Revelation 7:4-8 – Part 1A, Who Are The 144,000

[Study Aired June 5, 2024]

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.
Rev 7:5  Of the tribe of Juda [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad [were] sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:6  Of the tribe of Aser [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses [were] sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:7  Of the tribe of Simeon [ were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar [were] sealed twelve thousand.
Rev 7:8  Of the tribe of Zabulon [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Who are these 144,000 “of all the tribes of the children of Israel?” Who do the scriptures reveal they really are? Many in the orthodox Christian world today believe that these are literal, physical Jews of the literal, physical 12 tribes of Israel because of what is said about these 144,000 in Revelation 14. Many teach, based upon this verse, these are 144,000 literal, physical, Jewish, male virgins who will be sealed with the seal of God.

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.

We have demonstrated abundantly that the book of Revelation is a book of symbols. This is no time to forget that fact. Signs and symbols are not spiritual realities. All the realities of scripture are spiritual realities and certainly “not words that man’s wisdom teaches.”

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

“The Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things [types] with spiritual [antitypes].”

We are also plainly instructed:

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds [G165: ‘aion’, age, our lives] were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Paul has just given us the secret to understanding the symbolism of scripture. The ability to apply that secret as we read the words of scripture is truly a gift from God. It takes the spirit of God Himself to keep us from constantly slipping back into the physical realm as we read words which “are spirit…” Being “not defiled with women; for they are virgins” has nothing to do with the physical realm except as physical women and physical virgins are used to help us to understand what is a spiritual woman and what is a spiritual virgin. The Holy Spirit does not compare spiritual [antitypes] with physical [types]. The holy spirit does not compare one physical lion to a physical tiger, nor does it compare physical lion with spiritual lion. “The Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things [“the Lion of the tribe of Judah”] with spiritual [antitype, Christ].” What that means as it applies to our subject today, is that both Israel and each of her twelve tribes must conform to what the scriptures reveal them to now be, because “the words which man’s wisdom teaches” are that the word ‘Israel’ is not a spiritual word, and the tribe of Judah is not a spiritual tribe, and the word ‘women’ is not a spiritual word, and the word ‘virgins’ is not a spiritual word. However, if the scriptures actually demonstrate that ‘Israel’ is no longer a physical nation, and if the scriptures demonstrate that any one physical tribe is actually now a spiritual tribe, then every single tribe is now a spiritual tribe, composed of spiritual Israelites.

So the word ‘Israel’ is a spiritual word with a spiritual meaning in scripture. Is a Jew now a literal, physical Jew, or are these spiritual words which spiritually typify spiritual antitypes and spiritual realities? What do the scriptures teach us about what the word ‘Israel’ and the word ‘Jew’ mean when they are “not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches?”

What is it which now Biblically constitutes a Jew?

Here is what the scriptures teach. It is a spiritual teaching, and yet it is simple and straightforward.

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

A physical Jew is not even to be counted as a Jew now. “He is not a Jew…” is what the scriptures teach. Physical descent has nothing to do with being a spiritual Jew or a spiritual Israelite. The apostle Paul says that it amounts to nothing more than dung, and if you are not a spiritual Israelite or Jew, then you are not an Israelite or a Jew at all. That is what the scriptures teach.

Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the [physical] seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac [supernatural birth from a barren wife] shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is [meaning], They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise [supernatural birth through a barren wife] are counted for the seed.

Gal 4:28  Now we [Gentile Galatians, and all believers, both Jews and Gentiles], brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

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. [Physical pedigree]
Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things [including  physical pedigree] but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Being “of the [physical] stock of Israel, of the [physical] tribe of Benjamin or the [physical] tribe of Judah is “counted but dung” to the man of the spirit. Who then are “the children of God?” Who are “the children of promise?” Who now is Israel? Who now is a Jew? Who now is a Benjamite, or a member of any of the other tribes of Israel? Paul’s answer leaves no room for speculation:

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.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the [twelve tribe] commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles] one [One spiritual ‘Israel’], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

There it is: “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things [spiritual types] with spiritual [antitypes].”  What the spirit is teaching us is that being the physical seed of Abraham does not make one Abraham’s seed. Being a physical Jew or a physical Benjamite or being physically descended from any other “of all the tribes of Israel… is but dung.”

What then does make one “counted for the seed?”

There are two groups, and two groups only, who are being saved. One group can be “counted for the seed” (Rom 9:8), and is said to number 144,000. The other group is said to be “a great multitude which no man could number”.

Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Romans 9:8 tells us who is “counted for the seed” of Abraham, but here is yet another way of answering that question.

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye [counted as] Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

How can this requirement of being “Abraham’s seed” be made to apply to a Gentile Roman or a Gentile Ephesian or a Gentile Galatian? How can all these Gentile converts to Christ now be considered as Abraham’s one and only seed? Are Gentile converts to Christ now actually Biblically “counted” as Abraham’s only “promised son”, Abraham’s “one seed?” Are they really to now be considered “as Isaac was… the children of promise?” Are Gentiles actually considered by God, and by the scriptures… His Word, to be Israelites and heirs of the [typically spiritual] promises made to Abraham? Is that what “the holy spirit, comparing spiritual with spiritual, teaches?” What do the scriptures teach?

Gal 4:28  Now we brethren [Gentile Galatians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye [Gentile Ephesians]are no more strangers and foreigners [to the commonwealth of Israel, verse 12], but fellowcitizens [of Israel] with the saints, and of the household of God;

Does this make Paul a replacement theologian? Does this take the promise given to Abraham to make of him a nation and a company of nations and give that promise only to those of both the Jews and the Gentiles who are converts to Christ? Or does God now have two separate chosen or elect peoples; one according to the flesh, and another according to the spirit? No, God does not have two separate elect or chosen people. “He is NOT a Jew which is one outwardly…” and, yes, indeed, the physical ‘Jew’ is now, according to the scriptures, ‘replaced’ by the spiritual Jew… “He is NOT a Jew which is one outwardly, but his IS a Jew which is one inwardly…”

Did we not just read:

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles] one [spiritual “commonwealth of Israel” (Eph 2:12)], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Did we not just read the New Testament definition of what is and what “is not a Jew?” Did we not read that the Gentile Ephesian converts are those who “are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands?” Did not the scriptures we just read teach us that those Ephesian Gentile converts to Christ were “in time PAST Gentiles” in the flesh, but they are now “made near by the blood of Christ” and are now a part of “the commonwealth of Israel?” How many phrases like “the commonwealth of Israel… as Isaac was… counted for the seed… to whom pertaineth the promises… not a Jew which is one outwardly” all addressed to Gentile Christians, must we read before we simply acknowledge that “he is NOT a Jew that is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly?”

Did Paul contradict himself?

What about this verse of scripture? Doesn’t this verse completely nullify every verse we have just read? Isn’t Paul actually contradicting Himself when he makes this statement?

Rom 3:1  What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?
Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

That is the way the natural mind works. The natural mind is not capable of remembering to apply the principle of “the sum of God’s Word is Truth” (Psa 119:160 [ASV]) to Romans 3:1-2.  It is a testament to the spiritual blindness Christ bequeathes to us when we are yet a part of the multitudes of modern day Christians, who are still like the multitudes of Christians in Christ’s day who were “not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:10-15). The multitudes of Christians until this very day point to these two verses and vehemently proclaim that ‘He IS a Jew which is one outwardly, and we must support the outward nation of Israel or God will curse us.’ That is the doctrine of the vast majority of Christians until this very day. The vast multitudes of nominal Christians cannot see Romans 3:1-2  in the light of the two immediately preceding verses, which I simply must, once again repeat:

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

Being a Jew and being circumcised is just as advantageous now as it ever was. The only difference is that it is now an advantage “much in every way” because “the oracles of God”, including the oracle of circumcision, are now committed only unto “he [who] is a Jew inwardly” and the “profit” of the oracle of circumcision is now committed only to those who are “circumcised of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter.”

In other words “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly” in no way contradicts “What advantage then hath the Jew” or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way…” It actually complements and explains what “He is a Jew which is one inwardly” means. That means what it says, but what it says is that it is a great advantage to be a Jew, and it is an advantage “in every way” to be circumcised only if you “are a Jew inwardly”, and your circumcision is now of the heart in the spirit.

Rom 3:1  What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?
Rom 3:2  Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed [aorist tense] the oracles of God.

The verb ‘committed’ is in the aorist tense. What Paul is telling us is that the oracles of God are, were, and will continue to be committed to “he which… is a Jew inwardly”, not to those who are “called circumcision” but are not “circumcision… of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter” (Rom 2:28-29).

Does Paul’s doctrine agree with Christ’s doctrine?

Christ tells us that all his words “are spirit.” “The words that I speak unto you are spirit.” He tells us plainly that fleshly pedigree “profits nothing.”

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.

Now apply this Truth to the words which He had spoken to “the woman at the well” in Samaria just two chapters earlier:

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

That is the truth as plainly as Christ Himself could put it. God will not be worshiped by anyone who thinks that physical Jerusalem, physical Samaria or any physical building or physical place or physical relic even physical descent is anything more than dung. True disciples of Christ need nothing in the physical realm to bolster their faith. The true disciples of Christ abhor all such idolatry.

Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

That includes the idolatry of physical pedigree. Being a physical, fleshly Israelite, or a physical, fleshly Jew “profiteth nothing.” “Ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father… True worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in Truth… comparing [physical Israel as a] spiritual [type of] things which are spiritual [antitypes]” (1Co 2:13).

The apostle Paul, as we will soon see, knew and taught the same thing Christ taught. Christ spoke and taught in symbols and signs. He called them parables, and He told us why He did so. He told us His words “were spirit”, and He told us that He had “not given unto…[the multitudes who came to hear Him teach] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven.”

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitudes (Mat 13:2)] in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

One more reason why Christ taught in parables

That is not all He tells us about why He teaches in parables. There is more to the reason why “the holy spirit teaches… not in the words man’s wisdom teaches, but [instead] comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

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

Here is that additional reason Christ gives for teaching in parables.

Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

It is not adding to these words to note that Christ answered His disciples’ question concerning why He taught in parables by telling them that He teaches the multitudes who come to Him in parables “because.. it is not given… to them … to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” It is in this same thirteenth chapter we are told that Christ never spoke to the multitudes of His disciples without a parable.

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Mat 13:35  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

That connecting word ‘for’ at the beginning of verse 12 tells us that those who “have not” much spiritual understanding “from them shall be taken even that [little] that they had.” That is also a part of the function of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” and “not speaking in words that man’s wisdom teaches”. We must include verse 12 in our understanding of  Christ’s purpose for speaking in parables. Christ’s parables, His signs and symbols, are the spiritual words that are just as effective at taking away what little understanding is given to the multitudes today as it was when Christ first applied those words to the multitudes of the Christians of His own day.

Mar 4:33  And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.

We will pause here and label this ‘Part A’ of our study of verses 4-8 of Revelation 7, and we will resume our study of who these 144,000 firstfruits unto God and the Lamb are in our next study.

Act 17:18-34  Whom You Ignorantly Worship, Him Declare I Unto You

[Study Aired June 18, 2023]

Act 17:18  Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Act 17:19  And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
Act 17:20  For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Act 17:21  (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
Act 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Act 17:23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Act 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Act 17:29  Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Act 17:31  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Act 17:32  And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
Act 17:33  So Paul departed from among them.
Act 17:34  Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Paul has just fled Berea because the unbelieving Jews of Thessalonica had come to Berea and stirred up opposition to Paul and his message about the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation He brings to mankind.

For the sake of context, I will begin with the last two verses of our last study:

Act 17:16  Now while Paul waited for them [Silas and Timothy] at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Act 17:17  Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

Paul [“as his manner was” (vs 2)] went “to the Jews first” and reasoned with them. Nothing is said about how those in the synagogue there in Athens received the gospel. All we are told is “he… disputed… in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons. Here in Acts 17:17 these words are added… “and in the market daily with them that met him.”

We have already been informed that Paul also shared “the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem”, which decrees came out of the Jerusalem conference that was held to determine whether the Lord required the Gentiles to be circumcised. Paul and Silas shared these decrees with those they were teaching:

Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

That conference was called to settle the question of whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. The decision made at that conference was that the Jews still needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, but the Gentiles were given “no such commandment.”

Here is that “decree”:

Act 15:22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, [“the whole church included Peter, Paul and Barnabas] to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Act 15:23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Act 15:24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Act 15:25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Act 15:26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 15:27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Act 15:30  So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
Act 15:31  Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

When exactly did Paul and Silas deliver these decrees to the churches? Let’s read it again so we can know and remind ourselves that Paul and Silas, both being physical Jews, were keeping the law of Moses even while “delivering the decree” that the Gentiles ‘keep no such commandment’:

Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
Act 16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

On this second journey, Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel in many cities that have no church to which they can deliver the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. All the cities they visit after leaving Pisidian Antioch have no Christian congregations with whom they can share the decrees from the apostles. If the question of the Gentiles needing to be circumcised had presented itself, then there would be no doubt Paul would have shared the decrees of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to settle that question. However, there was no church yet established there in Athens. Therefore, that very controversial point was not an issue while Paul was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timothy to come to him from Berea. What we are instead told is:

Act 17:18  Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Act 17:19  And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

Here is Strong’s definition of the meaning of an “Areopagite”:

G698
Ἀρεοπαγίτης
Areopagitēs
ar-eh-op-ag-ee’-tace
From G697; an Areopagite or member of the court held on Mars’ Hill: – Areopagite.

BT+ adds this:

– Transliteration: Areopagites
– Phonetic: ar-eh-op-ag-ee’-tace
– Definition:

a member of the court of Areopagus, an Areopagite

Being brought before the Greek Areopagus is like being brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin. Both are courts, but the Sanhedrin was always an adversarial court of the followers of Christ. The Areopagus court was not at all adversarial, and like curious Pilate, the Gentile Roman ruler who was “determined to let [Christ] go” (Acts 3:13), these Gentile Athenian judges are also simply curious about the new doctrine they are hearing Paul proclaim.

Act 17:20  For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Act 17:21  (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

This is an affliction which is common to us all. We all want to be the first person to learn “some new thing” so we can share it with others. It is a true blessing to see the Truth for the first time, but we must be on our guard against making ourselves the center of attention, as the young damsel in Philippi did. Christ, who is the Truth, must always be the center of our attention and our dedication.

Col 1:15  Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Paul kept Christ at the center of everything He taught, even as he was speaking to an audience who “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing”:

Act 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Act 17:23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Paul gives us a good example of how we, as the Lord provides us opportunity, should engage with the world. We, too, can and should use the world’s own words to begin a dialogue about Christ, and we should never shy away from the opportunity to witness for our Lord:

2Ti 4:1  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [“speaking smooth things” (Isa 30: 8-11)]
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2Ti 4:5  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Alluding to the Athenian monument “to the unknown God”, Paul uses their own words as a segue to preach Christ and His gospel to these pagan Athenians:

Act 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

As Christ told the woman at the well, the time has come when God does not want men building “a house for God” as one mega-minister did. The time has come to realize what the true “temple of God” is and to worship Him in spirit and in Truth:

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers [the northern ten tribes who rebelled against Rehoboam] worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Everything that happens on this earth is “before appointed” by God; both the good and the evil. Even the apprehension and crucifixion of Christ was “before appointed… [and] “determined before to be done”:

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.

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

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Like Saul of Tarsus and the man whom Christ healed of being born blind, we all must first come to see and acknowledge our spiritual blindness and “feel after Him” before we will be given eyes that see or ears that hear Christ and His words, because the natural man is born spiritually blind:

Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin [and spiritual blindness] remaineth.

Act 9:8  And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9  And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

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

At His appointed time the Lord removes our blindness as He did from the man who was born blind and as He did from Saul of Tarsus, and then we begin to see as He sees and to understand as He understands:

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

Paul encouraged these Athenians, as types of us, to begin to come out of their default blindness and begin to acknowledge the hand of God in the affairs of this age:

Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Here Paul once again alludes to “[their] own poets”, who had said, “We are also His offspring.” According to John Gill’s commentary, two Greek poets had made this statement. One was Aratus who was from Solis, a city near Tarsus, the hometown of the apostle Paul. The other was a Greek named Cleanthes who taught at Athens. By quoting their own poets, Paul disarms them and introduces them to Christ. If the spirit then sees fit to cause it to do so, the Lord’s word will take root in their lives. The Truth always puts down its roots in the lives of a remnant:

Act 17:29  Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

Paul is addressing pagan Athenians and telling them that even their own poets have rightfully acknowledged that we are God’s offspring. Those Greek poets agree with the Bible, which reveals that mankind is indeed “the offspring of God”:

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

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

Like our original father, the first Adam, we are all “children of the most high” (Luk 3:38). Even at the time that we “are of [our] father the devil” (Joh 8:44), we are still the sons of God because God is “the father of spirits” both good and bad:

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

“We are His offspring” and we are “in the Potter’s hand” even in our carnal unconverted condition while the Lord is in the process of making us a new vessel:

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

Jeremiah 18:4 accords with Paul’s statement to these Athenians telling them they are “the offspring of God”. It also agrees with Luke who tells us that the “first Adam”, the original “vessel of clay”, was also “the son of God”:

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

It is by the Lord’s own design that the vast majority of the English translations have mistranslated both Genesis 2:26-27 and Jeremiah 18:4. The verbs in both are in the Hebrew ‘qal stem’. The Hebrew qal stem is the same as the Greek aorist tense, which always indicates that the statement made is true, but it is not yet completed.

Here is a much better translation of Genesis 1:26-27:

Gen 1:26 And saying is the Elohim, Make will We humanity in Our image, and according to Our likeness, and sway shall they over the fish of the sea, and over the flyer of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all land life, and over every moving animal moving on the land.
Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

What we are being told is that God is in the process of making man in His image and after His likeness, and these “clay vessels” we now occupy are just the first step in that process.

Paul explains this process in these words:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Lord wants us to know that Adam’s transgression was not something He had not anticipated. Quite to the contrary, Adam’s transgression was the inevitable result of his natural condition and his clay and dust composition. Adam could not possibly have done anything other than transgress the Lord’s commandments because the “one lawgiver” (Jas 4:12) had installed a “law of sin” in Adam’s flesh which made him err from the Lord’s ways (Isa 63:17).

Here is what the ‘first Adam’ was contending with:

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.

There is in the natural man “the law of sin which is in [our] members”. There is but “one lawgiver who is able to save and able to destroy”:

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

Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

God “winked at… the times of this ignorance” because it was He who worked and ordained a ‘time of ignorance’ in the life of every man. Spiritual vision is absolute unadulterated “foolishness” to our natural man:

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

God made all things for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. Yet He has also devised means that even His banished will not be expelled from Him:

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him [1Co 15:22].

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

In the end, all mankind will be dragged to God through His fiery judgments. The fiery judgment which is now on the house of God and the final white throne judgment, which will drag all men to Christ:

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

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

Act 17:31  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Christ’s resurrection from among the dead is His “assurance” to “all men” that he will also “raise us up… in the third day.”

Hos 6:2  After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

1Co 6:14  And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

2Co 4:14  Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is foolishness to our natural man.

Act 17:32  And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

Paul was not led by the spirit to spend a lot of time in Athens, but a remnant had heard and believed his witness, including one of the judges of the Areopagus, a man named Dionysius, a woman named Damaris, and others:

Act 17:33  So Paul departed from among them.
Act 17:34  Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Nothing is said at this point about Silas and Timothy coming to be with Paul in Athens. However, we learn in 1 Thessalonians that Silas and Timothy had indeed joined Paul in Athens, and that it was from Athens that Paul had sent Silas and Timothy back to check in on and minister to the churches of Macedonia including the church in Thessalonica right after being “shamefully entreated… at Philippi”:

1Th 2:2  But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention [The unbelieving Jews in Thessalonica greatly withstood Paul to the point that he was forced to flee for his life to Berea].

1Th 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:
1Th 2:15  Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
1Th 2:16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

The persecution of Christ and His Christ indicates that the wrath of God is upon those who do so.

It is in telling these Thessalonians of his great desire to see them again, that we learn Silas and Timothy had indeed come to Athens and had been there with Paul before Paul left Athens for Corinth:

1Th 2:17  But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
1Th 2:18  Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
1Th 2:19  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

This is how we should all feel toward each other. We are each other’s “hope [and] joy [and] crown of rejoicing.”

1Th 2:20  For ye are our glory and joy [We are to each other “our glory and joy”].

Verse 20 is the last verse of chapter 2 of 1 Thessalonians, but there were no chapters when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, and these are his very next words:

1Th 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

This verse in conjunction with Acts 18:5, informs us that Silas and Timothy had both come to Paul while he was in Athens. It was from Athens that Paul had immediately sent Timothy and Silas back to check on and encourage the churches in Macedonia.

1Th 3:2  And [from Athens] sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:
1Th 3:3  That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
1Th 3:4  For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know [Act 14:22].
1Th 3:5  For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

Paul had sent Timothy back to Thessalonica while he was still in Athens. Our next chapter will fill in some blanks and let us know that he had also sent Silas back to Macedonia. He had apparently left Athens alone and had gone to Corinth, and that is where “Silas and Timotheus” had returned to be with Paul:

Act 18:1  After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Act 18:2  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
Act 18:3  And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
Act 18:4  And he reasoned in the synagogue [“To the Jew First”] every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
Act 18:5  And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

There it is! Paul himself tells us in 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 that he was still in Athens when he sent Timothy to the Thessalonians. Acts 18:1-5 tells us Paul was in Corinth when Silas and Timothy returned with a good and encouraging report of the churches in Macedonia. Paul was in Corinth when he wrote this first epistle to the Thessalonians.

1Th 3:6  But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1Th 3:7  Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
1Th 3:8  For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

Meditate upon these words. Paul longed to see the saints, and the saints longed to see Him.  Reading of the love these early saints had for one another, and how they earnestly desired to get to see each other, should cause us to thank the Lord and rejoice in the Lord’s incredible provisions every time we look at our computer and see “our own flesh” (Isa 58:7), “Jesus of Nazareth” (Act 22:8), from all around the world right there in front of us. We have this great blessing, and by this blessing we also are comforted in all our afflictions. Never take this blessing for granted. Never permit this blessing to become a thing for which you do not show the Lord your great appreciation.

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Even Zoom was invented for us because “all things are for your sakes” (2Co 4:15), and our gathering together as we do is a precursor to the ultimate fulfilling of this prophecy of our Lord:

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

Mark adds “the earth” to the equation:

Mar 13:27  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

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.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 57 Discussion

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Isa 14:1-4 God's Elect "Shall Take Up This Proverb Against The King of Babylon"

Isa 14:1  For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
Isa 14:3  And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
Isa 14:4  That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

All Bible types and shadows are based upon historical events which were used by our Lord to deal with His carnal earthly nation of Israel. But the Lord does not have two Israels, two Jewish nations or two elect. The Truth is that there is just one body of Christ, one spirit and one mind of Christ. The Lord's carnal earthly nation was never, ever intended to be the true 'Jew' or the spiritual "Israel of God".

This is what we are told of the physical nation of Israel:

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

1Co 10:5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
1Co 10:6  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
1Co 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
1Co 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
1Co 10:9  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

All that happened to the physical, carnal nation of Israel, "happened unto them... and [was] written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come". 'The ends of the ages" had not and have not come upon the physical nation of Israel. These verses are addressed to faithful Gentile Corinthians, who are now "Jew[s] inwardly... [are now] the commonwealth of Israel... [and are now] the [true] circumcision... of the heart in the spirit":

Gal 3:7  Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world;
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both [Jews and Gentiles] unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Armed with the knowledge that there is no such thing as a physical Jewish elect, or a physical Israeli elect, which supposedly coexists with a so-called spiritual elect, and understanding that Christ is, rather, in the process of "making of twain [Jew and Gentile] one new man... that He might reconcile both [Jews and Gentiles] unto God in one body", we are now equipped to understand what we are being told here in Isaiah 14:

Isa 14:1  For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

Remember as we read these words that they are "written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come":

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

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

There is no "physical elect" physical nation of Israel. There is but "one body" composed of those who believe in Christ both of the Jews and of the Gentiles:

Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Therefore when we read:

Isa 14:1  For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

We must remember that it is we who are "heirs according to the promise", we are "the commonwealth of Israel", and:

Eph 2:19  Now therefore [we] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

These are indeed "great and precious promises". It is now we who are "Jacob [and] Israel", and it is we of whom we are being told "...the strangers shall be joined to them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place" and the [spiritual] house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors".

The fact that we possess those who were our captors "in the land of the Lord" is confirmation of this verse of scripture in the book of Revelation:

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

There is a great truth here which is yet to be demonstrated in an outward way before the kingdom of God is established over the kingdom of this world. That great truth will be as revealing and as exciting as the way in which the Lord brought Joseph from the prisons of Egypt to rule over all the nation of Egypt. It will be as revealing and as surprising for us as how our Lord placed Daniel and his fellows over all the province of Babylon. It will be just as miraculous as how the Lord worked the deliverance of the Jews from those who oppressed them when the king of Persia oredered the death of all the Jews in his kingdom just before he also declared that they were to defend themselves and gave the Jews the authority to destroy them "whose captives they were". Somehow the Lord will cause our very oppressors "in the land of the Lord [to] bring [us] to [our] place", and He will cause us to take possessison of  our oppressors for servants and handmaids:

Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

Like with Joseph, Daniel, and Mordecai and Esther, the Lord has devised means that "the people will take [us] and bring [us] to [our] place, as kings and priests to rule with Christ over the kingdoms of this world for a thousand years only if we take our captors captive within first:

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar [Greek: special] people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

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

These are both inward and outward "great and precious promises", but we will never realize the outward fulfillment of ruling with Christ in His millennial kingdom if we do not first realize the successful inward conquest against "Mystery Babylon The Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth". What that means is that the second beast which comes up out of the earth (Rev 13:11-18) must also receive a "daily" (1Co 15:31) deadly wound which will never be healed, but will rather "endure [that wound] to the end":

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth ["dying daily"] to the end shall be saved.

Joh 12:23  And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

How do we "glorify... the Son of Man"? How do we "serve [Christ]"? We do so in the same manner He served and pleased His Father. We do so by doing the things He says for us to do, which includes dying for the sins of this world:

Joh 18:37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Mar 8:31  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mar 8:32  And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
Mar 8:33  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Christ did not just look at Peter. He "looked on His disciples". As His disciples we, too, are sent by Christ to die for our brothers. As we just read we are sent by our Lord to do what His Father sent Him to do:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

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

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

What dies within us is "the man of sin... the beast, and the king of Babylon", all of which are the one and the same "old man... the first man Adam" within us:

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

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.

The death of the king of Babylon takes place within us "daily" as "the beast, the man of sin, the first man Adam", decreases and dies within us.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

Babylon is not the literal city of ancient Babylon, as some have foolishly contended. Rather, the king of Babylon is now called "mystery Babylon", and to maintain this 'mystery' the king of Babylon in the book of Revelation is called "the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth".

"The king of Babylon" is also called "that great city" in the book of Revelation. In this 14th chapter of Isaiah 'Babylon' is presented to us as a king who is called "the oppressor... the golden city... who smote the people in wrath [and] ruled the nations in anger".

Adding to the "mystery" in the book of Revelation Babylon is called a harlot and the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth:

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

Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

As we "present our bodies a living sacrifice to God, we die daily, and we are being given dominion over the king of Babylon within us while we are yet in these dying clay vessels, if indeed Christ is living His life within us as we are plainly told:

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

The word "being" demonstrates that this is speaking of an ongoing process, but the word "now" also demonstrates that this process in "now" in progress within our lives, which brings us to the fact that this process is being spoken of as "the day that the Lord... give[s us] rest from [our] sorrow... and from the hard bondage [to sin] wherein [we were] made to serve", the very situation Paul is discussing in Romans 6:14, 18, and 22:

Isa 14:3  And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
Isa 14:4  That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament refer to the king of Babylon as a "city [which] ceases" to exist:

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

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.

Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

This "great city, which reigns over the kings of this earth", here in Isaiah 14 is given the title of a king as well as a mysterious adulterous woman in the book of Revelation:

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Why is "the king of Babylon" called a mysterious adulterous harlot in the book of Revelation? The answer is that this king is the flip side of those who follow Christ. In both the Old and New Testaments, God's people are presented to us as His wife and as His Son:

Here the Lord refers to Israel as an unfaithful and adulterous wife:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

And here He refers to them as His "first born Son":

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

This seemingly contradictory symbolism carries through into the New Testament as Biblical symbols of Christ's faithful wife and His faithful children:

Here we are called His "chaste virgin":

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

And here we are called His sons:

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

It is these "sons of God", also called "a chaste virgin... espoused to one husband", who will be used by God to punish those who were sent by the Lord to punish and to humble us.

The message is consistent in both the Old and the New Testaments:

Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

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

This must take place over the kingdoms and principalities which usurp the dominion over the temple and the kingdom of God within us, before it will be given us to rule with Christ in His outward kingdom for a thousand years:

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.
Luk 17:22  And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
Luk 17:23  And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

The kingdom of God is within us, and within His kingdom within us is a place also called His temple, and as Christ has just informed us, His kingdom within us comes to us "as the lightning" and His kingdom within us destroys the staff of our wicked oppressor, our rebellious "old... man of sin", who dwells within His temple "which temple [we] are".

Here is how the holy spirit repeats Christ's words here as in the above verses of Luke 17:

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.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [within us], shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of [lightning of] his coming:

So while the whole Christian world is looking for an outward temple to be built in the outward city of Jerusalem, in the outward nation of Israel, the true "man of sin" within us remains securely ensconced upon the throne of Christ within the temple of God "which temple [we] are", and he has been there chuckling to himself while the world is waiting for him to appear on the scene outwardly only at the end of this age, in spite of the revelation Christ bequeathed us that His kingdom and His temple are and always have been "within [us]" (Luk 17:20-21).

The physical nation of Israel was outwardly dealt "a deadly wound" inflicted upon that nation by God in 70 A.D. That outward 'deadly wound' was seemingly miraculously outwardly healed in 1948 when the nation of Israel appeared to many to be resurrected from the dead, and the whole world from that day has, in a sense, "wondered after the beast", declaring it to be God's "physical elect" in spite of the fact that modern Israel and modern Jews are just as dead set against their own Savior now as they were the day they delivered Him up to Pilate to be crucified.

Act 3:13  The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

Lest I be accused of anti-semitism, let me point out that the whole point Peter is making here is that Christ was not condemned to death by Rome, but was condemned to death by His own people, and by the very people "who believed upon Him". That is why it is such a big mistake to blame the Romans and Pilate with the death of Christ with the intent of absolving His own people when we are clearly told Pilate "was determined to let Him go".

Here are those who delivered Christ up to Pilate to be crucified:

Joh 8:30  As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
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.

It was the religious establishment which delivered Christ to the Romans to be crucified. The religious establishment of Christ's day symbolizes the religious establishment of today, and whether that religious establishment be Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, Christ's words and His doctrines until this very day "have no place in [them]". John 8:37 is as true today for those who claim to be His disciples and who claim to believe in Him, but have no room in themselves for His words and His doctrines as those words were when Christ first uttered them. "You seek to kill me, because my words have no place in you."

Next week we will see more of the fate of the king of Babylon and the great harlot who is but another symbol of those by whom the Lord chastens His people.

Here are our verses for next week's study:

Isa 14:5  The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Isa 14:6  He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
Isa 14:7  The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Isa 14:8  Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
Isa 14:9  Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:10  All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Isa 14:11  Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

Much in every way is the answer, but an explanation is given as to why the Jew has this advantage: For first indeed, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God (Rom 3:2 Concordant Version).

The advantage of being Jewish was that they were the first to hear the gospel. This is an advantage “in every way” if a person, as a Jew, avails himself of this glorious blessing. Just being Jewish in no way insures that one will avail himself of the blessing available “in Christ.” “The promises” are only “in Christ” (Gal 3:16): Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Act 13:46).

This is a principle God has laid down and operates with: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom 1:16). Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile (Rom 2:9). …glory, honour and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile (Rom 2:10).

In Rom 2:25-29, Paul tells us that being Jewish and being circumcised are now both a matter of the heart. Also, in 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 (Jewish) flesh.

This change from flesh to spirit in no way changes the principle of good or…evil, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.

To anyone who thinks otherwise, Paul has this to say: …If God spared not the natural (fleshly Jewish) branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee…otherwise you also shall be cut off…if you continue (not) in his goodness (Rom. 11:21, 22).

The medium has changed from the flesh to the spirit, but the principle of rewards for obedience and curses for disobedience is constant.

Salvation is indeed inevitable. Christ has saved everyone who has ever lived (1 Cor. 15:22). …Neither death nor life,…nor things present, nor things to come…shall separate us from the love of God, (for Jews and Gentiles) which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38, 39), but…thou also shalt be cut off, (from the first resurrection) if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss (of his place in the first resurrection); but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by (the lake of) fire (1 Cor. 3:15).

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all (many are called), but one receiveth the prize… (but few are chosen- Mat 22:14). So run that ye may obtain (1 Cor. 9:24). Salvation is an inevitable free gift, secured for all through the finished work of Christ. There is a prize, however, that is only for those who “run that they may obtain.” Of course, it is all in the sovereign work of God, but it is that very sovereign God who encourages us to …press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling (not the free gift) of God in Christ Jesus (Php 3:14).

This prize is only for those who realize that Christ did not die to the flesh so we could live in it, but that he died to the flesh so that he could live his life in us (Gal 2:20).

This is what is meant by who now rejoice in my sufferings… 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 1:24).

Christ did not suffer so we would not have to suffer. He suffered so we could be counted worthy to suffer with him and fill up…the afflictions we are predestined to endure: If (only if) we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us (2 Tim. 2:12). For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake (Php 1:29).

We are joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Rom 8:7). And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name (Act 5:41). If we believe not…he is faithful; (even those in the second death are Christ’s) he cannot deny himself (2Ti 2:13).

Let us not make the mistake of confusing the free gift, the salvation of all mankind, with the mark for the prize of the high calling (Php 3:14).