Proverbs 26 “To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” Part 6

(Pro 26:22-28)

[Study Aired March 19, 2026]

Pro 26:22  The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Pro 26:23  Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.
Pro 26:24  He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;
Pro 26:25  When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.
Pro 26:26  Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.
Pro 26:27  Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.
Pro 26:28  A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

With true Godly repentance that “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Mat 3:8), we become part of a cleansing process by God’s spirit that takes us from an academic, worldly knowledge of Christ, to being able to demonstrate the power of God because of the cleansing of our temple that now has liberty by way of God’s spirit working in our lives, giving us power to die daily and overcome (1Co 2:5-14, 2Co 3:17, Joh 8:31-32, Joh 8:36, Rom 6:14).

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1Jn 4:6-7, Heb 12:25, Heb 5:7, Heb 10:25)

[“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph 3:19)]

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.(Joh 8:36)
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:G5046 yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

[Babylon is still crucifying Christ afresh with the substitutionary doctrine, sinning with impunity believing that Christ did everything on the cross and that there is no need for us to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ (Col 1:24, Lev 16:10, Lev 14:6). There is a need, and there is a lifelong process that is seeing Christ increase as we decrease (Joh 3:30), sinning less and less by God’s grace (Heb 12:6) through faith (1Jn 5:4) if we are His workmanship in this age (Eph 2:8)]

In this last section of proverbs chapter 26 we will look at how knowing the love of Christ surpasses human knowledge, or human understanding. The Spirit guides us into all Truth (Joh 16:13), for the express purpose of exposing corruption in our hearts. These verses confirm that truth! (Rom 2:4, 1Jn 3:1-3, 1Jn 1:5-10).

Pro 26:22  The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

In this first proverb I’ll bring out a few biblical examples that show how harmful gossip, or rumours, can be. A talebearer does just that, and as we will see with the examples given, gossip can deeply wound people, and bring division to the body of Christ (Pro 6:16-19). The best way to avoid internalizing gossip, which both injures and corrupts as it goes down “into the innermost parts of the belly”, is to never let it start.

Pro 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

The Bible repeatedly illustrates the powerful and often destructive impact of words.

Miriam and Aaron, criticizing Moses over his Cushite wife in Numbers 12, allowed their discontent to spread, ultimately resulting in God striking Miriam with leprosy—a stark example of how spoken criticism can escalate.

Similarly, Doeg the Edomite’s report to King Saul in 1 Samuel 21–22 led to the massacre of 85 priests at Nob, showing how a single report can ignite deadly consequences when accepted without discernment.

In the New Testament, false accusations against Jesus in Matthew 26 were repeated until public opinion turned against Him, contributing to His crucifixion and demonstrating how slander shapes hearts and events.

The spies’ fearful report about Canaan in Numbers 13–14 discouraged the Israelites, prompting rebellion and 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, while Absalom’s subtle manipulation of the people in 2 Samuel 15 “stole the hearts of the men of Israel,” ultimately leading to a rebellion against his father, King David.

In each case, Scripture shows that words, whether whispered, repeated, or subtly sown, can penetrate deeply, influence hearts, and bring about devastating consequences.

Here are some scriptures to consider that explain how we can  “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God”, overcoming this deadly spirit of a talebearer.

Overcoming gossip through the love of Christ:

Through Christ, our hearts can change from this (Mat 12:34), as we overcome and fulfill these following verses by God’s grace (Psa 141:3, Gal 5:22-23, Jas 1:19-20, Pro 17:9, Col 3:12).

Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Psa 141:3  Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Pro 17:9  He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

Col 3:12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Pro 26:23  Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.

Pro 26:23  Hiding hateful thoughts behind smooth talk is like coating a clay pot with a cheap glaze.[CEV]

The lesson for God’s elect is to examine ourselves, and judge ourselves so that we don’t become as the whitened sepulchre described by Christ in (Mat 23:26-28).

Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter (2Co 13:5, 1Co 9:27), that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.(Eze 33:13)

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

The “potsherd covered with silver dross” (Jer 6:27-30) is the very hard to detect and remove, self righteous spirit that we all must overcome day to day, thought by thought (Php 3:9).

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Pro 3:5-12)

Jer 6:26  O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Jer 6:27  I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
Jer 6:28  They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
Jer 6:29  The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
Jer 6:30  Reprobate silver shall men call them,[“a potsherd covered with silver dross”] because the LORD hath rejected them.

Pro 26:24  He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;

To ‘dissemble with one’s lips’ is to pretend to be friendly or kind, while secretly harboring hatred. It’s the act of speaking falsely to hide true feelings. When we lay up deceit within ourselves we harbour hidden intentions of harm or dishonesty.

In short, this proverb warns that some people conceal their hatred with flattering words. This is why we are to try the spirits whether they are of the Lord or not (1Jn 4:1). It’s a sad commentary on human nature, but very real and very active in the world which we are not to love, but rather demonstrate our love toward our neighbour by doing the will of God (1Jn 2:15-17). If we are blessed to do the will of God he will lead us to victory over our inward struggles and enemies without as well (Psa 1:1-6)

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

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

Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psa 1:4  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Psa 1:5  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psa 1:6  For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

A clear example of this proverb is Judas Iscariot, who harbored deceit and hatred, even while ‘going along to get along’ for years with Christ and his disciples. We know Judas was a type of the man of perdition who was yet to be removed, and yet all the disciples forsook Christ, as we all do at first. To those with whom God is working, a pattern is revealed with Christ’s words to both Peter and Judas. Peter was called to be an overcomer who by God’s grace wept bitter tears after He betrayed Christ and then went on to receive the holy spirit on Pentecost. Judas, typifying the man of perdition was encouraged by Christ, “That thou doest, do quickly”, as opposed to Peter who was rebuked and told “Get thee behind me, Satan”.

Joh 13:27  And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.(Pro 3:5-12, Php 3:9)

Pro 26:25  When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.

Christ in us as our hope of glory (Col 1:27) can see right through the fair speech of others, making it possible for us to try the spirits whether they are of the Lord or not (1Jn 4:1, 1Co 2:12-13).

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

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth (1Co 2:5), but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.(We try the spirits with the word of God)

This proverb warns against trusting someone simply because their words sound kind, flattering, or persuasive. “Speaking fair” refers to speech that seems agreeable or honest, but may actually conceal deceit. Appearances can be misleading, and words alone do not prove a person’s trustworthiness.

The phrase “seven abominations in his heart” symbolizes complete or extreme wickedness, with the number seven representing completeness (2Co 11:13-15). This means that while the person’s words may be pleasant, their inner thoughts, motives, and intentions can be thoroughly corrupt or evil (Act 20:29-32).

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

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Act 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (His word is light 1Jn 1:7, His word is truth Joh 17:17)

Pro 26:26  Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.

This proverb teaches us that a person may try to hide hatred or evil intentions behind deceit, lies, or pleasant behavior, but eventually the truth will be exposed. Adam and Eve are the prototype for this kind of behaviour.

It’s in the churches of this world that we are hidden for a season amongst men, as Adam and Eve did amongst the trees that typify men (Gen 3:8, Mar 8:24).

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Mar 8:24  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

If God is working with us in this age He will draw us out of Babylon and the myriad of lies that are within her, and we will be humbled in the congregation of God where we will go through a process of having the seals, trumpets and vials poured out upon us, cleansing us of all those lies (Rev 16:1).

Rev 16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

In this verse with the expression “your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23), Moses warns the tribes of Reuben and Gad that if they fail to keep their promise to help Israel conquer the land, they would be sinning against God, and their sin would find them out. The principle is that wrongdoing eventually brings consequences and exposure—God sees what is hidden, and the truth will come to light sooner or later.

Here are some biblical examples of sins being exposed:

Achan – In the story recorded in the Book of Joshua chapter 7, Achan secretly stole forbidden items from Jericho and hid them in his tent (Jos 7:21), but God revealed the sin and it was exposed before all Israel. The Babylonish garment represents the false doctrines of Babylon that are wrapped around the idol of our hearts until they are exposed and destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives (2Th 2:8).

Jos 7:21  When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

One other example is King David who, after committing adultery with Bathsheba and arranging the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite, tried to conceal the sin. However, God sent Nathan the Prophet, who confronted him and revealed the wrongdoing, and let David know that the sword would not depart from his house. This curse pronounced on David typifies the blessing God bestows upon the elect in this age as we are judged by the sharp two edged sword that God’s word represents (2Sa 12:10, 1Pe 4:17, Heb 4:12).

2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

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?

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Pro 26:27  Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.

This proverb teaches the principle that harmful schemes often backfire on the person who planned them. Someone who plots evil, deception, or injustice for others frequently ends up suffering the consequences of their own actions. It reflects a common biblical theme: God’s justice causes the wicked to be trapped by their own plans.

What comes to mind is that we all dig a pit in Babylon when were under the law, and Christ comes to us to show us our hypocrisy in keeping the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9), only when it’s convenient for us (Luk 14:5). Our strength, our riches in Babylon are represented by this ass or ox that falls into a pit.

Luk 14:5  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

Christ is our sabbath, our spiritual rest, and He is showing us how lacking the law of Moses is. Christ is that stone “and he that rolleth a stone” (Mat 21:42) that we roll around for so long in our flesh while we are under tutors and governors, under the law (Gal 4:2), until one day Lord willing that stone comes back and crushes us, “it will return upon him” bringing us to see clearly the hypocrisy of all flesh (Rom 7:8-9) and how only Christ within us can truly give us the ability to keep the spirit of the law (Mat 21:44).

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Rom 7:8  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Rom 7:9  For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Pro 26:28  A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

Here are three example that bring out how this proverb can be explained. The first being the false witnesses against Jesus as the example of a “lying tongue”. The Pharisees flattering Jesus to trap him, as an example of a “flattering mouth”, and finally Absalom flattering the people to steal the kingdom, which flattery led to ruin “worketh ruin”.

The first example of “a lying tongue” is seen in the false witnesses brought against Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. During His trial, the religious leaders sought testimony that would justify condemning Him, and many came forward with false accusations (Mat 26:59-60). These lies ultimately contributed to Christ being delivered to crucifixion. This account demonstrates how a lying tongue harms those it targets and reveals the hatred behind the words, fulfilling the warning of (Pro 26:28) that deceitful speech afflicts and injures others.

The second example shows how flattery can be used deceptively. The Pharisees approached Jesus with respectful-sounding praise, saying that He was true and taught the way of God in truth, but their words were only a pretense meant to trap Him with the question about paying tribute to Caesar (Mat 22:16-17). Their flattering speech was not sincere admiration but a calculated attempt to ensnare Him. This illustrates how a flattering mouth can conceal harmful intent and work toward ruin, exactly as the proverb warns.

The third example is found in the rebellion of Absalom recorded in the Second Book of Samuel. Absalom positioned himself at the gate of the city and spoke kindly and sympathetically to the people, suggesting that their grievances would be better heard if he were judge in the land, a type and shadow of wanting to make disciples after themselves (2Sa 15:3-4, Act 20:30). Through these flattering words he gradually “stole the hearts of the men of Israel,” leading to rebellion against David. In the end, the scheme brought devastation to the kingdom and ultimately to Absalom himself, showing how flattery leads to ruin “and a flattering mouth worketh ruin”.

These examples remind us that the admonitions in Proverbs 26 are not merely moral observations but spiritual lessons that reveal the condition of the human heart and the need for the life of Christ to mature within us.

Whether through gossip, deceitful speech, hidden hatred, or flattering words, the flesh continually manifests corruption that must be exposed and cleansed by the Spirit of God. As we are judged and purified by the living Word, we learn in a deeper way “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” (His word is light Joh 17:17, His word is truth Joh 17:17-19)

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Rev 11:7-14, Part 1 – The Beast Overcomes And Kills The 2 Witnesses

[Study Aired Nov 3, 2024]

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
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 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Introduction

The “beast… ascends out of the bottomless pit”, which is “the abussos”, G12, in the Greek. We have demonstrated that the bottomless pit signifies the abyss or the sea of flesh from which we are all drawn.

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

This ‘abussos’ is the flesh and its desires which are within all men, including the flesh of the two witnesses. If that really is true, how then is it possible that the two witnesses can “ascend up out of the bottomless pit”, the ‘abussos’ and “rise up out of the sea… [G2281, ‘thalassa’], finish their testimony” and still be killed by “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit”? ‘Abussos’, and ‘thalassa’ are two Greek words for the same thing, the sea. We covered this subject of the bottomless pit in our study of Rev 9 and will not repeat that study here, except to reread that verse and to remind ourselves that the bottomless pit is in us all by nature, and the smoke from that pit darkens the sun and the air in every generation of mankind, including each of us in our own order.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

As we consider these verses here in Rev 11, we once again just naturally slip into the frame of mind of the natural man who can only see one event following another, chronologically, instead of seeing the words of God from a heavenly perspective as spiritual words, which are unchanging and always applicable in every generation of mankind.

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

What “I change not” means is that the words of God apply to every generation, so that “the beast [is] ascending out of the bottomless pit” in every generation of mankind. The bottomless pit within us is being destroyed by the brightness of the knowledge of Christ and His Words and doctrines coming into our hearts and minds. But as that ‘bottomless pit’ is destroyed within the two witnesses in every generation since Christ, it is also simultaneously being strengthened and perpetuated in the next generation of those who are even now rejecting that very same witness to the testimony of the words of Jesus Christ, as those words continue to proceed out of the mouth of the two witnesses of every generation. As an example of this, Christ was asked if Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah. Here is His answer:

Mat 17:10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Mat 17:12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Mat 17:13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

What it all amounts to is the simple fact that we all live the life of the first Adam, with all that is within him, and then in God’s own “predestinated” time and mercy, we will also live the life of the Second Adam, the life of Christ, with all that is in Him. What is so little understood is the fact that this is all accomplished within us and is expressed in prophecy in types and shadows, in signs and symbols and in parables. What is so little understood is that God’s elect are not exempt from one single word of God. “All things are ours…, it is near…, even at the door…, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled” is true in every man of God, in every generation of mankind (1Co 3:21-22; Mat 24:34-35), “each in his own order”:

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

All men will die to their old man, but we will all experience that ‘death’… in [our] own order”.

Those who “die daily (1Co 15:31), offer [their] bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), [and are] crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20), in “this present time” (Rom 8:18), die first and will not “be hurt of the second death” (Rev 2:11), and ‘the second death will have no power over them’ (Rev 20:6) because they have already fulfilled that experience “in this present time”. Those who have died to their old man and all of his desires in this present time do so because they are given to be judged in this present time:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves [in this present time], we should not be judged [at the great white throne judgment].
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged [now in this present time], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world [to the great white throne judgment of all the rest of mankind].

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? [They will be judged at the great white throne/ lake of fire/ second death, judgment.]

That is why Christ tells us:

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 [in the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand year reign of “our Lord and His Christ”, Rev 11:15 and Rev 20:5-6]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920, ‘krisis’, judgment, the great white throne judgment of Rev 20:11].

These New Testament statements are based upon this revelation found throughout the Old Testament:

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.
Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

The apostles of Christ remained faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ to the end of their “course [Greek, aion – age] of this world”. But before they were made to be faithful, they too, “were by nature children of wrath, who denied him with an oath, and persecuted His disciples.”

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course [Greek, aion, age] of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Mat 26:73  And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Mat 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

“In time past you [and I] walked according to the age of this world”:

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But Christ did not die just for those who were alive in His days. He died for all men of all time, and He prayed specifically for all those who would hear the words of those who believed on Him through the testimony of His disciples:

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

So Christ’s disciples endure from generation to generation, and in this manner the two witnesses endure from generation to generation.

But this “My Words shall not pass away” principle is also true for “the children of disobedience” who “are of their father the devil”, which is just another name for the beast that “ascends out of the bottomless pit”. In every generation he too, will ascend out of the bottomless pit and will be killing God’s two witnesses who are tormenting them that are upon the earth.

We must remember that those two witnesses are symbols of all who witness for Christ in every age of mankind. We need to remember that the great city wherein our Lord was crucified, is later in this book called “Babylon the great”, where the blood of all of the saints, meaning the blood of Christ, is found.

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

Rev 18:24  And in her [“Babylon the great, the mother of harlots”] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

“The blood of the prophets and saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” certainly includes Christ, and all those who are in Him. We are both those murderers first, and later we become those who are murdered and are killed by the harlot of chapters 17 and 18. So then “Babylon the great” is the type of God’s harlot church, and the symbols which explain all of this prophecy are all taken from the Old Testament scriptures concerning God’s own people as they turn themselves away from their own Lord.

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

In the same chapter, only 8 verses later, we read:

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Still speaking of “the vision… concerning Judah and Jerusalem”, in this same chapter we read this.

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

These are words proceeding from the mouth of God which we must live by (Mat 4:4, Luk 4:4). Our flesh, in turn, by the grace of God, will then be ‘killed daily’, and will die daily (1Co 15:50), by the fire of the mouth of the two witnesses. That fire is, of course, the spirit, which is “the words which Christ speaks to us” (Jer 5:14 and Joh 6:63). Here is the result of that fire:

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

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

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.

As we saw in our last study, the death of the ‘two witnesses’ was ‘read of, heard of, and kept’ by those who first read the sayings of the words of this prophecy in the day John put these words to paper and pen:

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
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 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This entire 11th chapter is just a part of “those things which are written therein” which we must be read, hear and keep. All who are given the grace to do so will “keep the words of this prophecy for the time is at hand” to do so (Rev 1:3). This entire prophecy does nothing less than expand upon the words of the Lord’s prophecy of Mat 24, which makes the same point.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: )

Only if God grants us “eyes that see, and ears which [can] hear” that we are that beast within “the holy place”, and we are that “man of sin” who sets himself up as God within that “temple of God”, will we ever know what is meant by the words “whoso reads let him understand… for the time is at hand”.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: )

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come [the day of Christ’s coming to His temple within us], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

None of the apostles changed their doctrine from church to church. What Paul taught these Thessalonians “when he was yet with them” was that “you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you”, which is what he had also taught the Corinthians (1Co 3:16-17). This inward ‘temple of God’ is the same ‘temple’ Paul had in mind when he said this to these Thessalonian Christians:

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? [That “ye are the temple of God”]

Therefore these Thessalonians knew exactly what Paul meant by these words:

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth [our crucifixion by this world with Christ, and our resurrection with Christ] that he [the man of sin] might be revealed in his time.

Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. [When ‘the iniquity of our old man is full’ then Christ comes to destroy him]

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [Greek, withholds the coming of Christ] will let [will withhold the coming of Christ, as revealed in the next two verses], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

“They that believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” is first our own ‘old man’. 2Th 2:6 is fulfilled in Rev 11, when the two witnesses are killed by “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit when their testimony is finished”. You and I have been that beast which is doing the killing of those witnesses, and you and I in turn become those two witnesses who will be killed by that beast.

In this case, our ‘death’ is not the “dying daily” death of our old man. In this story our death “in the street of the great city” is “the savor of death” which we are to “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit”. This is where you and I are at this very moment in the eyes and the nostrils of those in the great city of Babylon:

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be to God, Who always gives us a triumph in Christ, and is manifesting the odor of His knowledge through us in every place,
2Co 2:15 for we are a fragrance of Christ to God, in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing:
2Co 2:16 to these [those “in the street of that great city”], indeed, [we are] an odor of death for death, yet to those [in Christ we are] an odor of life for life. And for this who is competent?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking. (CLV)

It is “all [who are] in Adam [who suffer the curse of] strong delusion [and who] believe a lie”. “All in Adam includes you and I who have “in times past” been sent that “strong delusion and [have] believed the lies” of Babylon, and have spiritually killed God’s witnesses and left their dead bodies unburied “in the street of the great city… where also our Lord was crucified”.

Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

As we saw last week, we are “the earth”, and we are “those who dwell on the earth” and who rejoice and send gifts to one another to celebrate our liberty from having to hear the words of these men of God. But the rejoicing of our flesh over the man of the spirit is soon turned to sorrow when we witness our resurrection with Christ “in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound”.

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (Eph 2:6)
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Here is why we rejoice at the death of God’s elect. Here is how we are sent the “strong delusion” which causes us all to rejoice at the death of the true witnesses of Christ. This is how God sends His wrath upon us while we are “abiding in His wrath”. This is the reason why we never realize that we are deceived until we “look behind” ourselves to see this great revelation:

Psa 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

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

So when we read [with understanding] about all the plagues of God’s wrath which are cast upon the earth in the seals, trumpets and vials, we now know how that is being done. “He casts upon us the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble by sending evil angels among them”.

But those evil angels do not appear to be evil angels:

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The symbols of these verses

So here are the symbols of verses 7-14:

1) The two witnesses finishing their testimony,
2) The beast ascending out of the bottomless pit making war against and
3) Killing Christ’s two witnesses,
4) Their dead bodies lying unburied,
5) In the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,
6) Where also our Lord was crucified,
7) The people, kindreds, tongues and nations,
8) See their dead bodies,
9) Three days and an half, and do not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10) Rather they rejoice over the death of Christ’s two witnesses, and send gifts one to another, celebrating the fact that these witnesses of Christ, who had been tormenting them, were at this time as good as dead, having no effect in the streets of the great city wherein also our Lord was crucified.
11) But after three and one half days, God’s witnesses are raised from their state of death,
12) Causing great fear to fall on those who see them.
13) At this point the two witnesses hear a voice from heaven telling them to “Come up here”, and so they
14) “Ascend up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies see that they have done so.
15) It is at this point that there is a great earthquake, and the entire event begins to be repeated again, as
16) A tenth part of the city falls and
17) Seven thousand men are killed in that earthquake, and the remnant are frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven.

Having established that these are words which are for those who are given to “understand what we read” (Mat 24:15), and having established that those who read and hear are to keep these words (Rev 1:3), we will now simply list each symbol and the scriptures which define how that symbol is to be understood and kept.

1) The two witnesses finishing their testimony, like all of these symbols and indeed all of God’s Word, is something which is always “near, even at the doors, and does not pass away”.

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

So it is we who first, by believing the doctrines of “many false prophets”…

2) … ascend out of the bottomless pit, within us, to make spiritual warfare with the truths which proceed from the mouths of God’s witnesses.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

By simply withstanding the testimony of the two witnesses, which we all do while believing and teaching the doctrines of Babylon, we are thereby guilty of:

3) … killing God’s two witnesses. We need not kill any one literally, and the two witnesses are not literally two in number, neither do they need to be literally killed to “keep the things which are written therein”. Here is all that must take place literally for these verses to be spiritually lived out and spiritually kept by us all:

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

4) If we hate the doctrine of the Lord’s witnesses then we have murdered them and their dead bodies lie unburied, because at this time in our lives, the word of God, which commands us to love our enemies (Mat 5:44), and bury our dead (Deu 21:23), and to bless and curse not (Rom 12:14), means nothing at all to us in our self-righteous, rebellious condition. God’s commandments are all ignored in favor of gloating over our physical dominance over the witnesses of God’s Word , while we are in great Babylon. The phrases “their dead bodies shall lie in the street of that great city” and “shall not suffer their bodies to be put in graves”, are both a type and a shadow of rebellion against the commandments of God which requires these things of us. Burying our dead is spiritually the sign and symbol of forgiving our enemies. We use the English phrase to this very day, “Let’s bury the hatchet”, and we simply cannot, at first, do so.

Deu 21:22  And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Deu 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.

5) “In the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt” is the city of God within us which has spiritually rebelled against His rulership and His commandments and has become a harlot (Isa 1:21). Both ‘Sodom and Egypt’ typify each of us as we are smarting under the rulership of our first love.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. [Haters of The Truth, 1Jn 3:15, and those who bring us that Truth]

Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew and the son of Abraham’s own brother, typifies our own flesh before we become Abraham. Lot typifies us as we “pitch our tent toward Sodom” and eventually end up sitting in the gate of Sodom, judging Sodom, being grieved with the sins of Sodom, and attempting to save and improve a doomed city, which in the end we, having become Abraham, are forced to “come out of” and stand afar off and watch the smoke of spiritual Sodom arise from the fields of the plains. That is the spiritual significance of calling the city where our Lord was crucified, Sodom.

Gen 13:12  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Gen 19:28  And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

Isa 1:8  And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
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 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city. [“Spiritually called Sodom and Egypt”, Rev 11:8]

As Israel, God’s first born Son, we cry out to be delivered from Egypt, but just as Lot had come out of the land of the Chaldeans just to “pitch his tent towards Sodom,” so too, as God’s Israel, we must come out of Egypt, just to end up rebelling against God “ten times” and wanting to return to Egypt.

Num 14:3  And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Num 14:4  And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

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

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

We are the ones described by these phrases: “Let us return to Egypt… and [you] have not listened to my voice… and burned incense to graven images”. That is the spiritual significance of God revealing to us that we are first “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt”. Here once again is what Isaiah said of Jerusalem in his day:

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

Notice that it does say… “the faithful city”, just as Christ says “They have received… the words you gave me” just before the apostles forsake Him and leave Him to suffer His fate on the cross:

Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee,

The point of all scripture is that all men are first unfaithful, before the Lord causes them to be faithful.

We will pause at this point and continue our study of these verses concerning the Lord’s faithful witnesses in our next scheduled meeting.

Rulership in both earth (the “visible”) and heaven (the “invisible”) is the powerful inheritance of God’s firstborn, Jesus Christ (Mat 28:18; Rev 3:14; Col 1:15-16). This rulership is what Jesus also promised to all His spiritual sons, even in the thousand year reign on earth, and the time of judgement over those in the spiritual age in the lake of fire (Rev 20:4-15). These sons are the symbolic twenty four elders seated with Christ in judgement (Deu 7:6; Luk 12:41-44; Eph 2:6; 1Pe 2:9). The number twelve spiritually represents foundations and these sons of God will have authority over the foundations of the earth and the foundations of heaven (Gen 17:20; 1Co 3:11):

Luk 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
Luk 22:30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats [Greek: “thronos” = thrones]: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

But by God’s design, the earth or the flesh is by nature an enemy of the heavenly things of the spirit of God, as it cannot receive or understand the spiritual things of God:

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

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.

This antagonistic relationship between the heaven and the earth was established right in the beginning and hidden in many parables to reveal to us in due time how these opposing spiritual worlds also play their role in our own lives:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

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

But both these spiritual dimensions were made for God’s good purposes by which He will establish His peaceful conclusion for all creation:

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.

Gen 1:31a And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

This enmity and struggle is also typified in the twins of Isaac and Rebekah, even before they were born and it continued throughout their lives (Gen 25:22-23; Rom 9:10-13):

Gen 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father [Isaac] blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand [Isaac’s death]; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

Jacob, the second born after his twin brother Esau, was the representative or type of God’s firstborn, Jesus Christ. Jesus came as the “last Adam” who is the only giver of spirit life as opposing to the earthly life which came through the first Adam (Rom 5:14):

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [Life-giving] 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.

Through Jesus, God made provision for everything the sons of God will need in this earthy life, which He will use to eventually bring them to spiritual maturity:

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

God also uses the evil He created, and also the wicked, to bring about His wonderful and marvellous works which the sons of God appreciate when they are given to see the purposes of all these things. The sons of God learn daily how to respect God’s wonderful works, and how to submit to God’s thoughts and ways (Isa 55:8-9):

Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them [his brothers who could not as yet understand that they were instruments in God’s hands to do evil to Joseph], Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

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

In Jacob’s life God provided his mother, Rebekah, to help him to deceive his father, Isaac, to receive the blessing from his father (Gen 27:5-17). Jacob in the process also caused Esau to sell his birthright for a pottage of lentils (Gen 25:29-34). This was one very unhappy and divided home filled with deceit and conniving. Rebekah (her name means “ensnarer”) was the one who worked very hard and very meticulously in the process to see to it that Jacob was getting what she knew was rightfully his according to the word and revelation she received from God:

Gen 25:21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
Gen 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

In this discussion of the sons of God we see how Rebekah is fulfilling her task. Even while she had the truth of God’s word in her heart, she used evil schemes and instructions of deception. All God’s sons will be exposed to evil influences in their journey to spiritual perfection, and they will fall victim in obeying and following after wrong ways. It will however bring much trouble and tribulation which Jacob in type will have to face and endure in time to come:

Pro 25:26 A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

It is therefore important to note that the sons of God will also give an account to God through the judgment and wrath He will bring on them for “hold[ing] the truth in unrighteousness”:

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Jacob will also find out in due time that all that has been “spoken in darkness” (after carnal thoughts and words) shall be revealed through judgment, especially as concerns the sons of God and their time in deception (Luk 12:47-48):

Luk 12:2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Luk 12:3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

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

The spiritual sons of God through Jesus are also very much aware of their walk along this dark road “in times past” (Eph 2:2-3). But they will, by God’s chastening grace, receive the light of Christ and ask forgiveness and correct the wrong to do what is right in the eyes of God, but also in the eyes of the world (Rom 12:17):

2Co 8:21 (GNB) Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of others.

1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Rebekah’s last task was to see to it that Jacob is moved to a place of safety to escape the hatred and evil plans of Esau:

Gen 27:42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
Gen 27:43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
Gen 27:44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;
Gen 27:45 Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

What she told Jacob is not the same story Rebekah told Isaac as she again weaves her subtle cords of deception in a mastery fashion. The journey from one of the most beautiful love stories between the young Rebekah and Isaac, to where it is now, took many years to develop as no deception and separation happens without a history. When a person deals superficially with the removal of evil in this age, that person will come up with Isaac and Rebekah in the second resurrection where God’s sons (typified also by the seven angels with their seven vials) will judge them. There all will learn that God is extremely thorough in rooting out all evil (Rev 20:11-15). The sons of God are the first to receive these very same vials which opened the way into God’s temple:

Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The following are also the last words recorded in scripture which Rebekah spoke. But this is all written to show us that nothing and nobody is of more importance in this life than the purposes of God for His elected sons as God will move heaven and earth for His elect (Psa 2:6-8). We now see how the purposes of God are established even through this marriage of Isaac and Rebekah:

Gen 27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

The name “Heth” means “terror” or “dread”, as Heth and his offspring are associated in that sense with death and a buryingplace, as revealed through Abraham:

Gen 23:3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead [Sarah], and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
Gen 23:4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

The daughters of Heth also represent this death process of flesh even as they are part of the daughters of Canaan (the philosophies and doctrines of this world) which the sons of God were commanded by God not to get involved with. Isaac knew from personal experience through his father Abraham, that God wanted his sons to get their wives from his kindred in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia spiritually represents Babylon, the land of the Chaldees from where Abraham originated:

Gen 24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
Gen 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
Gen 24:4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

All the inhabitants of Canaan are representing our uncircumcised flesh and those who are in the promised land, but never even experienced spiritual Babylon. Canaan also harbours those who never endured the trials, tribulations and rejection needed to crush the old man in us (Gen 9:25; Jos 3:10; Jos 5:1-2; Jos 17:18; Zep 2:5). Canaan is the land of our spiritual father, the spiritual Amorite of flesh, and our spiritual mother, Heth:

Eze 16:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite (a daughter of Heth).

But God will take His spiritual sons, God’s good figs, to an ever increasing period of trials and tribulations, for their good (Jer 24:5):

Exo 3:17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

But this milk and honey period is taken to its fulfillment in the spiritual whore Babylon, where our Amorite nature is brought to its full climax (“the fourth generation” – Gen 15:16):

Jer 24:5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Jer 24:6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
Jer 24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

It is in Babylon where the sons of God start to see the abominations in themselves and in that great city. This is when they can hear the voice of God to come out from her and be separated from all her false doctrines (Rev 14:8; Rev 18:1-24). But those born in Canaan (especially the daughters of Canaan) are in no position to appreciate the route that God uses to bring His sons to maturity, and that is also why Isaac, after blessing Jacob, had no choice to instruct him according to God’s divine order:

Gen 28:1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
Gen 28:2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.
Gen 28:3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
Gen 28:4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
Gen 28:5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Esau, following his spiritually dead carnal mind, was already married with two daughters of Canaan, but now he wanted to please his father by marrying in the family (Gen 26:34). But he did not know that even the generational line of Abraham through Ishmael was also the rejected line which could not please God (Rom 8:6-8; 1Co 1:29). This all witness once more to Esau’s attraction to the fragrance of death in pleasing the flesh for which he had no resistance (2Co 2:16):

Gen 28:6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
Gen 28:7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;
Gen 28:8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
Gen 28:9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath [also known as “Bashemath” meaning “fragrance” – Gen 36:3] the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

We will hear more about the generations of Esau when we get to Genesis 36, God willing. It is always amazing how God joins those who belong together to also separate the light from the darkness (2Co 6:14). This joining of people has both a positive and a negative applications:

Mar 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Pro 30:18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
Pro 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.

As Jacob will soon find out, even the sons of God must first be joined to the wrong wife before God will fulfil the divorce through His seven vials when the sons of God are established in the beautiful union to the bride of Christ:

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

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

The Number 12 – The Number of Christ
Come Out and Be Ye Separate
Coming Out of Babylon
What Becomes of Our Flesh?
How to Know God’s True Followers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

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

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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