Rev 19:17-21 The Supper of the Great God

 [Study Aired June 8, 2025]

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Introduction

In our last study of verse 9 we learned of a spiritual event called “the marriage supper of the Lamb”, and we learned that those who are called to that “marriage supper” were especially “blessed.”

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

In today’s study we will be learning about “the supper of the great God.”

What is the difference between these two suppers? Is there one supper which we attend at a certain stage in our spiritual development, and then another supper which we attend at still another stage of our walk?

The answer is that these two suppers correspond with the two separate resurrections. In other words, we all have the same experience and all things present and things to come are ours, but our fire and brimstone judgment comes well in advance of the great white throne judgment. We are judged in this life first, just as those in the second resurrection will be judged at the white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death. Judgment is ‘now on the house of God’ which makes us, in Christ Jesus, worthy of a part in the “blessed and holy… first resurrection”, what Christ called “the resurrection of life.”

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.

This “resurrection of life” takes place at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ. This “first resurrection” corresponds with those who are numbered as 144,000 and who follow the Lamb wherever He goes:

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Be sure to read: Rev 7:4-8 Who are the 144,000, Part 1

Revelation 14 refers to this same numbered group:

Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

“The resurrection of damnation [judgment]” comes over a thousand years after the resurrection of life. This second supper of this 19^th chapter corresponds to that second group of Revelation 7, the “great multitude which no man can number.” This supper of the great God is the final resurrection of judgment; the second resurrection. It is called ‘the great white throne… judgment’ which is the only other resurrection mentioned in scripture, and it comes only after the thousand years are expired:

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

Living by every word of God (Mat 4:4, Luk 4:4) means that all men will be resurrected and judged according to their works. It does not mean that those in the first resurrection must also “be hurt of the second death.” They ‘died’ first, and living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God does not mean we must partake of the second death, which we are specifically promised will not hurt us, because it comes only after the thousand years are expired, and we were resurrected a thousand years earlier:

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 [“the nations in the four quarters of the earth”].
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.

Those who are cast into this “lake of fire” do so only after appearing at the great white throne judgment bar:

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 [the book of life contains the names of those who were resurrected a thousand years earlier to “the resurrection of life”, (Joh 5:28-2)]: 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.

Let’s look at what we are told about these two suppers and see if there are any parallels with these two suppers and the two separate groups of Revelation 7. Because we have already examined chapter 7, we will not quote it again, but I will call our attention to the fact that the first part of this 19^th chapter deals with the marriage supper of the Lamb, which corresponds with the first group of 144,000 in chapter 7. The first part of this 19^th chapter also corresponds with the resurrection of life and the 144,000 virgins of Revelation 14. The first part of chapter 14 is also concerned with the 144,000 and their judgment, which judgment is on the house of God now in this present time:

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

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?

Like the last part of chapter 7 the last part of this 19^th chapter, “the supper of the great God”, corresponds with a second group of mankind who comes up in “the resurrection of judgment” also called the “great white throne judgment”:

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 [“When the thousand years are expired”, vs 7]  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.

Revelation 7, Revelation 14, Revelation 19, and Revelation 20 – all four chapters contrast those who are judged in this life and who are raised up in the resurrection to life, also called the “blessed and holy… first resurrection” (Rev 20:6) with those who come up in the second resurrection, which is called “the resurrection of judgment” because they were not judged in “this present time” (Rom 8:18).

Here is that second group signified by those who are cast into the lake of fire. That casting into the lake of fire is also called “the supper of the great God.”

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

There are three principles involved in this verse. 1) An angel standing in the sun, 2) He cries with a loud voice to the fowls of the heavens to 3) gather themselves together unto the supper of the great God.

So let’s take each of these three principles and let the Word of God tell us what their meaning is.

1) What is “an angel standing in the sun?”

To answer this question we must know what the sun signifies:

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

We have demonstrated that ‘the Sun’ signifies our Lord Himself:

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness  arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Psa 19:4  Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psa 19:5  Which is as [signifies] a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

Who is this angel, and exactly where is he standing? Here is what the scriptures reveal this angel signifies:

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

We have seen repeatedly, and in this very chapter, that the seven angels with the seven last plagues of the wrath of God signify ‘our fellowservants and those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book’:

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren  that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Clearly the ‘angel standing in the Sun, crying with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God’ is the body of Christ by whom the principalities and powers in the heavens are informed of what the Lord is doing:

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

Just as the elect, signified by “one of the four beasts” in chapter 15, give the vials of the wrath of God to the Lord’s elect, signified by the seven angels which pour out the seven vials of the seven last plagues of God’s wrath upon all who have the mark of the beast, the same is true here in chapter 19. The angel standing in the sun signifies the elect who “make known…the manifold wisdom of God.” It is the elect who are calling the elect, signified by “angels which fly in the midst of heaven” to come and eat the flesh of the beast and the false prophet and their armies.

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel [“That is… a man”] standing in the sun [standing on the Word of God]; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

It is none other than our Lord Himself who has “healing in His wings” and who as “the sun… tabernacles in [our] heavens.” Having “healing in His wings” qualifies our Lord as a ‘fowl of the heavens’ who as “the Sun of Righteousness” (Mal 4:2) has come forth in His elect to “eat the flesh” of the old man in the day of judgment “because as He is in this world, so are we” (1Jo 4:17). Christ has already told us that our new man will eat the carcass of our old man in this parable concerning “the coming of the Son of Man.”

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:28  For wheresoever the carcase [of our old man] is, there will the eagles [the new man, “the fowls of the heavens”, (Rev 19: 17)] be gathered together.

Knowing what the ‘heavens’ signify, let’s take another look at Psalm 19 and understand who it is who is “declaring the glory of God”:

Psa 19:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens [the Lord’s elect in whom He dwells, (1Co 3:15-16)] declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psa 19:2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Psa 19:3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psa 19:4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psa 19:5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Psa 19:6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat [the fiery judgment] thereof.

Mat 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

So this angel is “a man” standing within Christ, our Lord, and in Him he is proclaiming these words to “the fowls of the heaven”:

Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

We just read that one of the fowls of the heaven has “healing in His wings.”

It is you and I who hear the invitation of the angels to come and eat the flesh of “all men” (Rev 19:18). “The flesh of all men” means ‘all men’ except those who were invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  “The flesh of all men” signifies the second group here in the last part of this 19^th chapter. Those who are invited to the “marriage supper of the Lamb”  those of us who are being judged now in “this present time” (Rom 8:18). “The marriage supper of the Lamb”, referred to in the first half of this 19^th chapter, occurred a thousand years earlier at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ over the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15). We are given an invitation to “the marriage supper of the Lamb”, and it is we who are also invited to eat the flesh of all men “when the thousand years are expired (Rev 20:7), at “the supper of the great God.”

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

This “marriage supper of the Lamb” is found in the first part of this 19^th chapter, and it concerns those who are raised to life (Joh 5:28-29).

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

The flesh must be overcome by the new man in this present age, and must be destroyed before we can enter into the kingdom of God, which kingdom is at this time within us.

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.

If it is true that “the kingdom of God is within you”, and it is also true that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, what this means for us now is that we all must spiritually “die daily” (1Co 15:31) to our own flesh, be “crucified with [Christ]” (Gal 2:20), and “present our bodies [as] a living sacrifice unto God” (Rom 12:1) in this present time (Rom 8:18). If we are granted to die daily in this age, then we will be granted to “eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great” at “the supper of the great king”, which also is called “the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death” (Rev 20:11-15).

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [ men, both] free and bond, both small and great.

There should be no doubt about who these “fowls of the heavens signify” because at this time “the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,” along with “the false prophet… and the devil that deceived them” have all been “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.”

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls [the Lord’s elect] were filled with their flesh.

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 [also] 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.

If indeed the beast and the false prophet, and the devil that deceived them, are all in the lake of fire, then these “fowls of the heaven” who are invited to consume their flesh have to be the Lord’s elect who are promised to “judge angels” in the lake of fire at the great white throne judgment as well as “things that pertain to this [physical] life”:

1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this [present] life?

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

We must realize that a thousand years earlier our carcasses were also devoured by “the eagles” which are also “the fowls of the heaven.” The destruction of our old man by “the brightness of [Christ’s] coming” in our lives, and “the eagles” gathered together to devour the carcass of our old man in this present time, “is the figure of” the consuming of the flesh of “kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great” (Rev 19:18), just as “the first man Adam” is “the figure of Him that was to come” (Rom 5:14). All the days we were being devoured in our blindness by the false prophets of Babylon were but the figure of our own consuming of the flesh of the beast, the false prophet and the multitudes who followed them.

The last half of this 19^th chapter of Revelation concerning “the supper of the great God” is but an introduction to the great white throne judgment which occupies the last half of chapter 20. Chapter 20, like chapters 7, chapter 14, and this chapter 19 are one and all contrasting the resurrection of life to the resurrection of judgment at the great white throne of God. I have never noticed all those parallels before, but they are very clear once you see them.

2) So who are these “fowls of the heaven” who are those who are being called to this “supper of the great God” to eat the flesh of the beast, the false prophet and their armies “and the flesh of all men”?

“All men” at this time are in the lake of fire, along with the beast, the false prophet, and the devil that deceived them. These “fowls of the heaven” are not the negative symbol of “the fowls [which] came and devoured [the sowers seeds] up (Mat 13:3-4). These “fowls of the heaven” are invited to eat all the flesh of  the beast, the false prophet, their horses and their armies. These “fowls of the heaven” are the only ones who are not “cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” where the beast and the false prophet and the devil and his angels are also cast. If the devil and His angels are cast into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet and their armies, then there is no possible way that they are being bid to the supper of the great God to devour their own  flesh.

We must pause at this point and finish nailing down who the fowls of heaven are in our next study.

Psa 102:6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
Psa 102:7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
Psa 102:8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
Psa 102:9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
Psa 102:10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
Psa 102:11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

“The set time” (see verse 13) during which God shows favour and mercy upon Zion is the time when we are granted to be abased under the mighty hand of God and see the Lord arise in our heavens, where he battles the powers and principalities which we must overcome through him (1Pe 5:6-9, Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21, Php 4:13). God shows us in His word what we must do to humble ourselves in these verses in (1Pe 5:6-9). It is of the Lord that any one of us can be humbled under His mighty hand, and so this list is to be understood as an admonition that Christ is able to fulfill in our lives as He works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 4:13, Php 2:13).

1. Cast all your care upon him; for he careth for you (Mal 3:10)
2. Be sober and be vigilant because God has created a very good adversary (Gen 1:31).
3. Resist stedfast in the faith, meaning we live by the faith of the Son of God (Gal 2:20-21) and understand and take comfort in knowing that we have a family who is filling up those same afflictions within their lives in this world on your behalf even as we learn to minister to each other’s needs as one body (Col 1:23-25). We are called to continue in that faith-filled relationship, to keep the faith, and endure through the afflictions which God has ordained for the health of the body as we learn to resist the devil stedfastly with the shield of faith that our Father gives as gift to His children.

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.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

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:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
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:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

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

Faith above all? Why? Because that shield of faith enables us to put on the whole armour of God found in Ephesians 6:11-17, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and while you are standing you are then able to pray always as it says in Ephesians 6:18 – “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” This standing and praying really demonstrates to us what optimal spiritual health represents in the mind of Christ, and it is something that we must cry out for as we come to see our lack of faith and how we need to be lifted up by the Lord.

Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

The direct parallel in the flesh is when we see we don’t have optimal health physically we should, Lord willing, cry out to God to heal us and to bring us to that pool called “Bethesda, having five porches”(Joh 5:2). It is through Christ that we can reach that symbolic pool of physical healing and spiritual healing (Rom 2:4) and this story represents what we can do for each other spiritually as we bear each other’s burdens and help each other through this life, guiding each other toward the living waters (Joh 5:7-9, Heb 10:24).

The fruit of being blessed with that faith that God grants us in the measure that He gives is witnessed in our ability through Christ to live these words out in own lives (Mar 9:25-26) and to see it unfold in the lives of others… “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.”

Joh 5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
Joh 5:8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

This second part of our study with Psalm 102 will look at the deliverance of God and how that deliverance by God’s definition does not mean being delivered from our flesh necessarily, but rather being able to see “the set time” realized, which is the time that we go boldly unto the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. It is the time when we have lost confidence in our own flesh [brought to our wits’ end] and understand that our lives can only be quickened by putting off that flesh and receiving the new life of Christ’s words that are spirit and that quicken the new man being formed within us.

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.

Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

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

There is wonderful imagery throughout this Psalm being used to bring us to understand the helpless condition to which God drags his people in our flesh and in our spirits so that we can learn of, and trust in, his mighty hand reconciling us to Himself as He delivers Zion, the body of Christ, by arising and showing us mercy at the throne of grace.

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

Psa 102:13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Like all deliverance which God brings to us, it is done in a process and in an order that reassures us that we truly are more than conquerors through Christ and that He is the one granting the grace and faith that we need to endure unto the end.

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

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

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

The trials and lessons which God gives us along the way are so critical to our maturing (Act 14:22) as we’re brought to the point where we are equipped through God’s spirit to save others, as typified so wonderfully in the life of Joseph when he gave his brothers messes of food and changes of raiment that represent the store and provision that God is laying up in the church today (1Ti 4:16, Eph 3:10).

Those who will be fed and clothed spiritually by us in the future will know in time that we had to endure unto the end and lose our life as Christ did for us, so that we could gain life and have that life of Christ formed in us to give to the rest of humanity (that life of Christ is represented by the food and clothing that Joseph gave his brothers). The love and care that we show to each other in Christ as we help each other endure through this life of trials and much tribulation is the needful and necessary training ground that is preparing us to be kings and priests under our Lord.

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

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

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Gen 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Gen 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

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

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

God is in the process of showing His people “the set time” or the appointed time that he has determined to bring growth to the body of Christ through trials that mature us in this age (thinking within ourselves Dan 2:20-22, Rev 17:12-14, Rev 12:3). We must initially be bound by that great red dragon within and come to see that we have seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns that all must be destroyed by Christ who is going to do this in “the set time“.

That process of destruction will be looked at in this study, as we consider how God is sovereign over all the powers and principalities of our heavens that He is using to humble us in these marred vessels, in order to come to see his hand that has alway been about His business through our Lord Jesus Christ working within us “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Luk 2:49, Php 2:13).

Psa 102:6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
Psa 102:7 I watch, and am as a sparrow^H6833 alone upon the house top.

Of these three birds mentioned in these two verses, only the sparrow, which is a song bird, was considered a clean bird (Lev 14, Luk 12:6-7).

H6833 tsippôr tsippôr – Phonetic: tsip-pore – Strong’s: From H6852; a little bird (as hopping): – bird fowl sparrow
Total KJV Occurrences: 40
•bird, 22 / birds, 10
Gen_7:14; Lev_14:6(3); Lev_14:7; Lev_14:51(2); Lev_14:52(2); Lev_14:53; Deu_22:6; Job_41:5; Psa_11:1; Psa_124:7; Pro_6:5; Pro_7:23; Pro_26:2; Pro_27:8; Ecc_12:4; Lam_3:52; Hos_11:11; Amo_3:5 / Gen_15:10; Lev_14:4; Lev_14:5; Lev_14:49; Lev_14:50; Deu_14:11; Psa_104:17; Ecc_9:12; Isa_31:5; Eze_39:4

•fowl, 5 / fowls, 1
Deu_4:17; Psa_8:8; Psa_148:10; Eze_17:23; Eze_39:17 / Neh_5:18

•sparrow, 2
Psa_84:3; Psa_102:7

In Leviticus 11:13-19 we learn of the birds that God considered an abomination for Israel to eat, and they included the pelican and the owl.

Lev 11:13 And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
Lev 11:14 And the vulture, and the kite after his kind;
Lev 11:15 Every raven after his kind;
Lev 11:16 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,
Lev 11:17 And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,
Lev 11:18 And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,
Lev 11:19 And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

These birds represent something symbolic, and so we are not talking about gastronomy when we look at the meaning behind these clean and unclean birds, but rather they are set in scripture to show us a pattern in our heavens that reveals that process by which we are being given dominion over those unclean birds in our heavens as we present ourselves a living sacrifice coming out of Babylon.

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.

Son 1:15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.

Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

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

Lev 14:6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
Lev 14:7 And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

Lev 14:30 And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get;

It is interesting to note that three birds are mentioned, the first two being unclean and the third, the sparrow, is connected with the thought “I watch” and the “watch[ing] and pray[ing]” of Matthew 26:41, as well as the “watchman unto the house of Israel” of Ezekiel 3:17, with the second part of this verse “alone upon the house top”.

Psa 102:7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

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

Eze 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

We start off as fishers in the world like Peter or the solitary pelican (Mat 4:18-19) and then we are carried into Babylon, wise in our own conceits (Pro 3:7) saying we see (Joh 9:41), even while we yet abide in darkness, feeding like an owl does in the night (1Th 5:6-9) on unclean animals because, just like the desert, there is no stay of bread or water when we are in Babylon (Isa 3:1).

Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

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.

1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, [referring back to verse 6 of our study: Psa 102:6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl].

Psa 102:8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

Sin lies at the gate of our hearts “all the day”, and those who were sworn against Paul to destroy him are a type and shadow of the enemy within us at the gate, the flesh which is against the spirit (Gal 5:17) that must be overcome by Christ in us who is our hope of glory (Col 1:27). That hope of overcoming and the process thereof is described in these following verses:

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

Act 23:12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

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

Mar 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mar 3:26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
Mar 3:27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

We are the first fruits of God who are first to see that we are that wicked generation that is guilty of the blood of all the prophets (Mat 23:35) and only able to overcome because of the grace and faith of Christ that has been provided so that we can bound the strong man (Mar 3:27, Joh 8:36). The parable in (Mark 3:25-27 is talking about a house divided, and that house has a strong man in it by the name of Satan, and so we are learning that it is only through Christ that we can be more than conquerors as we overcome the “strong man” or the powers and principalities in our heavens by a far greater power found in Christ.

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

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:

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

The scriptures don’t say what the outcome was of those men who made a vow against Paul (Act 23:12), but symbolically they would represent that part of Paul’s heavens — because all things were for his and our sakes — that has to die. Regardless of whether those men ever ate again (and they probably were loosed from their vow – see “John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible” commentary on Acts 23:12 for an example), symbolically we are already dead men walking who had no stay of bread or water.

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

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

Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

Psa 102:9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
Psa 102:10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
Psa 102:11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

These next three verses tie into the concept of not having any stay of bread or water, and coming to realize that you’re starving to death like the prodigal son of Luke 15, which represents the spiritually malnourished lives we first must live in Babylon (Luk 15:11-22).

That process we spoke of at the start of this study with that pelican of the wilderness, owl of the desert and sparrow alone upon the house top, is the same process that God takes us through in detail in these three last verses for tonight’s study. It is a glorious outcome that proceeds from having “eaten ashes like bread” and having “mingled my drink with weeping, explained to us in this parable of the prodigal, and it is something the Father makes happen “because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down”. As the Master Potter, He creates us marred in His hand and predestines us to fall a set amount of times (i.e. completely) so that, ultimately, we see how frail and temporary we are, and how we need to see “my days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.” It really is at that point that we come to our senses and cry out “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

Luk 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
Luk 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
Luk 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Luk 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
Luk 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luk 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
Luk 15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
Luk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at Part 3 of our study entitled “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion” as we look at more examples of what the status of our first man Adam must become if we are going to experience God’s mercy in this generation to see more deeply what that “set time is come”, is, was and will be.

Psa 102:12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
Psa 102:13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
Psa 102:14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
Psa 102:15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
Psa 102:16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
Psa 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
Psa 102:19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
Psa 102:20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
Psa 102:21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
Psa 102:22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Psa 102:23 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
Psa 102:24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
Psa 102:25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
Psa 102:26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Psa 102:27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Psa 102:28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

Video Links

Job 28:1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

Job 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

Job 28:3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.

Job 28:4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

Job 28:5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

Job 28:6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.

Job 28:7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:

Job 28:8 The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.

Job 28:9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

Job 28:10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

Job 28:11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

Introduction

Job will be holding the floor through chapter 31. He is in the process of declaring his own righteousness and his knowledge of God and God’s ways. But he is also judging the wicked of whom he thinks he is not. Having no concept of self- righteousness and of being judged out of his own mouth, Job continues to do just that, condemning the beast and the man of sin which is in his own members.

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

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.

These verses of Rom 7 are rank heresy to us while we are in our Babylonian, self- righteous, Job stage of our walk. Like Job, we know nothing at all of a ‘law of sin… in [ our] members’, to which we are, by nature, enslaved. We are carnal babes in Christ, who think we have had our senses exercised to know good and evil.

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

In Babylon we are always speaking far above our own understanding. We say “God is love”, and we know not what we are saying. We will say “His mercy endures forever”. and we do not know what we are saying. We say “God is sovereign” and do not know what we are saying. So too, Job will be speaking far above his own understanding in this chapter.

Job 28:1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

Job 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

All the metals mentioned here require being refined in fire. That is the meaning of “there is… a place for gold where they fine [ refine] it”. Refining in fire is essential even for the basest of metals. From lead to tin, to iron, to copper, to silver, and to gold, fire is essential to the basest of metals as well as the most valuable. See all the studies on iswasandwillbe. com, on all the metals mentioned in scripture.

Job knows that fire is required for purifying any and all metals, but he does not understand how personally applicable are the lessons of the words he is speaking. Job does not believe that he needs to be purified of anything. He is already “clean without transgression”. He maintains his own righteousness, and his own integrity.

Job 33:8 Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,

Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.

Nevertheless this is the Truth of this matter for all mankind:

Num 31:22 Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,

Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

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.

The works of all flesh will be burned up, not because we chose to do so, but because God Himself ordained that we all bear a sinful earthy body before we would wear a heavenly 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.

Job 28:3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.

“Setting an end to darkness” is not ‘plan B’ for God. ‘Darkness’ is the Biblical type of ignorance of the thoughts of the mind of God and His Son. All men are first children of darkness and are born into “the shadow of death”, because Biblical ‘darkness’ and “the shadow of death” are one and the same, in scriptural terms:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

So the “end to darkness” which God Himself “create[ d]” was “set” by God Himself “before the world began”. It was God Himself who “create[ d] darkness”, and He created it for the very purpose of first placing us, His creatures, in that darkness. It is only by first being “in darkness” that God demonstrates for His creatures what is the light in which we now dwell with Him if indeed He is living in us and we are in living in Him and in His Son.

Isa 45:4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

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.

When did Christ do all of this? Did God “set an end to darkness” as a means of dealing with the unforeseen result of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which caused our first parents to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? When do the scriptures teach us God made this decision to place us first into darkness and in need of a Savior from our sins, and to “set and end to darkness”? Here is the Biblical answer to that question:

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:

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;

God is not operating on ‘plan B’! He is the ultimate cause of all things, including all the sinful creatures which He has filled with darkness, and whose darkness He has “set an end… before the world began”.

Job 28:4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

Just like the light and the darkness, which were both created by and whose dark end is set by God, so too, the floods are brought upon our sinful lives. “Forgotten of the foot” is a phrase which, in Biblical terms, refers to our walk and the way in which we conduct our lives. The word ‘darkness’ in the previous verse, refers to the walk we are first given. It is God who gives us to lose our first love, to walk first in darkness, and to forget that even the floods of life are given to us by our own heavenly Father for our own good.

King David, Isaiah and all the prophets proclaim this same message concerning the sovereign work of God even over the evils of our lives:

Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

The knowledge of the Truth of those words of Psa 107 are “the waters [ which are] forgotten of the foot… are dried up, [ and] are gone away from men”. So too, is the truth of these verses of scripture:

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.

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

Mankind is “out of the ground” and is made in that marred form just as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as the tree of life, all first come “out of the ground”, and are all conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity before they are then “made… anew… as it seemed good to the Potter to make it.

Job 28:5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

Job 28:6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.

We are back to the fact that God has ordained that purification comes only through ‘pur’ the Greek word for ‘fire’, from which we get our English word pure or purify. So we are plainly told:

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

Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

The “fire… under… the earth” which produces the precious stones and gold, is the chastening and scourging of a loving heavenly Father, who has ordained that it be so “before the world began”.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire [ Greek ‘pur’, fire, God’s chastening, scourging 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.

Job 28:7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:

Job 28:8 The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.

While there is always both a positive and a negative application for every word of scripture, and while the dove is used as a symbol of the spirit of God and the lion of the tribe of Judah is Christ, when the word ‘fowl’, especially in conjunction with “the vulture’s eye”, is used, it is clear that we are speaking here of those unclean fowl which “snatch away the word” and which torment God’s people before they are delivered from the power of those spirits. When a ‘lion is mentioned in this same context, it is obviously referring to the lion which was sent to devour God’s people.

It is no less than Christ Himself who reveals to us the meaning of “the fowls”.

Mat 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

So what does Christ explain are “the fowls”?

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.

Here is the scripture which tells us what this “fierce lion” is:

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Here is an example of “a path which no fowl knows and which the vulture’s eye has not seen [ and which] the lion’s whelps have not trodden”. Here is an example of what “the wicked one… has not seen”, and to which “the wicked one” is not yet made privy:

Mat 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

As this entire book of Job demonstrates, all ‘fowl’, and ‘roaring lion[ s]’ are nothing more or less than mere servants and instruments of our heavenly Father, to the extent that they are said to be “from the Lord” and are called “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.

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

1Sa 16:15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

Job 28:9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

If indeed God’s “hand” is the devil, as Job 1 and 2 demonstrate, then when “He puts forth His hand upon the Rock”, and if Christ is that ‘Rock’, then we must conclude that it was God Himself who put forth His hand” upon our Lord, to deliver Him up to the death of the cross. Is that not exactly what the scripture tell us?

Act 4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

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.

Job 28:10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

Job 28:11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; andthe thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

“The thing that is hid brings He forth to light”, is just another way of saying that there is nothing which is hidden from our Lord.

Mar 4:22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.

An even deeper understanding of the mind of our Lord and His Father teaches us that from God’s perspective ‘the light and the darkness are both alike’ to Him, and the Truth is that we cannot hide even our very thoughts from Him simply because even those thoughts are His work, are “of the Lord”, and are known by Him before they are ever conceived within us.

Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Psa 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

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

So God is not trying to keep up with the affairs of all mankind, but is rather working all of mankind’saffairs after the counsel of His own will.

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.

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.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn what is the source of all wisdom.

Job 28:12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

Job 28:14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

Job 28:15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

Job 28:16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

Job 28:17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

Job 28:18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

Job 28:19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

Job 28:20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

Job 28:22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

Job 28:23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

Job 28:24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;

Job 28:25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

Job 28:26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:

Job 28:27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Video Links

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [ men, both] free and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Introduction

In our study of verse 9 we learned of a spiritual event called “the marriage supper of the Lamb”, and we learned that those who are called to that “marriage supper” were especially “blessed”.

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

In today’s study we will be learning about “the supper of the great God”?

What is the difference between these two suppers? Is there one supper which we attend at a certain stage in our spiritual development, and then another supper which we attend at still another stage of our walk?

We already know that we are to “keep the things written” in this book (Rev 1:3). We already know that “all things present and to come are ours” (1Co 3:21-22). So we know these two suppers are our suppers.

Let’s look at what we are told about these two suppers and see if there is any difference at all between them.

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

There are three principles at play in this verse. 1) An angel standing in the sun, 2) He cries with a loud voice to the fowls of the heavens to 3) gather themselves together unto the supper of the great God.

So let’s take each of these three principles and let the Word of God tell us what is their meaning.
1) What is “an angel standing in the sun?

To answer this question we must know what the sun symbolizes, because we have been told that this is a book of symbols which has been “signified” to us.

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

So what does the ‘sun’ signify? Who is this angel, and exactly where is he standing?

Here is what the scriptures reveal this angel symbolizes:

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

We have seen repeatedly, and in this very chapter, that the angels of this revelation of Jesus Christ are our fellowservants and those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book:

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

So what is the ‘sun’? Where is this “man, that is… the angel” standing? Here is what the ‘sun’ symbolizes. Here is where he is standing.

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

It is none other than our Lord who has “healing in His wings” and who as “the sun… tabernacles in [our] heavens”.

Psa 19:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psa 19:2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Psa 19:3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psa 19:4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psa 19:5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Psa 19:6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Mat 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

So this “angel” is “a man” standing within Christ, our Lord, and in Him he is proclaiming these words to “the fowls of the heaven”:

Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

It is you and I who hear the proclamation of the destruction of our own flesh.

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

The flesh must be overcome by the new man and must be destroyed before we can enter into the kingdom of God, which kingdom is within us.

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.

If it is true that “the kingdom of God is within you”, and it is also true that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, what this means for us now is that we all must spiritually “die daily” (1Co 15:31) to our own flesh, and recognize that it is we who have been devoured by “the fowls of the heaven” all the days we were being devoured in our blindness by the false prophets of Babylon. This entire statement concerning “the supper of the great God” is but a recap of the judgment of Babylon the great of chapters 16-18, within us.

2) So who are these “fowls of the heaven” who are being called to this “supper of the great God”?

This symbol is explained for us by our Lord Himself:

Mat 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Now let’s skip down to verse 18, and let our Lord Himself give us the interpretation of these “fowls” which “devour them up”.

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.

The seeds which fell by the wayside were “devoured” by the fowls, which our Lord tells us signifies and symbolizes “the wicked one” and those who do the work of “the wicked one”.

So what does it signify to be devoured by the fowls of the heavens? Why are we told that the fowls of the heavens are called, “To eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great?”

If indeed, as our Lord informs us, the fowls symbolize “the wicked one” who “devours up” and “catches away that which is sown in his heart”, then that is why “the fowls of the heavens” are called to “the supper of the great God”.

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.

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart.” Is there anyone who has not had this experience? Has anyone avoided drinking of the cup of the fornications of Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the world”?

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

It is this desolation “because of the sword”, which ‘sword’ is the Word of God, that “the great city [within us] is destroyed and made desolate. It is within us “where also our Lord was crucified”. It is the destruction of “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, by the Truths of the Word of God, which births within us “Jerusalem which is above… which is the mother of us all.”

Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

These two opposing ‘Jerusalems’ are nothing more or less that the enmity and the war, which God Himself has ordained from the very beginning to be fought, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

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.

Gen 3:15 is just the earliest way of saying:

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

Revelation 19:19 where “the kings of the earth… gather against Him that sat on the horse” is simply a more mature revelation of that original prophecy.

Who are these “kings of the earth”? Let’s read of this very same event in the prophecy of Jeremiah:

Jer 25:19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
Jer 25:20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
Jer 25:21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
Jer 25:22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which [are] beyond the sea,
Jer 25:23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Jer 25:24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
Jer 25:25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
Jer 25:26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which [are] upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Jer 25:27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

This is “all in Adam” (1Co 15:22), and everything that was in Adam is in us all, and that is why we all experience the same event:

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.

Is there any way we can avoid being the seed of the serpent before we become the seed of the woman? Not one of us has been able to do that. But what do the scriptures teach? Let’s just read on.

Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but [it shall be given to them] for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Have we not shown that these nations of the earth are all just symbols of our lives in rebellion against the words of our Lord? Is not ‘the earth’ merely the spiritual symbol of those in whom His word has no place?

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

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

So this is the beast within us, and all the kings of the earth and their armies, being ridden by the great whore within us, who have gathered together to make war against our Lord sitting on the horse, and against his army.

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

However, the author and finisher of our faith has already written in His book the defeat of this beast and the kings of the earth and their armies and the false prophet within us. We were told back in chapter 16, in our study of “the pouring out of the sixth… vial” that the kings of the earth were “gathered together “to the battle of the great day of God Almighty… called… Armageddon”.

Rev 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Rev 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

3) Our last question is What is “the supper of the great God”?

The answer is that this supper is the symbolic meat or flesh, which is provided to the symbolic fowls of the heaven by the symbolic sword in the hand of Him that sits upon the symbolic horse.
The flesh symbolizes our attachment to the things of this world. The fowls of the heaven symbolize all the false doctrines of Babylon which keep us attached to the things of this world. The sword symbolizes the Truth of God’s Word which destroys all desires of our earthy, Babylonian flesh. The white horse is the symbol of the irresistible power of our God over His creation.

Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The beast and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Where did the great whore Babylon go? What happened to her? Why is not this great whore being cast into this lake of fire?

The fact of the matter is that she is being cast into the lake of fire, but the holy spirit is revealing to us, that “the false prophet” and “Babylon the great… whore” are one and the same symbol for all the lies and false doctrines which make up this great whore and “the false prophet”.

So what is the difference between the marriage supper of the Lamb, where His wife hath made herself ready, and the supper of the great God, where the fowls of heaven eat the flesh of men?

Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The devouring of the flesh of men by the fowls of heaven is the dying of our old man. The answer is that it is by and through being fed to the fowls of heaven, through the desolation of the flesh, that the bride makes herself ready. She is not subjected to the purifying of the lake of fire, but endures fiery trials in this present age.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

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.

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

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;

Those who are cast into the lake of fire are said to “worship the beast”. What does that mean? It certainly does not mean that they are dying daily to the beast. What it means is that they feed their beast, and celebrate him and his power over them. They revel in their freedom from the words and the example of our Lord, and want to be “in bondage” to “the weak and beggarly elements of the world” (Gal 4:9-10).

In Galatians 4 we are told that Hagar is analogous to “Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.”

Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

To what are those in this great city in bondage? We are not left to speculate. We were told earlier in this same chapter what this bondage is:

Gal 4:1 Now I say, [That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

There is no one alive who was not “made of a woman, made under the law”. It is in this condition that we are said to be “children [Greek: nepios, infants or toddlers]… in bondage under the elements of the world… made of a woman, made under the law.”

However, we are told that Christ came to redeem us from being in bondage to the elements of the world, from being under tutors and governors, from being under the law.

Now the question arises: are Gentiles ever “under the law”? What do the scriptures teach us?

Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

“The Gentiles are a law unto themselves” and “do by nature the things contained in the law.” It is natural to love your own children and even your own neighbor, as both the law of the Gentiles and the law of Moses demand, but it is unnatural for any human to love his enemy. Nevertheless, it is that which is unnatural which delivers us all from “the bondage under the elements of the world.” It is “the law of Christ.”

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

No other law on earth commands us to “love your enemies”.

Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

It is this great whore, as a false prophet, who claims she is the faithful wife of Christ who comes in His name but who has no place in her for His words, simply because the whore, who is the same as this false prophet, “cannot hear Him”.

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

Does not the whole world teach the ten commandments? Did not Christ tell the rich young ruler to “keep the commandments”? Yes, both are true, but neither one is the whole truth or the sum of God’s word (Psa 119:160 [ASV]). Here is what makes the the ten commandments nothing more than “the elements of the world” which the Gentiles “do by nature” by comparison to this part which the rich young ruler could not do.

Mar 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God.
Mar 10:19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Mar 10:20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
Mar 10:22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
Mar 10:23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

No one teaches against the ten commandments, but the whole world teaches against considering the law of Moses and those things which even the Gentiles do by nature to be “the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto we desire again to be in bondage”. This is the hold that Babylon and all of her harlot daughters have upon the whole world, within us and without.

It is those who deny the truth of Christ’s words and His example, and who deny the plain teachings of the apostles who are “the beast and the false prophet, who are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

What is that fire? It is so very instructive to note that the Greek word translate fire here is ‘pur‘, from which we get our English word ‘pure’ or ‘purify’. What is it that purifies all men? Here is what it takes to be purified and made worthy to enter into the temple of God, undefiled.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire [Greek: pur]; 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.

“The spirit of God dwells in you… you are saved by fire”. What is that spirit?

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

Christ words are spirit, and what else does He call His words?

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.

It is the few in whose mouths and hearts are these fiery words of our Lord who will comprise this thing called “the lake of fire”.

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Babylon is just another name for the false prophet we read of in chapter 14, where we are told that her doctrines have very great appeal to “all nations”:

Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

There is one more symbol for the Words of our Lord, which is used to destroy this false prophet, harlot. That word is “a sharp sword”.

Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The fire and the sword are both the same. Here is the effect of that sword upon all of us when we oppose the fiery words of Christ.

Jer 25:16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

It is incredible how the words of Christ and following in His steps, just naturally makes those who oppose those words “mad” and causes you and I to “be hated of all men”.

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

The fact is that if it is given us to endure the sufferings of our Lord “to the end” the sufferings of this time will not be worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us.

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

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will discuss the spiritual meaning of, and the function of, the millennium, the bottomless pit, the mighty angel with the great chain, who imprisons “that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan”, for the thousand year reign of God’s elect over the kingdoms of this world. Here are the verses we will cover next week.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Mike,

Where does it speak of the creation of spiritual wickedness in the beginning chapters of Genesis? We are told in Gen 3:1 the serpent is a beast of the field, so was he created on the 6th day with the beasts?

In Christ,
M____

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

Where does it speak of the creation of spiritual wickedness in the beginning chapters of Genesis ?’

It is Christ who tells us in the sum of His word that the spirit world is figured by “the fowls of the air,” both the spiritual wickedness that defiles our heavens and the spirit of God which appear as a dove to show us who is the Son of God.

Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Joh 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

“The fowls came and devoured the seeds that fell by the wayside.” Who are these “fowls?” That was what the disciples wanted to know, so they asked Jesus to explain His own parable and this is Christ’s own words:

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.

As with every word of Christ’s word, the word ‘fowl’ has both a positive and a negative meaning just as ‘the cloud’ that led Israel through the wilderness had both a bright and a dark side to it.

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

This is how God’s Word works to this very day. It is an open heaven of bright light to those with whom God is dealing positively, and it is total darkness to the world. To the one it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and to the other it is a veil over their eyes to this day.

2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [ vail] is done away in Christ.
2Co 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

Getting back to your question, if the fowls represent the spirit world, as Christ tells us, then we would expect to see them represent the holy spirit as a dove, as well as the wicked one who “catches away that which is sown in our hearts.” We would also expect to see them somewhere in Genesis, before mankind is created. And so we do.
This all being so, let’s see when the scriptures reveal the spirit world to be created:

Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [ that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Gen 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

It would appear that the spirit world was created on the fifth day. It is interesting to note that the scriptures speak of winged serpents, so that the spirit world is typified by the fowl, “every creature that moves which the waters bring forth,” and by the serpent.

Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

Seraphims are serpents according to Num 9.

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

The word for “fiery serpent” in verse 8 is seraph, Strong’s # H8314, and the word serpent of brass in verse 9 is nachash, Strong’s # H5175.
Both mean serpent, and in chapter nine these seraphs, or seraphims, have wings.
So the scriptures indicate that Christ created the spirit world on the day before he created man, so that He could ask Job…

Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

I hope this is edifying for you.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike