The Spiritual Significance of Man vs Men in Scripture

[Studies Aired November 25, 2025]

Introduction

Scripture’s precision extends even to the distinction between singular and plural forms. When we examine the use of man versus men throughout the Bible, God reveals a spiritual principle woven into the very grammar of His Word. This distinction illuminates the relationship between giving personal account and collective identity, between individual experience and unified purpose, and ultimately between the first Adam and the last Adam.

The Hebrew word for man, adam (אָדָם, H120), carries both singular and plural meaning. This same word describes the first created human being and refers to mankind generally. Another Hebrew term, enosh (אֱנוֹשׁ, H582), emphasizes man’s mortal, frail nature—humanity in its weakness and dependence upon God. The Greek equivalent, anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος, G444), likewise functions as both singular and plural, describing an individual human or humanity as a whole. This linguistic flexibility is not accidental but reveals God’s design: we are created as individuals in whom God reveals true identity within a collective whole, and that collective whole manifests through individuals in whom God works conversion.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Here man is singular—the individual Adam—yet this one man contained all humanity within himself. As Paul writes, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). The singular man becomes the representative head of all men, just as Christ, the last Adam, becomes the representative head of all who are in Him.

This study will explore how Scripture uses the singular and plural forms to reveal spiritual truths about our identity in Christ, examining the personal dimension of God’s transforming work alongside the communal reality of the body of Christ.

A Note on Imperatives and Divine Agency

Before proceeding, we acknowledge a crucial hermeneutical principle: Throughout Scripture, when we encounter imperatives and exhortations, we understand these not as commands requiring independent human performance, but as descriptions of what God works in us. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Even our willing and doing originate in His work, not in autonomous human effort. When Scripture says put on, cultivate, or be renewed, these reveal the pattern of God’s transforming work rather than obligations for self-generated human activity. God is the actor; we are the recipients and witnesses of His sovereign work.

The Individual Man: Giving Personal Account Before God

Scripture consistently emphasizes that God requires each individual to give account, using the singular man to establish this personal answering. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). This verse underscores that regardless of our collective identity, each person gives account of his own walk with God—reporting what God has worked in him. The singular man in this context does not hide behind communal identity or shared justification.

The apostle Paul declares, What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19). Here the individual believer is addressed—your body is singular, not plural. God makes each person a distinct temple for His dwelling. This brings both privilege and the necessity of giving account, for if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are (1 Corinthians 3:17).

The Hebrew word ish (אִישׁ, H376), often translated man, emphasizes the distinct person. When Scripture uses ish, it typically highlights what God works personally in each individual—personal action wrought by God, personal faith given by God, personal experience of God’s work. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25). God produces self-control in each person—this is fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not human achievement. The singular form reminds us that God works in each heart individually.

Jesus taught that God requires each to give personal account in the parable of the talents: For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability (Matthew 25:14-15). Though the servants formed a group, each received according to his capacity and would give answer separately regarding his stewardship. The master’s reckoning addressed each servant individually, requiring each man to give account of what he alone had been given—to report what had been accomplished through him.

This personal dimension appears throughout Scripture’s revelation of God’s work in believers. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind (Romans 14:5). But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another (Galatians 6:4). These passages reveal that while we function within a body, God cultivates conviction in each member and works faithfulness in each one individually.

The prophets consistently addressed individuals within the nation. Ezekiel received the word: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him (Ezekiel 18:20). Though Israel existed as a unified nation, God required each person to give account of his own experiences. Communal identity did not eliminate the requirement to give personal account of what God had worked in individual lives.

The Common Men: Collective Identity and Unified Purpose

While Scripture establishes that God requires each person to give account, it simultaneously reveals a communal dimension where men function as a unified whole. The plural form often describes the church, the body of Christ, operating together to fulfill God’s purposes. Paul writes, For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). Individual believers, though many men, form one collective entity in Christ.

The Hebrew word anashim (אֲנָשִׁים, H582), the plural of enosh, and the Greek anthrōpoi (ἄνθρωποι, G444), the plural of anthrōpos, describe groups functioning as a whole. When God addresses men, He often speaks to the collective people with a shared purpose. Ye men of Israel, hear these words (Acts 2:22). Peter addressed the gathered assembly as a unified people with common identity and destiny.

This communal reality appears clearly in the building metaphor. Peter declares, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Though each believer functions as an individual living stone, God builds these stones together into one spiritual house. The plural stones construct the singular house—many men become one temple. Paul elaborates: Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Notice Paul’s movement between plural and singular: ye (plural) are fellowcitizens (plural), yet together form a holy temple (singular), a habitation (singular). Individual believers maintain distinct identities while simultaneously being formed by God into one collective dwelling place for Himself. This is the mystery of many men becoming one man in Christ.

The concept of the body demonstrates this unity. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Many men with diverse backgrounds are united by God into one body through the Spirit. Paul continues, And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you (1 Corinthians 12:21). Each member remains distinct—the eye is not the hand, one man is not another—yet God causes all to function together as one organism.

This shared identity extends to spiritual warfare. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11). Though God clothes each believer with this armor individually, He does so within the context of a collective army. The plural brethren suggests communal strength, mutual support in battle, and shared victory through Christ.

Male and Female: The Pattern of Union

Before examining the two Adams, Scripture reveals God’s original design for humanity as both singular and plural. Genesis presents a unique use of man that reveals profound spiritual truth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27). Notice the shift from singular to plural: man (singular) becomes male and female (plural), yet both are encompassed in the one creation of man. This grammatical movement demonstrates that God designed humanity to function as a unified whole from the beginning.

The creation account continues: And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him (Genesis 2:18). God determined to complete the singular man through relationship. When God formed Eve, Adam declared, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Genesis 2:23). Two distinct individuals—man and woman, masculine and feminine—yet both originating from one flesh, designed by God for reunion as one flesh.

This physical pattern establishes a spiritual principle that finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ and the church. Paul reveals this mystery: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). The singular man (Christ) unites with the collective men (the church, His bride) to become one flesh—many members forming one body with one Head.

The relationship between man and woman in marriage thus illustrates the relationship between Christ and the church. As husband and wife are two distinct persons who become one flesh, so Christ and His church are many distinct persons who become one body. The singular man (husband) represents Christ; the singular woman (wife) represents the collective church. Yet the church consists of many separate men and women who together form the bride. The movement between singular and plural throughout Scripture’s teaching on marriage and the church reflects this profound spiritual reality. This pattern of one becoming two, then two becoming one, prepares us to understand the greater mystery of the two Adams.

The First Man Adam and the Last Adam: Representative Headship

The most profound use of singular man versus plural men appears in Paul’s teaching about the two Adams. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Here Scripture uses the singular man to describe representative heads who contain multitudes within themselves. The first man Adam represents all natural humanity; the last Adam (Christ) represents all who bear the heavenly image. One man stands for many men.

Paul elaborates this principle: For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Two singular men determine the destiny of all men. In Adam, the representative head, all humanity participated in death. In Christ, the representative head, all who are His participate in life. The entire Bible concerns itself with these two men—the first man Adam and the last Adam.

The principle of representative headship explains how one man’s actions affect many men. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12). One man (Adam) brought consequences upon all men. This is not merely forensic imputation but representative identification—Adam was not simply the first to sin; he was the head of humanity, the singular man who contained all men within himself.

Similarly, For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). The singular one man (Christ) reverses what the singular one man (Adam) initiated. Christ’s representative headship means that His victory becomes the victory of all men who are in Him. The many find their identity in the One.

This understanding illuminates Scripture’s constant movement between singular and plural. When Scripture speaks of putting off the old man and putting on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24), it uses the singular to describe both the Adamic nature from which God divests us and the Christic nature with which God clothes us. Yet this singular man manifests in many separate men. Each believer experiences the death of the first man Adam and the life of the last Adam as God works this transformation, yet all share in one collective dying and rising from the old to the new.

The struggle between these two men plays out in every believer’s experience. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would (Galatians 5:17). The first man Adam (flesh) wars against the last Adam (Spirit) within each person, yet this is simultaneously the shared experience of all who are being changed by God from the natural to the spiritual.

Individual Transformation Within United Identity

Scripture reveals that God’s transforming work never occurs in isolation but always within the context of communal identity. God reveals to the singular man his true identity only as He places him among the plural men who form Christ’s body. Conversely, as God works transformation in each singular man, the collective body functions properly according to His design.

Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts illustrates this balance. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (1 Corinthians 12:7). God gives each person spiritual endowment, yet the purpose extends beyond personal blessing—to profit withal means for the benefit of the whole. God’s gifting in individuals serves communal edification. Paul continues, For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-9). God gives distinct individuals diverse gifts, yet all emanate from the same Spirit working through many members to serve the one body.

This interdependence reflects both God’s work in individuals and His work in the collective. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Notice the movement: we all (plural) come to a perfect man (singular). God matures many persons together toward one unified maturity, the fulness of Christ achieved not through any single man but through all men together in Him.

The building metaphor reveals this dynamic. Each believer stands as a living stone, yet God joins these stones properly to form the temple. 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 (Ephesians 4:16). God’s work in each part (the effectual working in the measure of every part) contributes to collective growth (maketh increase of the body). Paul also writes, But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him (1 Corinthians 12:18). God sovereignly places each member; the singular man cannot reach maturity apart from the plural men, nor can the communal body mature if God’s work in separate members remains incomplete.

This principle appears in Jesus’ teaching about the vine and branches. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5). God causes each branch to maintain distinct identity and to abide in Christ, yet no branch exists independent of the vine or the other branches. God gives life to the singular man only through connection to Christ and simultaneously through connection to the collective body.

The Wisdom of Men Versus the Wisdom of God

Scripture uses the plural men to describe human wisdom and systems that stand opposed to God’s wisdom. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). The collective wisdom of natural men—their philosophies, reasonings, and traditions—cannot comprehend spiritual truth. The plural emphasizes the accumulated knowledge of many minds all functioning from natural understanding.

Paul continues, 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: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-7). The wisdom of men represents collective human understanding operating from the first man Adam—natural, carnal, limited to the five senses. This stands opposed to the wisdom of God, which comes through spiritual revelation to those being transformed by the last Adam.

James further clarifies this distinction: This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:15, 17). The contrast between earthly and heavenly wisdom parallels the contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam—one earthly, the other heavenly.

The distinction between singular and plural illuminates this truth. When Scripture speaks of the natural man, it uses the singular: 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 (1 Corinthians 2:14). The singular man describes the unified Adamic nature shared by all unregenerate humanity. Yet when describing the collective wisdom produced by this nature, Scripture uses the plural men—for many individuals operating from the same natural mind produce a body of thought called the wisdom of men.

Similarly, spiritual wisdom operates both individually and communally. God gives spiritual understanding to each believer: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (James 1:5). God gives wisdom when the singular man seeks it from Him. Yet this wisdom, given by God to many persons, forms a collective spiritual understanding that transcends any single person’s perception. The body of Christ, with its many members all receiving from the same Spirit, manifests wisdom that no singular man could produce—wisdom that God alone generates through His people.

From Natural Man to Spiritual Man

Scripture traces God’s work in transforming humanity from the natural to the spiritual, using singular man to describe both states. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:47-49). The two singular men represent two communal realities—two humanities, two natures, two kingdoms.

God works in every believer this transition from being in the first man to being in the last man. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The singular man experiences transformation by virtue of being placed in Christ. This is not merely moral reformation but fundamental change of identity—from being in Adam to being in Christ, from the first man to the last Adam—all wrought by God’s sovereign work.

The process continues throughout the believer’s life as God progressively transforms. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). The plural we all indicates shared experience—God works this transformation in all believers—yet God causes each singular man to behold the Lord’s glory. God’s transforming work in individuals and His transforming work in the community proceed simultaneously as many men become one man in Christ.

This transformation manifests in practical righteousness. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). The singular man describes both the nature from which God divests us and the nature with which God clothes us. This putting off and putting on is God’s transforming work in us, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). God works in each believer to divest him of the first man Adam and to clothe him with the last Adam, yet this is the shared experience of all who are in Christ—making it both individual and communal reality.

The Son of Man: Individual and Common Identity in Christ

Jesus’ favorite self-designation, Son of man, reveals the profound connection between singular and plural, individual and collective identity. The Greek phrase ho huios tou anthrōpou (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, G5207, G444) literally means the son of the man or the son of mankind. Christ identifies Himself with humanity while simultaneously standing as representative head of a new creation.

Daniel’s vision prophesied this title: I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14). The singular Son of man receives a kingdom comprising all people, nations, and languages—the One represents the many, and the many find their identity in the One.

Ezekiel was addressed as son of man ninety-three times throughout his prophetic ministry, emphasizing his identification with frail, mortal humanity (enosh) even as he received divine revelation. Christ’s use of this title thus connects Him both to prophetic ministry and to identification with humanity’s weakness, yet He transcends both as the perfect man who brings redemption.

Jesus used this title to describe both His suffering and His glory. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16:27). As Son of man, Christ identifies with humanity in redemptive suffering, yet as Son of man, He exercises divine authority to judge all men. The singular title encompasses both personal mission and collective representation.

The title also emphasizes Christ’s role as the last Adam. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man (John 5:27). Christ’s humanity qualifies Him to judge humanity, yet His humanity is not that of the first man Adam but of the last Adam—the spiritual nature being God’s outcome from the beginning. Calling Himself Son of man, Jesus declares both identification with mankind and distinction from corrupt mankind. He is the true man, the pattern man, the representative head in whom all men find redemption.

Moreover, Christ’s body—the church—shares in this identity. Paul writes, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). God makes believers sons through union with the Son. The singular Son of man extends His sonship to many sons, God creating a collective sonship. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). The singular Son brings many sons to glory, yet all these sons find their sonship only in Him as God works this identification.

Conclusion: Many Members, One Body

The scriptural distinction between man and men reveals the beautiful tension between giving personal account and communal identity that defines the Christian life. God calls each of us as singular men to experience personal relationship with Him, to receive holiness, to manifest faithfulness. Yet God reveals our true identity only within the collective whole, only as He places us among the many men who together form the one body of Christ.

This tension between singular and plural, between one and many, ultimately resolves in Christ. He is the singular representative head who contains all men within Himself. In the first man Adam, all died; in the last Adam, all are made alive. The entire Bible tells the story of God’s work transforming humanity from the first man to the last, from the natural to the spiritual, from the separate Adam to the unified Christ.

As individuals, we each give account before God—reporting what He has worked in us, testifying to His transforming power. Our personal transformation never occurs in isolation. God builds us together as living stones, fits us together as members of one body, grows us together toward the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

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 (Ephesians 4:16). God causes every part—each singular man—to function according to its measure, yet the goal is not individual perfection but communal maturity. We are many members, yet one body. We are many men, yet one man in Christ Jesus.

This is the great mystery Paul revealed: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones (Ephesians 5:30). Just as Eve came from Adam’s side, so the church comes from Christ’s pierced side. Many persons form one unified bride for the one Bridegroom. The singular man and the plural men both find their ultimate meaning and fulfillment in Christ, who is both the individual Son of God and the collective head of a new creation. In Him, God reveals that we are simultaneously distinct persons who give personal account and unified members with shared identity—many men becoming one man, one new man in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jer 18:1-12  The Vessel Made of Clay was Marred in the Hand of the Potter

[Study Aired September 19, 2021]

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

The last chapter contained the oft quoted ninth verse:

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

Our study today reveals clearly why we have all been given a deceitful heart. As is always the case, the Lord makes us to know that we have nothing to do with what He is doing, other than doing the things He causes us to do. In our study today, Lord willing, He is going to cause us to understand that when we “Hear [His] words” we do so only because He “caused [us] to hear [His] words”.

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

“The Potter’s house” is the ‘house’ of the Master Potter. It is the Lord’s temple (1Co 3:16). The Master Potter makes no mistakes. As we just learned in our last study, “the first man Adam” was created on the sixth day, and the Lord deliberately made the first Adam of ‘clay’. Both the number ‘six’ and the composition of ‘clay’ cry out to all those who are “caused to hear” that we are incomplete and made of corruptible clay in the form of ‘corruptible… flesh and blood’, which was never intended to “inherit the kingdom of God”:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood [“The vessel that He made of clay”] cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

All the thousands of sermons by all the thousands of false prophets to the contrary will not make a creature which was formed on the sixth day anything more than a beast, a creature made of flesh and blood which can never inherit the kingdom of God. Repeatedly using the phrase “immortal soul” will not place that phrase anywhere in scripture. It simply is not there, but this is in scripture concerning what happens to us at the time of the resurrection and not before that time:

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

As the rules of Hebrew grammar demonstrate, the process of creating mankind in His image is not yet complete:

Gen 1:27  So God created [Hebrew Qal stem… ‘is creating’] man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

A “very good” tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a “very good… crooked serpent”, and a “very good… vessel of clay” in the form of “corruptible… flesh and blood”, are not, and were never intended by the Creator to be “the new man which after God is [being] created in righteousness and true holiness”.

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created [Greek: aorist tense… ‘is being created] in righteousness and true holiness.

This is what “the vessel that He made of clay” is designed to show us of ourselves in our present unfinished condition:

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

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 [Hebrew: ‘ruach’, spirit]; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all [“the vessel of clay”] is vanity.

Sadly, for most nominal ‘Christians’ church doctrine will always trump scripture, and most ‘Christians’ will continue to believe that man was given an “immortal soul”, a phrase found nowhere in all of scripture because that doctrine is a lying spirit which has ‘gone out into the world to deceive many’:

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

When we try that spirit which teaches us that the phrase “very good” means spiritually perfected, we discover that Hebrew and Greek tenses are completely ignored in most of our English translations so false church doctrines can continue to be foisted off on all those who have not yet been given “eyes that see nor ears that hear” (Mat 13:9-15):

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [Hebrew reads ‘creates He them’, the Qal stem]

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

The two verbs in Genesis 1:31, the verbs ‘saw’ and ‘made’, are both in the Qal Stem, which equates to the Greek aorist tense. What this tells us is that the process of ‘seeing’ and ‘making’ is ongoing and unfinished. Six “is the number of mankind” (Rev 13:18) because mankind is unfinished, as his creation on the sixth day indicates. Mankind must “enter into His rest” to be completed, and Christ is our ‘rest’:

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest [into Christ], as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in [“Entered not” into Christ] because of unbelief:
Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest [Christ, our rest, our sabbath] to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief [in Christ].

Hebrews 4:1-11 is the completion of the process of the creation of mankind. No one is complete until he has entered into Christ and confesses that he can do nothing of himself:

Here are those two verses in Genesis 1 in a much more accurate translation:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them. (CLV)

Gen 1:31 And seeing is the Elohim all that He had made [Same Qal stem as the verb ‘seeing’ and should read ‘is making’], and, behold, it is very good. And coming is it to be evening and coming to be morning, the sixth day. (CLV)

The Concordant version renders ‘seeing’ in the Qal stem, but it misses the fact that the phrase “had made” is also in the Qal stem and should have been translated as ‘all that He is making’. In other words, the creation is at this very moment an ongoing process which requires this “experience of evil” in this “vessel that He made of clay” before we can enter into Christ, “enter into His rest” on the seventh day, the day of completion and perfection, the day of rest from  our works:

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, [our rest, our sabbath] and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Notice that the Concordant translators who miss the Qal stem in translating ‘had made’ in Gen 1:31 catch the Qal stem in translating:

Jer 18:4 and marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he has turned and he makes it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make. (CLV)

We should begin to get the message of the book of Job and all the rest of scripture. The message of all scripture is about two men – the old man and the new man. However, it is about how the old man must begin to die before the new man can begin to enter into Christ, our “sabbath”, our “rest”. When we are being brought into that rest, we begin to see and understand that even our “experience of evil” is of the Lord, and that we have no more to do with our sins than we have with our good works.

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

That is right! If there is “evil in the city… the Lord hath done it” (Isa 45:7)

Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

“Clay… in The Potter’s hand” is as basic as the Lord’s work with mankind can be explained. The clay has no say at all about what the Potter will make of it. The hand of a puppeteer can be concealed, but the hand of a potter must be seen as He shapes the clay “after the counsel of His own will”. “As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine hand…” is not an endorsement of the lie of ‘free will’. Rather it is the exact opposite. “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it” is not an endorsement of free will. It is the exact opposite. To clarify this fact, and to make the Potter’s hand even more apparent, we are very plainly told:

Exo 4:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

The Biblical definition of a ‘hardened heart’ is a heart which cannot obey the words of the Lord.

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

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

Does the Lord’s use of the word ‘if’ indicate that you and I have been given a will that is free from His influence?

Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

In our innate desire to be the captain of our own fate we latch on to verses like these and tell ourselves that these verses prove that we have the ability, through our own fabled ‘free will’, to change the Lord’s mind. We must never forget that ‘key to the kingdom’ which teaches us that Truth is never to be found in just one verse or one section of scripture, rather:

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

Therefore, it behooves us to read on, and come to see that even though the Lord offers us the opportunity to repent, He already knows that we will at first reject Him and His offer to accept our repentance. If anyone doubts that the Lord already knows what mankind will do just read the next couple of verses:

Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Does that sound as if the Lord has any doubt about what we will do? These two verses confirm the message of verse 4:

Jer 18:4  And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Yes, indeed, the Lord admonishes us to “return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good”, and with the same breath He tells us “Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you”, followed by a description of that “evil device” He has devised against our old man. That device is to prepare the heart of our old man to say, “There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.”

Where does the heart of our old man get such a thought:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Then the Lord goes on to tell us plainly that His sovereignty extends to our own wicked man:

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

When you and I, or anyone else, sin and do wickedly, why do we do so? If God is sovereign over all things, then He must inform us that it is He who facilitates the most wicked of all acts, including the death of His own Son, and that is exactly what He does. It simply cannot be made more clear:

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

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

He even admits to being the “one lawgiver” which includes giving us “the law of sin… which is 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.

Whence comes this “sin that dwells within [our] members”?

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

How did that happen? How did this “law of sin” come to be in our members? Let us “let God be true and every man a liar” and believe these words of God:

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

That is exactly what the Sovereign God is in the process of doing. He is in the process of destroying our old man, who by His design is first “marred in [His] hand”, and through that dissolution of our old man He is saving our new man, just as the worm of a caterpillar is dissolved and comes out of the death of a cocoon as a beautiful butterfly no longer bound to crawl on its belly. It can now mount up to the heavens on beautiful wings, confirming that:

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:

What we are being told is that “the law of sin and death” is part and parcel an integral part of being made of the dust of the ground, being “the… marred… vessel made of clay… in the Potter’s hand”:

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.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

What we are being told is that the new vessel… “another vessel”, the Potter is making, is dominated by “another law” other than “the law of sin”. That new law, “the law of my mind”, in that new man is “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus”:

What is the meaning of the word ‘marred’? Exactly what is it about ‘the vessel of clay’ that makes it “marred” and unacceptable to the Potter?

Here is Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word translated as “marred”:

H7843
שָׁחַת
shâchath
shaw-khath’
A primitive root; to decay, that is, (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively): – batter, cast off, corrupt (-er, thing), destroy (-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, X utterly, waste (-r).

‘Shachath’ is the same word translated as ‘corrupt’ when it first appears in:

Gen 6:11  The earth also was corrupt [H7843: ‘shachath’] before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

It appears twice in the next verse:

Gen 6:12  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt [‘shachath’]; for all flesh had corrupted  [‘shachath’] his way upon the earth.

Notice how the translators have rendered this same word in the very next verse:

Gen 6:13  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy [‘shachath’] them with the earth.

Here is how this word is variously translated in the King James Version:

H7843
שׁחת
shâchath
Total KJV Occurrences: 146
destroy, 68
Gen_6:13, Gen_6:17, Gen_9:11, Gen_9:15, Gen_18:28 (2), Gen_18:31-32 (2), Num_32:13-15 (4), Deu_4:31, Deu_9:26, Deu_10:10,
Deu_20:19-20 (2), Jos_22:33, Jdg_6:5, 1Sa_23:10, 1Sa_26:9, 1Sa_26:15, 2Sa_1:14,
2Sa_14:11, 2Sa_20:20, 2Sa_24:16,
2Ki_8:19, 2Ki_13:23, 2Ki_18:25 (2),
1Ch_21:15, 2Ch_12:7, 2Ch_12:12,
2Ch_21:7, 2Ch_25:16, 2Ch_35:21,
Psa_106:23, Isa_36:9-10 (3), Isa_51:13, Isa_65:8 (2),
Isa_65:25, Jer_5:10, Jer_6:5,
Jer_11:19, Jer_13:14, Jer_15:3,
Jer_15:6, Jer_36:29, Jer_48:18,
Jer_49:9, Jer_51:11, Jer_51:20,
Lam_2:8, Eze_5:16, Eze_9:8,
Eze_22:30, Eze_26:4, Eze_30:11,
Eze_43:3, Dan_9:24-26 (4), Hos_11:9, Mal_3:11
destroyed, 22
Gen_13:10, Gen_19:29, Jdg_6:4,
Jdg_20:21, Jdg_20:25, Jdg_20:35,
Jdg_20:42, 2Sa_11:1,
2Sa_24:16, 2Ki_19:12, 1Ch_21:15,
2Ch_24:23,
2Ch_34:11, 2Ch_36:19, Psa_78:38,
Psa_78:45, Isa_14:20, Isa_37:12,
Jer_12:10, Lam_2:5-6 (2), Hos_13:9
corrupt, 11
Gen_6:11-12 (2), Deu_4:16, Deu_4:25, Deu_31:29,
Psa_53:1 (2), Pro_25:26, Eze_20:44,
Eze_23:11, Mal_1:14
corrupted, 11
Gen_6:12, Exo_8:24, Exo_32:7,
Deu_9:12, Deu_32:5, Jdg_2:19,
Eze_16:47, Eze_28:17, Hos_9:9,
Mal_2:7-8 (2)
destroying, 5
1Ch_21:12, 1Ch_21:15, Jer_2:30,
Jer_51:1, Eze_20:17
mar, 4
Lev_19:27, Rth_4:6, 1Sa_6:5,
Jer_13:9
destroyer, 3
Pro_28:23-24 (2), Jer_4:7
marred, 3
Jer_13:7 (2), Jer_18:4, Nah_2:2
corrupters, 2
Isa_1:4, Jer_6:28
destroyeth, 2
Pro_6:32, Pro_11:9
spoilers, 2
1Sa_13:17, 1Sa_14:15
waster, 2
Pro_18:9, Isa_54:16
battered, 1
2Sa_20:15
cast, 1
Amo_1:11
corrupting, 1
Dan_11:17
corruptly, 1
2Ch_27:2
destroyers, 1
Jer_22:7
destroyest, 1
Jer_51:25
destruction, 1
2Ch_26:16
lose, 1
Pro_23:8
perish, 1
Exo_21:26
spilled, 1
Gen_38:9
wasted, 1
1Ch_20:1

This is the same word used back in chapter 13 in reference to the linen girdle which Jeremiah buried in the banks of the Euphrates River:

Jer 13:6  And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
Jer 13:7  Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred [‘shachath’], it was profitable for nothing.

The linen girdle was ‘ruined and destroyed’ because it was made of a corruptible composition. Destruction, corruption, and ruin are the thought behind this Hebrew word ‘shachath’.

Why would the Lord first make man of such a corruptible composition? If “the first man Adam”, ‘the vessel of clay’, (1Co 15:45) was marred (‘shachath’) in the Potter’s hand, then he was made of a corrupting composition which was deliberately designed to lead him into his own destruction “in the Potter’s hand”, just as the scriptures reveal:

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.

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.

All the great sermons to the contrary, “the first man Adam” was not spiritual first. Rather:

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 [“The first man Adam… of the dust of the ground… the vessel that He made of clay…”], such are they also that are earthy [“flesh and blood… corruption”]: 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; [Pray tell, why cannot flesh and blood inherit the kingdom of God?] …neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

What the Lord says must be “first” will be ‘first’. That which the Lord declares is “not first” will not be first. If we cannot accept those qualifying words, then we simply do not yet know Christ or His Father (Joh 17:3).

If we fail to see the order in which the Lord is completing and perfecting His creation, we can and we will miss the spiritual message in all those verses of scripture which qualify that order in which the Lord is working to bring about the salvation of all.

The previous chapter of Jeremiah, chapter 17, revealed to us that we are cursed with a deceitful heart which we should never, ever trust:

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat [or “thief”] cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Chapter 18 confirms that a “deceitful heart” is simply a natural heart which is “marred… in the hand of the Potter”, and that this “marred” corruptible composition is the device which the Lord has devised against the kingdom of our old man to destroy it.

All these words of God are simply the fire which tries and burns up the wood, hay, and stubble of the works of our old man. These words are the judgment which begins when our “first man Adam” begins to die and begins to be judged. It is all designed to take place “first”, and it is all integral to the salvation of all men. This is the sequence of events which the Lord desires, and what the Lord desires He is doing:

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

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man‘s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

The word ‘appointed’ is in the present tense. The judgment which begins after we begin to “die” is in the aorist tense, and is now on the house of God:

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

The works of our old man are being burned up yet we ourselves, our “new man… shall be saved”. Being given a deceitful heart (Jer 17:9), and being “marred in the hand of the Potter” (Jer 18:4) are just the necessary corruptible beginnings of the Lord’s process of salvation for “every man” (1Co 3:13-15).

That completes our study for today. These are our verses for our next study:

Jer 18:13  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
Jer 18:14  Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Jer 18:15  Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Jer 18:16  To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Jer 18:17  I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Jer 18:18  Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jer 18:19  Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
Jer 18:20  Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Jer 18:21  Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
Jer 18:22  Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Jer 18:23  Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 54 Discussion

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Isa 12:1-6  Your Anger Is Turned Away, and You Comfort Me

Isa 12:1  And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
Isa 12:2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
Isa 12:3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Isa 12:4  And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
Isa 12:5  Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
Isa 12:6  Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

These words go right along with the thoughts contained in the previous chapter where we are told the Lord is gathering His elect out of Assyria (Babylon), and is setting them up as a sign to the nations of those upon whom He is now showing His favor.

Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

And here are those in Christ who are that ensign..."in that day":

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

These verses speaking of "that day" refer to the first verse of our study:

Isa 12:1  And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

God himself, at first, has us all blinded to the Truth that He is first "angry with" His own elect, and because of the sin which He Himself placed within us to give Himself the occasion He is seeking to destroy our old man and his kingdom. God's elect, along with the whole creation, live in sin for many years not knowing they are His elect, not knowing their old man must die and that the kingdom of their old man must be destroyed. That destruction is accomplished through the fiery trials of our "predestinated" lives.

This is how the holy spirit tells us this is accomplished:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day ["that day"] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

 Is there any human who has never "defile[d] the temple of God"? Of course there is not!

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

What does the Lord do to all who have sinned?

Exo 32:33  And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

What this means is that "the first man Adam" in all of us is blotted out of God's book of life, blotted out of Christ, and Christ in us must replace that rebellious old "first man Adam".

But this is a process and Christ sums this process up in these words:

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

Then Christ used the apostle Paul to reveal to us that our 'dying' is a daily process:

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

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

Who is working this entire process? It certainly is not any of us simply because our old man just naturally does not want to die, and will do anything to preserve himself. If we do seek to "Hate [our] life in the age", this is who makes that all happen:

Isa 12:2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

When we are in time given the faith to simply believe the Truth of the Lord's words in the following verses, then the trust, courage, strength and joy of Isaiah 12:2 becomes ours. These verses are the Truth. Any spirit which attempts to tell us otherwise is a lying, false spirit:

Psa 136:1  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

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 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

When we realize and believe that we are the foolish, the weak and the base of this world, it humbles us and causes us to see just how hopeless and how helpless we are of ourselves, and only in that humble state we can and we will be exalted "to the praise of His glory", and only then we can be given the faith to "rejoice in His salvation", simply because we know our Lord "cares for [us]".

Isa 25:9  And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

1Pe 5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Isa 12:3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

That word "Therefore" refers back to verse 2:

Isa 12:2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Where are these "wells of salvation" which are also called "rivers of living waters":

Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jer 17:13  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Christ is the source of the fountains, rivers and wells of living waters. But as with all things except headship and the power of the throne, Christ has given us all His Father gave to Him:

Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

The message of the "sum of [His] word", at which we arrive when we add John 7:38 to Isa 12:2-3, is the truth contained in these verses:

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

2Co 4:5  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

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

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

When we are granted to realize that "the life which [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by the faith of the Son of God... which is Christ in you the hope of glory... that the excellency of the power is of God and not of us, because Christ lives in us by the faith of the Son of God, then:

Isa 12:4  And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

We are instructed by our Creator to praise Him, call upon His name, declare His doings, and make mention that His name is exalted. The Lord obviously considers it very important that we acknowledge Him for who He is and that we acknowledge "His doings among the people". So what exactly are "His doings"? What are "His doings" of which we are instructed to make mention?

Here are "His doings" which He has done and over which He wants us to know and "make mention" that He is sovereign:

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

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

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

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

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

The point of 'making mention that His name is exalted' is to exalt His name in all things. This acknowledgement includes the fact that it was God who made Joseph's brothers to sell him as a slave into Egypt. In Exodus we are reminded that it was the Lord who created heaven and earth and all that in them is. Here in Isaiah we are told that there is no other God, and we are informed in the clearest manner that our God creates both good and evil to the extent that He actually "makes us to err from His ways and hardens our hearts from His fear just as He hardened Pharaoh's heart. In Amos we are even told that if there is evil in the city, and we all know there is plenty of "evil in the city", yet we are reminded "the Lord hath done it".

The doctrine of the New Testament is the same message. Christ tells us clearly that he came to blind the masses from knowing who He is:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

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.

Christ tells us in no uncertain terms that "it is not given to [the multitudes] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God". He tells us plainly that He came to blind the masses and to take away their ability to hear His words:

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

However He has a purpose in all He is doing, and he tells us what that purpose is:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Christ and His Father determined "before the world began", 'before chronos aionios' that it would be through "Christ the firstfruits; [and] afterward they that are Christ's at his coming", that all men of all time would be brought back from death and given immortaity:

Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Immortality is the gift that awaits all men of all time, and all men have already been given an order in which we will each receive immortality. When all flesh and death are destroyed, then "God will be all in all". God being "all in all" will be accomplished through "the church which is His body":

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

When we learn and are brought to understand fully that we are "the church which is His body, [and that we are] the fulness of Him that fills all in all" we are provoked to:

Isa 12:5  Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
Isa 12:6  Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

"He hath done excellent things" is in the 'Qal stem', which is the Hebrew equivalent of the aorist tense in the Greek. What that means is that "The Lord [is] do[ing] excellent things", and according to verse 6 He is doing so "in the midst of [us]" because to this very day He is doing excellent things like revealing:

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Truly "the eyes of our understanding [is] being enlightened; that we may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Eph 1:18).

Psa 94:19  In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

We will close with our opening verse:

Isa 12:1  And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will discover that "the day of the Lord" within us is the judgment of Babylon within us.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Isa 13:1  The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Isa 13:2  Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
Isa 13:3  I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
Isa 13:4  The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
Isa 13:5  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Isa 13:6  Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Isa 13:7  Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
Isa 13:8  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isa 13:9  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Isa 13:11  And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Hi Mike,

The verse of John 5:29 fills me with fear….Surely we have all done evil… Is not the heart of man evil continually? Hoping you can elucidate on this for me.

M____

Hi again, M____,

It is so good to hear from you!

The days ordained for all of us are written in God’s book before we are ever born, so it behooves us to be patient with one another. In so doing we are accepting what God Himself is doing in our lives and the lives of all men.

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

You ask:

The verse of John 5:29 fills me with fear….Surely we have all done evil… Is not the heart of man evil continually? Hoping you can elucidate on this for me.

I certainly can add some light to the meaning of John 5:29. Here is that verse:

Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

As you put it, “Surely we have all done evil… Is not the heart of man evil continually?” Yes, it is in the heart of man to do “evil continually”.

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

We have studies on the site concerning both the book of Revelation and Job. Both of these books deal with the destruction of the “old man” within us all.

John 5:29, while it is a terrible translation of the Greek, it is simply dealing with the fact that there are two resurrections, the first resurrection for those who are being judged now in this life and the later resurrection for all others.

That verse 5 of Genesis 6 deals with the exact same subject. Before the flood of Noah, mankind was just as they are today. Every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually, and so God destroyed mankind with a flood, which flood is a type of God’s Word.

Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Those who died in that flood have never been judged and will be given their judgment ‘…in their own order’ (1Co 15:23). That is what John 5:29 is dealing with. It is merely telling us that there are two resurrections, for two separate groups at two separte times

The ark of Noah is a type of Christ, and in Him we come through the death of the flood, which is a type of the death of our old man upon the cross, and we come through that flood and become a new man in a new world, which is a type of our lives with Christ living within us, and our old man ‘dying daily’.

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

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; [the people Noah preached to before the flood, as stated in this next verse]
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Christ has come to save all who are in Adam, and that is exactly what He will do. This is made clear in unequivocal terms.

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

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

Even the Jews who rejected and crucified our Lord, ‘in their own order’ (1Co 15:23) will be saved from sin and death.

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.

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

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The word ‘might’ is not to be understood as a mere possibility. The fact is that word is not in the Greek at all. The words “…might be saved” are all translated from the one Greek word ‘sozo’.

Here is Strong’s Concordance’s entry for that Greek word:

G4982
σώζω
sōzō
sode’-zo
From a primary word σῶς sōs̄ (contraction for the obsolete σάος saos, “safe”); to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): – heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

So Christ came to save the world, and that is exactly what He is in the process of doing. I feel sure you have seen all these verses but I will repeat them as a reminder:

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

Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

So there it is. It is just as you pointed out, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, and we are told that there is but “one event to the righteous and the wicked… all things come alike to all, as is the good, so is the sinner, for there is no difference”.

That “one event” which causes there to be “no difference” is the Biblical doctrine that all men must first die to our old man and then be resurrected from the dead and we must then, all be judged.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Notice that death must precede judgment. It is this death of our old man which strikes fear into the heart of the flesh of our “old man”. It is our reluctance to relinquish these bodies of flesh which fills us all with fear.

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;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

None of us wants to see our flesh destroyed and replaced by a new man. Even Abraham pleaded with God not to reject his flesh:

Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Gen 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

So “the resurrection of damnation” is just the second resurrection, in which all who do not accept Christ while in these vessels of clay, will be given life with the very same false doctrines and rebellious spirits with which they died being intact in their hearts in that resurrection.

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

After all if “all things come alike to all… [and] there is one event to the righteous and the wicked… as is the good so is the sinner… for there is no difference”, how then can Christ make the statement that “all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation“?

If there is a resurrection to life and a resurrection to damnation, how then can there be a “one event to the righteous and the wicked”?

The answer to that question lies in understanding that the word ‘damnation’ is a bad translation of the Greek word, ‘krisis‘, and in understanding that those who are resurrected to life are judged in this life.

So if ‘damnation’ is a bad translation of the Greek word, ‘krisis‘ what is the proper translation? Just showing how it is normally translated will answer that question. Here it is as I have cut and pasted from my e-sword:

G2920
κρίσις
krisis
Total KJV Occurrences: 48
judgment, 39
Mat_5:21-22 (2), Mat_10:15, Mat_11:22, Mat_11:24, Mat_12:18, Mat_12:20, Mat_12:36, Mat_12:41-42 (2), Mat_23:23, Mar_6:11, Luk_10:14, Luk_11:31-32 (2), Luk_11:42, Joh_5:22, Joh_5:27, Joh_5:30, Joh_7:24, Joh_8:16, Joh_12:31, Joh_16:8, Joh_16:11, Act_8:33, 2Th_1:5, 1Ti_5:24, Heb_10:27 (2), Jam_2:13 (2), 2Pe_2:4, 2Pe_2:9, 2Pe_3:7, 1Jo_4:17, Jud_1:6, Jud_1:15, Rev_14:7, Rev_18:10
damnation, 3
Mat_23:33, Joh_5:29 (2)
accusation, 2
2Pe_2:11, Jud_1:9
condemnation, 2
Joh_3:19, Joh_5:24
judgments, 2
Rev_16:7, Rev_19:2

So ‘krisis‘ appears in the New Testament 48 times, and of those 48 it is translated ‘judgment’ 39 times. Only three times is it translated ‘damnation’, and in those instances it would better be translated as ‘judgment’.

It appears that of the three instances which I have emboldened above one is a mistake, and ‘krisis‘ is translated as ‘damnation’ only twice. Once is here in the verse which you say “…fills me with fear”, Joh 5:29. It appears in that verse only once, instead of the two times as indicated above. The other entry is in Matthew 23.

Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation [Greek: krisis – judgment] of hell? [Gehenna, a type of the lake of fire]

Clearly a much better translation of this verse would be “…how can you escape the judgment of Gehenna?” Or ‘How can you escape the judgment of the great white throne and the lake of fire?’

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting [Greek: aiōnios – age] fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Where and when are “the devil and his angels” cast into that ‘age lasting fire’? Here is the answer to that question:

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

What is the purpose of this “lake of fire”? The answer is that “the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works.”

There it is, the purpose for the lake of fire and the great white throne is the judgment of all who have ever died. They will be judged “out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

When were those books written? This is the part that is very little understood, even though it is declared to be true from Genesis to Revelation. Here is when those books with all of the works of all men were written:

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

So there it is. God has determined what is our every action for every day of our lives before we are ever born. How long before we are born did God ‘write our days in His book?’ Here is what we are told:

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

So when did this fire that is in this ‘lake of fire’ do its work in those who are being saved in this age? Here is the answer to that question:

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss [the loss of the “old man”]: but he himself [“the new man”] shall be save; yet so as by fire”. Here is this same statement in the book of 1 Peter:

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

There it is, the fire that saves us is our judgment. What is it that saves us? We are “saved… so as by fire”. What is that ‘fire’? Here is what that fire is where ever you see that word as it relates to our judgment or the judgment of any man at any time in scripture. This is the ‘fire’ of scripture wherever it appears in the Old or the New Testament:

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

So it is our “old man” who is the “wood, hay, and stubble” which is burned up and destroyed by “My words in your mouth… the brightness of His coming”.

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

So will all men be saved or will they not? Here are the scriptures which declare that all men will be saved:

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

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

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

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

For those who inevitably argue that the word ‘will’ here in 2Pe 3:9 and 1Ti 2:4, is nothing more than a wistful wish God entertains, we have these instructive words concerning whether God’s will is nothing more than wistful thinking:

2Ch 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

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

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

“I will do all my pleasure”!!! What God wants, God gets. What does God want?

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

Does that mean just those who choose to believe in Christ, or does that mean the whole world? God cannot make it any clearer:

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

So every curse mentioned in scripture is pronounced upon the “natural… old man” who is first within us all. All the blessings are pronounced upon the new man who comes afterward:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
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.

So how is it possible to say that some men will be raised to life and others will be raised to damnation? It is possible to say that because the word ‘damnation’ should read ‘judgment’, and it is possible because those who are being judged now, at this time in fiery trials of this life, as “the house of God”, will be raised first, at the beginning of the thousand years and will not be in a resurrection to judgment in the lake of fire at the end of the thousand years.

It is then true that “they that have done good, [will be raised] unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation”.

I will end this email with the last verse of 1Peter 4 which we quoted above:

1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Your soul is in very good, capable, and loving hands. Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world (1Jh 2:2).

So John 5:29 should no longer cause you any anxiety. The word ‘damnation’ is not damnation at all but is ‘judgment’. Just coming to realize that one Truth should give you confidence that when God’s judgments are in the earth, men will be chastened and will learn righteousness. This especially includes the great white throne judgment.

This is what God’s ‘judgment’ always produces, and this is what our own ‘spirits should be seeking early’:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. [to the later judgment]

I hope this serves as “the comfort of the scriptures” for you.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

So often I read Genesis 1:26 up to …after our likeness and then just gloss over the remainder.

Foolish me. I skip over a powerful, realm changing promise!

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

…and let them have DOMINION…

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The beast I (we) war with daily is not flesh and blood, this ruling, well-entrenched beast is spiritual.

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.

This beast (powered by the god of this world) desires to keep me in darkness, blind to the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.

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

Receiving and exercising this dominion (light of the gospel of Christ) over spiritual wickedness in my (our) earth and my (our) heaven/firmament is the process of “Gen 1:26 … let us (be making) make man in our image.

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

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

I cannot make myself in the image go God, neither can I give myself dominion over (my own beastly) spiritual wickedness, but I (we) have a high priest that can and is doing both.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

I (we) shall be like Him (the image of the invisible God)!

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

YBIC,
A____

Hi A____,

What a wonderful revelation the Lord has given you!

“The first man Adam” (1Co 15:45) has never possessed the dominion he is prophesied to obtain in these verses:

Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The fact is that Adam, of himself, and without Christ, “can do nothing”, much less have dominion over all his flesh:

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

This revelation you are sharing with us accords with and confirms the fact that our corruptible, sinful, old man is simply the necessary first step in the work being done by the One who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

This revelation also accords with the fact that instead of saying:

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.

“In the day you eat thereof you shall surely die”, in the Hebrew actually says:

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.

Adam and Eve were created “to die”. Adam and Eve did not die because they ate of the forbidden fruit, rather they ate of the forbidden fruit because of their naked, earthy, sinful, dying, marred composition “in the hand of the Potter”:

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

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.

Adam’s sin was just as much a work of the Potter’s hand, as was the destruction of Job’s possessions, and as was Job’s affliction with boils. We are plainly to that both  were the work of “Thy hand”:

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

The scriptures demonstrate that all that Satan does is no more or any less than what God sends him forth to do, and the same is true of Adam and all who are in Adam because:

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

Eph 1:9  Having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his desire, which he purposed within himself.
Eph 1:10  for an administration of the fullness of the times. To gather together all things in the Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth,
Eph 1:11  in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will. (ACV)

“All things” must, of necessity include “yea, even the wicked for the day of evil”, and a wicked Adam and Eve who, by His design, disobeyed their Creator.

It is “the Christ” only who will be given the power to “gather together all things in the Christ”,and be granted the dominion over all flesh which God has promised to “the last Adam”, as the Lord has revealed to you in these verses:

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image–after our likeness–and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that

So the conclusion is that God’s creation is a work in progress, which is what the Hebrew actually reveals in the very next verse:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

The first Adam has never been ‘made in the image of God’. “The first man, Adam”, is but the first step toward making mankind into “the image of God”. Only “the Christ” has been made into that “express image” thus far. “Creating is Elohim humanity in His image”.

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

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

In the end “all in Adam… will bear the image of the heavenly… second Adam”.

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

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.

There it is! Corruptible flesh and blood was never intended to inherit the kingdom of God, and yet all in Adam, each in his own order will, “bear the image of the heavenly”, and will be given the dominion you so rightly pointed out he has never yet possessed:

Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

Your brother who appreciates every crumb and every nugget of His Words,

Mike

The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven – Part 9

The Positive and The Negative Application of Every Word

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

Introduction

Not understanding that all scripture has both a positive and a negative application has served to keep the keys to the kingdom of heaven hidden from those to whom those keys have not been given (Mat 13:9-15). Exodus 14:20 is speaking of Christ, who we are told was the “cloud [that] went before them.”

Exo 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

The same cloud was to one people bright light as in the middle of the day, while on the other side of the very same cloud, there was such thick darkness that those in that darkness could not see their own hands in front of their faces.

Peter tells us that God has made Jesus “both Lord and Christ”. Here we are told, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud.”

Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

The word ‘Lord’ in Exodus 13:21 is translated from what the Jews call ‘the tetragrammaton’, meaning ‘the four letters’, and those four letters are YHWH. Those who have added the vowels have generally agreed to ‘Yahweh’. Some scholars add an ‘o’ between the ‘h’ and the ‘w’, translating the tetragrammaton as ‘Yehowah’, which is then Anglicized into ‘Jehovah’. We have several FAQs which give the scriptures proving that Christ, “the Word” is the ‘Yahweh’ or ‘Jehovah’ who did much of the speaking of the Word in the Old Testament. ‘Yahweh’ appears more than any other name in the Old Testament with 6528 entries. In the King James Version it is almost always translated in all caps as the LORD. The only exceptions are that it is translated as ‘God’ four times and as ‘Jehovah’ four times.

It was Yahweh who talked with Moses out of the burning bush:

Exo 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Exo 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Exo 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Yahweh, the LORD, spoke with Moses, and it was Yahweh who had spoken with and had eaten a meal with Abraham about 500 years earlier when He came to tell Abraham that Sarah would have a child:

Gen 18:13 And the LORD [Hebrew: Yahweh] said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

It is Christ Himself who reveals to us that it was He who spoke to Abraham, and it was He who was the cloud that led them through the wilderness when He tells us this:

Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

So it is Christ Himself who was as dark as the darkest night to the Egyptians, and it was Christ who was at the same time light to Israel, His elect in type. Christ is not just a pillar of cloud. He is also the Word. Here is the New Testament revelation of what the pillar of cloud which was darkness to the Egyptians while at the same time being light to the Israelites means:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

If it is true that Christ is the Word, and if it is true “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time“, then it in no way contradicts those two truths to replace the word ‘made’ with the word ‘said’ in verse 3, and it would still agree with the sum of the Word of God.

Here is how it would then read:

Joh 1:3  All things were [said] by him; and without him was not any thing [said] that was [said].

One of the clearest applications of this key to the kingdom of God, this principle of being light to those who are given eyes that see while at the same time being total darkness to those who are not given eyes to see, is explained for us all in Matthew 13 where Christ explains to His disciples why He always spoke to the multitudes in parables:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

It was given to Israel to see what God was doing, but to the Egyptians it was not given. Everything that happened there at the Red Sea was just a type and shadow of what Christ came to reveal to those to whom He gives eyes that see and ears that hear.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

It seems impossible that the very words that reveal the mind of God and His Son to His elect, the very words that nourish and feed and give light and life to God’s elect, are the very same words that poison, weaken, blind and give darkness and bring death to our “old man… the first man Adam”.

Is this true of every word of God?

So, how far do we go in applying this dark to one and light to the other, this positive to one and negative to the other, key to the kingdom of heaven? If indeed Christ is the Word, and if the scriptures are in fact His written Word, then the principle revealed to us in this particular key to the kingdom of heaven must surely apply to “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” What is it we are told of “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?”

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other. (ACV)

If it is true that the Word of God is darkness to those who do not know God and it is light to those to whom He is revealing Himself, and if it is true that “man shall… live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, then it follows that we must all live first in that spoken and written darkness before we are given eyes that see and ears that hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Is that a true statement? Do the scriptures confirm that we are all first the Egyptians who could not see their hands in front of their own faces because of the extent of the darkness in which they were living?

Here is the scriptural answer to that question via the pen of the apostle Paul:

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
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.

There is our answer. “We all had our [way of life] 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 this key to the kingdom reveals in practice is that every man lives out both the positive and the negative words, the blessing and the curses, that have proceeded out of the mouth of God, including these very dark, negative words:

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

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

No man is able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels… [who were given] the seven vials full of the wrath of God are fulfilled in that person’s life, which life is the temple of God, as the apostle Paul told all those who were in His charge:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

If indeed Christ is the Word, and if we are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, does that not mean that we must confess to all the sins of all men and bear all the curses as well as all the blessings of scripture? Is that not exactly what Christ, our Savior, did?

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.
Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

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

1Co 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

Gal 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Are these words which have no personal application to you and me? The keys to the kingdom of heaven, which kingdom is within us, reveal that both the bright side and the dark side of Christ are ours. It is not just the bright, good, lighted side which is ours. The keys to the kingdom of heaven reveal that we, too, must fill up in our own bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of “He [who] is despised and rejected of men.” We, too, must have no beauty that we should be desired. We also must be despised and rejected of all men. It is given to us to be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It is given to us on His behalf to bear the griefs and sorrows of our fellows. It is given to us to be wounded for the transgression and bruised for the iniquities of our fellow man; to be “crucified with Christ” for the very same reason, goal and purpose for which Christ was crucified.

It is also given to us to be required to bear all the sins of all men from Adam on, just as did Christ Himself:

Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

[Read this link for more on who this ‘scapegoat’ symbolizes: The Spiritual Significance of the Scapegoat and the Nazarite Vow]

Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Let’s examine the depth of the application of this particular key to the kingdom of heaven which teaches us that there is both a bright, positive side to our Lord as that pillar of cloud, which was at the very same time dark and negative, as He stood between and delivered His people from their enemies, all of which we now know was a type and shadow of the kingdom of God which is within us.

Here is what is involved in being saved from sin and death for those who are given to receive it. This is what is given to the “scapegoat”, the Lord’s “living sacrifice…” to bear the sins of the people (Rom 12:1, Lev 16:10-21):

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Act 9:15  But the Lord said unto him [Ananias], Go thy way: for he [Saul of Tarsus] is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Rom 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.

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

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

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

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

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Heb 13:3  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

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

Does this all sound negative and dark? The fact is that this is the best thing to which any of us could possibly be called. If it is not given us to bear these words, then the proverb is true:

Pro 24:10  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy [spiritual] strength is small.

The godly, the unjust and the day of judgment

Who are the unjust whom the apostle Peter tells us are “reserve[d]… unto the day of judgment?

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
2Pe 2:11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Whoever verse 10 is speaking of must surely be some especially reprobate person:

2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

Do we think of ourselves only as ‘the godly’ whom the Lord knows how to deliver out of temptation? The keys to the kingdom of heaven within us, and this key concerning the light and dark side of the same cloud, the negative and the positive application of every word of God, will open our eyes to see that we ourselves are that man of verse 10. It is we ourselves who are “chief… of… sinners”. It is we who have taken Uriah’s wife and murdered Uriah to cover up our sin.

Only when we see ourselves as being that dark side first will we understand what the spirit is telling us when Christ said:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

That “kingdom of heaven” is not just “likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.” It is also likened unto “his enemy [our “old man” who] came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” The keys to the kingdom of heaven reveal that the kingdom of heaven is also likened to the householder, Christ, who tells his servants to “let both [the wheat and the tares] grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest… gather ye first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

When is “the harvest”? The harvest is the judgment. Whether it is now or at the great white throne judgment, that is when the tares are gathered first in bundles and are burned up.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are, the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

So when are the tares gathered together in bundles and destroyed with the brightness of His coming? When are God’s elect judged and purged of all the tares in their lives? Here is when that day of judgment takes place in the kingdom of God within us:

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

The tares are even now being gathered and bound up in bundles and being burned up by the brightness of the coming of Christ and the Truths of His doctrine in all those who now are the house of God. Here again is how they are being “burned”, and here is how the wheat is being gathered into Christ’s barns:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Using ‘the dream is one’ key (Gen 41:26), and being told by Christ that the kingdom of heaven is within His people and that the wheat symbolizes His own words, His doctrine, we must conclude that God’s barn and God’s temple are both the same. They both symbolize those He is gathering together, those in whom He dwells as His temple, those who have Him within them and live by His words and His doctrines.

Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

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

Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom [within us] all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

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.

Conclusion

“Them that do iniquity” of Matthew 13:41 is our own old man within all of us, who is even now being judged and is now being crucified with Christ and is even now dying daily. What a blessing it is to know the mind of Christ and to have all these keys to the kingdom of heaven, and to know that the dark side of that cloud that is Christ is simply the first Adam whose demise is the birth of the new man, the bright side of the same cloud, the last Adam; the birth of Christ Himself within each of us:

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.

Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

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

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:

[Part ten can be found here.]

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 79

“The judgments” Part J

May 29th, 2015

We have covered many of the “judgments” the Lord gave to Moses to give to the Israelites and now we have arrived at the “first fruit judgment”.

This is an important judgment because it signifies to us that the Lord considers the first fruit very important.

On the surface it may seem like a straight forward judgment, but as we look into the words given to us to obey, and weigh them against the sum of the Word, we will notice some interesting spiritual applications that apply to us all today.

The First Fruit

Exo 22:29  Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
Exo 22:30  Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

When we cover the different “types” of first fruits mentioned in these verses, we will notice there are similarities and differences between each “type” of first fruit.

The first similarity is between the ripe fruits and the liquors. With these two groups, there is no delay to offer them to the Lord. These first fruits are things which are from the earth and are grown, cultivated and “driven” from the earth.

The second similarity is between the firstborn of the sons, oxen and sheep. These three types are all beasts and are things which are “born”, but fruits of the earth are also things that go through a dying process in order to bring forth life and the “next fruit” after its kind.

The first group is offered AFTER it has matured, while the second group referenced as beasts, is offered before it is even off its mother’s milk.

Let’s look at the first group and see what some of the important attributes of it are.

So important is the “first fruit of the land” to the Lord! I am going to read out of Deuteronomy and ask you to pay attention to who was FIRST to be established by the works the Lord had done.

Deu 26:1  And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;
Deu 26:2  That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.
Deu 26:3  And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us.
Deu 26:4  And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
Deu 26:5  And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
Deu 26:6  And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
Deu 26:7  And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
Deu 26:8  And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
Deu 26:9  And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
Deu 26:10  And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
Deu 26:11  And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

Notice that it is the GREAT nation of Egypt which the Lord established in order to SACRIFICE them so that the “kind of firstfruits” could be established.

Mar 4:26  And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
Mar 4:27  And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Mar 4:28  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Mar 4:29  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

It is SEED that is cast INTO THE GROUND which must happen in order that LIFE can happen.

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

Egypt is an earlier form and type of Babylon, and Babylon is the physical representation of the SPIRITUAL Babylon we all must partake of in order to be ‘CALLED OUT OF HER”.

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

We all are the kind of first fruits which must first partake of the FIRST FRUIT in order to be given life, but WHAT HAPPENS to the FIRST FRUIT?

The first fruit is sacrificed.

It is the first fruit of the land which is offered/sacrificed so that the Lord continues to bless the REST of the fruit that comes in.

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

Egypt is sacrificed so that the nation of Israel can be born. Physical Babylon is sacrificed so that the remnant of Israelites could be saved.

That pattern continues on so that Jews were converted to Christians and then sacrificed so that the early church could be established. The early church was given over to an apostate mindset so that the true people of God could immerge and continue to serve him.

We are told to “come out of her my people” because we are to see OURSELVES as what we are being CALLED out of! Yes, we start off AS BABYLON (being babes in Jesus Christ) so that the Lord can call us out of spiritual Babylon which calls us her home.

You may be asking yourself how it is I can be comparing Jesus Christ to Egypt or Babylon? How can I be saying that Jesus Christ is a first fruit like Egypt and Babylon? One is a negative application and the other is a positive, but Jesus Christ contained both within Himself.

The difference with Jesus Christ and the rest of all of humanity is that He contains the is, was and will be of the WHOLE SUM of the PLAN of God.

Here is who Jesus Christ is.

Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

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:
Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

Rev 2:8  And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
Rev 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

With Jesus Christ’s own words He claims to be the FIRST and the LAST.

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.

Jesus Christ had to deal with the first man Adam as well as the LAST man Adam because Jesus Christ was BORN as a son of man as well as a Son of God.

Jesus Christ SACRIFICED the first so that the LAST could be given LIFE.

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.

At the beginning of this study I stated, “The first similarity is between the ripe fruits and the liquors. With these two groups, there is no delay to offer them to the Lord. They are things which are from the earth and are grown, cultivated and “driven” from the earth.”

When the process the Lord has put in place is complete, He demands we give Him back what He alone has caused to come to fruition.

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.

The Greek word used here to “bringeth forth” reveals a lot about this spiritual process.

G5342

pherō̄

Total KJV Occurrences: 63

bring, 17

Mat_14:18, Mat_17:17, Mar_7:32, Mar_8:22, Mar_9:19, Mar_12:15, Luk_15:22-23 (2), Joh_15:2, Joh_15:16, Joh_18:29, Joh_21:10, 2Ti_4:13, 2Pe_2:11, 2Jo_1:10, Rev_21:24, Rev_21:26

brought, 17

Mat_14:11 (2), Mar_1:32, Mar_4:8, Mar_6:27-28 (2), Mar_9:17, Mar_9:20, Mar_12:16, Luk_5:18, Joh_4:33, Joh_19:39, Act_4:34, Act_4:37, Act_5:2, Act_14:13, 1Pe_1:13

bear, 4

Luk_23:26, Joh_2:8, Joh_15:4, Joh_15:8

bringing, 3

Mar_2:3, Luk_24:1, Act_5:16

came, 3

2Pe_1:17-18 (2), 2Pe_1:21

beareth, 2

Joh_15:2 (2)

bringeth, 2

Joh_12:24, Joh_15:5

reach, 2

Joh_20:27 (2)

bare, 1

Joh_2:8

bearing, 1

Heb_13:13

carry, 1

Joh_21:18

driven, 1

Act_27:17

endure, 1

Heb_12:20

endured, 1

Rom_9:22

forth, 1

Mar_4:8

go, 1

Heb_6:1

laid, 1

Act_25:7

leadeth, 1

Act_12:10

moved, 1

2Pe_1:21

rushing, 1

Act_2:2

upholding, 1

Heb_1:2-3 (2)

Here are a few of these verses examined a little closer. There is a common theme running through all of these verses.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Luk 23:26  And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

Joh 2:8  And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
Joh 2:9  When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
Joh 2:10  And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
Joh 2:11  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

2Pe 1:17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

2Pe 1:21  For the prophecy came NOT in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

Act 27:17  Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.
Act 27:18  And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;

It is the Lord Himself who is GLORIFIED by what the LORD HIMSELF does to bring about FRUIT of the EARTH. Just like there is a heaven and earth, they will pass away and in their stead will be a “new heavens and a new earth.”

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

He also requires the FRUIT of the SPIRIT which comes forth from this new SPIRITUAL earth.

Grace is brought, we bear fruit, we bear the cross, we bear the good wine, we bear no fruit of ourselves, a voice came saying this is my Son, prophecy comes via the Holy Ghost, bearing His reproach happens because we are driven outside the camp, we are carried where we don’t want to go, and we are “driven in a boat we have no control over” because it is all being worked out but the counsel of His own will and His own will ALONE.

These are among the reasons why the Lord requires the first fruit “of the land”. Whether a negative or positive application is applied, whether good or evil is caused, it is the Lord ALONE who will work it all out to be GOOD for US!

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

The Lord wants the maturity of the “fruit” He has caused to happen to be His because it is all His work. When we claim a part of it as our works, then we have sinned in our self-righteousness.

Those are the first fruits of the land, but in order for this process to happen spiritually, the Lord wants us to understand that this is a process that happens and doesn’t happen “overnight”.

The “beasts” have 7 days to go through the complete process of judgment before the new man can be born on the 8th day.

Conclusion

How we can take these sets of the first fruit judgments found in Exodus 22:29-30 and apply them to our lives is that no matter the situation we find ourselves in, no matter the circumstances we are dealing with, the Lord is the one who has already caused the wind to blow to direct your sails before your ever started sailing.

The Lord has already caused you to be “coming out of the country” like Simon the Cyrenian was, so that you can bear the cross of Jesus.

Indeed, the Lord has bid you to the marriage supper of the Lamb so that it can be you who is able to “bear the miracle wine of the Lord” to the “Governor” ruling the hearts and minds of the folks you are being sent to.

Whatever the daily ins and outs of our lives entail, the Lord will redeem the soul of His servants.

Psa 34:22  The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

(Key verses: Gen 29:31-35; Gen 30:1-24)

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

God loves the world, pointing to all in the first Adam as they are all linked to the process of eventually being conformed to the spiritual image of the last Adam, Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate focus of this love of God (Joh 3:6; Rom 8:29; 1Co 15:22). God created the first Adam and all in him in a marred condition, and they will all receive spirit life through the gift of the faith of the last Adam, Jesus Christ, whom the Father appointed as the Saviour of all in the world of the first Adam (Jer 18:4; Eph 2:8-9; 1Ti 4:10; Tit 2:11-13; Tit 3:3-6; 1Jn 4:14). God does not love the natural man and all in this physical creation the way He loves the new man in Christ, and He advises His elect to have the same focus:

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

God’s love for this last Adam is therefore His focus as He also loves His elect more in this age as He is preparing them for their important task at hand to be rulers on this earth in the symbolic thousand-year reign and to be the judges in the lake of fire (Joh 3:16; 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20). The flesh, however, wants to be accepted and loved apart from God’s eternal spiritual purposes. It is this selfish craving in each natural heart that is also the focus of the trouble in the new household of Jacob. The struggle for love and children is the struggle between Leah and Rachel. Jacob was in love with Rachel, and his uncle Laban promised him Rachel if Jacob will work for him for seven years. When the seven years of service were completed, Jacob wanted his wife, and Laban organised a feast to celebrate the occasion. However, Jacob could not discern properly who the veiled bride was as Laban also brought her to Jacob in the evening. When Jacob woke up the next morning, he saw that he slept with Leah, the elder sister of Rachel:

Gen 29:25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

Jacob, the deceiver and manipulator, was deceived by Laban, and in his self-righteous heart he could not accept this. Seeing the evil around us is easy for our carnal mind, but to see the same evil inside is humiliating. The theme of sanctification is also highlighted in the life of Jacob who started off as a deceiver and manipulator but is taken through much purging in order to place him in the right position to be the servant for his master’s use. Jacob is set apart to serve God’s purposes and not his own:

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

Leah is given to us as the type of the false bride or church who we all encounter on our spiritual journey when we are convinced, by our own deception, that we have found the true bride of Christ. Jacob will have to fulfill his duties to Leah, as the dominion of flesh and the influence of spiritual Babylon in our own lives must run its full course as determined by our heavenly Father:

Gen 29:26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Gen 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

It is therefore important to see how Jacob also treated Leah with respect and also submitted to the customs of that country. We must respect God for the time He ordained for us to be under tutors and governors of the flesh until the time that the faith of Christ is given to us which will bring us to spiritual maturity (Gal 3:22-25; Gal 4:1-5):

Gen 29:28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week [Hebrew: “shâbûa” linked with “shâba” which has more to do with a complete period of time, which links spiritually with the number seven]: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
Gen 29:29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

Rachel is the symbol of God’s true church when we receive the faith of Christ to serve God and His children (Rom 12:2; 1Jn 5:2-3):

Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him [Laban] yet seven other years.
Gen 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

The word “hate” indicates to love to a lesser extent in this case also, as Jacob loved Leah and will have several children with her. His love for Rachel was more than his love for Leah, and this once again helps us to see the way we need to understand God’s love for the world versus His love for His elect. God’s love for His elect is witnessed in their love for Him as they seek and do His will by dying to self and denying the attachments of flesh (Mat 10:37-39; Luk 14:26):

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

The favoured and much beloved wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shared the same problem. God chose to close the wombs of Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, and they could not produce an offspring initially. The concubines and other wives of these patriarchs, however, brought forth children first, and this only emphasizes that flesh is prosperous and productive long before the spirit man is formed in us. The flesh is given a head-start by God to even have an appearance of maturity. Leah is shown to us with more experience in child bearing than Rachel as Leah conceived four sons initially. Leah first conceived the elder son for Jacob, which was a huge plus in her understanding of things:

Gen 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben [Hebrew meaning: “behold a son!”/ “who sees the son”/“the vision of the son”] for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

The Hebrew meaning of the name “Reuben” indeed relates to sonship which links him to the all-important inheritance and rights of the firstborn, and that is what Leah was so excited about. What Leah did not know was that the son of man is not the true heir of the more important spiritual inheritance (Job 25:6; Psa 146:3-4). The flesh has a way of convincing itself of its own delusions and beliefs. The rights of the firstborn are reserved exclusively for God’s spiritual elect in Christ, “the firstborn of every creature” (Col 1:15; Rev 3:14). Leah will get four sons in this first fertile period of her life to complete this whole delusion of godly prosperity and favour which she also wants Jacob to see:

Gen 29:33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon [Hebrew meaning: “hearing”]

The second son of Leah is named Simeon, meaning “hearing”, as she believed the Lord heard her prayer, and this son is the proof of her answered prayer to be the beloved wife of Jacob. God’s elect knows that the trials of faith are of much deeper spiritual value when our prayers are not answered in the way and time our flesh wants things to happen (1Pe 1:7-9). It is indeed through patience and much tribulation that we take possession of our spiritual inheritance – not through quick fixes (Act 14:22; Rev 14:9-12). This is what Rachel is learning as she witnessed all of this:

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

The third son of Leah was called “Levi” which means “joined to”:

Gen 29:34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

Levi will be the head of the tribe of priests at a later stage, serving in the earthly tabernacle and temple. Leah believed that she was joined to Jacob in a deeper spiritual sense after the birth of this third son. Flesh has the delusion that it can please God and be even joined to God in that same condition. Natural man’s faith convinces him that he will appear in the same body in the resurrection as some even described this resurrected body as ‘spiritual flesh’ when the scriptures are clear that the body that is raised is totally different from the one that is buried (1Co 15:36-50). No-one will be joined to the true Christ and His elect with carnal aspirations and high-mindedness:

Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

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

Leah’s fourth son was called “Judah”, meaning “praise”:

Gen 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise [Hebrew: “yâdâh” and “êth”] the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

Although the flesh indeed praises God, this praise is more about what flesh receives to consume it upon its lusts. That is why the self-centeredness of flesh is incapable of receiving the spiritual inheritance of God (Joh 7:18; Php 2:3-5):

Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Leah “left bearing” after her fourth son for the time being, even while the flesh of Rachel also shows envy towards Leah as Rachel now vents her frustration towards Jacob:

Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Gen 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

Jacob has been learning since he left Canaan that all things are from God, and he could not be held responsible for God’s actions, even through the dream he had at the place he named Bethel afterward (Gen 28:11-22). God is the only responsible Being, and no one can take this position if they know the truth of God’s sovereignty over all things (Rom 11:36; Eph 1:11). However, Rachel, not adhering to the words of Jacob, did exactly what Sarah did with Abraham (Gen 16:1-3). Jacob, like his grandfather Abraham, followed his wife’s counsel and slept with her handmaid Bilhah, who became Jacob’s concubine:

Gen 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Gen 30:4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

To bear upon another’s knees is to claim ownership to their offspring – “that I may also have children by her”. Rachel named the first son Bilhah bore for Jacob, “Dan”:

Gen 30:5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

“Dan” means judge or judgment, as this announces what Rachel and Jacob, as types of God’s elect, will first go through as they will be the first to learn about their own evil hearts and the true righteousness of God (Isa 26:9):

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

Bilhah conceived another son for Rachel after she bore Dan:

Gen 30:7 And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

The name “Naphtali” carries the meaning of wrestling or fighting, which again emphasizes the battle between these two women in our own lives in the form of the flesh or fleshly church versus the spirit or spiritual assembly in the true Christ (Gal 5:17). Like the typical elect of God, Rachel now also must learn that nothing of eternal value will come the easy way. All God’s true spiritual inheritance will come through much resistance. The levels of persecution and hatred from those who are “after the flesh” will not subside, but rather increase (Gal 4:29). Although Leah had four sons of her own flesh against Rachel’s two sons through her handmaid Bilhah, this did not satisfy Leah. She could not bear children of her own at this stage, but then gave her handmaid, Zilpah, to sleep with Jacob to have more offspring through her:

Gen 30:9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
Gen 30:10 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

The first son which Zilpah bore for Leah as Jacob’s seventh son, was called “Gad”, Gad means “a troop cometh” which connects with overcomers in warfare (Gen 49:19). Seeing that Gad is an offspring of the handmaid of Leah, the negative application applies first, as the flesh indeed overshadows our life from our birth, and we are under the dominion of its lusts and pride (1Jn 2:16). Gad and his offspring will also have a positive application in the overcoming Christ (1Ch 5:17-22). The second son which Zilpah bore for Leah from Jacob was Asher:

Gen 30:12 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

The meaning of Asher’s name connects with fleshly happiness through Leah’s emotional state of mind. Happiness is a temporary emotion which our old man is given by God to keep him going amidst his otherwise dreary life. Outward earthly happiness is the worldly counterfeit of true inward joy, which is part of the fruit of the spirit of God in His elect (Gal 5:22-23). The prosperity gospel is well loved in spiritual Babylon, as it overpowers those who are searching for “these things” of the earth which bring temporary happiness long before the kingdom of God is first established in their lives. The flesh always has things the wrong way around:

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

Now the eldest son of Leah, Reuben, has grown big enough to start playing his role in this battle between Leah and Rachel, and also in the household of Jacob:

Gen 30:14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

Much has been speculated about these mandrakes which Reuben brought his mother Leah, but this happened in the time of the wheat harvest or the feast of weeks (Pentecost) which was later established in the calendar of the physical nation of Israel. This harvest was one of the three major harvests in Israel:

Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

This wheat harvest is all about the resurrection of the “kind of firstfruits” which is reserved for God’s elected church which is represented by Rachel and not Leah (Jas 1:18; 1Co 15:23). Mandrakes are also described in the scriptures as giving off a sweet or pleasant fragrance which also is connected to the elect of God:

Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

This pleasant fragrance of the true doctrine of Christ is earmarked for God’s elect because the world and its churches cannot appreciate the “sum of” God’s true doctrine, combining the old and the new, which fulfills the true savour of the knowledge of God’s Word (Psa 119:160 ASV; Isa 28:9-10; Mat 13:52; Joh 17:3; 1Co 2:13). The churches of this world, which Leah and her more children symbolize (the “many”), can only corrupt the word of God with their false doctrines as they also add and take away from all the words man must live by (Mat 4:4; Rev 22:18-19):

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Leah actually accused Rachel of taking her husband which was not the case at all:

Gen 30:15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.

The Word of Christ, like the mandrakes in the wrong hands, will be twisted and abused to serve the interest of the flesh. Leah could not let go of her carnal aspirations and fleshly lusts to be the true wife of Jacob. She seduced Jacob again to sleep with her as he came from the field in the evening indicating that although we are the elect of God, we can never assume we have arrived. We are in the process of being saved and should always be on guard (2Sa 11:1-27; Pro 4:23; 1Co 10:12; 1Pe 5:8). This time Leah was able to conceive a fifth son for Jacob called Issachar:

Gen 30:16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired hire [Hebrew: śâkar = temporary purchase] thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
Gen 30:18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire [Hebrew: śâkâr = payment/ wages/ compensation], because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

Issachar means “there is recompense” as even the flesh demands its wages for work done. Leah saw this son as her reward for giving her maiden, Zilpah, to Jacob. The number five has to do with grace through faith, and this is how the natural mind sees grace as his reward for his own faith. It is all about physical rewards which God must give when the flesh believes it has done good deeds. However, all the good deeds of flesh are but a filthy cloth of self-righteousness (Isa 64:6):

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The sixth and last son that Leah personally conceived for Jacob was Zebulun:

Gen 30:19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
Gen 30:20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

Zebulun was the tenth son of Jacob (six sons from Leah), and this all complements the number of fleshly man (the number ten combining with the number six). The name “Zebulun” means “habitation” which is the temporary dwelling which flesh is. Zebulun’s habitation was indeed “at the haven of the sea” which is spiritually the symbol for flesh and all its activities as expressed by Jacob at his death (Isa 60:5; Rev 13:1; Rev 17:1,15,18):

Gen 49:13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Leah also bore Jacob one daughter after this last son:

Gen 30:21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

God will not change His mind on anything, as He had it all worked out before this physical age began. God never forgets His plan for mankind and is constantly working everything for His purposes and for the benefit of His elect. The time has come for Rachel to bring forth her firstborn:

Gen 30:22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Gen 30:23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
Gen 30:24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

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

God So Love The World
Why God Hates All Flesh
The Meaning of ‘Hated of All Men’
The Three Barren Wives of The Patriarchs
Once In Grace Always in Grace
Numbers in Scripture

Through the physical creation process, God reveals that He is the one who predetermined all things even in His book of the generations of the first Adam (Psa 139:16), but that spirit life is only received through the last Adam, Jesus Christ:

1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son [Jesus, not the first Adam] hath [spirit)]life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

In the first three verses of Genesis 1, God established very important themes which reveal this truth and how God works to bring spirit life to all eventually. Firstly, He reveals the “Elohim” or Godhead, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in an intimate spiritual relationship. This relationship is reflected in God’s creation of the Adam, husband being the head of the wife, and also in the Christ, Jesus and His body, the church (Gen 1:27, Gen 5:1-2, 1Cor 11:3, Eph 1:22-23, Eph 5:22-33). Jesus, coming out of the Father, has the Father’s spirit in full and is the “first fruit” (Hebrew: rêshı̂yth) of the creation of God (Rev 3:14, John 1:1-4, Col 1:15-19). Jesus is the only one who was created by the Father to have His full spiritual image, and, through Jesus all will be given this fullness of spirit eventually:

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Jesus was chosen by God to have preeminence in all things:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning [Hebrew: “reshiyth” = “firstfruit” = Jesus Christ] God created the heaven and the earth.

Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Through the physical creation week, God reveals how He has written or established important principles when “as yet” nothing of the physical man Adam was there. Adam was only created on the sixth day! The first five days were put in place to show us that God has a plan – one plan for the first man Adam and all in him. Adam will start off in a temporary state of flesh having his mind in spiritual darkness before he will be made in spirit and eternal. God “works” all of this for His purpose and will:

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

He established beforehand that darkness was to rule man’s life initially before He will bring spiritual light which is resurrection life (or spirit life) through Jesus, who is the light of the world. This was symbolized when He made the earth without form, void and full of darkness (Gen 1:2-5). In each of the six creation days God emphasizes this by bringing forth the evening (darkness) first and the morning (light) afterwards. Physically we see that on day one this rotational process of the earth was given momentum within this theme – night followed by day, or darkness followed by light. Although the lights which will control the night and the day will only be created physically on the fourth day, the principle of what “the day” and “the night” is all about was already established and put in motion on day one (Gen 1:2-5):

Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
Joh 11:10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

Adam (and Eve) “walked in the night”, and they had ‘no light in him’ – that is why they stumbled and disobeyed God’s commandment. The number twelve is very important concerning the time God ordained for “the light” to be seen, as well as the time when “the light” will not be seen. Spiritually the number 12 relates to foundational truths, and here it relates to the fruits which “the day” or “the night” is ordained to bring forth.

(Please read the study on the spiritual meaning of the number twelve at this link: http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/twelve.php).

The first man Adam was not God’s chosen vessel to have spiritual life. The first born is never accepted to be God’s carrier of light. One example is Cain, Adam’s first born. He did not receive the truth of how to please God through his offering. Only the offering of the second-born Abel, who is a type of the last man Adam (Christ), was accepted:

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Another example is that God did not make His spiritual or everlasting covenant with Ishmael, Abraham’s first born, but with the second-Isaac (a type of Christ):

Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Gen 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Although God blessed Ishmael with 12 princes, this is just to emphasize the negative application of the foundations of the spiritual darkness (“the night”) in the first born which points back to the first Adam. God does not love the flesh in the first Adam the way he loves the spiritual man Christ who came afterwards:

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.

This relationship God has with the first man Adam, who is born in darkness, is also expressed in His hatred towards Esau, the first born of Isaac, in relation to His intimate love for the second-born, Jacob (again a type of Christ):

Rom 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

The first born is rejected throughout the Scriptures, even when he is called the first anointed king of Israel, like King Saul. (Saul was anointed with a manmade vial after a public meal which points to him being a man-pleaser – he was searching for his father’s donkeys at the time. David, the accepted king after God’s heart, was anointed in private with a God-made horn – he was attending to his father’s sheep). We all mourn when we find out what our first man Adam, our flesh, is all about:

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

1Sa 15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

1Sa 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

The first physical nation of Israel were predestined before the foundation of the world to be replaced by the spiritual Israel or Jews of God:

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

This is another foundational theme that relates directly with Genesis 1 verses 2 to 5 as to how God determined His election from the beginning. God has predestinated choices which so many hate to hear and admit. An important part of the doctrine of Christ is the doctrine of predestination. Yes, God preordained to “hate” Esau before he was born “neither having done any good or evil” just as God preordained the first man Adam not to be spiritually perfect:

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay [“dust”/“out of the earth”/“earthy”)]was marred [not perfect] in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made [Greek aorist tense = is, was and will be the same] subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

The first Adam was subjected to vanity, yet subjected in the hope of a spiritual resurrection afterward. God’s predestinated spiritual election is not according to what we do or don’t do, but it is according to His purposes. Predestination is part of God’s plan from the beginning as confirmed throughout Scriptures:

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

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

Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. [Jesus’ death on a cross was predestinated before the first Adam]

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:

God has predetermined that Jesus will be the life-giving spirit, not the first Adam. He predetermined that the darkness of the vessel of dishonour of Adam (and all in him) must come before the spiritual light is given in the vessel of honour:

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

God has only one will as He only has one plan. Many believe that God has different “wills” because they cannot see that God works through an evil and dark physical creation of death first to bring forth His marvellous light eventually. God indeed creates and causes all evil in “the night” first, as He also works all the good in “the day” afterwards. However, He expresses or declares “the day” first and then takes His creation through an evil experience in “the night” to get to “the day”:

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

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

When we are in this “vessel of dishonour”” we cannot even spite God when we think we can turn our back on Him and disobey Him. So why does “He yet find fault?” This is extremely hard and impossible for “the man of sin” in us to give an accounting. The natural “man of sin” is convinced that he is “responsible” for his thoughts and actions as he sits on God’s throne “showing himself that he is God”:

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [Greek: “apōleia” = in ruin];
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.

The “falling away first” is referring to Adam’s initial state of darkness – Adam (and all in him) is the son(s) of perdition – the dishonoured vessel of flesh that is in the process of ruin from the Potter’s hand. The man of sin is the first man Adam who has been preordained to be the son of perdition. He was never outside death – he is dying from his creation. Jesus did not come to destroy our already dying bodies, but to destroy the death of the carnal mind (the works of Satan in us – 1Jn 3:8):

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

That is why the flesh hates and persecutes the spirit, especially when it finds out its dying condition and temporal place in God’s plan:

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.

If we cannot receive that Adam was born or created in sin and iniquity, we cannot receive the spiritual things through the last Adam, Jesus Christ. It is only through the revelation of this wicked man of sin in the first Adam and in all of us that we start the process of being set free from his influence. This revelation of the wicked man of sin in us is an on-going process until we blow out our last earthly breath – to give up the spirit of this world. This is when our natural mind is totally destroyed by His Word:

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 [Greek: Aorist tense], the son of perdition;

If we find the Hope of salvation for ourselves, we find that same hope for all in Adam:

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

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

The title of this book “Genesis” is from the Greek word “genesis” (Hebrew “tôledâh”) which is translated as “generations” in several verses in Genesis (ref. Gen 2:4, Gen 5:1, Gen 6:9, Gen 10:1, Gen 10:32, Gen 11:10, Gen 11:27, Gen 25:12, Gen 25:19, Gen 36:1, Gen 37:2).

We are concentrating on various themes in our study in the book of Genesis and last week we touched on the most important theme in the scriptures, namely the Godhead. In Genesis the relationship in the Godhead between God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, proves that there was no trinity “from the beginning”. The general theme of “genesis” or “generations” is intimately tied to the theme of relationships, as the Godhead demonstrates.

We will discuss the theme of “generations” in today’s study. Everything that exists in this creation is of God, the Father, through or by the Lord Jesus, which includes ‘the book of the generations of Adam’:

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Gen 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

Although it all starts as a physical generation, it is through this temporary or dying process that a new generation of the spiritual ‘seed’ shall be born who will serve God’s ultimate spiritual purposes:

Psa 22:30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
Psa 22:31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Gen 2:4  These are the generations (Hebrew: “tôledâh”) of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

The Hebrew word “tôledâh” for generations has built into it various other meanings and concepts that relate to all the dynamics of family life and procreation, among others. We know God is introduced to us as a Father through Jesus, and we are still learning what the Father’s heart is all about. The Father is a loving family person, and this is how He wants us to see Him first and foremost. Although nothing and nobody can add to or take away from what and who the Father is, the concept of family shows us that He desires also an ultimate spiritual relationship with each one in His human creations. He is love, and in Genesis He introduces Himself to us as a God who creates and value relationships:

1Jn 4:8  The one who does not love has not known God. For God is love.

From this relationship in the Godhead we can see that everything in the physical creation shows a vital relation to others in some way – nothing can exist alone. Within these relationships different dynamics or forces come into play; for example the forces of co-operation and also opposition. As far as co-operation is concerned, the relationship between the Father and the Son as the ultimate model as they also serve as a witness to each other. In the beginning God created two “generations” for our learning:

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Gen 2:4  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

The creation of heaven and earth is placed right at the start for us to get our attention, despite Babylon’s efforts to distract us. Spiritual Babylon wants us to believe that the opposite of heaven is hell, but that is not true throughout the Scriptures. An “eternal hell” is not ‘in the beginning’. It is a false teaching “from the beginning”. Heaven is opposed to earth and through these two opposing “generations” an important relationship is established by which God helps us to see how He is working in us to fulfill His plan. The visible things come to us first to serve as a type or shadow to give us a better understanding of the antitype or fulfillment which is only in the deeper or hidden spiritual or ‘invisible things of Him’:

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

In the beginning God created these two opposing “generations” which actually work together to fulfill the sum of His purpose (ref. Rom 8:28, Psa 119:160). We have been placed first in a situation where we learn mostly by things that oppose each other as Genesis 1 and 2 bring to the fore – darkness and light, night and day, evening and morning, evil and good – as they all relate to the generations of the first Adam and the last Adam. From our human point of view we meet the physical first before we can get to the spiritual:

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

Through the one, we learn about the other. This dichotomy is the essence of understanding God’s modus operandi of how He is teaching us to eventually bring us all into His spiritual family. We cannot know what good is unless we first encounter evil. We cannot know what light is unless we first experience darkness. We cannot know what the last spiritual Adam, Jesus Christ, is all about unless we first meet the first fleshly Adam in all his earthly glory. The temporary earthly or terrestrial glory has nothing in comparison to the heavenly or celestial glory of the last Adam – flesh is completely the opposite of the spirit (ref. Joh 3:6):

1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

The best that the flesh can dish up stinks in the presence of the glory of the spirit of God. Even while we are given a promise of the spiritual life as only an ‘earnest’ or a down payment now, we are coming to a better knowledge and understanding of how much greater the fullness of the glory of Christ is:

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

God declared that it is not good for any human being to be alone because that is how God wants us to know His relationship with all humans and how He wants us to learn:

Gen 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone will make him an help meet for him.

The “help” in this verse was pointing to Eve and her relationship with Adam. It is not referring merely to a task which Adam was supposed to perform. It was in essence the need to be in a loving relationship first, and from this basis of love any task or commandment will be done with the knowledge that it is all ‘by Him’ – not our efforts. We are working out our salvation because He is working it all in us (ref: Php 2:12-13):

1Jn 5:1  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And everyone who loves Him who begets also loves him who has been born of Him.
1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and keep His commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:2  Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice on the hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3  And not only this, but we glory in afflictions also, knowing that afflictions work out patience,
Rom 5:4  and patience works out experience, and experience works out hope.
Rom 5:5  And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the holy spirit given to us.

Our acts (or fruits) show our measure of faith and love. For faith and love to grow, we must experience opposing forces called afflictions or tribulations. When we are given to accept this truth we, like Paul, ‘glory in tribulations’ because we are in a relationship of love and have peace with God – we rejoice and act against our natural inclination to complain because we all complain and contend with God in our initial stages, just like Job did. We learn as we mature that opposition and tribulation produce patience, experience and hope:

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

To our natural man in us it seems that we are losing when we are actually winning and take possession as we act and do His commandments. Eve was a help to Adam, and it serves as a type of the relationship between Christ and His body, the church. The body fills up or complements the Head, as He complements the Father:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The body builds itself up with this love of the Father in Christ as it grows into the things the Head is concerned about as it relates to other members in that body:

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

There are several relationships captured for our learning in the book of Genesis from which we learn something about the dynamics of co-operation and opposition. Genesis 2 shows the theme of man in a relationship with his physical environment (called “materialism”) which cannot meet his deeper needs of companionship. He is given a wife to associate with him on a human or social level, but this social relationship did not prepare them to properly handle spiritual matters because they were both naked – physically and spiritually:

Gen 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

It is already in chapter 3 of Genesis where Adam and Eve’s co-operation was tested by an opposing spiritual entity in the form of a snake. This failure showed them so many things about themselves, and all earthly relationships, about which they did not know. Trials and tribulations come through our relationships with people most of the time. However, our battle is not with flesh and blood, because evil spirits (which manifest in the natural behaviour of people) are sent by God alone. Nobody moves a finger without God, and God knows the best way for us all the time:

Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Isa 48:10  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Adam and Eve were banished from their initial physical environment for a good purpose. For them, however, this was just the start of their education process which typifies our journey of getting to know and be like God. From here onward the social relationships within Adam and Eve’s family life went through excruciating pain when their first son murdered the second-born, with all the lessons that came with that for us. The first born (“a man from the LORD”) is ‘of the wicked one’ as he typifies the seed of the serpent in us. ‘This generation’ of our natural man opposes the generation of the spirit man from our natural birth as we, like Cain, murder Abel who is the type of the new spirit man:

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 3:13  Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

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.

Luk 11:51  from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple. Truly I say to you, It shall be required of this generation.

Throughout these various generations in Genesis, God reveals also who He accepts and who He rejects as types of those who will come up in the first and second resurrection respectively. It is God alone who makes these choices which are not dependent on a human’s will. God is the cause of what we choose and what we do:

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

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God, the One showing mercy.

Nothing within our physical generation is going to last – it only serves a purpose that transcends itself. All relationships given to us are not our choice, but God’s. God is the Father of all relationships, and He works the dynamics of all these relationships in which we are placed everyday of our lives. Nobody and nothing crosses our path by accident. They are all very important in forming us, both the good relationships and the bad relationships – they work together. For example, outward conflicts point to something in our own hearts that God is bringing to our attention which He is working on at that moment. Spiritual maturity is a process as our spiritual eyes inside are enlightened with the spiritual Light of God that shines in our initial spiritual desolateness and state of vanity and darkness:

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Eph 1:17  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,