (Luk 22:15-20) with him building up the body of Christ not by might nor power but by God’s holy spirit which is what this verse is typical of: “And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.” (Mat 28:20) Elisha represents Christ who will never leave or forsake us (Heb 13:5).

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luk 22:16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

2Ki 6:4  So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
2Ki 6:5  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.

When we are laboring in the Lord, He will make a way where there seems to be none, and through our diligent search God will reveal His son to us (Heb 11:6). That is what these diligent actions of “cut[ting] down wood” represents for us. Laying the axe to wood represents judgment (Mat 3:10) and so losing that axehead which represents God’s word that judges us is something which can only be recovered through Christ. Nothing we have is our own, so in that sense the axehead that represents God’s word is borrowed and exceedingly precious, as are all His promises to us (2Pe 1:4).

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Mat 3:10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Isa 43:13  Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? [Joh 18:9]

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.

The axehead represents an instrument of righteousness or vessel of honor that we become when the life of Christ is in us (Rom 8:9, Rom 9:21). God is showing us through this miraculous recovering of the axehead that there are no obstacles that can prevent the work of God from being accomplished within the elect, and a floating axe is symbolic of the truth that “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mat 11:29-30).

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his./span>

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

2Ki 6:6  And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 
2Ki 6:7  Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. 

Christ asks us to give an accounting of what is happening in our life as it unfolds, not that He doesn’t already know because He’s writing the book, but the book requires that we show the Lord the places in our life where things have fallen apart, like the axehead in this story. Falling into a river is typical of baptism, but we can be baptized over and over, and unless it is into Christ’s death, symbolized by a stick that is cut down and put in the water in this story (“And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither“), it will not change our life or quicken our life in the spirit (Rom 6:3). The quickening of God’s spirit in our life as we die daily and are baptized into His death is symbolized by the words: “and the iron did swim.” We are called to not neglect so great a salvation which is what this next statement is symbolically telling us: “Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.” Taking it “up to thee” and putting out his hand “and took it” reminds us if any man thirsts we only need ask God, or put out our hand, and He will supply our every need through Christ (Joh 7:37, Php 4:19).

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

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.

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

2Ki 6:8  Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 
2Ki 6:9  And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. 
2Ki 6:10  And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. 

Right after this story of the preparation of the building in Jordan, representing the body of Christ being made ready, we see that the Lord  brings the enemy nation of Syria to attack them: “Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.” Then “the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down“, warning the king of Israel (Amo 3:7) and typifying for us what we read earlier that the Lord will give warning to those who are hope-filled and believing and not saying, “My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken.“

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

If we are watching and praying and not drinking with the spiritually drunk of this world, by the grace through faith relationship that we have with Christ, we can be among those who are a “faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season” (Luk 12:42-44). Giving a portion in due season is what this represents: “And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.“

Luk 12:42  And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Luk 12:43  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Luk 12:44  Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

2Ki 6:11  Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
2Ki 6:12  And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 
2Ki 6:13  And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

The king of Syria is convinced that there is a traitor in his midst, an informant who is letting the king of Israel know of all his plans. However, he is told by his servant “None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” This reminds us of how nothing is hidden from the Lord, and the means by which Elisha was getting this information was from the Lord (Amo 3:7, Ecc 10:20).

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Ecc 10:20  Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

These verses above reassure us that the Lord is sovereign over all things, and is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). We have need of His peace (Php 4:7) which the king of Syria did not have, and “have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Heb 10:36-37), otherwise we will curse the king, or those who are better off than us in this world (Psa 73:3, Pro 24:19, Psa 84:10) losing sight of the true riches of His life that we have (Joh 6:68). This cursing of others is an indication that we are not keeping our souls in patience, which we pray God will grant us to do. ‘Cursing the king in thy thought’ is another way of saying we are thinking above what is written, and God is always looking at our hearts and bringing us to see how great a blessing we’ve been called to, being able to have peace in this life and to know, “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  

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. 

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

2Ki 6:14  Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
2Ki 6:15  And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
2Ki 6:16  And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17  And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 

This section explains to us a physical event that represents how Satan wants to sift us all like wheat: “Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about“, but by the faith of Christ no such thing will happen.

The servant’s grave concern upon rising early: “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?” will be addressed by Elisha who represents Christ (Psa 46:5, Pro 8:17, Mat 14:31).

Psa 46:5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. 

Pro 8:17  I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. 

Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Christ’s faith will bring the body to see in our difficult times of trials and tribulation that He who is in us is greater than him who is in the world (1Jn 4:4), and that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:35-36). Elisha’s prayer is typical of Christ’s prayer for Peter and our prayers for each other (Luk 22:32). “Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young 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.

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

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

When we fervently pray for each other, those prayers avail much (Jas 5:16). Our spiritual perspective is open and we are delivered from our fears which are cast out by His love that is shed abroad in our hearts (1Jn 4:18, Rom 5:5). When the LORD opens our eyes spiritually, we will “behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha“, which is a symbolic event that typifies our seeing Christ in each other as we look to the mountain from whence comes our help comes (Psa 121:1). We abide on that mountain together as many members and one body with the strength of Christ within us, represented by the mountain being “full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha“. Elisha is a type of Christ and so our hope is always centered around a right relationship with Christ, and so it is written that way: “round about Elisha“.

Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

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. 

Psa 121:1  A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2Ki 6:18  And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 
2Ki 6:19  And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.

Just one verse earlier Elisha is asking for the eyes of his servant to be opened (2Ki 6:17), and in these verses he prays that the Lord “Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness” which He did “according to the word of Elisha“. This parable is a reminder that God creates the good and the evil, the opening up of eyes and the blinding of eyes to truth. It is all of the Lord (Isa 45:7).

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

Elisha informs them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.” ‘The way’ represents “the way” of righteousness which is found in Christ who tells us the Spirit of God must lead us into all truth (Joh 16:13). Elisha knows what these Syrians are up to and that they’re seeking to kill him, but he mercifully leads them to Samaria in their blinded state to show us how the Lord can deliver us from our enemies both within and outwardly (Deu 28:7).

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.

Deu 28:7  The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 

It is when we acknowledge our blindness that God can begin to deal with us, and so the blinding of this army is typical of the beginning of the healing process that is needed in our lives that supernaturally had us dragged out of Babylon and into Samaria or the Israel of God (Joh 9:41, Gal 6:16). The blind army following Elisha, (“follow me” Mat 4:19) is that new beginning, being led to Samaria which represents our starting point in our relationship with Christ where we’re brought “to the man whom ye seek” but do not yet know (Luk 24:16), typified by Elisha himself who typifies Christ.

Luk 24:16  But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

2Ki 6:20  And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
2Ki 6:21  And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
2Ki 6:22  And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
2Ki 6:23  And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

The Lord opened their eyes at an appointed time to bring them to see that they were in Samaria, and instead of wanting to be merciful to his enemies, the king of Israel asks Elisha with a ‘sons of thunder’ spirit “shall I smite them? shall I smite them?” (Luk 9:54-56)

Luk 9:54  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 
Luk 9:55  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. [“And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master“.]
Luk 9:56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

We are to love our enemies and not try to dominate our unconverted family members or people we work with, but do good unto all men, and “set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.“

The end result of this compassionate act on the part of Elisha was “So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” When our ways please the Lord, He will make even our enemies to be at peace with us (Pro 16:7).

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

2Ki 6:24  And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 
2Ki 6:25  And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.

Loving your enemies does not guarantee that they’re going to love you back, especially when you have already been told that your disobedience to God’s commands would be dealt with (1Ki 40:42). Benhadad, the king of Syria, is merely a weapon of the Lord’s indignation (Isa 13:5).

1Ki 20:42  And he [“a certain man of the sons of the prophets” of verse 35] said unto him [King Ahab], Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 

Isa 13:5  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 

And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria“. These were desperate times due to the great famine in Samaria and the Syrians besieging Samaria, driving the economy of the day into a terrible state “until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver“. This story is an illustration of how God will use evil men as His sword (Psa 17:13) to bring about the conditions that are needful to lead us to repentance, and silver which typifies repentance is connected to the meager physical existence that now remains among all of Samaria due to this siege. It is the whole [4] of Samaria who are being affected by these conditions so we are told, “There was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.” The five pieces of silver represents the grace through faith process that all of mankind are going to be saved (Eph 2:8). Without even mentioning actual famine in the earth, the spiritual conditions in this world today are being spoken of in these verses where there is a famine of the word and no stay of bread or water in the churches of Babylon (Isa 3:1).

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

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

2Ki 6:26  And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 
2Ki 6:27  And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 

This king of Israel has lost all hope, as we see with his response to one of his citizens who cries out for help and his reply that there is no grain and no wine to give her. The threshing floor and winepress represent the judgment that takes place in the earth, earth, earth that we are (Jer 51:33, Rev 19:15, Jer 22:29, Mic 1:2-3).

Jer 51:33  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD [1Pe 4:17].

Mic 1:2  Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 
Mic 1:3  For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

2Ki 6:28  And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
2Ki 6:29  So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
2Ki 6:30  And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.

The king understands on a very deep level now the severity of the situation the kingdom is in, and puts “sackcloth within upon his flesh” to mourn those conditions. This famine that has been compounded by the siege of Syria has led people to take the most drastic measures to keep themselves alive, and so these horrible events unfold for our sakes upon whom the end of the world has come (1Co 10:11) to show us that right down to the bitter end people will hold onto their false doctrines, represented by children, and still be divided in their lies as was demonstrated in this parable of children being boiled to be eaten. This is an admonition for us to take heed lest any man deceive us (Mar 13:5-8).

Deu 28:15  But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 

Deu 28:53  And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 

There is a betrayal that comes forth from the one woman who represents a false church toward the other beastly woman who also represents a false church, and this act of boiling and burning flesh to eat is given to us in the New Covenant in the following verses (2Ti 3:4, Rev 17:1, Rev 17:16-17) and tells us of the judgment that must come “until the words of God shall be fulfilled“.

2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

2Ki 6:31  Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. 

The king is wanting vengeance on “Elisha the son of Shaphat” as if he’s the reason the world is coming apart. Well, actually God is the reason, and the prophet or messenger is hated for bringing the truth to the people (Rev 16:21, Mat 10:22, Amo 3:6).

Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. 

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 

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?

It’s going to take some massive earthquakes to begin to humble the earth before Christ returns (Rev 11:13) that will be followed by the “plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great” (Rev 16:21). The plague is the word of God on the kingdom of our old man that must have the entire refuge of lies destroyed from our heavens, which is what is happening for us in type and shadow in the land of Samaria (Isa 28:17).

Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. 

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

2Ki 6:32  But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 

The outcome of the king of Israel’s anger is being discussed here, and this is not troubling Elisha in the least, to tell us today that we shouldn’t fear what men can do to our flesh (Mat 10:28). What is Elisha actually doing as he “sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him“? This represents the elect being with Christ in the holy temple, abiding in him where we are spiritually kept alive and given to see the plans of the enemy. Elisha uttering, “See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” is another way of saying Revelation 22:11 where we’re informed that there is a cut off point for this dispensation of grace we’re in, and the Lord says we are to trust Him and stand fast at the door which represents Christ and His righteousness. We do not want the garments He’s given us to be defiled by letting anyone in that door, so we stand fast and look well to ourselves and the little flock of Christ (2Co 2:11, Gen 4:7, Exo 12:13, Act 20:28).

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

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: [“when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?“] and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. [“Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him.“] 

Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 

Exo 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

2Ki 6:33  And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer? 

This last verse tells us the state of the world we’re living in right now and is an admonition to God’s elect to not let the unbelieving heart of man that is not given to repent today cause the love of God to wax cold within us (Mat 24:12, Mat 24:24, Luk 12:45). It is as Elisha is talking that this messenger “came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?” Those are the words of a scoffer walking after his own lusts (2Pe 3:3).

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

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

Luk 12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

We don’t need to fear what men can do to us (Mat 10:28), and we don’t need to worried about the wars and rumors of wars in this age (Mat 24:6), and we don’t need to be concerned about the unbelieving and those who have come and gone and served us in their unbelief (1Jn 2:19). Along with that, we are being encouraged in this section of scripture to remember this truth: “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” (Eze 1:4, Heb 12:1-3)

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

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. 

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. 
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

[Study Aired June 26, 2022]

Jer 44:1  The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
Jer 44:2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
Jer 44:3  Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
Jer 44:4  Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending
them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
Jer 44:5  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
Jer 44:6  Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
Jer 44:7  Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
Jer 44:8  In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
Jer 44:9  Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Jer 44:10  They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
Jer 44:11  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
Jer 44:12  And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
Jer 44:13  For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
Jer 44:14  So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

In this 44^th chapter of Jeremiah we have another commandment from the Lord to Jeremiah instructing Jeremiah to point out Judah’s sins and to warn them of the Lord’s impending judgments upon those sins. However, the sins of these Jews are being committed immediately after witnessing the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem.

Jerusalem had fallen to the Chaldeans on “the fourth month” of Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

2Ki 25:3  And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
2Ki 25:4  And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.

Gedaliah was made the governor of the land at that time, and he was assassinated in the seventh month of the same year:

2Ki 25:22  And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.

2Ki 25:25  But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.
2Ki 25:26  And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.

All Judah, and even King Nebuchadnezzar, knew that Jeremiah had been prophesying for decades concerning  what would happen to the Lord’s people who wanted His name but did not want to wear the clothing He wanted them to wear, neither did they want the food He was serving them.

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

These “seven women” here typify the “seven churches of Asia” who in turn signify the completely apostatized church of Christ.

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;

These “seven churches” signify all Christianity who have the name of Christ and have endured so much persecution while serving the Lord. These seven churches are typified by the remnant Jews under Gedaliah, and then under Johanan, who had performed many commendable and good works, and yet they feared what the world would think of them and what the world would do to them if they obeyed the Lord. These remnant Jews, and the seven churches, feared men more than they feared what the Lord would do if they disobeyed Him. These Jews, in practical effect, “have lost [their] first love” and are being warned:

Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

These seven churches are called “the seven churches of Asia”, and this is what they have done to the Lord and to His apostles like Paul and John:

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

Paul had spent years ministering to these churches just as Jeremiah had spent so much time and energy in prophesying to the Jews who were carried away with Kings Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, and now to these Jews who were left in the land. Yet “all they which are in Asia” forsook the apostle Paul, and in doing so, they forsook the Lord Himself and went right back into the world just as these Jews before them went right back into Egypt:

Jer 44:1  The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Noph were prominent Egyptian cities of that day, and Pathros is just another word for Egypt, as these verses demonstrate:

Jer 44:15  Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,

Eze 29:14  And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

Jer 44:2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
Jer 44:3  Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.

The holy spirit inspires Jeremiah to point out that all these Jews “[had] seen all the evil that [the Lord] had brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah”. They could not deny that “this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein”. Nevertheless, because of their stubborn, self-righteous nature they cannot humble themselves to “acknowledge [their self-righteous] iniquity [and] transgressions against the Lord”:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah himself typifies these “pastors according to [the Lord’s] heart”, but this story typifies how we all first receive the Lord’s spokespersons:

Jer 44:4  Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
Jer 44:5  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.

As Ezekiel puts it, the Lord answered these Jews, who are types of us, “according to the multitude of [their] idols”:

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

When we approach the Word of God, we are coming to Christ. When we do that with a preconceived false doctrine, then we already have a made-up mind that will not be affected by the Lord’s Words, nor by those whom He sends to us to guide and persuade us concerning what His Word is telling us. When we refuse to believe the Lord through His proven leaders and speakers, we are actually living under His wrath, even if He is deceiving us by ‘answering us according to the multitude of the idols of our hearts’:

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

‘Believing on the Son’ entails believing those whom the Son has sent to lead and persuade us in His Words.

These words come straight out of the mouth of Christ Himself:

Luk 10:16  He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

What Christ tells us today about rejecting His prophets and leaders was just as true in Old Testament times:

Mar 6:11  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Luk 10:16  He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

Knowing the voice of the True Shepherd is a matter of spiritual life and spiritual death:

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

When we listen to the voice of a stranger, and we don’t even recognize the voice of Christ, we are living under His wrath:

Jer 44:6  Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
Jer 44:7  Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;

Just casually reading about how we see what the Lord has done to others, it does not seem possible that we could forget so quickly and cut ourselves off from Him and His people so soon after having witnessed what He did to our own people and His people after just a few months. However, that is what is written in the books of these Jews and in the books of all those who do the exact same things today.

Jer 44:8  In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

Offering incense typifies and signifies our prayers:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

When the Lord takes from us that which we had, then everything we think we are doing to serve Him, and even our prayers, become an abomination to Him:

Pro 15:8  The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

Pro 28:9  He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.

Luk 8:18  Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

If we have lost our ability to hear and discern the Lord’s voice, we have “cut [our]selves off” from Him, and He is now asking:

Jer 44:9  Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

It is a rhetorical question because the Lord Himself caused them to forget that just yesterday they were proclaiming their desire to please Him and obey Him, and just yesterday they saw what He had done to those who had forgotten His words and His commandments, and now they are doing the exact same thing and are turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to His words.

In our next study, we will see that these men and their wives in Judah and Jerusalem and even these remnant Jews and their wives, who had coalesced around Gedaliah, were “burning incense to… pouring out drink offerings unto… and making cakes to worship… the queen of heaven”.

Jer 44:17  But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

Jer 44:19  And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

This is what consistently afflicted the Lord’s people throughout their entire history until this very day. This is what has caused more people to leave the fellowship of the body of Christ in this generation, more that any of the other false doctrine of the enemy. What these words translate into is the observance of days, months, times, and years… the traditions of men”, against which we have been warned, but which warning from the Lord in His Word means less to most men and women than the fear of what this world, their families and friends and society as a whole will think  of them. We will cover this in more detail in next week’s study of the remainder of this 44^th chapter of Jeremiah.

Jer 44:10  They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
Jer 44:11  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

We do not just casually ignore the Lord’s words and get by with doing so. When the Lord warns us with this question:

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
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?

What are these “weak and beggarly elements whereunto the whole world desires again to be in bondage”?

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years [praying to, pouring out drink offerings to, and baking cakes to observe days, months, times, and years]
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Gal 4:12  Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

Paul tells us, “Be as I am… as I follow Christ.” Christ did not even keep the weekly sabbath and not the holy days of His time. It is until this very day that this is the trigger which will make most of those who come to Christ decide that the way is just too taxing, and they will forsake Him to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings and bake cakes to her, telling ourselves all the while that we are doing so to the Lord and not to the queen of heaven.

The Lord will have none of it when we are determined to go back into this world.

Jer 44:12  And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine:  they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.

This is the same judgment pronounced upon their fathers who were forced to wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, died there in the wilderness. It is in that sense, that these remnant Jews signify those who “find no place of repentance”. It is in the sense that we are told “they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest… as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Jer 44:13  For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:

“As I have punished Jerusalem” refers to what the Lord had done just three months ago, when others of their own people and their own family were punished for refusing to listen to the Lord’s words from His prophets. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in the fourth month of the 11^th year of Zedekiah. All these events involving the remnant that was left in the land, including the assassination of Gedaliah, happened in the seventh month of that same year:

Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

Jer 41:1  Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
Jer 41:2  Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Gedaliah’s government lasted just three short months before it was terminated by one of the very people who had not gone to Babylon. Such is the fate of those who turn their backs on the Lord’s proven and faithful leaders like the prophet Jeremiah.

Eating with the Lord Himself, as the seventy elders of Israel did in the mount with Moses and Aaron, and living in the promised land, as these remnant Jews have lived, typifies having been “once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and [being] made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and having tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come”, and yet they fall away.

Exo 24:9  Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10  And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
Exo 24:11  And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

This remnant saw what the Lord had done to Judah and Jerusalem. They were right there all those years Jeremiah had been prophesying of the Lord’s impending judgments upon them if they continued rebuffing His judgments upon them. King Solomon had warned the Lord’s people many years earlier:

Pro 29:1  He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Having accepted the Truth that “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” I used to think and teach that the word ‘impossible’ in Hebrews 6:4, simply meant that it was impossible for men. However, this is not ‘men’ speaking. This is the Lord himself speaking to us and telling us that it is impossible to renew to repentance those who have been so very blessed and are yet given to turn their backs on all those blessings.

Verse 18 of this same chapter reveals that this Greek word is being used to inform us of the Lord’s perspective. Those words are not from man’s perspective:

Heb 6:17  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible [G102: ‘adunatos’] for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

This is the definition of the Greek word G102, ‘adunatos’, translated as ‘impossible’:

G102
ἀδύνατος
adunatos
ad-oo’-nat-os
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1415; unable, that is, weak (literally or figuratively); passively impossible: – could not do, impossible, impotent, not possible, weak.
Total KJV occurrences: 10

This Greek word appears ten times in the New Testament, and it is most often translated as ‘impossible”:

G102
ἀδύνατος
adunatos
Total KJV Occurrences: 10
impossible, 6
Luk_18:26-27 (3), Heb_6:4, Heb_6:18, Heb_11:6
could, 1
Rom_8:3
impotent, 1
Act_14:8
possible, 1
Heb_10:4
weak, 1
Rom_15:1

The fact that this Greek word ‘adunatos’ is listed as ‘possible’ in Hebrews 10:4 demonstrates that computers cannot think, because the fact is that it is not translated as ‘possible’ at all. Rather, it is translated as “not possible” in:

Heb 10:4  For it is not possible [G102: ‘adunatos’] that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

These Jews had witnessed the veracity and accuracy of the words of the Lord from the mouth of His prophet, Jeremiah. They had heard and witnessed the fates of all of King Josiah’s sons, King Jehoahaz, King Jehoiakim, Jehoiakim’s son, King Jechoniah, and King Jehoiakim’s brother, Zedekiah. They had witnessed how the false prophet, Hananiah, had died just three months after Jeremiah has prophesied that he would die that same year, and still they refused to be obedient to the Lord’s words forbidding them from returning to Egypt instead of submitting to the princes of the king of Babylon, and the Lord by the word of Jeremiah had commanded them to do.

It is in that sense that these remnant Jews signify those of whom the Lord tells us they will “be cut off and that without remedy”, and that “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance”.

Jer 44:14  So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.

They “have a desire to return there” in the same sense that the “seven women” have a desire to wear the Lord’s name, but they refuse to wear His garments or eat the food He supplies.

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

The words “but such as shall escape” refer to those who, like Jeremiah and Baruch, and like Caleb and Joshua, were sent by the Lord to witness against the disobedience of those who find no place for repentance.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

I’d like to end every study on a positive note because everything is indeed ‘yea’ in Christ:

2Co 1:18  But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
2Co 1:19  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

(Key verses: Gen 46:28-34; Gen 47:1-26)

All things in the scriptures have both a negative and positive application, and that helps us to understand that God is the sovereign Creator of both good and evil and that He works both of these to fulfill His purposes in this creation, even as we all live “by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God” (Isa 45:5-7; Mat 4:4; Rom 11:36; Eph 1:11). This spiritual mystery is inherent in the way God uses His Word, even Jesus Christ, as revealed through the pillar of cloud during physical Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness (Col 1:15-20; Rev 1:8):

Exo 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

We know God is not a territorial God, and He rules over all kingdoms of humanity which He actually appoints and directs in every aspect (Pro 8:15-16; Dan 4:17; Dan 4:25; Rom 13:1-7; 1Ti 2:1-3):

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

The physical land of Egypt, also known as “Mizraim” in the Hebrew language, is generally seen in the scriptures in its negative application in relation to the flesh and our time of imprisonment to the idols of our natural mind, being enemies to God and His elect (Gen 37:36; Gen 39:1; Gen 39:20; Exo 1:8-14; Deu 6:12; Deu 7:8; Psa 105:23; Rev 11:8):

Isa 19:1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Isa 19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
Isa 19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Even Egypt has a positive application in the sense that it is used several times in scripture as a place of refuge and supply (Gen 12:10; Gen 41:56-57; Exo 2:1-11; Jer 42:7-22; Mat 2:13-15). Yet in Egypt shall the “language of Canaan” be spoken which points to the spiritual salvation through the faith and mind of Christ, even as the life of earthy man shall be saved through its destruction (Mat 10:28):

Isa 19:18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.
Isa 19:19 In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
Isa 19:20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
Isa 19:21 And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.
Isa 19:22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

The book of Genesis beautifully encapsulates both these perspectives of Egypt and actually concludes with Egypt being the place where Joseph reunites with his family as he also used Egypt as a platform to supply the whole earth with food. It is from this perspective that we can also get a wonderful picture of the way through which God will bring all in the first man Adam to be in unity with Him through His elected Christ (Isa 11:16; Isa 19:23-25; Isa 35:1-10):

1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

With this perspective we are given such a solid platform by God to see to it that we have the right frame of mind, utter the right words, check our own actions when we deal with this world; as this historic event in the book of Genesis also admonishes us to do. In Egypt the family of Jacob is reunited through the instructions of Joseph who is the ruler of Egypt as appointed by the Pharaoh. As Egypt is now playing a positive role in God’s plan, so does the Pharaoh in that he now typifies God, the Father of Jesus, who instructs His Christ in all things (Joh 1:1-3; Joh 12:44-50). Jesus Christ is the “highway” of God, and through Him all things came into being, and in Him will all things be brought to a conclusion (Pro 16:17; Isa 40:3; Joh 14:6; Rom 11:36). The theme of restitution is central to the message of scripture as God will indeed bring all things together in and through the Christ (1Co 15:22-28):

Act 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven [His elect] must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Eph 1:9 (YLT) having made known to us the secret of His will, according to His good pleasure, that He purposed in Himself,
Eph 1:10 (YLT) in regard to the dispensation of the fulness of the times, to bring into one the whole in the Christ, both the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth–in him.

On the arrival of the whole family of Jacob into Egypt, they went to live in the land of Goshen in Egypt:

Gen 46:28 And he [Jacob] sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

This word “Goshen” means “drawing near” (according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions), and it is also here in Goshen where Joseph drew his family nearer to him:

Gen 46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

Through the supply of food which Joseph gathered in the seven years of “great plenty”, Joseph is the saviour of not only Egypt, but of the whole world, foreshadowing the work of Christ as appointed by the Father (1Ti 2:3-6; 1Ti 4:10; 1Jn 2:1-2):

Gen 41:55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
Gen 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

Joseph consulted and confirmed the place where his family should live in the boundaries of Egypt with the Pharaoh:

Gen 46:31 And Joseph said to his brethren, and to his father’s house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say to him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
Gen 46:32 And the men are shepherds, for their trade has been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
Gen 46:33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
Gen 46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd [two Hebrew words are used to translate “shepherd”: “râ‛âh” which means “to pasture, tend, graze, feed”; and “tsô’n” which means “to migrate”] is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

The reason why the Egyptians found the life of a shepherd an abomination links to the idea that the flesh is always in need of cities and towers of its own standards in which it feels safe and secure, which then reflects in outward actions:

Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

To be scattered and living by faith is what typifies the life of a sojourner on the earth, even the life of a shepherd. The family of Abraham, Isaac, and now also Jacob, was called by God to a life by faith which is typified by a life of migration and dwelling in tents and trusting in God all the time. Our Egyptian flesh despises a lifestyle based on the faith of Christ and the things of the spirit:

Heb 11:9 By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Joseph lived a lifestyle of faith as also witnessed when he took five brothers with him to the Pharaoh. The number five spiritually points to how one receives grace through faith, even to enter through the five pillars at the entrance to the tabernacle of God (Exo 26:36-37; Eph 2:8-10; Gal 2:16). As God is only pleased when we come to Him by the faith of Christ, so Joseph is also in need of the Pharaoh’s full agreement with the whereabouts of his family within his land (Heb 11:6):

Gen 47:1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
Gen 47:2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

The brothers of Joseph made it clear to the Pharaoh that they are shepherds and sojourners with no permanent dwelling on this earth:

Gen 47:3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
Gen 47:4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

Pharaoh gave the best of the land to Joseph to give to his family, and he could even appoint men from his family who are virtuous to serve as “rulers over [Pharaoh’s] cattle”. This again has a spiritual application in the appointment of leaders even in God’s church by Christ (Act 14:23; Act 20:28; 1Co 12:28; Eph 4:11-12):

Gen 47:5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
Gen 47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity [Hebrew: “chayil” = ability/virtue/efficient] among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

God will always reward those who are “diligent in [God’s] business” with the gift of service to others, even spiritual rulership as the life of Joseph reveals:

Pro 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Joseph also presented his father separately to the Pharaoh, and in this conversation Jacob confirms to the Pharaoh that life on earth is for sure a temporary evil existence in which we learn a total dependence on God:

Gen 47:7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Gen 47:8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
Gen 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage [Hebrew: “mâgûr” – sojourning/stranger] are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage [Hebrew: “mâgûr” – sojourning/stranger].
Gen 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

This earthy life of flesh was designed by God to be temporary, which is also called an “experience of evil” in the scriptures in which God humbles the sons of humanity to learn that God is our only true Source of life:

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

Joseph supplied his family with whatever was needed for them in the land of Goshen in Egypt:

Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Gen 47:12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

But in the same period of time Joseph’s attention was also on the Egyptians within the seven year famine as he also supplied them with food:

Gen 47:13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

Joseph used a specific method to supply food to the Egyptians which points out how Christ works to get our full attention to eventually see that God is the sovereign Ruler over our whole life and His will is done in every aspect of our lives (Mat 6:9-13). God supplies us with everything, and then we naturally abuse His gifts. But in the end He requires an accounting and in that process we learn so much of ourselves and His will for us. In the first year Joseph gathered all the money or silver that was in the possession of the Egyptians:

Gen 47:14 And Joseph gathered up all the money [Hebrew: “keseph” – silver] that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

Money or silver in our own hands reveals our self-righteous heart which is witnessed in our thoughts, words and actions. The ‘silver’ of the natural heart is dross, and these impurities need to be purged from us through a fiery process and much humiliation. God will gather all the pollutions of all natural hearts, and His purging fire will establish His throne and rulership in all, even as Joseph is doing to these Egyptians (Deu 7:21; Jos 7:21; Psa 119:119; Isa 2:20; Isa 30:22; Eze 22:17-22; Zec 14:14; Mat 13:30):

Pro 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
Pro 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

After all the money was removed from the people, then Joseph targeted their cattle within that first year of the famine:

Gen 47:15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
Gen 47:16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

When our self-righteous heart is exposed, we see that we are nothing more than a beast, created on the sixth day along with all the other earthly creatures. This gives all of mankind the same spiritual mark of being corrupt and subjected to vanity (Gen 1:24-31; Ecc 3:18; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20). With this mark humanity can do nothing else but to buy and sell in the lusts of flesh and the pride of earthly life through the spirit of the world with all its false doctrines. This is what we all buy and sell until the new mind is established when we reject this mark of flesh and die daily to these lusts and pride – not like Cain who could not be killed because of this very mark of the beast given to Him by God (Gen 4:15; 1Co 15:31; 1Jn 2:16; Rev 13:15-18). This is what is typified when we, like these Egyptians, exchange our natural falsities for the truth:

Gen 47:17 And they brought their cattle to Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses [typifying our earthly strength], and for the flocks [our straying after false shepherds], and for the cattle of the herds [our labour and sacrificing in vanity], and for the asses [carrying our burdens alone]: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

In the second year of the famine Joseph bought the lands from the Egyptians in exchange for food:

Gen 47:18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
Gen 47:19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

Here we see the spiritual connection between the physical land and our physical bodies:

Gen 47:20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
Gen 47:21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

To receive our spiritual “land”, our “promised land”, we must “sell” our physical land as no flesh will have any glory in God’s presence (Rom 12:1):

1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

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.

It was only the priests who were not under this procedure at this point in time as they typified the elect who already endured this whole process of judgment and redemption:

Gen 47:22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

Now Joseph commanded the people to do their own sowing to provide for themselves and for others – this is an important principle in God’s kingdom (1Co 4:12; Php 2:12; 1Th 4:11):

Gen 47:23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

In the process of sowing in the land spiritually, we also present our bodies as a living sacrifice in service to God and others – the land of God:

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

In the time of harvest the Egyptians were required by Joseph to add “the fifth part unto Pharaoh” and four parts of the harvest were kept for themselves:

Gen 47:24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Gen 47:25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.
Gen 47:26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.

The numbers that feature here are the numbers five and four. We can now see how this number five, which indicates grace through faith, confirms the judgment on these Egyptians. As Pharaoh typifies the Father here, this again helps us to see that all in the fleshly Adam shall be brought to see that they were all God’s work from start to finish. God works all things in every creature’s life, and all will be given God’s spirit in full. We are indeed bought with a price, which is the life of Christ, and when that life is in us, we glorify Him and the Father now in our time of flesh and more so when the fullness of our spiritual life is given (Col 3:17-24):

1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1Co 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

Four of the five parts of the harvest went to the Egyptians to use. The number four relates spiritually to the whole of the matter at hand, which confirms the truth that we can only serve God with our whole heart when we received the gift of grace through faith (Mat 22:37-38):

Psa 111:1 Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

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

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:
The Mark of The Beast
The Lake of Fire In Genesis
Metals – Precious Metals, Silver – Negative, Part 1
Animals in Scripture
The Fifth Part and Tithing
The Priests of Egypt
Numbers in Scripture