Matthew 12:25–50 Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

[Study Aired June 9, 2025]

In our study today, we are going to look at the consequence of a kingdom divided against itself, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, how we are known by our fruits, what Jonah being in the whale for three days implies spiritually, the return of an unclean spirit, and finally, what Jesus’ mother and brothers represent spiritually. 

A Kingdom Divided Against Itself

Mat 12:25  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 
Mat 12:26  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 
Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 

These verses were preceded by Jesus healing a man possessed with the devil, such that he was deaf and dumb. The Pharisees attributed the casting out of the devil from the man to Jesus being possessed by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, explained why their assertion was false in the verses above.

Physically, when a kingdom or a city is divided against itself, or Satan is divided against itself, the obvious result is its implosion or collapse. Spiritually, a kingdom or a city refers to a church. When a church is divided against itself, the end result is that the people constituting the kingdom will surely end up not receiving the promise of God. How is a church divided against itself? It is when the worshipers do not speak the same thing.

1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 

It is therefore imperative that as the Lord’s elect we speak the same thing as admonished by the Lord. 

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

Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

As we can see in the churches of this world or Babylon, everyone speaks something different, because they are deprived of the truth. No wonder there are several denominations of the churches of this world. In the Book of Revelation, we are told that the number of false doctrines propagated by these false apostles parading in the churches of this world is 200 million. These false doctrines are what divide the churches of this world.

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.  

In verse 27, the Lord asked the Pharisees by what power their followers cast out demons if they believe He uses the power of Beelzebub to drive out demons. He went further to tell the Pharisees that their own followers are the ones who will judge them. These Pharisees represent us when we were in the churches of this world. Our works are signified by our followers. The Lord saying that their followers will judge them means that our works are what is being used to judge us. The various denominations of the church system of this world therefore attest to the fact that they are not one, as the Lord enjoins us to be of the same mind. Therefore, they do not know the way of peace.

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. 

Mat 12:28  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 

As we have indicated in previous studies, being possessed by devils means our hearts and minds are filled with false doctrines. 

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  

In verse 28, the Lord is saying that casting out devils by the Spirit of God shows that the kingdom of God is come unto us. While the presence of demons and evil spirits were acknowledged in the Old Testament, there were no accounts of any prophet or figure of God possessing the power to cast out demons as seen in the New Testament with Jesus and His disciples. In other words, it is Christ coming into our lives that we are given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, and as a result, the false doctrines in our heavens are cast out or destroyed. 

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.

Although men of God in the Old Testament spoke through the spirit of God, they were not given to understand what they were saying. Their works were for our benefit as the Lord’s elect. 

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 

Jesus casting out devils in verse 28, is the coming of Christ with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness into our lives to expose the lies of the evil one, for the establishment of the kingdom of the Lord within us. In another dispensation, this kingdom shall be made manifest, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. 

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: 

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 

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.

Mat 12:29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 
Mat 12:30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.   

In verse 29, the Lord is showing us that He is the strong man, who defeated the evil one to set us free from our captivity under the devil’s rule. As He is, so are we. If we are to bind the works of the devil in our lives, then we must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. This means that we must put on the whole armour which the Lord has provided for us.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
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; 

Verse 30 is indicating that we are either on the Lord’s side or the side of the devil. That is to say, we are either gathering or scattering the Lord’s flock. Gathering together the Lord’s flock is speaking the same thing with the same mind concerning the truth. Scattering the Lord’s flock is speaking false doctrines.

Jer 23:1  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. 
Jer 23:2  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 
Jer 23:3  And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 
Jer 23:4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

Speaking Against the Holy Spirit

Mat 12:31  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. 

When we were in the churches of this world or Babylon, we believed that there is an unpardonable sin, that is, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In other words, those who speak against the Holy spirit will never be forgiven and therefore miss out on “Heaven.” However, here in Matthew, these verses above do not say that there is an unpardonable sin. It rather says that those who sin or blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come. In Mark, we are given further information that says that those who sin against the Holy Spirit will be judged in the lake of fire age. 

Mar 3:28  Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 
Mar 3:29  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Mar 3:30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. 

This age ends with the coming of Jesus with His elect to establish His kingdom here on earth. The world to come is the age where the kingdom of God is established here on earth during the thousand-year rulership of the Lord and His Christ. This thousand-year reign ends with the release of Satan and the rebellion of the human race against the Lord and His Christ, to usher in another age of the lake of fire. 

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.  

What this implies is that those who sin against the Holy Spirit, that is, to ascribe the work of the Lord to the devil or an unclean spirit, will surely not be given repentance in this age or the age to come. They will, however, be forgiven in the lake of fire age when they are judged. We know from the word of the Lord that judgment causes us to learn righteousness. All humanity, including the devil and His cohorts, will learn righteousness in the lake-of-fire age. That is when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  

The question is, “What does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit?” We blaspheme against the Holy Spirit when we teach contrary to the word of the Lord, which is spirit. The fact that we, His elect, shall not be hurt by the second death of the lake of fire which means that we are granted repentance in this age. It is the people of this world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon who shall suffer the pains of the lake of fire. This scenario is illustrated by the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were thrown in the burning fiery furnace but were not hurt by the fire.       

Dan 3:25  He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. 
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit

Mat 12:33  Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 
Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 

Every good tree brings forth good fruit, and every corrupt tree produces evil fruit. What this implies is that those who are the sons of the kingdom, that is, His elect, live their lives pleasing the Lord. On the other hand, those whose father is the devil, do not do things that are pleasing to the Lord. In summary, our works will show whether we are children of God or children of the devil. 

Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  

Vipers are serpents; and serpents represent the tail as follows:

Rev 9:19  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 

Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 

The tail is a symbol of false prophets. Thus, Jesus calling the Pharisees a generation of vipers, means that they were false prophets who were deceiving the people who came to them unsuspecting. As shown earlier, these Pharisees represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon and are therefore false prophets. Because these false prophets are of their father the devil, it is impossible for them to speak the truth and therefore, out of the abundance of the false doctrines in their hearts and minds, their mouths speak these false doctrines. On the other hand, a good man is a child of the Lord and out of his heart and mind comes the truth of the word of the Lord. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 

Giving account of whatever we have done with our lives on the day of judgment entails the false doctrines we have propagated. If our hearts and minds are filled with the truth of the word of the Lord, we shall speak the truth and be justified. On the other hand, if our hearts and minds are filled with the false doctrines of the devil, whatever comes out of our mouths shall reflect the false doctrines within. Therefore, by what we speak, we are either justified or condemned. 

Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 

The Sign of Jonah

Mat 12:38  Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 
Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 
Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

As indicated, the scribes and the Pharisees represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon, of which we were part at a certain stage of our walk with Christ.  The scribes and Pharisees asking of a sign from Jesus shows us a key characteristic of our lives when we were in the churches of Babylon – our obsession with signs and wonders as proof that the Lord is with us. It is instructive to note that Jesus referred to the scribes and Pharisees as an evil and adulterous generation in verse 39. The use of “evil” signifies that our works in the churches of this world or Babylon were not pleasing to the Lord and that we were doing the works of our father, the devil. 

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 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  

The Lord calling us “adulterous” shows that we were serving another Jesus. 

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

The Lord telling the scribes and the Pharisees that there shall be no sign given to this generation implies that knowing Christ is no longer dependent on physical signs and wonders as we see the churches of Babylon validating the presence of the Lord in their midst with signs and wonders. This is the warning that Jesus gave us regarding signs and wonders:

Mat 24:23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 
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. 

The Lord wants us to rather focus on the sign of the prophet Jonah who was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights. Jesus showed us how to understand the word of the Lord by referring to Jonah’s three days and nights experience in the belly of a whale as representing Him in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. Here Jesus was foretelling the people of His death and burial in the tomb.  

We know that it takes the spirit to help us understand that the three days and nights that Jonah spent in the belly of the whale is about Jesus being buried in the grave. This implies that what the Lord is telling us is that His signs and wonders are now perceived in the spirit. In other words, Jesus’ spiritual work of taking us from the miry clay and establishing us on the rock is what He is doing in this age, and it is those who worship Him in spirit and truth who appreciate the great miracles He is performing in our lives.

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Does it mean that Jesus is no longer performing physical miracles? The answer is absolutely, no!! Everything the Lord does is miraculous – how we are fed and clothed every day is a miracle. However, when we focus on physical evidence of His daily miraculous acts, we miss out on the spiritual reality of the Lord in this age, because God is spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 

Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 
Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.  

The preaching of Jonas brought repentance to the people of Nineveh, a gentile city. In likewise manner, the queen of Sheba (the queen of the South), a gentile, came to hear of the wisdom of Solomon and was overwhelmed. However, Jesus, who is the son of God and therefore greater than both Jonas and Solomon, is here with us to reconcile men to God and this generation does not pay attention to His voice. As indicated, this generation, representing the churches of Babylon are not paying heed to His voice.  The fact that both Nineveh and the queen of Sheba shall rise up in the judgment of this generation attests to the fact that the churches of this world shall be judged. However, they shall be the last on the line to be saved.

Eze 16:53  When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: 
Eze 16:54  That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. 
Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. 

Return of an Unclean Spirit

Mat 12:43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 
Mat 12:44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 
Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. 

As we indicated earlier in the study, a person possessed by an unclean spirit is one whose heart and mind is filled with false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. When we did not know Christ and were just like the people of this world, we were spiritually possessed by an unclean spirit. When Christ initially came to us, the unclean spirit went out from us as the truth of His words started cleansing the false doctrines in our hearts and mind. 

As we entered the churches of this world, thinking we were going to know Christ through His words, we were rather fed with the complete false doctrines of another Jesus, signified by the seven unclean spirits, thus making us worse off than when we were before. 

2Pe 2:17  These (the false prophets in the churches of this world) are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

In verse 45, the Lord told us that what happened to the man with the unclean spirit is what is happening to this wicked generation. As we have indicated earlier, this wicked generation refers to our walk in the churches of this world or Babylon and all those fellowshiping in the churches of this world. The reference to this wicked generation therefore attests to our deplorable state when we were in the churches of this world thinking we were righteous. Just like the Galatians who were bewitched, we were also bewitched by seven more wicked spirits during our sojourn in Babylon.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

Mat 12:46  While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 
Mat 12:47  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 
Mat 12:48  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 
Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 
Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

These verses show us that on a positive note, our mother and brethren are those who do the will of Jesus Christ, that is, the Lord’s elect. We know that ‘mother’ represents a church, and therefore, Jesus pointing to His disciples as His earthly mother and brothers when talking to the Scribes and Pharisees, who represent the church system of this world or Babylon, is to let us know that we, His elect, are the church of the New Jerusalem or the firstborn which is different from the church system of this world which is in bondage with her children.

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

We cannot thank the Lord enough for dragging us out of Babylon and making us His sons and daughters. May His name be praised. Amen!!

Rev 12:1-6 – Part 3 The Woman and The Manchild – The Spiritual Significance of Ten Horns

[Study Aired Dec 8, 2024]

We paused our last study at the point of searching out the spiritual significance of the ten horns on the seven heads of the great red dragon;

Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

We will begin our search with what the scriptures reveal to be the meaning of the word ‘Horn’ or ‘horns’:

Here are a couple of examples of how this word is used in scripture:

1Sa 2:10  The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Mic 4:13  Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

Every cattle farmer is well aware of how a cow with horns dominates dehorned or polled cattle. The Lord promises to make the horn of His elect a horn of iron, which is just another way of promising them that they will rule the nations of this world with a rod of iron:

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.

As with every word of scripture, there is also a negative application which is applied to the things of our vain flesh, in which “is no good thing”.

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.

Here is an example of how this word ‘horn’ is used in relation to our flesh:

Psa 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
Psa 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

One of the main reasons why “the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God” and one reason why “he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned” is that “spiritual discernment” means that every Word of God reflects what is our Lord, and it so happens our Lord is the Creator of both light and darkness, and while it is beyond the mind of the sons of the great red dragon to understand, the truth remains that it is God who “creates evil… Yes even the wicked for the day of evil” within us, and He does not deny that Truth.

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

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

This simply is not given to the natural-minded “carnal… babe in Christ” to receive or understand (1Co 3:1-4). This is demonstrated for us by the dual purpose our Lord fulfilled in the “pillar of fire” on the shores of the Red Sea.

Exo 14:20  And it [the pillar of fire] came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them [the Egyptians], but it gave light by night to these [God’s people, Israel]: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

This is the very nature of Christ and His Words which makes all spiritual matters “a cloud and darkness” to the natural man. This is the very nature of these words ‘horn’ and ‘ten’ which we are just now considering. It is this dual application of all scripture which keeps our natural man from seeing what we are being told about this dragon and all of his sons. The word ‘horn’ as it relates to this dragon and his son, the beast, tells us that He is indeed the powerful “prince of the power of the air”, and therefore this dragon has “seven crowns upon his heads”.

Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course [Greek: aion] of this world [Greek: kosmos], according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

What then is the number ‘ten’ in spiritual terms? Ten is demonstrated to signify the perfection of our flesh in its lawlessness. That is why there are ten commandments in what is called “the letter… for the lawless and disobedient.”

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.

1Ti 1:8  But we know that the law [is] good, if a man use it lawfully;
1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Since “the law is not made for a righteous man”, its “lawful use” is therefore to make us aware of its promise of a Savior who, like Moses, was prophesied to come during a “time of reformation” of the “carnal ordinances” which were the law.

Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Act 28:23  And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into [his] lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

There were ten plagues on Egypt, Laban deceived Jacob ten times, Joseph was sold into Egypt by his ten brothers, there were ten rebellions against God by Israel in the wilderness, and Job’s comforters, reproached him ten times.

Gen 31:7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Job 19:3  These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.

As always there is a flip side to any negative, and the flip side of the number ten is the contrast of the minds of spiritual men to the minds of natural men.

Dan 1:20  And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king [Nebuchadnezzar] enquired of them [Daniel and his three friends], he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

Let’s put these two verses describing the dragon and his sons side by side and analyze them in light of what those words mean and not just what they say.

Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

The great red dragon has been given seven heads with seven crowns upon his seven heads. He also has ten horns. Now let’s contrast the description of this “great red dragon” with the description of his sons (Joh 8:44).

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Satan did not become the adversary. That is what he was “from the beginning”. None of us are born “understanding Christ’s speech.” We are all born spiritually deaf and blind. Here is Paul quoting Isaiah in relation to how we come into this world.

Act 28:26  Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Act 28:27  For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Christ here is telling us that all those who “cannot hear Christ’s word are of their father the devil.” Understanding and hearing Christ’s Word is what we are talking about at this very moment, as we discuss these two words ‘ten’ and ‘horns’. That is why this book of scripture is called “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is not primarily revealing the events surrounding His return to rule this physical earth as much as it is discussing the destruction of these ten horns within us as a type and a sign of “the man of sin” within us.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

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?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

As hard as it is to believe, the Truth is that part of this “revelation of Jesus Christ” requires “that man of sin be revealed” within each of us, “the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” It is this “man of sin” who withstands Christ at His coming, and it is this “man of sin” who is portrayed by these ten horns who make war with and are destroyed by Christ at His coming. These ten horns are on one beast. They are the symbol for the nations and principalities within us who withstand the word of God when it comes to us.

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rev 17:12  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.

These “ten horns… have one mind… give their power and strength to the beast [and they] make war with the Lamb.” It is obvious that these ten horns are all that is within us which cannot accept the words of Christ and His doctrines. Like the “ten commandments” which were on “tables of stone” and whose glory was fading and passing, these ten horns are ten kings or ruling doctrines within us which are also fading and passing away, as they are destroyed by the brightness of the coming of the doctrine of Christ.

2Co 3:7  But if the ministration of death, [the ten commandments] written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
2Co 3:8  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
2Co 3:9  For if the ministration of condemnation [be] glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
2Co 3:10  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
2Co 3:11  For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
2Co 3:12  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
2Co 3:13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

There is only one time in scripture that we are told that “Moses’ face did shine.” What was in his hand that caused his face to shine?

Exo 34:29  And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

So these ten horns which oppose the doctrine of Christ in us are the letter of God’s Word which keeps us blinded to the things of the spirit. They are the symbol and sign of the mind of the natural man who cannot understand the things of the spirit.”

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit [words of Christ (Joh 6:63)] and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. (the Word of God)
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: 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:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the [ten] princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Whereas the great red dragon has “seven crowns upon his heads”, the beast is said to have “the name of blasphemy… on his heads.” Does this mean that the dragon does not have the name of blasphemy on his seven heads? Absolutely not. The fact they are not mentioned does not mean this dragon is not blasphemous. That is exactly why any “son of the devil” has “the name of blasphemy” on his “seven heads”. He has the name of blasphemy because that is his father’s name.

All of the devil’s sons “speak as a dragon” every time they mention any of the dragon’s doctrines.

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

“Two horns like a lamb [but] speaking as a dragon” demonstrates the fact that those who are deceived are unaware that they are not following the true ‘Lamb’ who they think they are following. They are speaking blasphemy “as a dragon”, because they “are of their father the devil” who “was a liar from the beginning.”

So even though it is not mentioned in this verse, we have established that the dragon is also a blasphemer, because the beast, who has “the name of blasphemy” written on his seven heads may appear to the undiscerning to be “a lamb”, but with his doctrines he “speaks as a dragon”. Who, among the dragon’s sons, for example, does not believe he has free will.

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

So the differences between these two descriptions of the dragon and his children are that the dragon has seven crowns on his seven heads, but the beast is said to have ten crowns upon his ten horns. Both father and son have seven heads and ten horns, but while the father is said to have seven crowns on his seven heads with no mention of “the name of blasphemy” on his seven heads, the son is said to have ten crowns on his ten horns with no mention of seven crowns on his seven heads. Instead of crowns, it is “the name of blasphemy” which is emphasized as being on the seven heads of the beast.

So why aren’t the seven crowns said to be on the seven heads of the beast? It is because the blasphemous name on the heads [is] our flesh’s and our father the devil’s hatred for anything Godly, and it is the verification that we “are of our father the devil.”

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.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Crowns represent authority and power. Where does this beast get the power and authority which are behind these ten crowns on his ten horns? Here is why this is worded as it is. Here is why there are ten crowns on the ten horns of the beast, while there are seven crowns on the seven heads of the great red dragon.

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

The Greek word translated “seat” here is “thronos”, and is better translated as ‘throne’. It is those who are on thrones who wear crowns, and the beast we are wears ten crowns upon ten horns, demonstrating that we all must first worship this beast we are before we are brought to worship the slain Lamb, who is also the Lion of The Tribe of Judah, and the King of Kings. When we bow down to the beast that is within us, we are all, in effect bowing down to and worshiping the great red dragon.

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

As hard as it may be to accept, the truth of this revelation is that we are to keep Revelation 13:4.

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

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

These ten horns “are the loftiness of our doctrines and the power of our carnality”, to borrow a quote from an email I received this week on this very subject. That is exactly what these ten crowns on ten horns are all about. The reason the crowns are on the heads of the dragon is because the doctrines of the dragon are what rule him. The reason why the crowns are on the horns of the beast is because horns signify power, and “the beast gets his power and his throne and great authority [directly] from the dragon.”

What is “a thousand two hundred and three score days” in the wilderness?

As we saw in our discussion of the time the court without the temple is given to be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles and the time given to the witness of the two witnesses, both times are the same time:

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

It is no accident that these two phrases describe the same period of time. It is a period of three and one half years. This same period of time is also described in this same chapter in these terms:

Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

As Joseph told the Pharaoh, “The dream is one”, and that is true here as well. We all “keep the things written in this prophecy.” We all spend a symbolic three and one half years “treading the holy city under foot” before we spend the exact same symbolic amount of time witnessing against those who tread the holy city under foot. It takes both halves of this period to complete the revelation of Jesus Christ within us. In other words it takes being and “keeping the things written” concerning the first Adam in this revelation, as an essential and integral part of this complete revelation. Three and one half is the number which symbolizes half of the revelation of Jesus Christ. It symbolizes the time we spend both “breathing out threats against our Lord and His disciples”, as well as the time we spend bearing witness to the truths of our Lord and His disciples. It is knowing what three and one half means that brings us to understand that “There is one event to all men”, and it is knowing the meaning of three and one half, that brings us to understand why we are told that “All things are ours, life and death, things present and things to come, and we are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.” Three and one half, whether it is expressed in three days and a half, 1260 days, forty and two months, time, times, and half a time, as three and one half years, “the dream is one”, and are all “the same”.

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.

The the symbolism of “three and one half” is that ‘three and one half” is only half of the whole revelation of Jesus Christ. Three and a half signifies “life and death, things present and things to come” which we are living as the walking dead in our old man until we are given life eternal in our new man.

Mat 8:22  But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

“You are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” is the second half of the revelation of Jesus Christ. “You are Christ’s and Christ is God’s” is the second half of the ministry of Christ’s “week” of Christ “confirming the covenant with many”:

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Seven is complete. It is through His body that confirmation will be completed.

Gen 2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Mankind is not complete on the sixth day. We must enter into Christ our rest before God’s work is completed, and that work is “ended… on the seventh day.” It is ended at the end of two sets of “three and one half”. We will all spend a symbolic “forty and two months treading the holy city under foot” as we rebel against our Lord ten times, in the wilderness. We will do this even as we are being nourished of God in the wilderness on bread which “is not the true bread”, before we bring forth a manchild within us who will bear witness to the truths of our Lord for this same period of one thousand two hundred and three score days.

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Both “forty and two months” and “a thousand two hundred and three-score days are the same period of time. Combined they complete ”the confirmation of the covenant”.

Summary

1) We have seen when this chapter is to be fulfilled:

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

What we saw once again is that this revelation is, was and always will be being fulfilled in all who are being given to see and hear and keep the things of the spirit, “the things which are written therein… the words of this prophecy.”

2) We have seen what the sun and the twelve stars and the woman symbolize. What we saw is that Jacob and Rachel, the physical parents of Joseph, are signified in Joseph’s dream as the sun and the moon bowing down to Joseph. If we see Joseph as a type of Christ in us and us in Christ, then we can see that the sun and the moon symbolize our old father and mother while we are of our father the devil and of our mother, the bondwoman, Babylon the great. The twelve stars in the woman’s crown tell us that we are all conceived of the same mother, just as both the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as the tree of life, both come “out of the ground.” Cain and Abel are both of the same mother, Eve, and Jacob and Esau are both of the same mother, Rebekah. The spiritual message in this revelation is that God’s people all “come out of… Babylon the great, the mother of harlots”.

3) We have seen that the “great red dragon” is none other than our father the devil, that old serpent who deceives the whole word, to whom we are first introduced in the second chapter of Genesis, He is also called Satan. Once again we have many titles for the same thing, and once again, we are all first of our father the devil, before our man of sin is destroyed by the brightness of the coming of Christ into our hearts and minds.

4) We saw what is the spiritual significance of a third part of the stars of heaven following the tail of the great red dragon, and what we saw is that “one third” doesn’t mean ‘one third’ any more than seven thousand means seven thousand.

Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

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.

Just as seven signifies a complete complement, the number ‘three’, or the fraction ‘one third’, signifies the process of judgment we are enduring as we are: ‘crucified with Christ, as we die daily and as the great red dragon is being cast out of our heavens’.

5) We have seen that the manchild who rules with a rod of iron, is Christ’s Christ, who, in Him, are dead and buried with Him and raised up with Christ to rule the nations within with a rod of iron before the redemption of the purchased possession.

6) We have seen how, according to Ephesians 2:6, the manchild, who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, is caught up to God and to His throne within us even now while we are still in these vessels of clay. Even now we are “seated with Him in the heavens”.

7) We have seen what takes place while we are the woman “in the wilderness”, and what we saw was that we rebel against our Lord ten times even as we are being nourished of Him with a “bread from heaven” which is “not the true bread from heaven”. We also saw that this time of nourishment on bread that is not the true bread is “a time, and times, and half a time”, which just happens to be the same period of time we spend as God’s witnesses to what is the true bread from heaven. Both are said to be one thousand two hundred and sixty days, or three and one half years, and together they make a complete revelation which is ended on the seventh day.

8) We saw that there are seven crowns on the seven heads of the great red dragon, because his doctrines, which make him who he is, just like our doctrines, are all in our mind and in our hearts. We have also seen that the crowns of the beast are on his ten horns because the beast receives his power, his throne, and great authority over our lives from the doctrines of the great red dragon, and by worshiping our own idols we are in spiritual reality worshiping the dragon who gives our beast within his power and his throne.

9) Finally, we saw that “a thousand two hundred and sixty days” is also called “a time, times and half a time” in verse 14 which refers to this same period of time in which the woman is nourished of God while she is “in the wilderness” where she rebels against her own Savior for that symbolic period of three and one half years. What we learned is that any time the number three and one half is mentioned, the spiritual significance of that number is that we are all natural before we become spiritual, and the natural half of our walk is integral to and the prerequisite of the spiritual part of our walk.

Next study, if the Lord wills, we will discover that there is war in the heavens, and that the great red dragon can be and is cast out of our heavens, and is brought into subjection to the power of the son of God within us.

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.
Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is through the destruction of darkness of spiritual death that the light of spirit life comes (Rom 1:20, Gen 1:2-4, Col 1:22, Heb 2:14).

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.

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

God created darkness/death as an opponent or enemy of the spiritual light/life and this darkness/death is reflected in all physical and carnal things, including our physical body and the natural mind (Gen 1:2-31).

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

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

In essence we all have been born to fight a spiritual war – a war between darkness and light, between evil and good. God has a good purpose because through this war we are learning about Him and His perfect plan for the salvation of all in the generation of the first Adam. The natural man is first given over to be the seed of the serpent as we all share the same carnal mind with him. We have the devil as our spiritual father, and we are enemies of God by nature (Joh 8:44, Rom 5:10, Rev 12:1-7):

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

Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works…

Any war is associated with anger and hatred. Human anger and hatred express the pride and lusts of the evil heart or mind of the wicked man of sin in us (Pro 16:4, Jer 17:9, 1Jn 2:16). Anger and hatred are foundational in our understanding of the inward spiritual battles within the generation of the first Adam since the beginning. Humanity gives shallow and carnal reasons for all the wars and bloodshed that is going on in all levels of society in human history. The Scriptures however bring us to the heart of the problem. It is first reflected in the interaction between the two sons of Adam and Eve in Genesis, which helps us to understand the inward spiritual war and the works of God within our heavens (Rev 12:7-9, Dan 10:13, Dan 12:1, Eph 6:12, Col 1:16):

Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten [Hebrew: qnah = possession] a man from the LORD.

The name ‘Cain’ in Hebrew is associated with ‘taking possession’, and the name also has the meaning of a ‘spear’ connected to it – a sword-like weapon with which strike someone. Adam and Eve seemingly expected Cain to be the fulfillment of God’s promise that their seed will “bruise” the head of the serpent, as we all naturally think the weapons of our warfare is fleshly (Gen 3:15, 2Co 10:3-4). Naturally we are all impatient beings and unaware that God’s promises have a time period connected to it (Heb 11:7, Act 14:22, Mat 10:22, 2Pe 3:9). In our immature state we want our salvation and healing now, and we question God as to why He is delaying and taking us via the longer route (Psa 27:13-14, Psa 69:3, Rev 6:9-10). God has a perfect plan, and that plan includes our preparation time for the inward war which will strengthen and grow our faith to the praise and glory of Jesus (1Pe 1:6-7).

Exo 13:17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
Exo 13:18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

Naturally we want vengeance on injustices to be swiftly executed. The natural man wants God to act quickly, and that is contrary to how God performs His work in this life (Jer 1:12, 2Pe 3:9). God uses the longer route also to reveal our own natural heart to ourselves:

Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

This is how we get to know that every word which comes from the mouth of God has a purpose for us. It is indeed with patience that we will possess anything worthwhile and be His witnesses for all to see:

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

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

Cain was not the type of the Lord Jesus with His flaming sword which the Cherubims are using to keep the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24). Cain was just the type of the carnal sword which man uses in the natural acts of anger and hatred when things are not going as expected (Mat 26:51, Act 12:1-2). So when the second child of Adam and Eve was born, deeper evils of the natural heart are revealed even more in the relationship between these two siblings:

Gen 4:2 (a) And she again bare his brother Abel.

The name ‘Abel’ in Hebrew is connected to ‘vanity’ and his name also carries with it the meaning of ‘breath’. In one sense his name confirms the shortness and emptiness of earthly life (Rom 8:20, Jas 4:14). In another sense Abel was the type of the breath or spirit of God that came in the person of Jesus Christ (Mat 23:35, Heb 12:24, Heb 11:4) There were still many things which Adam and Eve and their first two children had to learn and endure:

Gen 4:2 (b) And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 (a) And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.

Cain was a hard worker of the soil, and Abel just had flocks to tend to – a seemingly much easier job than that of the labour of Cain. At the harvest time or at the end of time, as some translations have it, they both brought an offering to the Lord. God showed favor to Abel’s offering and this brought the anger and hatred in Cain’s heart to the fore. We fume with hatred when we come to realize our own outward efforts cannot replace the inward blood offering of Christ – dying to self (1Jn 1:7, Rev 7:14, Rev 12:11, 1Co 15:31).

Gen 4:4 (b) … And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5 (a) But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth [Hebrew: charah = very angry], and his countenance fell.

By faith Abel sacrificed the more excellent offering than Cain (Heb 11:4,6). According to God’s instructions an animal or a blood offering is required to make atonement or covering for sin. God showed Adam and Eve what was required to have proper covering – the death of a beast:

Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Cain did not take heed of God’s instructions, nor did he learn from the mistakes of His parents. They used their own righteous ideas, and the carnal consensus from their natural minds, to cover their shame. Our own toiling in the soil of our cursed ground will always produce a covering of “filthy rags” which is hopelessly insufficient:

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The meal offering (of the ground) was to be “upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice” as explained in the old covenant laws of offerings (Lev 9:17, Lev 14:31). The shedding of the “blood” (or life) of our old man is not what the natural first born wants to hear or see. It is foolish and unnecessary to take up our cross as that is not good preaching to those who prefer smooth deceit (Isa 30:10).

1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The taking up of our own cross fills up what is behind of the affliction of Christ, as we die with Him and are not persuaded by the false doctrine of substitutionary atonement (Dan 9:27, Gal 2:20, Col 1:24). Jesus’ death on the cross opened up His resurrection spirit life and that (“aeonian” life) helps those who are given the downpayment of that “holy spirit of promise” to die to their own sinful fleshliness in this age (Eph 1:13-14, Gal 5:22-23, 2Co 4:7). That is how the war in the heaven is won – with the blood or life of Jesus in us:

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Abel is providing us with this type of obedience to the pattern of Godly salvation:

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat [Hebrew: cheleb] thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

The Hebrew word for ‘fat’ here is “cheleb”, which can be better understood in this following verse:

Num 18:12 All the best [Hebrew: cheleb] of the oil, and all the best [Hebrew: cheleb] of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.

Abel, while tending his flock, rested in God’s provision as he guided them to the pastures which God already provided (Eph 2:8-10). The fat is Christ’s life and works in us, which will make us able to die to our own firstborn, our flesh, which we offer as a living sacrifice in the service of His body:

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.

Cain saw his own brother Abel as his enemy because God “prepared a table” for Abel in the sight of Cain (Psa 23:1-5).

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
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.

The natural man is the enemy of the spirit man and will always hate and persecute him (Gal 4:29-30, Gal 5:17). God spoke to Cain about the reason for Him rejecting Cain’s offering. However, Cain, the type of our natural first born fleshly man, could not do well as he clung to his own integrity and his own persuasion (Job 27:5-6). He did not either want to ask Abel for one of his flock. We naturally, like Cain, do not at first understand the spiritual principle of being in a family or a body where we respect the contribution which each one supplies, especially those whom we see as “less honorable” and “uncomely”, whom we by nature despise (Rom 14:2):

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.

1Co 12:23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

Like Cain, we naturally hate and kill our brother Abel, a type of the spirit man as we actually vent our anger toward God when we do that:

Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

The same thought that goes into hatred and resenting others, is the same thought and spirit that is behind the vilest evil and murders (Mat 5:21-24). Can anyone plead innocence?

1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

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

All wicked and deceitful hearts commit murders (Jer 17:9). What we do to and say about others, we do to and say against God because no one can do anything which God has not ordained and written in their books (Psa 139:16). Not one single event in this world (outside and inside) is happening without the holy counsel of God (Eph 1:11, Act 4:25-28, Gen 50:20). God will mercifully bring us to see the absurdities in our self-righteous attitudes when He burns that out of our hearts with His spiritual breath (Eze 36:31-32):

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

Even in the rejection of Cain and his offering, God provided hope and the assurance of salvation for all in the generation of the first Adam:

Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin [Hebrew: hatat/chatat = sin or sin offering] lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Cain and all in the generation of the first Adam will be accepted as all will sacrifice the old man of sin to eventually rule over him as we all will do ‘well’ in the last Adam, Jesus Christ (1Co 15:22). The Lord is indeed “a man of war”, and this Lord, the Lamb of God, shall overcome all those in the first Adam who is making war with Him:

Exo 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

[The writer may be reached at glgroenewald@gmail .com for questions or comments.]
[Detailed studies and emails written relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www. iswasandwillbe. com website, including:
Where are Tartaroo and the Bottomless Pit?
What is the Spiritual Significance of the Fatted Calf?
Who is the Seed of Satan?
The Meat (Meal) Offering – Part 1
Cain’s Offering was not Accepted

Greetings,

Thank you so much, and I really enjoyed your writings…… and you are truly gifted!

The thought of all people being saved, the Jews and the Gentiles, thrilled my heart! My only question is regarding those that are mentioned as the seed of Satan. And, Jesus said that Judas (the betrayer) was a devil. How did Satan get seed?

I know you are busy, swamped, and any comment would be great! If not, I understand!

I pray for a hedge of protection over you and your family! May God bless you indeed!

In Christ’s mighty Name, I pray, Amen!

Thank you,

C____

Hi again C____,

The “seed of the serpent” and “of your father the devil” are spiritual statements which have nothing to do with spirits having sex with women. All men are “in Adam.”

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

Eve is the mother of “all living.”

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Being the “seed of the serpent” has to do with “who you yield yourselves to obey.” Christ admits that the Jews of His day were “Abraham’s seed,” yet in the same breath, He tells them that “Ye are of your father the Devil.”

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

There is a world of difference between “believing on Christ” and “continuing in His Word.” As it is to this day, it is “those… which believe on Christ” who still seek to kill God’s elect. As you become aware of God’s Truth, as you stand for God’s Truth, you will find that you, too, will be persecuted for doing good:

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Now let’s continue on with what Christ said of “those Jews which believed on Him:“

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 can not hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What makes one a son of the devil has nothing to do with physical begetting or physical birth. It was “Abraham’s seed” who Christ says are “of their father the devil.” What made them “of their father the devil? “Ye do the deeds of your father.” And again: “the lusts of your father ye will do.” That is what constitutes the “seed of the serpent” and makes one “of your father the devil.” Being “the seed of the woman” or “of Abraham” likewise has to do with “doing the works of Abraham.” It is all spiritual. It has nothing to do with physical descent. All are of Adam, and Eve is the mother of all living.

Be sure to read the letter already posted entitled Fallen Angels, Spirits In Prison, and The Woman And Manchild of Rev 12.

And another letter on this subject is entitled Why Cain’s Offering Was Not Accepted.

I hope this answers your question.

Mike

Hi Mike,

I have no doubt that Christ’s flesh was made sin. I would greatly appreciate hearing your explanation of Joh 6:50-56 where in verse 53 Jesus states that “… unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” Some would say that if Christ’s flesh was “made sin” it would make no sense to eat His flesh. I think I know the answer but I would like to hear your explanation.
Thank you for your time.
G____

Hi G____,
Thank you for your question.
You say:

I would greatly appreciate hearing your explanation of Joh 6:50-56 where in verse 53 Jesus states that “… unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” Some would say that if Christ’s flesh was “made sin” it would make no sense to eat His flesh.

Here is that verse for your consideration:

Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

I will just add that when you say “some would say…” you are speaking of the masses of Christianity who would also disagree with Christ who told us that He, meaning His flesh, was neither good nor perfected.

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

By tracing Christ’s genealogy, Luke demonstrates for us that Christ was a son of the first Adam just as much as He was the Son of God.

Luk 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Anyone who says otherwise is labeled by the scriptures an “antichrist”.

1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Most of the Christian world denies that Christ’s flesh was “sinful flesh”, in spite of the plain scriptural assertion that it was just that:

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him… sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The words ‘to be’ are not in the Greek. The scriptures declare that Christ was “made of a woman, made under the law… for the lawless… made sin”. That is what flesh is. It is corruption. It misses the mark of the perfected spiritual body which comes only through the death of our ‘earthy, first man Adam’.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Christ insisted that all of His disciples drink of the cup of which He drank:

Mar 10:38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all [ twelve, Judas was there] of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

“For this is my blood”. There it is. Christ was “made sin”, and we “drink of it”. It is you and I, as well as Judas, the Jews and the Romans, who have killed our Savior and are guilty of His blood. Until we acknowledge this, we are all just like Job and his miserable comforters, all pointing their fingers at each other and never acknowledging that it is God who is working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).
Until we understand this Truth, we will never fully understand the function of sin and death in the work of salvation. We will never understand how serpents and beasts can be all around the throne of God.

Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims [ Hebrew, fiery serpents]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Here is the URL which explains what these seraphim are:
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ What_ Are_ The_ Seraphims_ Of_ Isaiah_ Six. php
… and this is the URL which explains who the cherubims of Rev 4 are:
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/Rev_4_6__7_ The_ Four_ Beasts_ Part_5. php

When we understand that the serpent is an integral part of the work of God, then we can begin to get a handle on God’s sovereignty. There will be no one ruling in the kingdom of God who thinks that Satan is a loose cannon with whom God is contending. Satan, as the book of Job demonstrates, is nothing more or less than a tool in the hand of the Almighty God who is working all things after the counsel of His own will.
When we see and acknowledge this, then we will understand what it means to ‘look upon the serpent’ and be saved from our poisoned condition of being in a body of sinful flesh.

Num 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Why in this world is Christ alluding to the raising up of the serpent in the wilderness as a type of His flesh being raised up?
‘Beholding the serpent’ was not looking to the serpent for healing or salvation. Rather it is simply acknowledging that we are all guilty of His death, guilty of sin and of being the son of that serpent. Until that is done we cannot be healed of our poisoned condition of being in this corruptible flesh and being the seed of that serpent, the devil.

Num 21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Joh 8:44 Ye [ all of us] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Christ’s flesh is the bread from heaven which is broken for us:

1Co 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

In eating Christ’s body and drinking His blood we are acknowledging that it is we who are of our father the devil, and that as such, it is we who have betrayed and slain our own Savior.
The fact that Christ’s flesh was sinful flesh like ours, in no way denies that He is the sacrifice for our sins. How else could He be our “sin offering” unless “He made Him sin”?
Being made sin and committing a trespass are two separate things. That is why God gave Israel a sin offering and a trespass offering. The sin offering is for what we are by nature, and the trespass offering is for what we do in that sinful body we are.

Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Read this URL to see the difference in these two offerings:
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ The_ Spiritual_ Significance_ Of_ The_ Sin_ Offering_ Part_ Two. php

Peter actually thought he could avoid being guilty of such a dastardly sin, but in the end he acknowledged that he had not only forsaken His Lord but actually cursed and swore that He didn’t even know the man. And indeed, until he saw himself for what he really was, he did not know the Christ of scripture who tells us plainly that His flesh was no better than ours, and that He too, had to go through death before He could be perfected.

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Luk 22:33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luk 22:34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Mat 26:73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Mat 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
Mat 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

All who say that they have never denied and blasphemed the name of God, will in their own appointed time “go out and weep bitterly”, and will acknowledge that they have indeed shed the blood of their own Creator and Savior.
Christ’s flesh was “the same” as the children’s flesh. If it were anything else then He could not know what we endure in this “body of death”. But He does know because “He made Him sin, who knew no sin”.
I hope all of this helps you to understand that, yes indeed, we do drink His blood and eat His body which was made sin, and that it is only through acknowledging that Truth that we “know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent” and thereby have “life eternal”.

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

It is few indeed who know the only true God and Jesus Christ who He has sent.
Your brother in the Christ,
Mike

Mike,
Taken from last Sunday’s study…

“But just as the law of Moses is so often mistaken for the law of God, so too, those who subscribe to that law of bondage, as we all have in the past, are easily mistaken for the body of Christ. The Truth is that when we were in Babylon we hated the truths that Christ taught.”

How can you say… ‘when we were in Babylon we hated the truths that Christ taught?

We, while we were in Babylon thought we were following the Lord completely. We loved the Lord, as we knew Him… which is exactly the way He had us believe.

We know now that what we learned about the Lord, and how we acted, was wrong… but only to a point. We were doing and acting just as the Lord instructed us… running around trying to save the world for Him. We loved our ‘gifts of the spirit’… laying on of hands, etc.

I just can’t figure out why doing good works for the Lord while in Babylon was a bad thing. We had to go thru that or we could never begin to understand the truth.

Now, I have to admit that in running around saving people was working more for ourselves, not as much for the Lord as we would like to believe, but for our own glory, as to how many crowns we could earn… and showing others how religious we were, and how much we knew. But, nevertheless, that was also His doing.

So, how can you say… we hated the truth while in Babylon?

J____

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask:

… how can you say… we hated the truth while in Babylon?

Yes, as you indicate, it is God who, via the agency of the Adversary, causes us to sin. The Adversary works through the “law of sin and death” which law God causes to work in our members.

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.

God is the only lawgiver that exists.

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

But God places that law of sin within us as earthen vessels simply because He is “seeking an occasion against” the flesh which He first made us to be.

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

What is it that “was of the Lord”? It was Samson’s marriage to a Philistine worman of Timnath, and that was contrary to God’s own law.

Deu 7:1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [ and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

But those words had proceeded out of God’s mouth and so Israel had to live them just as we to live out those words. All of God’s “Thou shalt not…” commandments are, in the final analysis, nothing less than prophecies of what we will do.

Jdg 3:5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
Jdg 3:6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Jdg 3:7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
Jdg 3:8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.

So there are really two separate creations, the first natural, and the second spiritual. But the second creation depends upon and is subsequent to the first creation. God makes us carnal, of the dust, earthy and naked, first. Then He destroys that earthen vessel and makes it again, as seems good to the Potter to make it (“a spiritual body”).

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.

You ask:

I just can’t figure out why doing good works for the Lord while in Babylon was a bad thing. We had to go thru that or we could never begin to understand the truth.
Now, I have to admit that in running around saving people was working more for ourselves, not as much for the Lord as we would like to believe, but for our own glory, as to how many crowns we could earn… and showing others how religious we were, and how much we knew. But, nevertheless, that was also His doing.
So, how can you say… we hated the truth while in Babylon?

That isn’t what “I say”, it is what Christ says. The most insidious of sins is what we are guilty of while we are in Babylon. It is the sin of self righteousness. That was Job’s sin. Just read Job 29 if you have any doubt about that. Job is all of us with all of our own ‘good works’. It is our good works and our “righteousnesses” which “are filthy rags” to God.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The fact that it is all predestined by God, does not change the fact that it is “an unclean thing” or a “filthy rag”, and the fact that we are predestined to think of “our [ Babylonian] righteousnesses” as ‘good works’ which will glorify God, does not change the fact that in reality we hate Christ’s doctrine. C
Isaiah doesn’t say that our ‘ un righteousnesses are as filthy rags’, he says they are indeed righteousness, but as long as we insist that they are ours and not His works in us, then we are guilty of that most insidious of sins, the sin of self righteousness. While in Babylon we all believed in the false doctrine of free will. We all refused to acknowledge that Christ’s doctrines are true, and according to Christ, we may believe on Him, but if we do not do what He says then it is Christ who tells us that is the same as hating Him and wanting Him dead.

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

“Those Jews that believed on Him”, are a type of Babylonian Christians today who say they believe Christ, but will not do what He tells us all to do. Here it is, and it is right out of Christ’s own mouth:

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.

Yes, I too certainly thought Christ’s words were important to me while I was a Pentecostal, while I was in the World Wide Church of God, and while I was attending the Concordant Publishing Concern’s Bible conferences. But the Truth of the matter was that “Christ’s words had no place in me” while I was associated with those organizations which simply “were not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God” (Mat 13:10-11).

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Now look at that verse in its context:

Joh 8:40 But now ye [ Christians who claim to be Christians, and still teach people to kill their enemies] 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.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Why are we all first “of our father the devil?”

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

I hope that answers your question.

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

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hi Brother Mike,

I understand your reasoning in arguing against the prevailing notion within Christian circles of an immortal soul. Howbeit, there is a peculiar Scripture verse that appears to be problematic, namely 1Co 2:11, which reads thus: “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (NIV). If we render the Greek term ‘pneuma’ in this context as ‘breath’, ‘life- breath’ or ‘wind’, then how can it be said to know the thoughts of a man within him? Could you please clarify this apparent incongruity as best you can. It would be greatly appreciated.
Thanking you in advance. Love in Christ Jesus always,

S____

Hi S____,
Thank you for your question. You ask:

“There is a peculiar Scripture verse that appears to be problematic, namely 1Co 2:11, which reads thus: “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (NIV). If we render the Greek term ‘pneuma’ in this context as ‘breath’, ‘life- breath’ or ‘wind’, then how can it be said to know the thoughts of a man within him? Could you please clarify this apparent incongruity as best you can. It would be greatly appreciated.”

The chapters which best expresses what is “the spirit in man,” is Psa 104. Here is what we see in this chapter:

Psa 104:24  O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Psa 104:25  So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
Psa 104:26  There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
Psa 104:27  These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Psa 104:28  That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
Psa 104:29  Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
Psa 104:30  Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

The word ‘breath’ in verse 29, and the word ‘spirit’ in verse 30, are both the Hebrew word ‘ruach.’ While this word means ‘wind’ or ‘breath,’ it is used as a type of God’s invisible spirit. God’s spirit in nor really physical air, but God has to use the physical realm to communicate to us spiritual truths.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

We “clearly see… invisible things… by the things that are made.” We don’t actually see the spirit but we do undertand spiritual matters, “by the things that are made.
These verses in Psa 104 explain it all. Our flesh is “the waters on which the woman sits” in Rev 17. The beast of Rev 13 “comes up out of the sea.” Here in Psa 104 we are told that “this great sea” is part of “the manifold works of thy hand.” We are plainly told that God made “leviathan… to play therein.” We are told that leviathan, a type of the dragon, “waits upon the Lord,” and does God’s bidding just as He did with Job, with Joseph’s ten brothers, with Pharaoh, and with King Saul.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

It is “an evil spirit from the Lord” which incites and rules over “the spirit of man within him,” and makes us all, at our appointed time, “of our father the devil.”

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

None of us can “hear Christ’s Words” until we are all healed of the spiritual blindness with which we are all born from our mother’s womb. We all are “by nature… children of disobeience… children of wrath, even as others.”

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

What becomes of “the spirit in man” when He dies? We need not speculate. Just like the spirit in a beast, it “returns to God who gave it.” Not as a concious individual, but as God’s knowledge of who we are. We know this is so because of these verses in Ecc.

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.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [ is] vanity.
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

All New Testament doctrine agrees with this assessment of “what befalls the sons of men.” When the apostle Paul tells us that if there is no resurrection from the death “then those who are asleep in Christ are perished” he  is agreeing with Ecclessiastes. There would be no need for a resurrection if mankind were either and immortal soul or an immortal spirit. But such is not the case for mankind, except by resurrection from among the dead.

Act 2:34  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
1Co 15:16  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

In our study last week I demonstrated how the word ‘man,’ or ‘men’ is used in scripture as a contrast with the Word and spirit of God. Here is that part of that study:

What does “I neither received it of man” mean?

When Paul says, “I neither received it of man,” is Paul telling us that he had no need for Ananias to come and tell him what God had in store for Him?

Act 9:10  And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for [ one] called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12  And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting [ his] hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

Is Paul saying that he had no need to hear from others what Christ had taught? Is that what “I neither received it of man” means? What an absurd conclusion. It was Paul himself who tells Timothy that he was “appointed a teacher of the Gentiles.”

2Ti 1:11  Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

It is this same apostle Paul who penned these inspired words of scripture:

1Co 12:28  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1Co 12:29  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

… and this:

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

It was the apostle Paul who said:

1Co 11:1  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

So what does “I neither received it of man” mean? It means the same thing that Christ meant when He told Peter that it was not flesh and blood, but His heavenly Father, who had revealed to Peter that Christ was the Son of God.

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [ it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Is Christ telling Peter that Christ Himself had never taught Peter a thing? What utter foolishness! How many times are we told that Christ “taught them?”

Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Mat 13:54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Mar 2:13  And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

Mar 4:2  And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,

Christ’s doctrine is taught “by parables.” And He has set in the the church teachers, who expound on those parables and types and shadows, and patterns and signs and symbols, and those who do so in Truth will never be found guilty of “thinking above what is written,” but will use only the words already written to be the foundation of every word they speak and teach.

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

What then does “I neither received it of man” mean, if men are indeed set in the church to teach? Here is what the scriptures mean when you see in them phrases like ‘of men… as men… [ or] as a man.’ Look at how Christ and His apostles us these phrases:

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
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 9:7  Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
1Co 9:8  Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

So when we see the phrases ‘of men… as men… as a man… [ or] any man’ and it is used in conjunction with teaching or understanding God’s Word, we can now rest assured that these phrases are speaking of men who “think above what is written” and they never refer to those who base every word of their doctrine on the the written scriptures which are profitable for instruction in righteousness.

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

So when John says:

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Christ’s Words are the “Truth” John speaks of in this verse. Here is what Christ said of men who teach His truth:

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.

It is obvious from the sum of God’s Word that those who thinks 1Jn 2:27 negates any need for those who “do and teach… these commandments” is actually guilty of breaking Christ commandment to “do and teach these commandments,” is “thinking above what is written,” and will “be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” The revelation of Jesus Christ is given us by the symbolic “seven angels” or seven messengers of the seven churches of God. Those messengers and all who support them, are those who “do and teach the commandments” of Christ and His Father.

I hope this has helped to to see that “the spirit in man,” is that spirit which is opposed to the law of God, and that what becomes of this “spirit in man” when he dies is that it returns to God from whence it came. It returns not as an individual, but as the invisible source of life, not to be embodied again until after it is resurrected from among the dead.

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

” Afterward [ after the resurrection] that which is spiritual.”
We are resurrected now in downpayment form only. We have not yet received “the redemption of the purchased possession.”

Eph 1:13 In whom [ the risen Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [ Greek, downpayment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, [ resurrection] unto the praise of his glory.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

Thank you for all your time helping me understand the way Adam was created. I pray you can help with this thought I’m having from this paper on the fall of man I just read. I agree God made Adam corruptible, from the dust of the ground, weak and naked. Here is where I’m confused: You said Eve committed every sin in the world (1Jn 2:16/Gen 3:6) before she ever ate from the tree.

Rom 5:13  For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

So the comparison between 1John2:16/Gen 3:6 shows us the weak condition of the creature’s heart and mind, but it is not sin. There is no law for that at that time.  You asked me this “Do I really feel Adam’s flesh and blood could have inherited the kingdom of God before he ate from the tree?”  1Co 15:50 says that it can’t so, no, I do not believe that it could have.  But Rom 5 clearly states death came into the world by Adam’s transgression.  So before his offense he had to have been immortal then became mortal by eating.  However I still feel his flesh and blood could not inherit the kingdom before he ate, but death was not in the world before he ate. So I have to believe if he hadn’t eaten he would not die but then again he was flesh and blood from the start, and I know he was going to eat because the scriptures are quite clear why he was created naked.  I guess I see an apparent contradiction here. I hope you understand my thought and really hope you can help. Thanks, M____

Hi M____,

You say:

“So the comparison between 1John2:16/Gen 3:6 shows us the weak condition of the creature’s heart and mind, but it is not sin. There is no law for that at that time.”

… and you conclude:

“Rom 5 clearly states death came into the world by Adams transgression.  So before his offense he had to have been immortal then became mortal by eating.  However I still feel his flesh and blood could not inherit the kingdom before he ate, but death was not in the world before he ate. So I have to believe if he hadn’t eaten he would not die, but then again he was flesh and blood from the start, and I know he was going to eat because the scriptures are quite clear why he was created naked.  I guess I see an apparent contradiction here. I hope you understand my thoughts and really hope you can help.”

“The creature’s weak heart and mind… is not sin… So I have to believe if he hadn’t eaten he would not die?”  Are you still under the delusion that ‘olawm’ and ‘aion’ have something to do with ‘eternity?”  Have you not yet read the series on the Law of the Offerings? Do you not yet see the difference between the sin offering and the trespass offering? If not, then go to the web site and read the study notes on those two offerings and listen to those two audios. All of this has already been written on and dealt with in that series.

“The creature’s weak heart and mind… is not sin?” Are you saying that David is wrong when He says.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Do you see some difference between God shaping Adam and shaping us in our mother’s womb?

Here is what Rom 5 says:

Rom 5:13  For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

“Sin was in the world… until the law,” it simply was not imputed before it was codified and written on stone tablets and in scrolls.

Here was the law that Adam transgressed:

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The fact that sin was not imputed does not mean that the wages of physical sin; being made naked, marred and of the dust of the ground, was not death until Moses, simply because “sin was not imputed.” Surely you would not disagree that Adam and all in him had physically died even from Adam to Moses. I’m not sure what you are trying to make of the statement “sin was not imputed.” That is a spiritual statement, not a physical statement. If it is anything other than a physical statement, then why did people die between Adam and Moses?

Like all of us once did, you are struggling with the concept of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual,” and yet that is the only way the holy spirit teaches us:

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

God’s word certainly never denies that the wages of sin is death whether sin is imputed or not.
The imputation of sin has to do with spiritual justice for transgressions of God’s law. It has nothing to do with whether we physically die or not. Look at the very next verse of Romans five:

Rom 5:13  (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

‘Transgression’ has to do with the trespass offering. The sin offering has nothing to do with trespasses committed. The sin offering is for what we are by birth, “marred in the Potter’s hand, shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin.”

As with most of Paul’s letters, the book of Romans deals with the spirit that still saturates the church. It is a spirit which teaches that if you can do the right things, then you deserve to be saved. Such is not the case. Salvation does not depend upon us or our efforts. It is all “of, by and through,” Christ.

Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

So Adam’s sin was of, by and through the fact that God had created him “marred in the Potter’s hand, naked and of the dust of the ground.”

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.

No, neither Genesis nor Romans says that sin was not in the world before Adam ate of the tree. It simply says “sin is not imputed where there is no law. It does not say ‘sin is not imputed where there is no law of Moses.’ The law of Adam’s day was “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that you eat thereof to die you shall die.”

Gen 2:17 Yet from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you are not to be eating from it, for in the day you eat from it, to die shall you be dying.

God drove Adam out of the garden to keep him from eating of the tree of life and living for “olawm,” not for ‘eternity.’ “Olawm” is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek ‘aion.’ It is a word which encompasses both the olawms or aions of each person who ever draws breath, as well as the long period of time in which all those generations of mankind will be living, and so we have this statement in…

2Ti 1:9 Who saves us and calls us with a holy calling, not in accord with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose and the grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus before times eonian,

Paul cannot state it any clearer. God knew and intended “before times eonian” for Adam to transgress, be brought to see his need for a savior, repent and be converted and saved from sin and death. He was not kept from dying, but saved out of and through death.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

God’s word is deliberately written in a way that demands that we consider it in its entirety if we want the Truth, and so we are plainly told:

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:
Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

That is why Paul tells the Corinthians that he spoke “the hidden wisdom of God.”

1Co 2:7  but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory: (ASV)

… or as the Good News Bible puts it:

1Co 2:7  The wisdom I proclaim is God’s secret wisdom, which is hidden from human beings, but which he had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made. (GBN).

So truth is never to be found in but one verse of God’s Word, like the bad King James translation which reads:

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Adam did not die that very day because “to die you shall be dying” is a spiritual statement. He lived to be 930 years old, but he was physically dying when he took his first breath, simply because he was “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, of the dust of the ground, naked,” before he ever ate of the tree. But Adam had to disobey before he began to die spiritually. We are all conceived in sin, by virtue of being in Adam, but we are not born “of our father the devil” until we obey him:

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.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

I hope this helps you to see that Christ does not intend for most people to see the sum of His word in this age, for that ‘sum’ speaks of spiritual matters and not of physical matters. “The holy spirit teaches only by “comparing spiritual things  with spiritual,” thereby blinding us all from birth. Christ’s healing of the man born blind from His mother’s womb, testifies of this.

Joh 9:34  They [the chief priests and Pharisees] answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
Joh 9:35  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
Joh 9:36  He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
Joh 9:37  And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Joh 9:38  And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And [some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

When we are cast out of the fellowship of Babylon, then Christ comes to us, finds us and opens up the heavens for us by giving us spiritual vision.
Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Mike,       
I apologize for not answering your questions. I’m sure it made it seem like we were not getting anywhere. I didn’t answer because your responses usually cleared up any loose thoughts I was having trouble discerning.  I really enjoy conversing with you, and I do find however email communication is difficult to view a person’s progress. To answer your question about needing help: Yes, I truly delight in your help and am very grateful the Lord has introduced me to you.   I’m not sure why it took two emails to discern free will but 20  to see the truth in the Garden.  I guess I just wanted to see the deepest meaning of every verse on this topic. I do have this last question I’m confused about on this issue:

Gen 3:6    And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food , and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:22   And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

How did Eve know the fruit was good if she didn’t know what good was? Was the knowledge they acquired of good and evil just what was good and evil
spiritually in the sense God is good and they were evil, or does this mean they were ‘bird brains’ before they acquired that needed knowledge?  I’m not sure why it took so long to discern the spiritual things inside of this topic!
Thank You.
M____

Hi M____,
You ask how Eve knew that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food? The answer is that she believed “her Father the devil.” It was at that moment that both Eve and Adam, while being the children of God (Luk 3:38), were also the seed of the serpent. It was at that moment that the serpent had “bruised the heel of Adam.”

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

Now Adam and his seed will all be born of the serpent before they will be born of their heavenly Father. It was a second spiritual birth to which Christ referred when speaking to Nicodemus.  We all have to be “born again” in order to bruise the head of the serpent.

Gal 4:19  My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Paul’s experience was no different than Christ’s. All the people who first heard and accepted his gospel forsook him:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia [ the seven churches of Rev 2-3] be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11  Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
2Ti 4:12  And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
2Ti 4:13  The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring [ with thee], and the books, [ but] especially the parchments.
2Ti 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

The apostasy was complete, and the apostles were not even dead.

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

“The knowledge of good and evil has nothing to do with the knowledge of spiritual good or spiritual evil. The spirit excels what is good and the good is the enemy of, and “has no glory by reason of that which excels.”

2Co 3:10  For even that which was made glorious [ the law, which is good] had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
Rom 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

I recently saw a story on the educational channel in our area about beauty. As it turns out, the appreciation of beauty is universal and innate in all of mankind. This program demonstrated that even little babies respond more favorably to a beautiful baby sitter than they do to a less beautiful baby sitter. Christ is the ‘tree of life.’ We must all “eat his flesh and drink His blood,” before we can have life:

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

What are we told of Christ?

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

If that was true of Christ in the flesh, why would it not also be true of Christ being portrayed as “the tree of life?”
Here, right in the middle of the garden of Eden, are two trees. One is beautiful and full of beautiful fruit which we have been told was good for food. The other tree has no beauty and even its fruit has “no form or comeliness that we would desire it.”

Now what is any untried, uneducated, “marred clay vessel… shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin” going to do under such circumstances? The results were so certain that a sacrifice for sin had been “slain from the foundation of the world.”
While “bird brain” is not a scriptural phrase, it is the very animal used to portray those who are the most spiritually poor:

Lev 5:6  And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.
Lev 5:7  And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.

I hope that helps you to see that Adam and Eve knew nothing until they were told about it by either the Lord or by the serpent. They were like babies in a toy store and were programmed “(marred in the Potter’s hand) to believe the serpent. Above all, I hope that God has given you the spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear what the spirit is telling you and me about ourselves as Adam’s offspring.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike>