The Song of Solomon: God’s Purpose for Taking the Woman out of the Man,  Part 2

[Study Aired February 4, 2026]

God designed a woman’s cognition, her superego, to be more easily manipulated (1Tim 2:14) than the male’s; thus, her perception is that God insulted her intelligence, not only by making her a more physically delicate, a “weaker vessel”, and intelligence equal to Adam’s, but processed differently, yet highly subject to sentimentalism. The humiliating imputation of childishness and ignorance now shapes her decision-making. Eve’s pride stubbornly refuses to be washed by the Lord’s infinite wisdom, deeply resentful that it should be accomplished by Adam rather than through her intelligence. Adam, now emasculated by Eve’s resolute rejection of his headship and to keep the peace, demurely, nonetheless equally bitterly, submits (Col 3:19; Gen 3:16).

Upon gazing on and eating the forbidden fruit, Eve, her body swayed by a myriad of sensory messages, was more influenced by them than by the rational prudence of following her Lord’s command—her conscience being temporarily emboldened by inherent nature, playing a power game over Adam. Now guilt-stricken, having been discovered by her Lord, she felt the new sensation of nakedness. Her pride caused her to feel insulted and ashamed that her emotional intelligence had made her feel weaker than Adam’s. Even though he was not deceived, his reasoning was compromised differently, being willingly led captive by the original ‘silly woman’; however, she was left feeling openly insulted by her witlessly flawed rationale, while Adam seemed to have successfully passed the buck, excusing himself.

2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.

Now, she indirectly, and at times erratically, blames Adam for feeling unloved—and she is correct. By his own devices, he is trapped, subservient to Eve’s whims, without understanding how to escape his curse, servile to hers. Eve is now fearful of her future, semiconsciously anxious that Adam will abandon her again. So, what does any strong, independent, and courageous woman do? She takes control, unaware that her stance is affecting all women, making her far less attractive to males. The most desperate females resort to same-gender affection, where we shall later see that ‘breasts’ represent a now greater power and authority than a male or husband’s damaged headship. For Adam, the concept of dying for eating the forbidden fruit was too esoteric and distant; what wasn’t unambiguous was Eve’s beauty, which his mind and body undeniably demonstrated for mutual intrigue—she is the reality of what he patently could see and feel. As we all battle, though less and less, Adam, vaguely aware of death, unconsciously foreshadowed Esau’s like mind, both of them much preferring to satiate their senses and risk the inevitability of death than to deny their lusts.

Gen 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 

Pro 11:2  When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom [for this cause, obedience, soundly eliminating guilt]. 

Pro 15:33  The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

1Co 8:1  Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

1Co 8:2  And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

Shame is closely associated with dishonour, and glory in victory is a form of honour. All three are names for the state of one’s perceived worth, measured against virtuous dogma, and for us, God’s word, which stimulates deep emotions of humiliation or righteous glory. Again, it is the event, not the name of the event, that causes us to hide, even cringe, from the underlying mental anguish.

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

Having been forced to leave her first estate in submission to her Babylonian husband, the embryonic Bride of Christ, in her journey, feels more the prideful shame of humiliation for feeling culpable, rather than the new and confusing experience of guilt, typifying her emotions. Eve unconsciously did what we all have done in our eternally vain attempt to avoid humiliation by deludedly trying to absolve ourselves of blame by accusing some external enchantment as an excuse to avoid the shame of ignorance (Rom 2:15). Of course, Adam, too, was subsequently struck with a greater sense of shame and resultant humiliation for being directly accountable to God, his undeclared conscience acknowledging his guilt not only for himself but also for his wife. As with mankind, that shame and guilt were temporal; he was now cursed to bow before Eve for an emblematic six thousand years, and she, for the same timeframe, seeking the love she (as the wilderness church) tearfully craved and would never receive.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles [Now Adam and Eve], which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Pro 12:16  A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame [with acknowledgment of guilt]. 

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

It was Eve’s easily swayed feminine wisdom, covertly acquired from Satan and masquerading as an angel of light, now her unwitting father, that she, with minimal female persuasiveness, likewise beguiled Adam. Adam, too, felt humiliated, as do all husbands and men today, for righteously claiming headship over their wives, slurred by accusations of patriarchal misogyny, mean, heartless and unloving for acknowledging the insultingly termed ‘weaker vessel’ requiring authoritative headship. He has now joined his wife in unity with their newly acquired father of lies, he, injured in his privy, and she, in her heart; likewise, her womb in pain and often fruitlessness, pictured spiritually. Both centres of emotional bonding are representative of Aaron’s ephod, resting on his heart, embedded with the twelve stones representing Israel, and her supposed unified heart with her Lord’s, the centre of representative spiritual ravishment for each other. (Exo 28:15-21)

Generally, a man feels less shame and guilt for his physical nakedness than a woman who is subject to body dysmorphia, diligently disguising her imperfections, and is more eager for validation from other women than from a male. She is streetwise, knows that he is more heavily influenced by her sexually provocative expressions—how she cunningly uses her presentation, having more impact than her appearance. A man, on the other hand, feels humiliated by being verbally identified as unintelligent by other men, and even more so by their silently burning eyes critically. It’s even more humiliating when women dismiss him with condescension, especially his wife reminding him starkly of his emasculation.

1Ki 21:7  And Jezebel his [Ahab’s] wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

The following verses initially seem to taunt women, as they are emblematic of the journey of both men and women in the Church to utterly recognise the headship of the espousal Husband, directly pointing to Christ’s submission to his denotative Husband, the Father. They powerfully announce the order of headship.

1Pe 3:1  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
1Pe 3:2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
1Pe 3:3  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
1Pe 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
1Pe 3:5  For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

Women’s wound from Eden is now mankind’s wound, compounding his curse, of them both being spiritually bitten by the Serpent, all designed to bring us in unity with Christ eventually. She now represents the serpent-corrupted church; a physically and particularly spiritually harrowing journey is set in motion to bring forth the incorruptible seed, Christ. We hope to see that the Shulamite-Bride ‘disadorns’ herself of her self-styled dogma, designed by her to highlight her needs and overshadow her Husband’s, Christ’s gift of ministries (1Ki 1:4), designed to ravish her righteously, so that she might respond in unity.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Women, by their feminine nature, amplified by Eve’s curse, are insulted because they physically cannot exist without the male’s physical strength and focus on designing machinery and mechanisms to make their lives more bearable and protect them from marauding wild animals and beastly men. She is thus traumatised, irksomely forced to acknowledge male headship and rulership, particularly in marriage inwardly, pride never allowing her to reverence and honour his authority. It all is mirrored in Adam as that supposed head, now with Satan as his father, striving to recover their Lord’s authority vainly.

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 
Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 
Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Eve’s instinct of being the “weaker vessel” traumatises her intellectual capacity to be perceived as ‘weaker’ by males when, all along, that was not the Lord’s rationale. Nonetheless, her supposition is designed to dramatically amplify dissent against his headship. Punctually for the coming end times, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in the early 1970s, a primary founder of the feminist movement, coined the iconic term “I dissent”, inciting disgruntled women to vociferously challenge, nonetheless, unrighteous religious patriarchy, overflowing to challenge any masculine trait imperilling female sagacity.

It’s a Red Pill (Google “red” and “blue pill”) for Babylonian women, the unsettling, inescapable truth that, as the song says, “This is a Man’s World,” they do not realise that it’s, the blue pill of reality for life-saving change in them both, the Elect has readapted, “This is Christ and His Christs'” world—but it would be nothing without the Bride!

In this section, which serves as a valuable reference, James Brown wrote and performed the blues song in 1966. Since then, many singers have sung stirring renditions, with some being Etta James, Seal, Krise Eden of The Voice TV series, and my favourite, Renée Geyer — crank it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zT4-pRXeHg

Lyrics: This is a man’s world

This is a man’s world
But it wouldn’t be nothing
Nothing without a woman or a girl, ooh

You see, man made the car to take us over the road and
Man made the train to carry the heavy load
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water
Like, like Noah made the ark

This is a man’s, a man’s world, ooh
But it would mean nothing
Nothing without, without a woman or a girl
Without a woman or a girl

Man thinks about the little bitty baby girls
And the baby boys see
Man makes them happy
Cause man made them toys
And after man make everything
Everything he can
You know that man makes money to buy from other man

This is a man’s, a man’s world ooh
But it wouldn’t be nothing
Not one little thing no
Without a woman or a girl
Without a woman or a girl

Man needs a woman
He’s got to have a woman
Man, he needs a woman
He’s got to have a woman [All bold Grant’s]

Man makes everything he can
But you see a woman makes a better man
A woman makes a better man
This is a man’s, a man’s world ooh
But it would mean nothing
Not one little thing no
Without a woman or a girl, no
Without a woman or a girl, no
It would mean nothing

This is a man’s world[end]

The pinnacle of God’s creation is Christ, and they both agree on the creation of man. From Adam comes the extraction of a highly potent tincture of female essence, bringing a complex mixture of companionable joy (and unforeseen bitter experiences) to her husband, for his deliberate rejection of taking the lead in his marriage, preferring to appease Eve’s sentiments. Out of that sorry state, and as the song says, “But you see, a woman makes a better man”, for us, meaning mankind, through the Bride initiates by example, the New Adam, the ‘better man’ in all. She does that through the resulting trials of her curse, and the effect Adam’s curse has on her and him. In that she involuntarily makes the seeming incongruent blessing of a better man, as in the New Adam, if she knew her role carnally, she would pride herself on her prowess. Yet the younger sister doesn’t boast in her God-given duty, which causes her husband bitterness, since she understands that her espoused resistance is happening to her, the New Adam in Christ.

By God’s design, through the challenging experience of turbulent relationships, and distinctively in marriage, a Babylonian wife does make a better Adam by “His [Christ’s] wonderful works to the children of men”, the beauty of the New Man in Christ (Psa 107:21-31) as he sees himself in everything he hypocritically accuses her of doing (Mat 7:5). It forges him into being a gold-like image of Christ. For a righteous husband, the experience is initially a bitter paradox, akin to Hosea-like misery, engendering much drama and chaos for our declining old man. His misery sharply decreases as he recognises that his lack of wifely intimacy in the dawning New Man reflects how he, as a symbolic wife to Christ, has likewise treated him spiritually! Conceptualised by Adam’s life-giving body, out of him comes “Eve, the Mother of All Living”, evoking his harlot nature, engendering the New Adam—the ‘better man’.

Pro 31:12  She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Ecc 3:11  He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
Ecc 3:12  I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

Separating the female element from Adam was necessary for God to provide a means of creating carnal baby versions of Himself to mature through trials of rejecting God’s headship, necessitating chastisements and death, learning to honour the majesty and order of headship profoundly, and then reunite them as one spiritually in Him forever.

Absurdly, to our corruptible Old Man, the building of him is our Lord destroying him. To accomplish that,

He must divide Adam against himself.

Mat 12:25  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Luk 20:17  And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The [foundation corner stone, and keystone head, both critical to the Temple’s structure] which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? 
Luk 20:18  Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 

The consequences of rejecting Christ, the foundation stone slightly out of place, critically affect the rest of the structure, unlocking the doorway keystone and breaching the wall.

Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness [by the coup of headship], and stay thereon [the throne of God]:
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 
Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit [because the pieces are unrecoverable, being ground to powder].

Always remembering that Eve (and Adam) represent every Elect’s experiences, and now that Adam has effectively handed over his headship to Eve, her pride is deeply traumatised by her humiliation from perceived ignorance of withheld and intriguing information. Driven by pride, she subconsciously feels that since she can’t rescue her honour by being equal to God’s intelligence, as symbolised by God aligning Adam’s headship with his own, her intuition is that Adam’s intelligence demonstrates her apparent inferiority. To save face and retain honour, she must somehow maintain power and authority; no greater authority exists than that of ruling over espousal intimacies. Its pattern is deeply etched in every IWWB study, and those preceding the Song of Solomon are represented physically by the Shulammite in a chaste, sexual manner; the New Adam in Christ sees spiritually.

Now that Adam has submitted to his privy, he is terminally vulnerable to Eve’s intractable whims overruling his ‘desire’ for unity in mind, spirit and body on all levels of espoused interactions. She is to be cursed ‘against’ Adam, rejecting his headship, typifying mankind’s rejection of Christ, the dominating theme of the Bible.

In that men are created with the intrinsic nature of being problem solvers, a double-whammy resulting from his submission to Eve is that he is now forever carnally unable to preempt the New Covenant command to wash his wife by the word to solve their marital disharmony, as is clandestinely portrayed by Old Israel’s rejection of her Husband’s commands. Correspondingly, in Babylon, all men and husbands recognise most troublingly that women, and especially wives, resolutely rule them sexually. Wives, in opposition to their husbands’ authority, holding the key to all boudiour intimacy, innately know their power, and are in constant variance for him to even righteously ‘fix’ their intimacy differences since all she can see is him ‘fixing’ them to suit his sexual appetite—paradoxically, we hope to see, parallels the Lord of the Old Covenant’s same appetite to have Israel connect with his Word.

While in the flesh, men are now forever having to contend with Eve’s emblematic 200,000,000 artifices (Eccl 7:29 – “inventions”, always indicative of mankind’s) demanding Adam endlessly validate and comfort her — an ingratiating apology for the incredible dilemma initiated by Adam, and executed by Eve (1Ti 2:14), the espousal disunity they now faced outside of the Garden. Of course, time heals their pain, but her craving to be validated by her commanding methodology lives on forever at a bitter cost of Leah-like disunified intimacy with Jacob, reflected in every carnal marriage, exceedingly spiritually.

Consequently, the Lord, since Adam’s discharge from the Garden, is recreating a tiny remnant, again taken out of him, recreating the New Adam, now his Bride, united in Him eternally – to the non-spiritual mind, a complexity esoterically too deep. She is Adam’s expressive Temple of peace, the incipient New Jerusalem in which he resides, and she, in him, as the Bride in Christ.

Mat 12:25  And Jesus knew their [the Pharisees’] thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 
Joh 2:20  Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Joh 2:21  But he spake of the temple of his body.

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. 

Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

Universally, women see the notion of Eve’s curse condemning all women to be “against husbands” as utterly ludicrous, engendering greater resistance against men’s, and particularly a husband’s, rulership. To analyze the truth of the matter, it is expedient not to rework what Mike (Vinson) has already deftly affirmed scripturally (with a couple of additional emphases). He says,

Mike: ‘No, the Lord did not bless you wives with “your submission shall be to your husband.” It is beyond question that He tells the wives, and us husbands who are also the wives of Christ, “You will want to control your husband,” along with the [unsettling, nonetheless ultimately the…] reassuring words that, in the end, “He shall rule over you.”

Every woman in this fellowship professes to want to be subject to Christ, their spiritual husband (2Co 11:2). So, ask yourself, if you are hearing or reading this study, are you honestly even interested in being subject to your physical husband as unto the Lord? Do you really want to be “the light of the world” and demonstrate who Christ really is to this world?

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Do we, as husbands, think these words do not apply to our wives, whom we profess we love? Who do we credit with the way our wives treat us? Ask yourselves that question. If you or I hold our wives responsible for their faults, then we are the world’s greatest hypocrites because we are more than willing to acknowledge that “it is not I that do it, but sin that dwells in me” when it comes to our own sins, but we cannot accept that God has placed that same “law of sin” into the members of our beloved wives. We can cry out to God for ourselves, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…” but we cannot do the same for our beloved wives, whose curse is our curse:

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [H413 Hebrew: ‘el’ against] thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

In the very next chapter, we read:

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 [Hebrew: ‘el’, against] thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
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 [H413 Hebrew: ‘el‘, against] Abel his brother, and slew him.

Sin is personified in these verses and is said to be ‘against’ Cain, just as Cain was “against Abel, his brother, and slew him” in the very next verse.

Notice, the exact same words the Lord spoke to Eve about her relationship with her husband are the very same words and phrases spoken here of sin’s relationship with Cain: “Your desire shall be against your husband, and he shall rule over you… and against you shall be [sin’s] desire, and you shall rule over him [sin!].”

Our wives can no more, of themselves, overcome being against us than Eve could have chosen to submit to Adam in all things. Neither can “the law of sin in our (wives’) members” choose to submit to us in all things. It is Christ who is ‘working all things after the counsel of His own will’, and all things certainly include my spouse and your spouse, whom He has made to be against us, just as we have been marred in the hand of our husband, “The Potter”:

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

The verbs in Jeremiah 18:4 are in the Hebrew Qal stem, indicating an ongoing process. That is the glorious process and guaranteed consummation of the ages.

Just as surely as “a city that is built on a hill cannot be hid”, so also your blasphemous hypocrisy cannot be hidden from your husband or the world.

Tit 2:4 That they [“the aged women”, (vs 3)] may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

God does not play mind games. He is the one who gives us our thoughts and ‘turns us to destruction’. However, then He says, “Return, you children of men”. He ‘makes us err from His ways’, and then He makes us return to Himself:

Psa 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

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

So, I am not holding you responsible for what you do as your husband’s wife. All I am here to tell you is that it is God who works “in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure”, and I am here to tell you that it is “His good pleasure [to] work in you” the repentance which He requires of us all:

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Which “good pleasure” includes:

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Either we tremble at his word or don’t, and He knows what is in our hearts. You wives are commanded to “remember” what it was like when you were first so much in love with your husband. Remember when you aspired to submit to and please him “as unto the Lord”. Look at Titus 2:5 again. Think very carefully about what you are reading in that verse. When you fail to submit to and obey your husband, you are “blaspheming the word of God” before your husband and, before your children, and before the whole world to whom you [the Church] are supposed to be “the light of the world”‘. [Mike, end]

The matter concludes that a wife’s inherent nature is to formulate relational strategies against her husband to achieve her desires; her most biblically significant motivation is to act as the gatekeeper of bedroom intimacies, indicative of Orthodox Christianity’s rulership of the laity — this serves as the central theme for Solomon by the incitement of the holy spirit that inspired the Song of Songs reversal of the God-given torpidity of wives ministering espousal dues to their husbands, where he would eagerly reside, leading most husbands eventually musing death as the better option (Ecc 7:26)… it did, Christ.

1Ch 29:1  Furthermore David the King said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace [Palace, castle, temple] is not for man [emblematic of the Bride], but for the LORD God. 

Luk 11:21  When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
Luk 11:22  But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
Luk 11:23  He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

Mar 9:38  John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone else driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”
Mar 9:39  “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me.
Mar 9:40  For whoever is not against us is for us.
Mar 9:41  Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

We all initially are against Christ, rejecting him as our husband while remaining espoused, paradoxically, for us in transition to becoming his Wife.

At creation, Eve’s intoxicating female characteristics, physically, psychologically, and spiritually expressed in every glorious movement of her entire ensemble, are designed in women to deliberately arouse every male sexually, and ideally, one, her phenomenally blessed husband. While in Eden, before Adam’s sin, the couple epitomised the seemingly perfect physical marriage, glorying in each other’s beautifully designed bodies and minds complementing each other. By God’s design, Adam and Eve, immediately upon the Devil’s instigation of lust, ate the forbidden fruit and unwittingly initiated the arduous process of destroying the Temple (Joh 2:19) within, Christ’s recreating it in a figurative three days.

1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

[Suggested Host’s Break]

The Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number Seven

Completion Especially of Judgment

[Study Aired January 25, 2026]

Seven days are required to complete the weekly cycle.

If the number six signifies an unpurified and incomplete creature, then the number seven signifies a creature which is being purified by the fiery Word of God and is being completed by entering into the same rest Christ has entered. That explains why we are told in Genesis 2 the Lord will end the work He is making on “the seventh day.”

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

Genesis 2:2 informs us that it takes “the seventh day [for God to] end His work…” The physical realm is just a temporary, yet essential predecessor to the spiritual realm. Here are two verses which make this Truth clear to us:

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

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.

The holy spirit confirms this doctrine in the book of Hebrews:

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

What does “enter into His rest” mean? Does it mean to keep and observe the seventh day sabbath? That was certainly all it meant under the law of Moses. What does “the seventh day” signify under ‘the law of Christ’ (Gal 6:2)? Does refraining from labor for 24 hours on the seventh day of the week complete and purify a man? Of course not! Refraining from labor on the sabbath does not change any man’s heart. This is the spiritual meaning of “entering into His rest”:

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Keeping an outward sabbath, or any “day, month, time or year” (Gal 4:9-10), is “mine own righteousness, which is of the law [of Moses]” (Php 3:9). ‘Ceasing from our own works’, our own “righteousness which is according to the law” is “the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Php 3:9).

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?  [What are these “weak and beggarly elements” which keep us from “being known of God? Here they are:]
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

The “labor” of entering into the Lord’s rest is a matter of “ceasing from our own works” and “laboring” to do the works of Christ. Our works are very much connected to our reward.

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Works do not save us, but Christ repeatedly made it clear that our works are connected to our reward.

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

When we perform good works in secret, seeking no recognition from men, the Lord promises to reward us openly:

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

A spirit which does what it does simply to please God is that spirit which is “entering into the Lord’s rest” because such a spirit realizes the truth of these words:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Our ‘work’, our ‘fear and [our] trembling”… what we ‘will to do’, and what we ‘do’ are all “Christ working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

It is of utmost importance that we understand that the verbs of Genesis 1:27 are in the qal stem signifying the incomplete nature of what the Lord is in the process of doing to complete His creation and create a “new man.”

Here again is that verse:

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.

All three times the verb ‘created’ appears in this verse it is in the qal stem. This is what we are told of this ‘qal stem’:

“The Qal stem in Biblical Hebrew is not inherently past, present, or future.  Instead, it expresses aspect—specifically, whether an action is complete (perfect) or incomplete (imperfect)—rather than tense.

“Thus, the Qal stem’s meaning depends on aspect and context, not a fixed time frame.” (End Quote)

I then inquired if Biblical Hebrew has past, present and future tenses, and this was the answer I was given:

“Biblical Hebrew does not have past, present, and future tenses in the same way that English does. Instead, it operates on an aspect-based system, distinguishing between completed actions (Perfect) and incomplete or ongoing actions (Imperfect), rather than strict chronological time.

“This aspectual system means that temporal meaning is derived from context, not from the verb form alone.  As such, the same verb form can be translated as past, present, or future depending on the situation. This is why scholars emphasize that Biblical Hebrew verbs are better understood in terms of action completion rather than fixed time markers.

“Bottom line: While Biblical Hebrew can be translated using past, present, and future tenses, it does not grammatically encode time in the same way. Its core system is based on aspect—whether an action is completed or not—making it fundamentally different from Indo-European languages like English.” (End Quote)

Knowing what we have just read, and knowing that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 15:50), and knowing that “we were called in Christ before the world began” (2Ti 1:9, Tit 1:2), we now know beyond any doubt that the first man Adam was never intended to be the completion of the Lord’s creation:

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

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

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

If indeed “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, and if indeed “our calling… was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began”, then it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that “the first man Adam” the vessel of clay which was “marred in the Potter’s hand” (Jer 18:4) was never intended to be the finished product as Babylon teaches the first man Adam was. Indeed, the present incomplete status of mankind is exactly what we are told was the purpose of God for this present evil age all along:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it [qal stem, ‘is making it’] again another vessel [“the new man”], as seemed good to the potter to make it.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Both verbs in Ephesians 4:24, ‘put on’ and ‘is created’ are in the aorist tense which functions in the same way as the Hebrew ‘qal stem’ which we just discussed.

The only thing that was ever intended to be in the image of God was ‘the new man which is in Christ’:

Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man [‘the first Adam’] with his deeds;
Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Death and the grave are associated with the corruptible, incomplete vessel of clay which is “marred in the hand of the Potter” and which the Potter is in the process of “making it again as it seemed good to the Potter to make it.” When He is finished with making mankind in the form He has intended to make it “from the beginning of the world” it will require that all men of all time must enter into His rest. The way we enter into His rest is by ceasing from our own works on “the seventh day”, as the apostle Paul reveals in the book of Hebrews:

Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh [day] on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5 And in this [place] again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest [“from (our) own works”, (Heb 4:10)] to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that [spiritual] rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

2) The completion of the first Adam

Lamech’s generation is the completion of mankind before the flood. Lamech was Noah’s father. Lamech’s generation, in type, completed the rule of rebellious mankind. This fact is signified by Lamech’s age, 777. Three sevens signify the process of judging incomplete mankind.

(3) The completion of the rulership of incomplete mankind and the judgment of incomplete mankind in the flood is signified by Lamech’s age at the time of his death:

Gen 5:28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
Gen 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
Gen 5:30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
Gen 5:31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

The seventh from Adam was used by God to prophesy of the completion of the rule of the first Adam:

Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

3) The judgment of all of mankind

The judgment of Jericho typifies the judgment of all mankind. Here is how that judgment was announced.

Jos 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

Jos 6:6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.

Jos 6:8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

Jos 6:13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

Seven priests with seven trumpets? Does this sound familiar? These same “seven trumpets” are mentioned in the New Testament:

Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Rev 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

Rev 8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Who are these angels?

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

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

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

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

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

The above verses are written to those who ‘have eyes to see and to read, and are given ears to hear (they that hear the words of this prophecy)’ what God is saying to them.

It is crucial to understand that the Greek word translated as ‘keep’ in Revelation 1:3 is G5083, ‘tereo’, and this is what it means:

G5083

τηρέω
tēreō
tay-reh’-o

From τηρός teros (a watch; perhaps akin to G2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon; and thus differing from G5442, which is properly to prevent escaping; and from G2892, which implies a fortress or full military lines of apparatus), that is, to note (a prophecy; figuratively to fulfil a command); by implication to detain (in custody; figuratively to maintain); by extension to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively to keep unmarried): – hold fast, keep (-er), (ob-, pre-, re) serve, watch.

Total KJV occurrences: 75

4) Complete Corruption of Mankind

The adversary is tasked with the complete corruption of the Lord’s creatures, and that corruption is described as seven times “more wicked than” he was to begin with:

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

The beast which signifies all of mankind is described in type as having “seven heads”:

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.

Here is why  this “beast… [has]seven heads”:

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

The ‘father’ of the beast with seven heads is this ‘great red dragon’ the devil:

Good or evil, the principle by which we understand the invisible realm is the same:

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

5) Complete Judgment of God’s Elect and of the Church Requires Three Sevens

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

What is the message to the church through the seven angels? That message is given in three stages, signifying the fact that the whole book of Revelation is revealing the process of our judgment. The first stage is:

1) Seven seals

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Seven seals reveals this book is completely sealed away from the understanding of the natural man. The second stage of our judgment is the seventh seal which consists of:

2) seven trumpets:

Rev 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Rev 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Rev 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Rev 8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

The seventh trumpet is:

3) Seven angels with seven vials to be fulfilled in the lives of all who are given to stand on the sea of glass:

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

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.

Who is it who opens the eyes and ears of God’s elect?

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.

It is “one of the angels which had the seven last plagues which shows us our judgment. Here is who that angel signifies:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [“The angel which showed me these things”, (Rev 22:8-9)]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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

These ‘seven angels’ are each of us as we give to each other “that which every joint supplies” (Eph 4:15-16) and as we ‘fill up in our bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church’ (Col 1:24).

“The testimony of Jesus Christ which is the spirit of prophecy is how we nurture and feed each other, and that spiritual nourishment is signified by the number seven:

6)  Complete Nourishment is signified by the number seven:

Bread is a type of God’s Word:

Mat 15:34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
Mat 15:36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude [This is the channel of God’s Truth].

7) God’s Truth is complete, and it is inexhaustible:

Mat 15:37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

Mar 8:20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.

8) Our Forgiveness Must Be Complete or the Lord will judge us as we judge others:

Mat 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. [Complete and total forgiveness knowing that even the offences are “of the Lord”, (Pro 16:1, 16:4)]
Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took [ him] by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
Mat 18:29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Mat 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. [“Forgive… seventy times seven”, vs 22]

“The sum of Thy Word” adds “if he repent”, as both of these servants did at first:

Luk 17:3  Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luk 17:4  And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

We must never let anyone lead us to believe that God’s grace and His forgiveness comes without repentance and “fruit meet for repentance”. It most assuredly does not.

Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

Rev 21:23-27 The Lamb’s Wife is Those Who are Written in the Lamb’s Book of Life

[Study Aired August 1, 2025]

Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Introduction

When we read in our last study that “I saw no temple therein”, what are we being told? What we are being told is that the symbolism of the temple will then have been fulfilled. Christ is now dwelling with men, because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

This verse, Revelation 21:22, is not a contradiction of these verses:

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

2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Revelation 21:22 complements 1Corinthians 3:16 and 2Corinthians 6:16 and confirms these verses of scripture:

Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

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

“As [Christ] is so are we in this world.”  Christ is of His Head, His Father, just as we, “The bride, the Lamb’s wife… New Jerusalem”, are of our head, Christ:

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

We are told that the invisible things of God are understood being clearly seen by the things that are made:

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

“The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man and the head of Christ is God… so they are without excuse.”

That all being true it is therefore in the creation account that we can plainly see His eternal power and Godhead… the head of Christ is “God the Father” just as Adam was the head of Eve. The phrase, “God the Father” appears twelve times in the New Testament, and it is always in association with “the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the Father.”

Gal 1:3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

2Jn 1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Not one of the twelve entries for the phrase ‘God the Father’ includes the holy spirit as a person who is part of the God head, which we are to  understand by the things that are made.

In Luke 3 we are told that Adam is “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.

Eve comes out of Adam and is called ‘Adam.’

Gen 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Christ came out “of God.”

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

All things are “of God… the Father” but all things come “by… one Lord Jesus Christ. All of us are by Christ, yet all men are “of the woman.”

1Co 11:11  Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
1Co 11:12  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

All men are “by the woman” just as all things are “by… one Lord Jesus Christ.”

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

That brings us back to how “the invisible things of God… even His eternal power and Godhead are understood by the things that are made” because Eve, who is ‘of Adam’, is yet called “the mother of all living.”

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

What all of this shows us is that “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” is also to become “the mother of all living” who will come up through the great tribulation of the great white throne judgment and wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. So those who are Christ’s are His Bride, His wife, the mother of all of His children. Those who are in Christ are  “Jerusalem above [which is] the mother of us all.” “The bride, the Lamb’s wife” has now been pronounced to be the fulfillment of the symbolism of the temple into which all who come to God must enter. “There is no temple therein” simply because “the Lord God almighty and the Lamb [therein ] are the temple of it.” So the following verse now applies to the Lamb’s wife, the New Jerusalem.

Rev 15:8 And the temple [the Lamb’s wife] 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.

If you and I are the temple of God, then it is only so because “the spirit of God dwells in us.” That is what you and I are being told when we read:

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

If we are “the bride the Lamb’s wife, the holy Jerusalem”, then it is not adding to what is written to say “there is no temple therein” because “Christ and His Father within us are the temple thereof.” That is just as true here and now as it will be at the great white throne judgment where the Lamb’s wife will begin to bring forth fruit in the form of all men who have ever lived.

Rev 21:23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

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,
Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Rev 21:24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings [who have ruled and reigned with Christ a thousand years] of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

These are the words of our Lord and they “will not pass away.” These words will be just as applicable to all men who are cast into the lake of fire as they apply to us now in our own “fiery trials.” The only difference is that those who are not granted to have part in the first resurrection will not become “the mother of all living’, and they will never be called “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” His ‘children’, yes; His wife, no. We will be the city with the twelve gates through which all men of all time must pass as they are dragged through us to Christ and His and our Father.

To the natural man it seems impossible to say ‘as the children of Christ, we are the church of Christ’; we are the “manchild… who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron” (Rev 12:5); and we are the church which is His body (Col 1:24), and we are “Jerusalem above, the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26). To the natural man it is pure foolishness to say we are the “four beasts and the four and twenty elders” which are in the midst of the throne and round about the throne (Rev 4:4-6, Rev 5:8-10), and at the same time we are Christ’s children, we are also His brothers, His sisters, His mother, and at the same time we are His wife! How is any of this possible? This is no problem at all in the spirit:

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

If we go on to say we are the angel who shows us these things and we are the seven churches and we are the hundred and forty four thousand, it just sounds impossible for one very precious “pearl of great price” to be all of these things. It is all true only if we are in Christ in this present time.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. [That “blessed and holy… first resurrection, (Rev 20:6)]

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

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

To add to the confusion of the natural man, we must also confess that before we were Christ’s wife we were first the Ephesians who had “lost [our] first love; we were the church of Smyrna with “they that say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan; the church of Pergamos “where Satan dwells among you.” As the church at Pergamos we first ‘held the doctrine of Balaam’, [and we] ate things offered to idols and committed spiritual fornication, all while lording it over the Lord’s flock as we also ‘held to the doctrine of the Nicholaitans.’   As the church of Thyatira we first allowed that woman Jezebel to seduce us and to cause us to commit fornication.   These things must all be seen as being within our own flesh, and they must first be burned out of us and develop within us “the patience and faith of the saints.” As the church of Sardis we must first come to see ourselves as spiritually dead, and as Laodicea we must also acknowledge that even as we have been all these terrible things we still think of ourselves as being “rich and increased with goods”, while totally unaware of the fact that in reality we are spiritually “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17). All of this must be “read, heard, and kept”, before we are granted to become “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”, through whom all men will be brought to Christ.

Rev 21:23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Another way of understanding what we are being told in this verse was given us by our Lord when talking to His disciples just before His apprehension and His glorification. Here is how He told us that the glory of God and the Lamb would be within those who are espoused to Him as a chaste virgin:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Our primary approach to these words is to see these words as “I in you.”  When we apply these words presently and internally, their outward and future application take care of themselves. Here is what this knowledge produces within us:

Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

That is the ‘is’ and present application of “for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof”. Here is Christ revealing to us that we are this “city on a great and high mountain”:

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill [Greek: oros – mountain] cannot be hid.

The Greek word translated ‘hill’ in this verse is the same word translated ‘mountain’ in this verse:

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain [Greek: oros], and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

This Greek word ‘oros’ appears in the New Testament 65 times. 62 of those 65 entries are some form of the word ‘mountain’. 28 entries are translated ‘mountain’; 21 ‘mount’ and 13 ‘mountains’. Only three times is this Greek word ‘oros’ translated as ‘hill’. In Matthew 5:14, Christ is telling us that we are “that great city, on a great and high mountain, which cannot be hid.“

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,

It is nothing less than denying our Lord when we put our light under a bushel, or try to hide the fact that we are “a city on a mountain.” Christ goes as far as to tell us that just as the world did not know who He was, neither will they recognize who we are.

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

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.

The apostle named Judas asked Christ how this is accomplished, and this is His answer:

Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

It is Christ’s Words, which are really His Father’s Words, which, if they are in us, put Christ and His Father, with their light and with their glory, within us. That is how the light and glory of God and the Lamb, are within us, as that great city, which is the wife of the Lamb.

Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Here is a verse which graphically demonstrates both the inward and the outward application of these words. “The nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it” because:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

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.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is [the King of the world, (Mat 28:18)], so are we in this world.

Christ is “the light of the world”, but he tells us that “as He is so are we in this world.”

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Therefore if He is that light that lightens the great city, which city we are, then we too, must be “the light of the world”. Is that so? If we “do not walk in darkness, then there is no night in us as that “city of New Jerusalem… a mountain great and high.”

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill [Greek: oros, mountain] cannot be hid.

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain [Greek: oros], and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

There is no night in the holy Jerusalem, the Lamb’s wife, because “the spirit of God dwells in us, and the glory of God and the Lamb are the light thereof.”

1Th 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

“The gates of it need not be shut at all by day” for this reason:

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.

Remember, this city, which city we are (Rev 21:2, 9-20), is “lighted by the glory of God and of the Lamb… who are both the temple of this city”.

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

If “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”, then there will be no way in which any evil or any darkness could possibly slip through the gates of this city. Here is how we know this to be the case:

1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

We may have thought that this verse is speaking only of the Father, but Christ makes clear that the word ‘man’ does not mean those who love and obey God. Rather, it means unrighteous and ungodly men:

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

“The glory and the honor of the nations” is the subduing of “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Every thought is a “nation” which, when it is “brought into captivity… to the obedience of Christ”, is “the honor of the nations” which will then become an integral part of the great high wall and the foursquare character of this “city of God” which wants nothing but to please her husband.

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

All of this must happen as a necessary part of being prepared to enter into that great city. Christ continues with this very theme:

Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

That is how we are prepared by our Lord to enter this city and become “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The fact that the only people who can enter into this “New Jerusalem… the bride, the Lamb’s wife” are “they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”, proves that those who comprise this ‘city’ are those who were given a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection.”

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh [in this present time, not in the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death], the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Rev 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. [No one who is cast into the lake of fire was found written in the book of life]

Those who come up in the resurrection of judgment, also called the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/second death, will “come up through [the] great tribulation” of that judgment (Rev 7:14), but it will never be said of them that their names were written in the book of life. Read it again:

Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Our old man must die in this present age and be left behind with the rest of the world, if we are granted to enter into that city. It is only by acknowledging that we are “marred vessels of clay” in the Potter’s hand, that we have defiled the temple of God, and our old man must therefore be destroyed via the wrath of God upon our own ungodliness and unrighteousness, so that we ourselves, our new man, will be saved “yet though as by fire.”

1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

Dying in order to live, and enduring the fire to avoid the lake of fire, is foolishness to the natural man. Let all of us “become a fool that we may be wise.” Only then will we be granted to “bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.”

Let’s read these last two verses again so we can remember just how special we are to our husband, The Lamb:

Rev 21:26 And they [We, “the kings of the earth… for a thousand years] shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will cover these verses of the very last chapter of this “revelation of Jesus Christ” within each of our lives.

Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Acts 21:1-9 Philip Had Four Daughters Which Did Prophesy

Paul goes up to Jerusalem for the last time

[Study Aired August 6, 2023]

Act 21:1  And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:
Act 21:2  And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.
Act 21:3  Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden.
Act 21:4  And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
Act 21:5  And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.
Act 21:6  And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.
Act 21:7  And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.
Act 21:8  And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
Act 21:9  And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

In our last study, Paul and his traveling companions had just left the elders of Ephesus who had met Paul in Miletus, a city south of Ephesus. He had warned them he knew that ‘after his departing grievous wolves would arise in the church of their own elders and would devour and scatter the Lord’s flock.’ He had also told them that it had been revealed to him that ‘they would see his face no more’, and they were all heartbroken at his words, and they all expressed their sadness at such a thought:

Act 20:36  And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.
Act 20:37  And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him,
Act 20:38  Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

We have come to Acts 21 where Paul agrees to demonstrate before all that ‘he is not teaching the Jews among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that he himself is walking orderly and keeping the law of Moses’ while teaching the Gentiles that they “observe no such thing”:

Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

This was the “decree of the apostles and elders” given them by the holy ghost, which Paul and Silas shared with all the churches after the conference in Jerusalem about whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses:

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 16:1  Then came he [and Silas (Acts 15:40)] to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
Act 16:2  Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Act 16:3  Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
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.

These verses in Acts 16 above deal with the beginning of Paul’s second journey, during which he established new churches in Phillipi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth where he spent a year and a half:

Act 18:9  Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
Act 18:10  For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
Act 18:11  And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Paul had just established the church in Corinth and Berea, Thessalonica, and Philippi on this second journey. It was only on this third journey that he was led by the Lord, apparently through a suggestion from some of ‘them of Macedonia and Achaia’ to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem” (Rom 15:26).

Paul knew that a gift from the Gentile Christians to the Jewish Christians in their time of need would serve to unify the entire church, which is what happens when we all love and support each other:

Eph 4:16  From whom [Christ] 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 [G3619: ‘oikodome’] of itself in love.

Here is the BT+ definition of the Greek word ‘oikodome’, G3619:

– Original: οἰκοδομή
– Transliteration: Oikodome
– Phonetic: oy-kod-om-ay’
– Definition:
(the act of) building, building up
metaph. edifying, edification
the act of one who promotes another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness
a building (i.e. the thing built, edifice)

– Origin: feminine (abstract) of a compound of G3624 and the base of G1430
– TDNT entry: 07:24,7
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Feminine
– Strong’s: Feminine (abstraction) of a compound of G3624 and the base of G1430; architecture that is (concretely) a structure; figuratively confirmation: – building edify (-ication -ing).

Of course, the spiritual meaning of building each other up spiritually is the primary and most important meaning of the Greek word ‘oikodome’, but when we minister to each other’s physical needs we demonstrate our concern for our spiritual needs also. That was why he went up to Jerusalem at the end of his third journey with all his Gentile traveling companions with this financial gift from all the Gentile churches.

Paul Goes up to Jerusalem for the last time

Act 21:1  And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, [from the elders of Ephesus who had gathered together with the apostle Paul in Miletus] and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:
Act 21:2  And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.
Act 21:3  Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden.

Here is a map of that leg of this third journey:

https://www.conformingtojesus.com/images/webpages/pauls_third_missionary_journey1.jpeg

Act 21:4  And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

These brothers were made to know that bonds and afflictions awaited Paul in Jerusalem. This is what he had told the Ephesian elders before leaving them back in Miletus:

Act 20:22  And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Act 20:23  Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.

Paul had been preparing and ‘boasting’ of this gift for years, and he was led by the spirit to take it up to Jerusalem with the men whom the churches had picked to go with him:

1Co 16:1  Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
1Co 16:2  Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
1Co 16:3  And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
1Co 16:4  And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.

2Co 9:2  For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.

Act 21:5  And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.
Act 21:6  And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.

This church in Tyre was in the province of Phenice. It was not one Paul had established. It would have been established by those who fled Jerusalem “upon the persecution that arose about [the stoning of] Stephen”:

Act 11:19  Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

At that time those who had fled Jerusalem preaching “the word to none but unto the Jews only.” This was without a doubt a mainly Jewish church, and yet they showed such great affection to Paul and his company that Paul spent seven days with that church in Tyre, and then the whole church accompanied him and his companions out of the city all the way to the port where they all prayed together on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea before boarding the ship to sail to another city with another Jewish congregation in Ptolemais.

Act 21:7  And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.
Act 21:8  And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

If “we that were of Paul’s company” included all those who “accompanied him into Asia” then Philip had quite a large group to care for:

Act 20:4  And there accompanied him into Asia [1] Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, [2] Aristarchus and [3] Secundus; and [4] Gaius of Derbe, and [5] Timotheus; and of Asia, [6] Tychicus and [7] Trophimus.

Silas is not mentioned at this point. Paul may have sent him to minister to one of the churches. Not including Silas, but including Paul and Luke, Philip would have at least nine people in his home.

Act 21:9  And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

When we read that “[Philip] had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy” Luke is not at all telling us they were bishops and elders in the church in Caesarea. Here are a couple of links dealing with the subject of women being teachers and preachers in the church.

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/can-women-preach/

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-head-of-christ-is-god/

The last third of the second link, The Head of Christ is God, is the part which deals with the subject of women prophesying. What we are told is that “every woman [including Philip’s four daughters] who prays or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head.”

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1Co 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
1Co 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
1Co 11:6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
1Co 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
1Co 11:8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.

What is the meaning of “her head uncovered?” It means she has removed her covering, which is her glory. In other words, she has usurped the position of her head. Physically, that is a woman’s husband and spiritually, it is Christ to whom we are all, male and female, espoused as our “husband”:

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.

“The head of every man is Christ, but the head of the woman is the man.” This statement is not speaking only of marriage. It has to do with the order which God has instituted in “the things that are made” which reveal the invisible things of God:

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

The reason given for why women are supposed to be “covered” when they pray or prophesy is “Because the man is not of the woman; but the woman is of the man,” meaning that what we are demonstrating in our acknowledgment of these facts is that we understand and see that the Father is not of Christ but Christ is of the Father. It is by demonstrating the physical order that we learn of invisible spiritual order.

That is why is God spends so much of chapter 11 of 1 Corinthians explaining to us the relationship Christ has with His father. These verses of scripture teach us that the relationship between the man and the woman demonstrates Christ’s relationship to His father. The reason given is so we will know how to conduct ourselves “when you come together into one place.” That point is made three times in this same chapter:

1Co 11:18 For first of all, [1] when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
1Co 11:20 [2] When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.
1Co 11:33 Wherefore, my brethren, [3] when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
1Co 11:34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

Part of this chapter is about how we are to conduct ourselves “when we come together in one place.” In giving these behavioral instructions, we are told that a woman is not to pray or prophesy with her head uncovered. A ‘covered head’ is explained as God being the head of Christ, Christ being the head of the man and the man being the head of the woman.

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1Co 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head [Christ].
1Co 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head [her husband and thereby Christ]: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

We are not talking about a physical veil as is the custom for women to wear in Middle eastern countries even to this day. The covering is Christ being the head of the man and the man being the head of the woman; not because they are a married couple, but for this reason:

1Co 11:8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.

This is all to remind us that “the head of Christ is God.” The false, unscriptural doctrine of the trinity, a doctrine of three “co-equal members of one Godhead” promotes a lack of order. It promotes a homosexual attitude which says there is no need for a single head of a household. It promotes confusion in the family, and it promotes confusion in the church. On the other hand, God wants us to be an example of His order; not just in spirit but also in “walk” in our physical bodies:

1Co 14:33  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
1Co 14:34  Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1Co 14:35  And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
1Co 14:36  What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
1Co 14:37  If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1Co 14:38  But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
1Co 14:39  Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
1Co 14:40  Let all things be done decently and in order.

Do any of these verses tell us that we cannot solicit women to speak in our fellowship? Obviously not, because Paul spoke to “women not a few” in every city:

Act 16:13  And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

Act 17:4  And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

Act 17:12  Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

Christ never spoke a word unless He was told to do so by His Head, His covering, His Father. If I speak a word which has not been spoken in scripture, if any man cannot demonstrate that he is speaking in accord with God’s Word, that man or that woman is prophesying with his or her head “uncovered.”

What then, are the differences between the functions of men and women “in the church”? The very apostle, who under inspiration of God’s holy spirit, wrote…

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

…also wrote:

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..

Now if “there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,” why then does Paul say, “The head of the man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man?” If there is “neither bond nor free… in Christ” why then did Paul send Onesimus back to his owner Philemon?

The writings of Paul and Peter and the words of Christ Himself answer this dilemma. We are all “one in Christ” only “in spirit” as a “many membered body” (1Co 12). That phrase “in Christ” means we are “one in Christ” only in down payment form which will not be realized in the fullness of the inheritance until we are resurrected:

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest [Greek: arrhabōn – down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [the resurrection], unto the praise of his glory.

Christ clarified this very point for the unbelieving Sadducees who asked Him this question:

Mat 22:23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
Mat 22:24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
Mat 22:25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
Mat 22:26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
Mat 22:27 And last of all the woman died also.
Mat 22:28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
Mat 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Christ puts the resurrection yet future. John also points out that the resurrection and “our inheritance… the redemption of the purchased possession,” is yet future:

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

“In Christ there is neither male nor female” is a spiritual fact which will not be fully realized until the resurrection. I will be the first to tell you that every word of God must be experienced inwardly before we will be in a position to rule and reign over others outwardly. Nevertheless, we must never forget there is a ‘Will Be’ component to those words, and “it does not yet appear what we shall be.” In the meantime, we are to “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Paul warns us against those who do not see the need to wait for the resurrection when there will be “neither marrying nor giving in marriage:”

2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Yet those who point to Galatians 3:28 to justify their desire to nullify “the commandments of the Lord” concerning a woman’s place within the body of Christ, are effectively saying that the resurrection is past. They are taking the “down payment of the Spirit” as having already received the “fulness of Christ… the inheritance of the purchased possession”, and they casually dismiss all the verses which prohibit women from being ordained ministers and teachers in the church. The next logical conclusion is that since we are neither male nor female, but we are all one in Christ, therefore there is no need for husbands to be the heads of their families or the head of their wives. Since women no longer need to be quiet in church, they no longer need to “submit unto your husband as unto Christ.”

Eph 5:22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

What does God’s Word say is the part women are to play in a church? Does ‘in Christ there is neither male nor female’ mean that women should now aspire to become a Deborah and become the judges of God’s people? Are they now to become ministers and teachers in the churches because men, who profess to be Christians, like Barak have abrogated their God- given place in His service?

It is instructive for us to notice that the admonitions given as to what is the order to be maintained in God’s church are not addressed to women. They are addressed to men:

1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

1Ti 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
1Ti 2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
1Ti 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
1Ti 2:13 For [because] Adam was first formed, then Eve.
1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
1Ti 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

These words are all addressed to those men who ought to be the elders and leaders in the churches. “Adam was not deceived” does not mean that Adam did not also transgress. He certainly did. He just did so willingly and knowingly, rather than to be separated from his wife:

Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

It is in this way, knowing the consequences of what he was doing, that Adam is a figure of Christ. While Adam was the willing channel of death to all, Christ, through partaking of that death, is also the willing channel of life to all. There is plenty of ‘transgression’ to go around for both men and women, but what we need now to understand, as it concerns ‘Philip’s four daughters who did prophesy’, is what the difference is between prophecy and teaching. Only then can we understand how Paul can say that a woman can prophesy with her head covered but she cannot teach. So, we will use this study to make clear what is the difference between prophesying and teaching.

To begin our search for the Biblical answer to this question, we are going to list all the verses in the New Testament besides this verse concerning Philp’s four daughters who prophesied, which deal with prophetesses and women prophesying. We want only to know what these women were doing.

The word ‘prophetess’ appears only twice in the New Testament. The first is in a positive sense and the second is in a negative light. Here is the first positive appearance of this word:

Luk 2:36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
Luk 2:37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Luk 2:38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Anna was a prophetess. What did she do in this capacity? She “served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” She also “came in that instant and gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Israel.”

To understand what “that instant” means we must read about what happened just before “that instant:”

Luk 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Luk 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present [him] to the Lord;
Luk 2:23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Luk 2:24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Luk 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Luk 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Luk 2:27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Luk 2:28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Luk 2:29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
Luk 2:30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Luk 2:31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
Luk 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Luk 2:33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
Luk 2:34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
Luk 2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

The very next verse begins relating what the prophetess Anna said concerning Christ. So, Anna heard Simeon state that this child was the Christ, and “She also “came in that instant and gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Israel.” Anna bore witness “to all them that looked for redemption in Israel” to what she had heard Simeon say.

Here is the second mention of a prophetess in the New Testament:

Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

A few other New Testament verses come immediately to mind when reading Revelation 2:20:

1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

The church at Thyatira allowed a prophetess to teach and to seduce God’s servants to commit fornication, and to eat things [false doctrines] sacrificed unto idols. The ‘food’ Jezebel was serving up was all her false doctrines. Jezebel certainly did not bother to “cover her head.” That is one thing we know characterizes the spirit of Jezebel. Jezebel had a man murdered for her husband’s sake and didn’t even bother to tell her husband what she was doing (1Kg 21:5-15).

Then why does Paul tell us a woman can prophesy if her head is ‘covered’?

1Co 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

Again, in our present study we are told:

Act 21:9 And the same man [Philip] had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

We have two scriptural witnesses in the New Testament which tell us that women can ‘prophecy.’ The first is here in Acts 21:9 and the second is 1 Corinthians 11:5. In the same epistle in which Paul tells us a woman can prophesy with her head covered, just three chapters later he also informs us that women are to “keep silent in the church” and “that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”

1Co 14:31 For ye [ye men] may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1Co 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
1Co 14:36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

“Came the word of God… unto you only?” Do you “think yourself to be spiritual?” Well, if you do, maybe you need to reread verse 37 a few times and allow those inspired words to sink into your ‘spiritual’ mind. Paul’s epistles were written under the inspiration of the holy spirit, and these admonitions are spiritual admonitions carrying with them spiritual truths. When we become so bold as to say these words which Paul, under inspiration of God’s Spirit, admonishes us to consider as “spiritual… commandments of the Lord,” are in reality nothing more than Paul’s personal opinion concerning physical order in a physical congregation, then we are defying the apostle and the holy spirit, and we are making ourselves the arbiters of what is and what is not the inspired Words of God. All who do this, most of the Protestant churches and many Catholics also, are at the same time both “adding to” and “taking from” the plain, straightforward words of God… “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”

Here is what James says about the scriptures:

Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

To submit to God, is to submit to His Word. When one part of the body of Christ lusts and envies the function of another part of the body, there is pride and “every evil work.”

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Jas 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Pilate asked the question,’What is Truth?’ Christ Himself gives us the answer:

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

The fact that the Pharisees could quote the Old Testament and still not understand it, testifies only to their blinded condition. It does not testify to the inefficacy of the scriptures themselves. I will also pose this question to those who feel that they have “progressed” beyond the plain words of scripture; “do you think the scripture says in vain” (Jas 4:5)…

1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1Co 14:36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

We will all be best served to believe that Paul’s words “are the commandments of the Lord” and must be obeyed. Nevertheless, we still must confront the verses which say a woman can ‘prophesy.’ We still have to answer the question which always comes up ‘What is the difference between ‘prophecy’ and ‘teaching?’ How can Paul say “let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law,” and in the same breath say that a woman can prophesy if her head is covered?

1Co 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

The only way we will come to understand this is to when we come to see that Paul, who was an Old Testament scholar, understood clearly that the word ‘prophecy’ had a very broad definition which included much more than men “speaking to the edification, exhortation and comfort” of the entire congregation:

1Co 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

If “edification, exhortation and comfort” are the full and complete definition of the word ‘prophesy’, then Paul is contradicting himself when he tells us women can prophesy but they cannot teach. After all, what is teaching if it does not edify and exhort and comfort the person being taught? On the other hand, if the definition of this word ‘prophesy’ is much broader than simply teaching to edify, exhort and comfort, then Paul would not be contradicting himself at all when he says a woman can prophesy with her head covered, yet not teach. Philip’s daughters also could be prophetesses and still not be teachers in the church. The next step we must take in our quest for Truth should be to ask our heavenly Father to show us what His Spirit had in mind whenever it inspired the “holy men of old” to use this word ‘prophesy.’ Paul certainly knew every way this word was used in the Old Testament and was a “scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven.”

Mat 13:52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Does that sound like we are ever intended to come to the point where we can leave the scriptures behind under the guise of ‘progressing in the spirit?’ It absolutely does not, and all who are attaching themselves to this ‘fullness now’ doctrine for the sake of justifying women in the ministry, are attaching themselves to a deadly doctrine which is nothing less than the old “the resurrection is past” doctrine against which Paul warned us all.

2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

We will stop here for now and discover in our next study just how broad a meaning this word ‘prophecy’ had in the Old Testament with which Paul was intimately familiar.

Acts 1:9-26  Jesus Shall Come in Like Manner as Ye Have Seen Him go Into Heaven

[Study Aired November 27, 2022]

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Act 1:12  Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.
Act 1:13  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
Act 1:14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 
Act 1:15  And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
Act 1:16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
Act 1:17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
Act 1:18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
Act 1:19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.
Act 1:20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.
Act 1:21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Act 1:22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Act 1:25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
Act 1:26  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

These are the words of the Lord with which we ended our last study:

Act 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

The disciples knew the resurrection of their master was a miracle, but they had no idea at this point what was to come upon them as the Lord’s elect. Truly, if they had known, they would not have been able to bear it at this point. We know this is true because Christ had told them the night of His being apprehended by the Jews:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

It is in the Lord’s great and infinite mercy that He does not show us things we simply cannot yet bear. However, in His time and on His schedule, He will “guide [us] into all Truth”. There was no way these spiritual “babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1) could have received these words at the time they saw the Lord ascend into heaven:

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.

Christ was a wise reformer, and He knew just when to give His apostles more of His mind on any subject, and He decided when to wait to give them more of His mind. This earliest part of His reformation is not the time He chose to open their minds to the fact that their physical pedigree was no longer ‘counted for the seed’ and that all that mattered now was a new creature in 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.

This was the time of reformation, and that reformation was nowhere near complete, and for most it still is nowhere near being complete because most Christians think that God still has a people who are His physical elect. ‘Physical elect’ is not a Biblical phrase, nor is it a Biblical doctrine in the New Testament. For those who can see it, the Jewish Christian church was living under the law of Moses throughout the timeframe covered by the book of Acts. For those Jewish Christians, including the apostles themselves, the depth of the meaning of these words had not yet been revealed:

Heb 9:6  Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Heb 9:7  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8  The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

A reformation does not take place overnight. One might well say that “the time of reformation” began with the ministry of Christ, but as Christ Himself affirmed the same night He was apprehended by the Jews:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

After Christ’s resurrection, when the apostles asked Him, “Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel” they still could not bear the depth of the reformation of the doctrines of Christ. The fact is that decades later, after Paul had finished his third journey, he was taken by the Jews who were in the process of beating him when the Romans saved his life and took him prisoner. The Jews attacked Paul just as he was about to enter the temple to offer five lambs, one for his own sins and four others for the sins of four other men who had made a vow. It was all according to the law of Moses under which the apostles were still living all those decades later.

This first chapter ends with the apostles asking Christ if He would at that time restore the physical kingdom to His physical nation. That they did not understand the time was coming when neither at Samaria nor at Jerusalem would they worship God, rather God wanted to be worshiped in spirit and in truth. This question from the apostles was another display of how the apostles were still unaware of the many things the Lord could not tell them because they could not yet bear them (Joh 16:12).

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.
Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Joh 4:26  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

“The hour [was] coming” but it was not yet here, and Christ told His apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they were given the gift of the holy spirit.

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Is this true? Will the disciples standing there watching Christ ascend into heaven really see “the Lord Himself so come in like manner as [they saw] Him go into heaven?” We happen to have a verse which qualifies the fact that Christ “Himself” will indeed come again in like manner as He ascended into heaven:

1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
1Th 4:17  then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (ASV)

The promise that Christ Himself will appear again is intended to comfort us in our struggles, and indeed it does. The “cloud [which] received them out of their sight” and in which He will return symbolizes the saints “God… will… bring with Him” and with whom He will rule this world:

Job 36:28  Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly.
Job 36:29  Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?
Job 36:30  Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Job 36:31  For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.

Mar 13:26  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

The two men in white apparel (Act 1:10) signify the witness and the righteous lives of those who will freely give the gospel to others as they serve as witnesses of His Words:

2Co 13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

The Lord knows that His apostles cannot yet bear the loss of any of the physical benefits of being the physical progeny of Abraham, therefore He simply commands them to return to Jerusalem, which is indeed where both the physical and the spiritual church will have its birth in Him. The church must ‘come out of Babylon’ just as both Israel and Christ had to be called out of Egypt, and Jerusalem signifies the great harlot, Mystery Babylon the great of whom we must come out:

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

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

Now notice how the New Testament writers handle this verse of scripture, Hoseah 1:11, which refers to “Israel”:

Mat 2:13  And when they [the three wise men] were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

That statement originally and outwardly concerned the time before Israel had become a nation in the promised land. Christ, through Moses, led Israel out of Egypt. Christ had to go into Egypt to physically fulfill that prophecy, and now, in this verse of Acts 1:12, the New Testament church has to fulfill the prophecy of coming out of Mystery Babylon, by returning to Jerusalem which the scriptures reveal as a type of ‘Mystery Babylon… the mother of harlots’:

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

Act 1:12  Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey [“A sabbath day’s journey”, demonstrates that the apostles are still very cognizant of the law of Moses].
Act 1:13  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
Act 1:14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Luke uses the phrase ‘the women’ as if everyone knew who they were. Who are “the women”? They were the women who had followed Christ and “of their substance” had supported His ministry:

Luk 8:1  And it came to pass soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of God, and with him the twelve,
Luk 8:2  and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary that was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Luk 8:3  and Joanna the wife of Chuzas Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto them of their substance.

In scripture ‘women’ typify the church. The fact that “certain women… ministered unto them of their substance” typifies how the church is to support Christ and His ministers:

1Co 9:13  Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
1Co 9:14  Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Paul confesses that he ‘lived of the gospel”, but he refused to take anything of the Corinthian church because of those there who were accusing him of preaching the gospel for the money that was in it:

2Co 11:7  Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
2Co 11:8  I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
2Co 11:9  And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.
2Co 11:10  As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
2Co 11:11  Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.
2Co 11:12  But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
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.

Those telling the Corinthians that Paul was preaching the gospel for personal gain were “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ”, and Paul was determined to “cut off occasion from them which desire occasion”.

“The women” of Acts 1:14 are the same women of Luke 8:1 who supported Christ’s ministry and who had followed Him to the cross just a few weeks earlier:

Mat 27:55  And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
Mat 27:56  Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.

Mar 15:40  There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
Mar 15:41  (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

Luk 23:27  And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.

Joh 19:25  Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Joh 19:26  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Joh 19:27  Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

‘The women’ are mentioned in all four gospels as a type of the church which ministers to those who minister to the Lord’s body. Paul said He would rather die than to be guilty of preaching for personal gain:

1Co 9:15  But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

All the apostles are present in the upper room but Judas, and we will now see how the early apostles used the Words of the Old Testament to deal with Judas’s replacement by Mathias, and how the apostle Peter handled the Word of God in seeking that replacement.

Act 1:15  And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

The apostles were twelve 12 which signifies foundations. Here is the link to the study on the number 12:

Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number Twelve

Twelve signifies foundations both in a positive and in a negative sense. The first mention of this number concerns the twelve princes of Ishmael, the rejected seed of Abraham. It is not a coincidence that the two greatest religions on earth today spring from the seed of Abraham, through whom they both claim the promises made to Abraham. Those two religions are the Christian and Muslim religions, and both began with twelve patriarchs, the twelve sons of Ishmael and the twelve sons of Jacob.

Christ’s church also began with twelve apostles as its foundation and Christ “is the chief cornerstone“ and the head of the foundation of His Church:

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

The one hundred twenty disciples who were present in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when the church was founded is ten times twelve, signifying the foundation of the physical church “in earthen vessels” with Christ as “the head of the corner”.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, [signified by the number ten] that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Here is the link to the number ten:

Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number Ten

The church was not founded by Peter, and Peter was not “the first Pope”. Christ is the first and only ‘Pope’ other than His Father, and it is Christ who is building His Church on the same ‘rock’, the same ‘petra’ on which He admonishes us to build our house (Mat 7:24-25). Christ does not admonish us to build our house on a ‘petros’, a small pebble.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [G4074: ‘petros’, a pebble, a small rock], and upon this rock [G4073: ‘petra’, a massive rock] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [He is building His church upon Himself, a massive rock, the same word used when He admonishes us to build our house upon a rock, (G4073: ‘petra’) instead of building it on the sand or a ‘petros’, a pebble (Mat 7:24-25)].

These are the words of Christ:

Mat 23:9  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

On the other hand, Christ is called our spiritual ‘Everlasting Father’:

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The church of Christ does not need another ‘head’ because it already has a head, and that ‘head’ and that ‘Father’ is Christ Himself, not some carnal man:

Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

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.

Peter is inspired by the holy spirit to maintain this foundation of twelve apostles:

Act 1:16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
Act 1:17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
Act 1:18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

The field was purchased with the money that belonged to Judas. Even if the priests did the actual purchase, they did so with his money, and it was therefore his field, “the field of blood”.

Mat 27:3  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mat 27:4  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
Mat 27:5  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Mat 27:6  And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
Mat 27:7  And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
Mat 27:8  Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.
Mat 27:9  Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
Mat 27:10  And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

All of this was common knowledge “unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem” and everyone called the field that was bought with the thirty pieces of silver “the field of blood.”

Act 1:19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

All these events being common knowledge in Jerusalem at that time accords with the reaction of the two men on the road to Emmaus the day of Christ’s resurrection:

Luk 24:15  And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
Luk 24:16  But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
Luk 24:17  And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
Luk 24:18  And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

Now let us learn from the apostle Peter how to properly handle the Word of God:

Act 1:16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
Act 1:17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.
Act 1:20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Here are the verses Peter references in the book of Psalms:

Psa 69:25  Let their home be made desolate; let no one dwell in their tents.

Does that sound like King David had Judas in mind? Notice that in verse 20 Peter uses the singular pronoun ‘his habitation”, while Psalms has this in the plural, “their home”. Then without explanation Peter jumps over to:

Psa 109:8  Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Since the pronouns are apparently added in the English, there is no contradiction at all, but how does Peter know that Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8 are speaking of the same person? The answer to that question is that the Lord had made Peter to understand that anything in the Old Testament which typifies “our Lord and His Christ”, will also have the same application to its anti-type in the New Testament. Therefore if King David, a type of Christ, is being persecuted in the Old Testament, King David typifies Christ and His Christ in the New Testament. Psalms 69:25 specifically refers to King David’s enemies:

Psa 69:19  Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
Psa 69:20  Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
Psa 69:21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psa 69:22  Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
Psa 69:23  Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
Psa 69:24  Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
Psa 69:25  Let their home be made desolate; let no one dwell in their tents.

The phrase “mine adversaries are all before thee” justifies the use of the plural pronouns, but whether it is singular or plural is immaterial to the message that the Lord’s elect are being persecuted by their enemies. That is how Peter can jump from Psalm 69:25 to Psalms 109:8 and apply both to the betrayal of Christ by Judas. We should learn to do the same.

Act 1:21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Act 1:22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

The qualification for being one of the twelve original apostles was that this man had to have “accompanied [Christ and His apostles] all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. Beginning from the baptism of John unto the same day that He was taken up from us.”

The very fact that there were two men chosen who had those exacting qualifications informs us that there are many details that we have not been given about the logistics of the ministry of Christ.

Act 1:23  And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
Act 1:24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

The apostles were very prayerful about who they laid hands on to replace Judas. They knew that if they laid their hands on an unqualified candidate, they would actually be taking part in that person’s lack of qualification.

Here is Paul’s admonition to Timothy whom he had ordained as an elder in the church in Ephesus. This is how we are to deal with elders in our midst:

1Ti 5:19  Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
1Ti 5:20  Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
1Ti 5:21  I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.
1Ti 5:22  Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

Elders are afforded the same consideration as anyone else in the body of Christ. We are instructed that we are not to believe any accusation against an elder “but before two or three witnesses”. Those “two or three witnesses comprise the commandment our Lord gives us in Matthew 18:

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

The decision in Acts 15, concerning the question of circumcision being essential for the salvation of the Gentiles, was decided by “the apostles and elders”, and it was expected of the church to stand with and be persuaded by their leaders (Heb 13:17 CLV).

Whether the offence is moral sins stemming from the weakness of our flesh (1Co 5:1-5), or if the offence is spiritual sin stemming from a lying spirit that wants to spread a false doctrine within the body of Christ (1Ti 1:19-20), both will “leaven the whole lump” if left to fester within a congregation.

“Tell it to the church” is the same as “them that sin, rebuke before all” because Paul reminds us that God is no respecter of persons, and elders are no more or less deserving of our mercy and of our judgment.

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Paul was not doubleminded, and he feared God rather than men. Therefore, he charges Timothy and us:

1Ti 5:21  I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

Elders are never to be given any special treatment just because they are elders. To avoid such situations we are commanded by the holy spirit:

1Ti 5:22  Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

The eleven apostles were given the wisdom to be careful to let the Lord Himself choose who would replace Judas:

Act 1:25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
Act 1:26  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

How “they gave forth their lots” is immaterial, whether it was the toss of the dice or the drawing of straws or any other way of ‘casting lots’, because this is the fact of how the lots will fall:

Pro 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

We do not ‘cast lots’ to settle important matters today because we have the completed Word of God to guide our decisions, and as these same apostles demonstrated at the Jerusalem conference concerning the question of whether the Gentiles should be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, it was a matter to be revealed in its time by a multitude of counselors and by the leaders whom the Lord had placed within His church.

Act 15:2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you. (CLV)

“As He is so are we”

September 6, 2020

News alert! You are sin and were made in sin!?!

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

Rom 7:25 KJV  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

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

Do you doubt this?

Well, here we are in our sin, so what do we do with our time? For this moment, we participate in fellowship that might get us thinking a little more about our Lord and His Kingdom.

Other times, we might just be living in our lives, in the world not of the world, while adhering to the principles of the things we learn to be like in the bible.

For example, we are learning to be as He is IN THIS WORLD.

As He is ….. ========== > AS HE IS ………so are we  … in THIS WORLD.

Said another way, and combined as Husband and wife, the Head and the body.

The H stands alone. He is the Head and the H of the body. He is the Head and we are the ead, we are the body. That is why I capitalize the H in He and Head.

He, Jesus, was the bridge of the Father to making everything through Jesus Christ, and now we have everything else in creation. Likewise, Jesus’ inheritance, is to the world, what Jesus was to the world. We are a gift given to now spread Jesus Christ.

But, that doesn’t always show itself up the in the ways you might be thinking.

In our study today, we are going to cover the second book in Judges.

We are going to attempt, once again in this study and the others like it, to connect our flesh with the spiritual message given in the study, so that the new man in us can learn to cope with the old man that we are.

While living in this flesh, we must contend with it. Our spiritual mind is battling the mind of that old serpent, the serpent which preys on … and EATS dust, for that is his lot.

Gen 3:14 KJV  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

That old serpent, goes too and fro, seeking whom he may devour…. slithering along on the earth…. seeing what flesh he can temp into becoming his dinner.

More on that later.

In this second book of Judges, we find ourselves serving others gods again, even after being told my Joshua that we cannot serve the Lord…. because we serve other gods. Yet, whatever we are doing, we refuse to acknowledge who it is that we are.

Jdg 2:1 KJV  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
Jdg 2:2 KJV  And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
Jdg 2:3 KJV  Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
Jdg 2:4 KJV  And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.
Jdg 2:5 KJV  And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.

What did we just witness? What we just witnessed is what everyone one of us, down to the last person, do to the Lord even after He redeems us while we were slaves in Egypt.

I mentioned that the old serpent is roaming too and fro seeking whom he may devour, but notice where it is that he is doing this.

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

Job 1:6 KJV  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Job 1:7 KJV  And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Job 1:8 KJV  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 1:9 KJV  Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

Does anyone find it interesting that the Lord tells us not to tempt Him, but you find satan border line tempting the Lord of Job’s fear of the Lord not being real….by saying “Does Job fear you for no reason at all, what has Job ever had to fear you for?” … in my own words

That old serpent does this while “going to and fro in the earth…walking up and down in it.

You heard it here first, satan is near unto you … seeking you day and night.

The snares that early Israel had to endure are the same snares we have to endure today.

Jdg 2:2 KJV  And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
Jdg 2:3 KJV  Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

That is why we weep/wept, because this walk can get pretty hard depending on your perspective and individual trials.

“gods” are a snare unto us… snares are anchored somewhere… and in this case, we are snared to the earth, earth, earth.

Have you ever noticed that that majority of “other gods” are “earthen” bound gods. They have something to do with our flesh. Fertility, health, wealth, crops, cattle, etc. We very much want to succeed in the flesh, as well as in the spirit. That is the law working in us every single day.

We want to feed our belly… the same belly that is crawled on when that oil serpent feeds on the dust that we are.

However, even the “sky” gods, are really like gods for sunshine, rain, etc. Physical weather related. Regardless of all of that, we have the One True God, but we don’t always focus on Him our His mind.

We tend to focus on the other because it screams the loudest, and the squeaky wheel gets the oil until the Lord forcibly steps back in .

The devil tempts God, and satan gets his mandate. A mandate satan the serpent cannot break.

Job 1:10 KJV  Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1:11 KJV  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 KJV  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

So, that old serpent is given a job to do but he is still a hired pit bull, completely in the control of the Lord.

Jdg 2:6 KJV  And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
Jdg 2:7 KJV  And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
Jdg 2:8 KJV  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
Jdg 2:9 KJV  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
Jdg 2:10 KJV  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

Peace was known while Joshua, and the elders that outlived Joshua ruled, but as soon as they died (there is a type and shadow here, I know you can almost “see” it), Israel turns their back on serving the Lord.

Jdg 2:11 KJV  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
Jdg 2:12 KJV  And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
Jdg 2:13 KJV  And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
Jdg 2:14 KJV  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
Jdg 2:15 KJV  Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

Now, we have Israel with the very hand of the Lord raised against His own people because they are not serving Him.

If you are only seeing physical Israel in this, then you are missing it. This is us.

Whenever we are serving other gods, we are going to be having the hand of the Lord against our flesh.

And if that is too heavy of a topic for some of you, let me introduce a new section to my studies called, “Stupid Jesus Jokes”.

Actually, I just made that up, but I do have a funny little joke I think to myself sometimes which would fall under this category.

I have always wondered why we don’t see too many miracles workers, much like social workers, but not to be confused with them, going around doing miracles we can see?

Then I thought to myself, what would be the qualifications for such a gig? I assume you’d have to be like super holy or something, and I already fail that.

Why do I fail at that? Cats. Yep, cats.

If it were left up to my “free will” I would fail the Jesus test right away because cats. I couldn’t be like Jesus left to my own devices, but for the glory of God go I into the world, because He is my Head with His mind in it.

If I had Jesus miracle powers, they would be revoked on day one or upon meeting the first cat I didn’t like. Why? Because poof, that’s why. I’d get my first round of cat-itude, and poof, no longer here. Poof into a floating hairball, then my Jesus miracle powers would be revoked and I think humanity would have been doomed. Cats can be cool once you figure out their personalities, which takes some deep medication or meditation sometimes, but once you get on the good side of a cat you might be okay.

But yeah, cats would end my Jesus powers because my fleshly carnal minded self would poof a cat because I can’t stand their cat-itudes, and because I think that would be a sin somehow, and you laughed at some of that joke too, making you a partaker of my sin, you now are proven to be a sinner.

Boom.

All because of a cat.

But seriously, our thoughts can at times become rampant, and we must get them back into submission and obedience to Jesus Christ. This isn’t some super holy test you have to undertake, but it is simply a mindset we must possess, so that we can counter the darts and wiles of the devil – which are spiritual in nature – taking place in the heavens.

We do this by judging our thoughts against biblical measurements (the Word of God), and then seeing what happens with that.

Jdg 2:16 KJV  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
Jdg 2:17 KJV  And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.
Jdg 2:18 KJV  And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
Jdg 2:19 KJV  And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
Jdg 2:20 KJV  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
Jdg 2:21 KJV  I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
Jdg 2:22 KJV  That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
Jdg 2:23 KJV  Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

The Lord is always giving us trials in our flesh, but of which are spiritual in nature. That is one way we are in the world, but not of it. Our mindset is on heavenly things, where the war is at, but we still must contend with whatever the Lord has us contending with while in this flesh.

We are always being tempted to give in to all that is in the world, (lust of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life).

I will give some examples so that isn’t just such a blanket statement.

In the bible, the Lord is always changing the names of His people. Abram and Abraham, Sarai and Sarah, Jacob and Israel, etc.

All my life, I have been known as Stevie to my family. To most others I am known as Steve. Some people call me by my name Steven. Some people known me from before, some people know me from recent history, but in all of this God has me realizing more and more that He just has been in this like as a bridge to Him.

I am being trained as bridge to Him. Jesus Is, was and will be a bridge to God the Father, but also, Jesus is Jesus the Christ. We are the Christ of the Christ!

We are a part of this process.

Therefore, people from my past are bridged to people of my future, but mainly to God who is all in all in the future.

See, I am the blind man who is the bridge to Jesus. Jesus uses me as a bridge to other people because they can see themselves in me, and if I am me (and they can see themselves in my a little bit) then they can see Jesus COME out of ME, thereby infected them with Jesus during social distancing…. Thank you very much.

My testimony in me, of who I use to be, can be verified by others, and then I find Jesus I get healed, because Jesus finds me one day with a gaping hole ion my face to be filled.

Jesus bends down and grabs some earth, and instead of ingesting it, Jesus SPITS on it, giving it LIFE via the water from His mouth, and He places that lump of life into my dead and blind sockets of darkness.

I can now see, and as I live my life, I live in such a way as to try to bring others to the truths of the gospel as easily and as painless as possible, depending on what the Lord’s plans are.

I get to live my life now as the chosen elect, hopefully being given the gift of FAITH, given that gift UNTO TO THE END, so that I can have it around the throne when I need to be called, chosen and faithful.

We are called to live in this flesh, with the knowledge we have, by contending with whatever the Lord challenges us with in flesh as a PAYMENT for being given this understanding now. Our payment is LIPS of THANKSGIVING while serving the Lord in sincerity and Truth.

However, that is only a portion of our calling as well, because there are people who will rise up spiritually after us, whether in this life or not, who will need guidance.

Let me paint a picture for you. For MANY MANY years, most humans have not know the secrets of the Kingdomg of God nor the fact that when they physically die the next stop is not heaven or hell.

Most Christians are going to rise to a very different situation than what they were planning. We will be there as spiritual stewardesses guiding people to their proper destinations while having the power of God ourselves.

I say this to say that just like in Judges, our flesh … which we are, is always being pulled at. The carnal mind is a tool used against our flesh to temp our flesh to give into sin.

At the same time, as Paul says, we have a law in our members (flesh) that battles the law of his mind that is in him.

Rom 7:22 KJV  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 KJV  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.
Rom 7:24 KJV  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 KJV  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

So, then in the mind I MYSELF SERVE THE LAW OF GOD. In my mind of the inward man, I serve the law of God. However, there is an opposite to the inward man, That man also has a mind that we must not serve, or we will be serving other gods just like the Israelites did when the elders and Joshua died. We do not want to go back to old ways and the old ways of the old man.

Dear Mike,

I’ve just read this ​article ​of yours​ “Is God a Trinity?

This was written several years ago, so I wanted to ask if you still regard the triadic form as inauthentic, not inspired?

I’ve informally explored this today and find no compelling reason to take that position, it really does seem to be authentic when we apply the same basic principles that we apply to other scriptures when establishing authenticity.

A most detailed analysis was ​this ​one​ [link given]​​ on the claims of inauthenticity​.

I’d like to hear more from you on this purported inauthenticity when time permits.

Many thanks,

H​____​

Hi ​H____​,

I looked at the link you sent me​,​ and to answer your question directly, yes, I do stand by the words in the article ‘Is God A Trinity?’ on iswasandwillbe.com. I saw so much heresy in the first part​ of the link​ you sent, including the false doctrine of ‘free moral agency’, the apostles creed, and the didache (an early manuscript written in the first century A.D.), that I was not led to waste any more of my time with it.

I was much more edified with the list of seven objections to this false doctrine than any of the arguments he used to justify attempting to deny that the God-head is supposed to be understood by “the things that are made”, especially the male and the female “things that are made”:

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

This is what Paul tells us he meant by that very clear statement:

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God… [“the Father”]

How can a three​-​headed monstrosity have a single “head”, as we seen in all of “the things that are made”?

Paul had already made it perfectly clear in this same epistle what he means when he speaks of “the head of Christ”:

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of [G1537​:​ ek, out of] whom are all things [including “the beginning of the creation of God”… Christ, Rev 3:17], and we in him; and [besides this “one God” there is also] one Lord Jesus Christ, by [G1223​:​ ‘dia’, ‘through’] whom are all things, and we by [G1223​:​ ‘dia’, ‘through’] him.

Notice, I never quote any of the apostate, so​-​called “church fathers. The apostle Paul and I are on the same page… “There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and [there is also besides the “one God the Father”] one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things”, just as Paul explains in that same 11th chapter. Adam, like God the Father, was first, and out of Him Christ brought a woman of whom Adam was to be the head, reflecting “even His eternal power and Godhead, so we would be without excuse” (Rom 1:20).

I read enough of that link to see this writer quoting Ellen White as if that meant anything. But the worst thing I saw was the circular reasoning of admitting and even quoting where the Catholic Encyclopedia admits, and one of the Popes admit introducing this heresy and then, because the apostasy of  the church was completed before the apostles died, this writer quotes those very apostates saying that the trinity is a Biblical doctrine, and calling me ”dishonest” because I notice how willing he is to use men as his authority instead of the clear words of scripture, a few of which I have quoted above.

Just look at how this man uses apostates as sources and then condemns those who reveal their apostasy as “dishonest” for simply pointing other​s​ to their confessions of tampering with and changing the words of scripture to fit the idols of their hearts:

“Charge 5 – The Catholic Church confesses to changing the words

This is probably the weakest of all the arguments. This can be considered to be debunked by all the evidence we have seen up until this point. However, sometimes there is a lack of care in reading the words of the Catholic writers. [Who cares about the “words of Catholic writers” – 1Co 4:6] Most of these so-called ‘confessions’ do not pertain to the text of Matthew 28:19 but the use of Matthew 28:19 as a liturgical baptismal formula. For example:

“The baptismal formula was changed from the name of Jesus Christ to the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by the Catholic Church in the second century.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 263)

Notice that this statement pertains to the formula used in baptism. We have seen that the words of Matthew 28:19 were not originally a formula and that this later development occurred in the second and third centuries. So this is simply a reflection of fact. Perhaps the most misused quote from the Catholic Church on this regard is from then future pope, Joseph Ratzinger.

“The basic form of our profession of faith took shape during the course of the second and third centuries in connection with the ceremony of baptism. So far as its place of origin is concerned, the text comes from the city of Rome; but its internal origin lies in worship; more precisely, in the conferring of baptism.” (Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2nd Edition)

This quote is used dishonestly by many who reject the words of Matthew 28:19. The “text” that is being referred to in the quote is not the text of Matthew 28:19, but the Apostles Creed. Note the discussion leading immediately up to the above quote:

“All that we have said so far has done no more than attempt to answer the formal question of what belief as such is and where in the world of modern thought it can find a starting point and a function to perform. The more far-reaching problems relating to its content thus necessarily remained open-with the whole subject permaps looking only too pale and ill-defined. The answers can only be found by looking at the concrete shape of Christian belief, and this we now mean to consider, using the so-called Apostles’ Creed as a guiding thread. It may be useful to preface the discussion with a few facts about the origin and structure of the Creed; these will at the same time through some light on the legitimacy of the procedure.” (loc. cit.)

In fact, Ratzinger later goes on to quote Matthew 28:19 as the basis for the Apostles’ Creed, showing that Ratzinger understands these to be the words of Christ.

“This again was fundamentally based on the words of Christ recorded in Matthew 28:19: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (loc. cit.)

So it is clear that whoever first used this quote to question the wording of Matthew 28:19 did so dishonestly. All who have subsequently used these words have done so lazily, never checking the context. [End of Quote]

Just look at all the authorities this man quotes! He is obviously totally unaware of this verse of scripture:

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

Why would we quote an apostate to begin with, and why would any truly honest person care what the doctrines of apostate so-called ‘church fathers’ are, who thought it completely scriptural to physically kill anyone they considered to be an apostate? I have never denied that I am commanded to “love [my] enemies”, not burn them at a stake and cut out their tongue before doing so, so that person cannot utter another word of his so-called heresy. These men were one and all as carnal as the first Adam himself, and their own mouths condemn them, and all who stand with them, and their hearts idols will receive the same reward:

Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; 

This writer points out the apostasy of the doctrine of a triune God, even with quotes from the apostates themselves like these:

“The baptismal formula was changed from the name of Jesus Christ to the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by the Catholic Church in the second century.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 263)

“The basic form of our profession of faith took shape during the course of the second and third centuries in connection with the ceremony of baptism. So far as its place of origin is concerned, the text comes from the city of Rome; but its internal origin lies in worship; more precisely, in the conferring of baptism.” (Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2nd Edition)

“The text comes from the city of Rome… by the Catholic Church”, and it is certainly “above that which is written” which is “in Jesus’ name” as demonstrated throughout the book of Acts. What does it matter if “the text referred to is the apostles’ creed”? The subject is still “in connection with the ceremony of baptism”, and the scriptures reveal time after time the disciples baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus”:

Act 19:5  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

What a slap in the face of an “equal but separate part of the Godhead” to be so sleighted over and  over and  over again throughout all the Gospels and Acts and all the epistles of the apostles, to leave out such an “equal but separate” person.

The false doctrine of a triune God is the trunk of the tree of all the false doctrines which shore up all the daughters of the great harlot. It is this doctrine which teaches that since God is triune, and we are in His image, therefore we, too, must be a triune being with a body and an immortal soul and a spirit. Without this foundation of lies, there could not be the other false doctrines of the immortality of the soul and an eternal hell of literal flames of fire tormenting me with excruciating pain for all eternity by a ‘God of love’.

Why is the Greek word ‘parakleetos‘ translated with two different English words if not to hide the truth that Jesus Christ was given His Father’s spirit so Christ Himself could come to us through His Father’s spirit, as the comforter to His elect, and through that same “holy spirit of God” (Eph 4:30) Christ is also our “advocate [parakleetos] with the Father”:

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter [Greek​:​ parakleetos] that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

How could the ‘holy ghost’ “dwell with you” if “it is expedient that I go away because if I go not away the comforter cannot come”???

“The comforter, the spirit of Truth, [and our] advocate with [the one God] the Father”​,​ are all through “the holy spirit of God” (Eph 4:30) one and the same… “the man Jesus Christ”:

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he [the parakleetos, also called…], the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15  All things [including “the holy spirit of God” Eph 4:30] that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The holy spirit clearly is not a person, rather it is “the holy spirit of God”, the holy spirit of the “one God, the Father, of whom are all things”, and who has given that spirit to Christ and through “the holy spirit of God” Christ is now accomplishing all His Father has placed upon Him, including being our “advocate with the ​(​”one God”), the Father”:

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not [including the teaching of false doctrines]. And if any man sin, we have an advocate [Same Greek word ‘parakleetos‘ translated as ‘comforter’ in John 14, 15, and 16] with the Father [And who is our ‘parakleetos‘, our ‘advocate with the Father’? Well, ​l​o and behold it is] , Jesus Christ the righteous:

The Greek for our English words “holy ghost” is hagios pneuma, and it is defined in scripture simply as “the holy spirit of God”:

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Why doesn’t this verse read “the Holy Ghost of God” as these two words ‘hagios pneuma‘ are translated everywhere else in the New Testament? I think we both know why that is. It would reveal that the holy spirit is the power of God and is not a person of the Godhead which is to be “understood by the things that are made… the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God” (1Co 11:3).

Why did Christ say that His Father had given Him all things, including His Father’s spirit, which Christ was now free to give to others?

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Why is it “expedient that [Christ] go away”? Is the third part of the Godhead restricted by the second part? How absurd! The reason Christ had to go away was so He Himself could, through “the holy spirit of God”​,​ come and dwell within each of His elect. He does not dwell in any who are teaching lies about “His eternal power and Godhead” such as the false doctrine of a “triune God” of whom “the things that are made​”​ teach us nothing.

In these verses in John 16, Christ refers to the holy spirit as both “the comforter” and as “the spirit of Truth”. He also tells us “I am the way the Truth and the life”. Then after explaining all of this​,​ He tells us plainly​,​ “All things the Father [the “one God” of 1Co 8:6] has are mine, that is why I said that He shall take of mine [the comforter and the spirit of Truth] and shall show it unto you​.​”

Your brother who, Lord willing, will never “think above that which is written” (1Co 4:6),

Mike

Marriage, Part 1 - He That Loves His Wife Loves Himself - Discussion

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Marriage - He That Loves His Wife Loves Himself

Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

When four couples come seeking counsel in a period of two weeks it is obvious that there is a need to give some general marriage counseling to the entire body of Christ and to remind us all of what our 'manufacturer's handbook', the scriptures, tell us we must do to maintain the unity He has ordained to be the fruit of the incredible gift of a loving mate. Our 'owner's manual' also contains many warning labels which we are given to avoid destroying the Lord's handiwork. If we are not continually watching the 'water' in the radiator and adding 'oil' to the crankcase of our marriages, they will fail us, and they will wear out, and they will heat up to the point of locking down and ceasing to function simply because we didn't even bother to read the owner's manual, or if we did read it, we still didn't do the things it told us. Today's study is addressed to us husbands, so I am going to narrow the verses I am reading to apply to us husbands without adding to or taking away from the Lord's Word. The wives will have their turn, but today I am narrowing the admonitions of scripture to address them specifically to us husbands:

Luk 6:46  And why [do you husbands] call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But [every husband] that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Nothing is more destructive to a family, to wives and to children, than for a husband to tell his family that he believes in the sovereignty of God, and at the same time show little or no patience in dealing with his own wife and his own children. Lord willing, we will look into what the 'owner's manual' has to say about how parents are to relate to their children and how children are to conduct themselves as an integral part of the family of God. That will be the third part of our studies in this series we are going to have on family relations. The second part of this series of studies will be directed to the place and proper function of the wife in a marriage.

The Manufacturer's 'operator's manual' tells us what must do to maintain His creation in good working order, and we are also given warning labels which tell us what we are to strenuously avoid if we want to maintain a romantic, functioning, loving relationship with that person for whom we once professed so much love.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and [your wife].
Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

That is what we want to do today. We want to acknowledge Christ, our husband, in all of our ways and be directed by His Words in all our paths.

Far too often mercy is the first thing we let "forsake" us when it comes to how we treat our wives. When we "let... mercy... forsake [us]" then truth also forsakes us, because the Truth is that we are not to let mercy forsake us, and when we fail to show mercy to our wives, we are demonstrating that our association with the Truth is an intellectual association only and not yet from the heart.

So what is "the head of the woman" to do when 'the woman' acts as if she is the head? That is not an easy question to answer, but it does have a Biblical answer, and that answer is found in the very verses which tell us what the Lord will do to us husbands if we fail to show mercy to our wives when they want to usurp our position as their head.

Here is what the Lord does to us when we fail to show our wives the same mercy our Lord has shown us:

Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked [husband], I forgave thee all that [huge, non-payable] debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy [wife], even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his [wife] their trespasses.

How often are we expected to endure our wives' faults and weaknesses? The answer is right here in this same chapter where Peter asks that very question:

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my [wife] sin against me, and I forgive [her]? till seven times?
Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Ten thousand talents amounts to 2 billion, two hundred fifty million dollars in today's U. S. currency. https://www.answers.com/Q/How_much_is_10000_talents_worth
The point being, that our debt to our heavenly Father is far beyond our ability to pay, yet He forgives us "as we forgive those who sin against us":

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our [wives].

I know from scripture that all women are cursed with a desire to be against their husband.

What beastly man can honestly look at himself in the mirror and tell himself that he has shown more mercy to his wife than the Lord has shown him? I know I cannot say that, and I am just thankful for the mercy the Lord has bestowed on me, and I beg Him to give me the patience to endure any trespass, disrespect, or lack of honor my dear wife may show me, so that I might receive God's mercy.

We will remind ourselves what 'love' really is and what 'love' is not. It is not love when we come home from work and ignore our wives, or worse yet we come home and immediately tear into our wives for their shortcomings. I know because there was a time when I was the 'banner child' of an ignorant and hypocritical husband who could see only my wife's shortcomings. Sandi and I will be married 48 years in June, but ours is a miracle marriage, as are all long-lasting marriages. If your shortcomings were not equal to mine, then that is fine, but we all fall short of the perfection for which we are all striving.

One of the greatest lies in history is that love is an uncontrollable power which reaches out and grabs us because of what we see with our eyes. We do not "fall" in love. We fall into lust, and then with great effort and sacrifice, we may be blessed to climb up into love. We do so even as we discover each other's weaknesses, which universally afflict all of mankind. I am not denying that the Lord Himself has given us an appreciation for the outward appearance of our spouse. But if our wife's outward beauty is the sole foundation for our marriage, then it is very likely doomed to be a short-lived relationship, simply because the 'manufacturer's manual' commands us that our first fidelity must be toward our 'Manufacturer', and that obedience to Him must always come first and foremost. If we are granted to do that, then our mate will have nothing to worry over, because our Lord requires love and faithfulness to our mate as obedience to Him.

We must 'acknowledge Christ's Words in all our ways if we expect Him to direct our  paths:

Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Today we are dealing with the role of men in the marriage relationship, and that role is as "the head of the woman":

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

But being "the head" does not mean that we men are in a position to abuse and be domineering over our wives. My head is not at all abusive to the rest of my body. In fact my head loves and cherishes the rest of my body and does all in its power to edify and nourish every member of my body. That is how a marriage is supposed to function. The head of the body is considerate of the body, and the body honors the head because they are "one flesh":

Gen 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Who Controls Our Wives?

We all know the answer to that question, and we all know, intellectually, that our wives are no more capable of controlling their actions than we are our own actions. If any of you feel that I am beating up on men today, it is only because husbands are the focus of our discussion today. I am not aligning myself with the "Me, Too" movement. The Biblical admonitions to our wives will be discussed next Sunday, if the Lord wills.

Husbands, ask yourself why you keep doing what you know you should not do. Why do I always tend to blame Sandi when it appears she fails in some way? Why do I do that when I know that she has no more control over herself than I have over my lack of patience with her? If there is any virtue developed in both husbands and wives via the institution of marriage, it is that most valuable virtue of patience, of which part of the mind of Christ we are told:

Jas 1:2  [Husbands], count it all joy when [your wives give you] divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Wives are not the only way to be taught patience. If they were, then neither Christ nor Paul could ever have become "perfect and entire", because neither were ever married. But if you and I are married, our wives are central in teaching us to be patient and thoughtful of someone other than ourselves. If we are husbands, then our wives are central to making us "perfect and entire, wanting nothing".

If we as husbands think our wives should shape up, then the very first thing we need to do is to wait on the Lord to do that. The one thing we know for certain from years of experience is that we aren't even capable of controlling ourselves, much less another person. We husbands all know intellectually that when our wives sin, it is not our wives who sin any more than it is we who sin when we sin. Yes! That is exactly what the scriptures, which we intellectually profess to believe, teach us. Let me remind all of us husbands what the truth is about our wives' sins against us:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Now husbands, let us all pray that we can do more than just intellectually believe that when our wives disappoint us that it is not our wives who do so but God, because He is making us to be patient with our wives as He has been patient with us. There is not a single husband in our midst who deserves the patience the Lord has shown to any of us, and yet here we are, a part of His body and His bride, and He is still being patient with us.

Let's actively and truthfully apply these words to our wives as well as ourselves:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Do we as husbands think these words do not apply to our wives whom we profess we love? Who do we credit with the way our wives treat us? Ask yourselves that question. If you or I hold our wives responsible for their faults, then we are the world's greatest hypocrites because we are more than willing to acknowledge that "it is not I that do it, but sin that dwells in  me", when it comes to our own sins, but we cannot accept that God has placed that same "law of sin" into the members of our beloved wives. We can cry out to God for ourselves, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord..." but we cannot do the same for our beloved wives whose curse is our curse:

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [Hebrew: 'el' against] thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

In the very next chapter we read:

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 [Hebrew: 'el', against] thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
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 [Hebrew: 'el', against] Abel his brother, and slew him.

Sin is personified in these verses, and is said to be 'against' Cain, just as Cain was "against Abel his brother, and slew him" in the very next verse.

Notice, the exact same words the Lord spoke to Eve about her relationship with her husband are the very same words and phrases spoken here of sin's relationship with Cain: "Your desire shall be against your husband, and he shall rule over you... and against you shall be [sin's] desire, and you shall rule over him."

Our wives can no more, of themselves, overcome being against us than Eve could have chosen to submit to Adam in all things. Neither can "the law of sin in our [wives'] members" choose to submit to us in all things. It is Christ who is 'working all things after the counsel of His own will', and all things certainly includes my spouse and your spouse, whom He has made to be against us, just as we have been marred in the hand of our husband, "The Potter":

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

All the verbs of Jeremiah 18:4 are in the Hebrew Qal stem, which means that it is all an ongoing process, by which our Lord is perfecting our wives, just as He is mercifully working with us. In our own appointed time, He will rule over both us and our wives. That is the glorious and guaranteed consummation of the ages.

But that glorious consummation comes only through the fiery trials that are inevitably part of any and every marriage between two wild beasts, who are both against their respective husbands.

I keep making the statement, "...our wives whom we profess that we love".  Sadly, there are those who seldom utter the words, "Honey, I love you!" As the apostle James puts it, "These things ought not so to be."

Jas 3:10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Will you, as a husband who claims to be part of the very body of Christ, tell me that you simply cannot bring yourself to say those words to your wife? Women are made to want to hear those words. Men are too, and those words should be repeated daily and sincerely, even "while [our wives] are yet in [their] sins", just as Christ loved us while we were yet in our sins:

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.
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;)

Will we continue to hypocritically say we "love [our] enemies", while we cannot bring ourselves to tell our own wives, "Honey, I sure do love you!"

This entire fellowship claims to believe this these truths:

Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

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

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

Pro 20:24  Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

The Lord made me a wicked man for my own "day of evil", and the Lord makes our wives wicked for their day of evil, because this is the simple truth we all claim we believe:

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

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

We all acknowledge all of these verses to be true, but every time we husbands lose patience with our wives, we are showing our families and our friends how hypocritical we really are. We expect the respect and obedience from our wives which we are not showing toward our own husband, our Lord, who we know is really the one who "made [our wives] to err from His ways". We know our wives are marred in His hand, that it is He who has turned them to destruction, given them the answers of their tongues, made them wicked for their day of evil against us, made our wives incapable of understanding their own ways, or directing their own steps, and yet we act as if none of this were true. I want every husband who hears or reads these words to stop and think how our hypocrisy blasphemes the name of Christ before our own families and before our friends who are watching our every move and are wondering why we get so upset with their mother or their friend while professing and teaching them that it is really the Lord Himself who is sending us the trials our wives give us.

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O [husband], whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest [your wife], thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Rom 2:2  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against [all us husbands] which commit such things.
Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O [husband], that judgest [your wife] which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

Rom 2:21  Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should [love his enemy, do you love your wife?]

Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law [of Christ], through breaking the law [of Christ] dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

We know the Lord will not tolerate either our presumptuousness in condemning Him for making our wives to err from His ways, nor will He tolerate our condemning Him for making our wives to be against us. These are Christ's words to us husbands every time we lose our tempers with our wives:

Luk 6:42  Either how canst thou say to thy [wife], [Honey], let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

All of us husbands know the Truth of these verses of scripture:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Do you murmur against your wife? You are a hypocrite if you do so and continue to ignore her need for a calm, loving leader who will not be run over, but at the same time will not allow his old man to run over the new man within him by losing his temper with his wife.

Our marriage is actually a reflection of our relationship with Christ, and the leadership of that relationship lies on the shoulders of "the head of the woman... the man".

It was never intended to be easy to lead our wives and to be someone worthy of their love and respect. The physical needs of the family were placed upon the head of the woman:

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Both Adam, us men, and Eve, our wives, are all the "earth, earth, earth" (Jer 22:29), the ground, which is "cursed for our sake". It is "for our sake" because God loves us that He is giving us all the fiery trials of this life. It is because Christ will have us as His bride that we are being judged as husbands now rather than being judged in the lake of fire. Apostle Paul, as part of "the mother of us all... Jerusalem above", tells us:

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.

So even we husbands are the "chaste virgin... Lamb's bride" of whom Paul also tells us this of the Biblical purpose for our marriages:

Eph 5:22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Those three verses are all that are addressed to our wives. The rest of this chapter is addressed to all of us as husbands:

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 5:33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

"[Marriage] is a great mystery, [because it] speaks concerning Christ and the church... Let every one of you [husbands] so love His wife... as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it."

Simple instructions, yet we are cursed with the desire to be against our husband Christ who tells us "Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it".

Love and patience are inseparable, and we as husbands must be patient with our wives just as Christ has been with us, and we must express our love as He has expressed His love for His bride, for us, for His church.

Christ, our husband, through the apostle Peter instructs us:

1Pe 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [your wives] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
1Pe 3:8  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
1Pe 3:9  Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
1Pe 3:10  For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
1Pe 3:11  Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
1Pe 3:12  For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

That is a simple Truth. I did not write it, but I am sharing this knowledge with you. If we ignore all these admonitions and if we continue to be at war with our wife, our prayers will be hindered, and we will be "them that do evil". If we continue to expose the spiritual nakedness of our wives, and if we continue to expect her to do something the Lord has not given her to do as yet, "the face of the Lord is against us.

This is what love for our wives does:

Pro 10:12  Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Peter here in 1 Peter 3 is actually simply repeating these words He had learned from our Lord:

Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his [wife] without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his [wife], Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy [wife] hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy [wife], and then come and offer thy gift.

I have substituted the word 'wife' for the word 'brother', and why would we not be reconciled to our wives so that our prayers are not hindered? We hurt no one but ourselves when we fail to "do the things [the Lord] says" (Luk 6:46).

"He that loves his wife loves himself" (Eph 5:28).

Again, this is planned to be a three-part series, dealing first with us men and what we must do to build on, and maintain, and improve our relationship with our wives. Next week, Lord willing, we will discuss what the Lord tells us is the role of our wives in building up, maintaining and improving their marriages. Then, as the Lord leads, in the third week we will discuss where both parents are to place the children in our marriages. What is the place and purpose of children in a marriage? This is a very complex question, especially when we are discussing second marriages with children from a previous marriage. God has ordained and order of priority and we must "acknowledge Him in all of our ways".

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The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 44 Discussion

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Isa 9:14-17 The Lord Will Cut Off From Israel The Head And Tail

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

We are continuing our study of God's judgments upon His people. In this study we will learn that God is intent upon the destruction of His first "marred... vessel of clay":

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.

If we are aware of the sovereignty of God when reading all of His admonitions, then we will not continue to ask what Paul said we would ask:

Rom 9:19  But one of you will say to me, "If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?" (GNB)

This statement is based upon these words in 2Chronicles 20 where we read:

2Ch 20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
2Ch 20:6  And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

The Truth is that mankind cannot resist the will of God. It is for that very reason we all wonder why God did not just make us all perfected spirits and why He did not just skip all the sufferings this flesh just naturally produces. However, our flesh refuses to believe that God is that powerful and that we are that weak.

Which brings us to our first verse in today's study:

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

The word 'therefore' refers back to "the pride and stoutness of heart" of verse 9:

Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,

The ignorance of mankind concerning the total sovereignty of God doesn't make God any less sovereign, as the apostle Paul points out:

Rom 9:10  And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of [our] works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

It is given to our nature to rebel against the very idea of God hating any of us before we are even born and raising us up for the specific purpose of destroying us as He did Pharaoh. Paul knew how natural it was to resent such a powerful God whose plan is justified only by the loving outcome of His sovereign will, and he was given to anticipate the reaction of our own carnal minds to a statement which naturally seems completely unfair and unjust to the kingdom of our rebellious old man. So he poses the question he knows we will all ask:

Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? ...

Which is the same as asking:

Rom 9:19  But one of you will say to me, "If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will"? (GNB)

It has always struck me how blunt the holy spirit is in answering that question:

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

The truth is that at everything happening at this very moment, the very little good as well as the much evil taking place in this world, is fulfilling and doing what He has preordained to be done. It is only by knowing that God Himself creates evil (Isa 45:7) and 'makes us to err from His ways' (Isa 63:17), makes 'wicked men for the day of evil' (Pro 16:4) and is 'working all things after the counsel of His own will' (Eph 1:11), that we can know and appreciate the Truth that even the first-man Adam typifies Christ (Rom 5:14), and that even today that rebellious first-man Adam is an integral part of bringing the kingdoms of this world under the sovereign rod of iron which He is about to give to His saints.

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.

The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ begins with this promise of rulership for those in whom Christ dwells, and it ends with this promise being fulfilled:

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

The further we go in our studies of this prophecy of Isaiah, the more emphatic our Lord becomes in declaring that He, as our Creator, has every right to do with His creation as He sees fit and that we as His creatures have no right to even question Him. We are all very familiar with what He declares to us in:

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.

Then immediately He admonishes us:

Isa 45:9  Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Isa 45:10  Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

But the reason we are warned against striving with our Maker is that we were created to do so, and our Creator knew that was exactly what we would just naturally do. That is the very meaning of these words:

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.

We were made "marred in the hand of the Potter" for the very purpose of giving God "an occasion" (Jdg 14:4) to destroy our old man and all that pertains to him. Mankind is a beast:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

But Ecc 3:18 is not the sum of God's word on this subject of what is our "marred vessel of clay".

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Is there another verse of scripture which tells us God made our old man for the specific purpose of taking him and destroying him? Yes, there are many such verses for the man who has been given eyes to see and ears to hear that "mankind shall... live... by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Mat 4:4). I will just repeat the two we have already covered in this study:

Rom 9:10  And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of [our] works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Esau and Pharaoh are both types of the flesh of all men and the old man within us all who "cannot inherit the kingdom of God":

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

However, our flesh does not want to hear that Truth. Our flesh recoils to hear that God made our bodies of flesh for the very purpose of destroying them, and to nullify the Truth of 1Corinthians 15:50, mankind has developed the false doctrine of a physical bodily resurrection.  Those who teach this false doctrine, when confronted with the plain language of 1Corinthians 15:50, resort to yet another false doctrine which they call 'spiritual flesh', apparently oblivious of the words of Christ Himself when explaining this subject to Nicodemus:

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

Yes, it is true, Christ's physical body did not see corruption. However, it did not inherit the kingdom of God either. Rather it was "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [into] a spiritual body" (1Co 15:52). As such it was possible for Christ to appear to His disciples in a body of "flesh and bone" immediately following His resurrection, but that is because spirit can appear as flesh. The fact is that everything that is physically seen and can be physically touched is not "made of things which do appear":

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

All of this is "the pride and stoutness of heart" which is just naturally within God's own people. It is this pride-filled marred condition with which He is working, and which He is in the process of purging out of His people":

Eze 20:38  And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,

Because of this pride and stoutness of heart:

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.

What are the "head and tail, branch and rush [which will be] cut off... in one day" as God judges His people and destroys the kingdom of our old man and the kingdoms of this world? We don't need to speculate who or what this "head and the tail" is. The very next verse tells us:

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

This verse gives us the interpretation of the symbolism of the tails of the locusts in these verses of Revelation 9.

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. ["The sun and the air" are the light and the spiritual truths which are the Word of God]
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Locust devour everything in their path. Christ indicts the shepherds of His flock for doing just that:

Eze 34:8  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

The "power of a scorpion" is in the tails of these locusts, and look at what the tails of these locusts are given to do with that power:

Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

These locusts are as powerful as a horse, they appear as royalty wearing crowns of gold, they have the faces of men, the hair of women and they have the teeth of lions. What do these stinging, powerful, lion-like locusts symbolize? The scriptures come right out and tell us what these locusts symbolize:

Zec 11:3  There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
Zec 11:4  Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
Zec 11:5  Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

The tails of these scorpions are defined right here in Isaiah as "the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail" of the stinging, scorpion, lion-like locusts.

The political head of a nation leads even the prophets. King David led all Israel. He worked with the Lord's prophets, and the later kings like Uzziah over Judah, and Ahab and his wife Jezebel were "the ancient and the honorable...heads" of God's people. Aha was the head over his own lying prophets.

Here is a very clear example of the fruits of listening to "the ancient and honorable 'head' and his "prophets that [taught] lies":

1Ki 22:5  And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.
1Ki 22:6  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

As we are about to discover, God had already decided that all these prophets were "tails... prophets that teach lies". So let's continue on with our story:

1Ki 22:7  And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?
1Ki 22:8  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
1Ki 22:9  Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
1Ki 22:10  And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
1Ki 22:11  And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
1Ki 22:12  And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.

These are four hundred 'tails', four  hundred false prophets who are prophesying lies to "the head[s]... the ancient and the honorable" kings of Israel and Judah. Ahab is "the head" of Israel, so he says: "Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah". Even the Lord's true prophets are subject to the powers that be (Rom 13:1) as long as those powers are not demanding that God's true prophets disobey God (Act 5:29). So when summoned by the king, the Lord's prophet appeared before the king, "the ancient and honorable... head" of the nation of Israel.

Now let's pay close attention to the difference between "the prophet that teaches lies" and a true prophet of God:

1Ki 22:13  And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
1Ki 22:14  And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
1Ki 22:15  So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
1Ki 22:16  And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?
1Ki 22:17  And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace. [Israel was about to lose its "head... the ancient and the honorable". Israel was about to lose its leader].
1Ki 22:18  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
1Ki 22:19  And he [Micaiah] said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
1Ki 22:20  And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
1Ki 22:24  But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?
1Ki 22:25  And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
1Ki 22:26  And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;
1Ki 22:27  And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
1Ki 22:28  And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
1Ki 22:29  So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.
1Ki 22:30  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
1Ki 22:31  But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
1Ki 22:32  And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.
1Ki 22:33  And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
1Ki 22:34  And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
1Ki 22:35  And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
1Ki 22:36  And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
1Ki 22:37  So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
1Ki 22:38  And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.

Here is what Micaiah knew to be true, and for which he was willing to eat the bread of affliction and to drink the water of affliction. It is our next verse:

Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

The people of a nation are led both by their political leaders and by their religious leaders, and both lead those who follow them into destruction. This is what we are told about the prophets who teach lies:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
Eze 14:11  That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

Just as the Kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab called the prophets to inquire of the Lord, these "elders of Israel" had also come before the prophet Ezekiel to "inquire of the Lord". So "the leaders of this people [who] cause them to err" are both the political and religious leaders, and as demonstrated by the story of King Ahab's destruction for listening to his lying prophets, and by this prophecy of Ezekiel, "the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;". Which brings us to our last verse in today's study:

Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

While "His anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still", Christ has given Himself a reason for all this fiery purging judgment. In the words of Isaiah:

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.

Ezekiel confirms this fruit of the Lord's judgments when he concludes:

Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
Eze 14:11  That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

Lord willing, next week we will examine the admonition the Lord gives us concerning His judgments in these last verses of chapter nine.

Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
Isa 9:20  And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
Isa 9:21  Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

[Questions or comments can be directed to the author at vinsmike@gmail.com]

Hi Mike,

I just found your website recently (not by chance) and recognize the truth when I read it.  The one thing that I noticed though is that according to my research, you have an incorrect understanding of the meaning of the Greek word kephale.  It only has two meanings in Greek – it means a physical head or origin or source.  The English meaning of being in charge is not a meaning used in Greek.

I have copied an article that was on the internet.

“Revolution Key #2 We Must Change Our Thinking about the Word “Head”

“But,” some will say, “what about the passage that says the husband is the ‘head’ of the wife” (Ephesians 5:21-33)? First of all, we must remember that “head” is a translation of the Greek word kephale, which referred to the physical head on one’s shoulders. The problem is that we have assumed that, like the English word “head,” kephale was used metaphorically to mean “boss” or “leader.” This has been a false and serious assumption.

The Feb. 20, 1981 edition of Christianity Today carried a landmark article by seminary professor, Dr. Berkeley Mickelsen and his wife, Alvera, a professor of Journalism, in which they clearly documented that kephale did not carry such meanings in the ancient world. They demonstrated that, instead, it carried meanings of “origin” and “source.” Since the publication of their groundbreaking article, others have come forth to confirm the findings of the Michelsens. Dr. David Scholer, late Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, says that the information now available concerning the word kephale “supports a new understanding in Christ by which men and women are viewed in a mutually supportive, submissive relationship”. [4]

Paul obviously uses kephale in his discussion of marriage (Ephesians 5:21-33) to undermine the common ancient belief that men and women had evolved from different sources; the man from a superior source and woman from an inferior source. This pagan idea of the separate origins of men and women was a major reason for hostility between the sexes and the man’s justification for the subjugation of the woman.

If Paul had wanted to clearly establish the man as the leader in the marriage, he could have used a word such as archon, which means leader, boss, or ruler. His use of kephale shows that that was not his purpose. He obviously wanted to undermine pagan thinking about the sexes and affirm the Genesis account of creation that woman was taken out of the man with both having a common source. Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, as the man says of the woman in Genesis 1:23.

In 5:23, Paul says that the husband is the “head” (kephale) of the wife in the same way that Christ is the “head” kephale of the Church. Noted New Testament scholar, F.F. Bruce, points that when Christ is spoken of as the kephale of the Church, it “suggests the vital union between Christ and the Church, sharers of a common life, which is his own risen life communicated to his people.” [5]

Kephale is, therefore, a word with connotations of intimacy and commitment. As the kephale of the Church, Christ loved (agape) the Church with a selfless love and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). Husbands are to follow His example in this regard only, for kephale is never used of Christ when His lordship or mastery over the Church is in view.

It thus becomes obvious that Paul’s point in Ephesians 5:21-33 is not about who has authority over whom. His point is about commitment and intimacy in the marriage relationship. His point is about the wife leaving all others and joining herself to her husband; and the husband giving up his own life for the sake of his wife, something unheard of in the ancient world.”

K____

Hi K____,

Thank you for taking the time to share your studies with me. I cut this from the article you quoted:

“Husbands are to follow His example in this regard only, for kephale is never used of Christ when His lordship or mastery over the Church is in view.”

“Follow His example in this regard only”??? Am I to believe those words of men or these words of God:

1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Here are a couple of verses which make that entire statement manifestly false:

Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head (kephale) of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 

That is the word of God, and this is what you have given me to contradict the truth that a wife should be subject to her husband in everything:

“Revolution Key #2   We Must Change Our Thinking about the Word “Head”

“But,” some will say, “what about the passage that says the husband is the ‘head’ of the wife” (Ephesians 5:21-33)? First of all, we must remember that “head” is a translation of the Greek word kephale, which referred to the physical head on one’s shoulders. The problem is that we have assumed that, like the English word “head,” kephale was used metaphorically to mean “boss” or “leader.” This has been a false and serious assumption.

“The Feb. 20, 1981 edition of Christianity Today carried a landmark article by seminary professor, Dr. Berkeley Mickelsen and his wife, Alvera, a professor of Journalism, in which they clearly documented that kephale did not carry such meanings in the ancient world. They demonstrated that, instead, it carried meanings of “origin” and “source.” Since the publication of their groundbreaking article, others have come forth to confirm the findings of the Mickelsens. Dr. David Scholer, late Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, says that the information now available concerning the word kephale “supports a new understanding in Christ by which men and women are viewed in a mutually supportive, submissive relationship”.[4]”

This is nothing more than the fruit of the effects of the modern feminist movement upon the churches of this world, and upon the women in those churches who simply will not be subject to their husbands as unto Christ in anything.

That “landmark article by professor, Dr. Berkeley Mickelsen and his wife, Alvera, a professor of Journalism,” is not “Revolution Key #2″, rather what it really is, is simply ‘Rebellion Key #2” against the plain simple Word of God :

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

The very fact the above scripture tells wives to submit to their own husbands lets us know that husband and wife are not just joined as “origin” and “source”, but as head and submissive mate into one body, which each part fulfills the functions for which God has designed them.

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

It is my prayer that you are sincerely seeking only the mind of Christ who is “subject unto God” just as wives are to be to their husbands:

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head [kephale] of every man is Christ; and the head [kephale] of the woman is the man; and the head [kephale] of Christ is God.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject [Greek: hupotasso] unto him [God the Father] that put all things under [hupotasso] him [Christ], that God may be all in all.

The Greek word translated ‘be subject’, and ‘put… under’ here in 1Co 15:28 is pivotal to understanding the significance of the word ‘head’ translated from the Greek word ‘kephale‘. This Greek word translated as ‘subject unto Him’ here in 1Co 15:28 is the same word translated ‘subject unto Christ’ in Eph 5:24. Here is that word, and here is what that word means:

G5293
ὑποτάσσω
hupotassō
hoop-ot-as’-so

From G5259 and G5021; to subordinate; reflexively to obey: – be under obedience (obedient), put under, subdue unto, (be, make) subject (to, unto), be (put) in subjection (to, under), submit self unto.

Here now are all the places this word appears in the New Testament:

G5293
ὑποτάσσω
hupotassō

Total KJV Occurrences: 49

subject, 14
Luk_2:51, Luk_10:17, Luk_10:20, Rom_8:7, Rom_8:20, Rom_13:1, Rom_13:5, 1Co_14:32, 1Co_15:28, Eph_5:24, Tit_3:1, 1Pe_2:18, 1Pe_3:22, 1Pe_5:5

put, 9
1Co_15:27-28 (4), Eph_1:22, Heb_2:5, Heb_2:8 (3)

subjection, 6
Heb_2:5, Heb_12:8-9 (3), 1Pe_3:1, 1Pe_3:5

submit, 6
1Co_16:16, Eph_5:22, Col_3:18, Jam_4:7, 1Pe_2:13, 1Pe_5:5

under, 4
1Co_14:34, 1Co_15:27-28 (2), Heb_2:8

made, 2
Rom_8:20, 1Pe_3:22

obedient, 2
Tit_2:5, Tit_2:9

obedience, 1
1Co_14:34

subdue, 1
Phi_3:21

subdued, 1
1Co_15:28

subjected, 1
Rom_8:20

submitted, 1
Rom_10:3

submitting, 1
Eph_5:21

Here is one of these verses which describes quite well the author of this article you are quoting to me:

Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted [Greek: hupotassō – same word for what wives are to do to their husbands in Eph 5:22] themselves unto the righteousness of God.

When sincerely seeking to know the mind of God it is much better to read every entry for a word than to take the biased words of so-called scholars. That is true when seeking to know what is the mind of God concerning any word of scripture.

So look up and read all those entries and then write me back, and tell me “the information now available concerning the word kephale “supports a new understanding in Christ by which men and women are viewed in a mutually supportive, submissive relationship”.[4]”

It is true that a couple should be a “mutually supportive [and] submissive relationship”. But saying that does not deal with the subject of headship at all. There will always be times when a couple has differences of judgment. Should we buy the house?; Which house or car should we buy?; How do we discipline the children?; How do we handle our finances? etc. Many women are married to unbelieving husbands who have no interest in the Word of God, but are basically good men, and the same is true for men who are married to unbelieving wives. In every case the wife is to “be subject to their own husbands in all things”, except when a husband requires his wife to disobey God, in which case she must again, submit (hupotasso) to the scriptures:

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

I am going to close by quoting one more of the verses which contain this Greek word, hupotasso, which demonstrates the absurdity of claiming the use by Paul of the word ‘kephale‘ for ‘head’ proves he was simply saying that husbands and wives should have a “mutually supportive relationship”.

Here is that verse:

Luk 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject [hupotasso] unto us through thy name.

Devils are no more ‘mutually supportive’ of Christ’s apostles than Dr. Berkeley Mickelsen and his wife, Alvera, are of the Word of God. This couple is speaking out of a carnal mind which “is not subject [hupotasso] unto the law of God neither can be”.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject [Greek: hupotasso] to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

So while it is true that Paul “could have used a word such as archon, which means leader, boss, or ruler”, it is manifestly untrue that “His use of kephale shows that that was not his purpose”. What absolute nonsense in light of how the devils are subject (Greek: hupotasso) unto Christ and in light of all the other entries for that word ‘hupotasso‘ in the New Testament.

It is my prayer the Lord will humble you to accept His Word over the carnal reasonings of some so-called experts who simply do not “tremble at [God’s] Word”, as I most definitely do, Lord willing.

Be subject to your husband, and enjoy and reap the benefits of obedience to the words of God.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

If you  have not yet done so be sure to read: The Head of Christ Is God

In service to Christ and His Words,

Mike

Mike

Thank you for answering. I am just searching for the truth, and your website is very informative. I love how the spirit leads me in the search for truth (although in my case he loves to lead me to sites where I need to question everything and see how the scriptures can be distorted and used for man’s purposes). I can see from reading your website that that is all part of the journey that we are on – realizing that we have all of these sins and evil within our flesh. I have been studying Revelation for the past 3 years, and I have read more interpretations of this book than I ever knew existed. I am reading what you have written, and the truth is resonating within my spirit.

To quote a question from your teaching:

”To whom is the book of Revelation addressed?
Who is it who will give account for the death of Christ and of all the prophets? Will it be the Romans? Will it be the Jews? It is of utmost importance that we know who is to give an accounting of all these things if we ever hope to understand this book of signs and symbols. What does all of the evidence of scripture indicate? To answer that question we need to notice to whom this entire book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, is addressed? Here are those to whom this book is addressed. Here are those who are responsible for the blood of Abel, the persecutions of the seed of the woman, the selling of Joseph into slavery and for the death of our own Savior:”

I do find that looking at the word head as source does give an added dimension to the scripture as in Christ is the source of the church and that God is the source of Christ. The word “head” in English also has the meaning of “source” as in the headwaters of a river.

1Co 11:3 YLT: and I wish you to know that of every man the head is the Christ, and the head of a woman is the husband, and the head of Christ is God.

That very same website had a definition of hupotasso that I had questions about since their definition only “worked” with the scriptures they defined and not all scriptures containing it. However, they didn’t bother to answer my question about hupotasso in other scriptures.

I find it interesting that you quoted Isaiah 66:2 since that is a verse that I use in my prayers every day. It was a scripture given to me by the spirit while interceding. The context was that in addition to the armour of God we also need a humble and contrite spirit.

Isaiah 66:2 (NIV2011) Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

I do not have a husband – I am a widow.

K____

Hi K____,

I am gratified that you were granted to consider the scriptures and that you were granted to place scripture above degrees bequeathed by men. The apostles of our Lord were considered to be “ignorant and unlearned” by the scholars of their day, but even those scholars had to “take notice they had been with Jesus”.

I am also happy that you are able to read and appreciate the revelation of Jesus Christ, and to see that it is addressed to you and me as what must be “read, heard, and kept” by all who are given eyes to see and ears to hear that verse of scripture, and all the following verses.

I am sorry to hear you are widowed, nevertheless you are still Christ’s bride, and He it was who inspired Paul’s words for us all to be subject to our husband as unto the Lord. So my advice is still applicable to you.

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.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Your brother who is also the bride of Christ,

Mike