Ezekiel 47:1–23 The Water that Flows from the Temple

[Study Aired Feb 10, 2025]

Introduction

In today’s study, the Lord showed Ezekiel the water emerging from beneath the threshold of the temple, its depth and rise, together with its healing virtue. The study also focuses on the trees growing along the banks of the river and the fruits they produce on a monthly basis.

After this the focus of the study is turned to the inheritance of the people of Israel and the extent of the land the Lord has apportioned to them. The Lord also gave instructions on how strangers dwelling among the people of Israel should be treated regarding the inheritance of the people of Israel.

This water issuing out of the temple, together with the inheritance of the people of Israel apply to us as we look at the spiritual significance of today’s study.

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

The Water flowing from the threshold of the Temple

Eze 47:1  Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. 

Being brought unto the door of the house on a positive note implies having the privilege to be given the treasure of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, it means being given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven or being shown the way to become an overcomer as seen in the story of Naaman when he went to the door of the house of Elisha.

2Ki 5:9  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
2Ki 5:10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 

Gen 43:19  And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

Gen 43:23  And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

The Lord bringing Ezekiel, a type of the Lord’s elect to the door of the house is therefore to let us know the way to become an overcomer. It was at the door that Ezekiel saw waters coming out of the threshold of the house. This water is the truth of the word of the Lord which is able to save us. The house here is the temple where we gather as the Lord’s elect. It is from our gathering together as the church of the firstborn or Jerusalem above that we see this water or the truth of the word of the Lord right at the very beginning of our walk with the Lord in the spirit.

James 1:21 So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. (AMP)

The fact that the water flows from the right side of the house is significant. The right side of the house is the assembly of the elect as shown in the following verses:

Eze 10:3  Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 

The cherubims represents the Lord’s elect. This water is therefore what every joint supplies to nourish us to grow up unto him in all things.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

The water flowing eastward is to let us know that this water is available to those whom the sun, which represents Christ is rising in their lives. On a positive note, the south side of the altar where the water is coming out of the temple signifies the truth of the word of the Lord which is able to turn again our captivity in Babylon or the churches of this world.

Psa 126:4  Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. 

Jdg 1:15  And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. 

Eze 47:2  Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 

It is the Lord who leads us through the north gate and around the outer east gate. The north signifies the Lord’s judgement of our old man or flesh. As indicated, the east refers to the rising of our Lord or the sun within us. We are therefore being told that it is those whom the Lord is establishing His kingdom within them who are being judged. As shown earlier, the right side represents the Lord’s elect. It is the through the Lord’s elect that we are shown the truth of the Lord’s words.

Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 4:6  Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

Eze 47:3  And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. 

The man having the measuring line is Christ. The man going eastward means the Lord coming to His people to establish His kingdom within them. It is the Lord who brings us through the waters. That means it is the Lord who comes to us with His words. The Lord measuring a thousand cubits (1000 = 10x10x10) of distance is to let us know that it is when our flesh has reached its fulness (significance of the number ten) that our Lord comes to us with His judgement to bring us to spiritual maturity (the significance of the three tens). The water reaching only our ankles signify that at this point of our walk in Christ, we are used only to the milk doctrines of His words, which we are admonished to move on to spiritual maturity through eating the meat of His words.

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

Eze 47:4  Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. 
Eze 47:5  Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. 

These verses show us that there are stages in our walk with the Lord in truth and in spirit. These stages are defined by a thousand cubits. As explained earlier, the number one thousand consists of three tens (1000 = 10x10x10). The number ten signifies the fulness of our flesh and the number three is about the process of spiritual maturity through judgement. This implies that we become spiritually mature in our walk with the Lord through the Lord’s judgement, as our eyes and ears are opened to understand more of the truth of His words represented here by the rise in the level of water from the ankle to the knee, to the loins, until we cannot walk in the water but swim in it.

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. 

Swimming in the water means that all our human endeavor has abated and that we are fully resting in the Lord to carry us along in our walk with Him. Our spiritual maturity is therefore defined by our spiritual insight which causes us to become more obedient to His words as we surrender our lives wholly to our Lord.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 

We know from the word of the Lord that we are able to understand the Lord’s eternal power and even the Godhead through the things that are made. This brings to mind what we learnt in Physics class during our schooling days. It is called upthrust or buoyancy and it is defined as an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. This force is what causes us to float in water. The larger the volume of water, the more the upthrust, making it easier to float. This implies that the more we come to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, the more we are given the power to rest in the Lord.

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: 

Eze 47:6  And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. 
Eze 47:7  Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 
Eze 47:8  Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 
Eze 47:9  And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh. 

The many trees on either side of the bank of the river represent the people of the world who shall be saved by the river that issues out of the temple as the river brings life to wherever it flows. The river flowing into the desert and into the sea, to make the sea fresh is another way of saying that all humanity shall be saved by the word of the Lord since the sea represents the flesh of humanity. Again, the very great multitude of fish also symbolize the people of the world.

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

1Ch 6:33  Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.

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

Verses 7 to 9 of Ezekiel 47 therefore show us the salvation of all men through the word of the Lord which shall take place in the lake of fire age.

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

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

1Ti 4:9  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.  

Eze 47:10  And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 
Eze 47:11  But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 

In verse 10, the fishers standing upon the brink of the river from Engedi even unto Eneglaim represent the Lord’s elect, who shall be the Lord’s vessels to administer the word of the Lord (the river) to all humanity to usher in the salvation of all men during the lake of fire age. Engedi means the fount of the kid and that of Eneglaim means the fountain of two calves. The reference to Engedi and Eneglaim is therefore to let us know that we shall serve as witnesses of the truth of the word of the Lord represented here as a fountain in dragging all humanity to Christ.

It is instructive to note that the miry places and the marishes in verse 11 shall not be healed. The miry places and the marshes represent clay or earth mixed with water. They signify the false doctrines which comes from our traditions and human wisdom. These false doctrines being given to salt means that they shall be burnt out or destroyed from all humanity, as salt can signify the fire of the word of the Lord, as shown in the following verses:

Mar 9:49  For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Deu 29:23  And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

Eze 47:12  And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. 

In verse 12, we are told that the trees shall grow as meat and that they shall bring forth new fruits according to their months as they are nourished by the water that comes forth out of the sanctuary. This is to let us know that in the fulness of time, all humanity shall become like Christ who is the tree of life having the full understanding of the word of the Lord which brings healing to all nations. We find this verse also mentioned in Revelation chapter 22 as we are given additional information of the trees bearing twelve manner of fruits as follows:

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.

The trees bearing twelve manner of fruits is the same as saying that all humanity shall be like Christ, as the number twelve is the number of Christ.

Our Inheritance

Eze 47:13  Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. 
Eze 47:14  And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 

In these verses, we are dealing with our inheritance as the Lord’s elect. In a positive sense, we are the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph in this case represents our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our Lord Jesus Christ who has been given a double or two portions for being the firstborn of all creation.

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

Deu 21:15  If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
Deu 21:16  Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
Deu 21:17  But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. 

The Lord has assured us of an inheritance as He lifts His hand in verse 14 to make us overcomers. In view of this inheritance which is the joy that is set before us, we are required to endure to the very end, just as our Lord Jesus Christ endured the cross and is sitting on the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Eze 47:15  And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; 
Eze 47:16  Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. 
Eze 47:17  And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. 

Here in these verses, we are given the characteristics of our inheritance in Christ. Hethlon means a hiding place. Other names mentioned are Zedad which means a mountain side and Hamath which indicates fortress. These names are all to show us about the surety or safety of our inheritance in Christ. This is what the Lord says about our inheritance which is consistent with these names of the northern boundary of Palestine:

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 
Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Other names of the cities on the northern border such as Berothah which means wells and Hazar-enan signifying village of fountain are to show us the availability of water which signifies the word of the Lord which will sustain us in Him. This is the river that proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb to nourish us.

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:

The surety of our inheritance and the word of the Lord to nourish us is what gives us a double-fold hope which is the meaning of Sibraim, a city also on the northern border of Israel’s inheritance.

Eze 47:18  And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. 
Eze 47:19  And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward. 
Eze 47:20  The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.

The key cities on the eastern border were Hauran which means cave land and Gilead which indicates a rocky region. The names of these cities are to show us the safety of our inheritance in Christ. The Jordan River serves as the border between Gilead and the land of Israel. Again, this Jordan river on a positive note is the word of the Lord which nourishes us in Him.

The southern border starts from Tamar and continues to the waters of contention or strife at Kadesh. To the people of the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon, the word of the Lord which nourishes us is contentious or produces strife. That is to say that for those who are dying, the word of God is foolishness but to us, His elect, it is the power of God.

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 

The city on the boundary of the western border is Hamath which means fortress. That implies the surety of our inheritance in Christ who is a fortress for us. It is instructive to note that the sea is mentioned as part of each of the borders. This is to remind us of our rule over the flesh of humanity as part of our inheritance. When Joshua was leading the people of Israel in their attack of Jericho, he told the people the following:

Jos 6:16  And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. 

Indeed, the Lord has given us victory over the flesh.

Eze 47:21  So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. 
Eze 47:22  And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 
Eze 47:23  And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD. 

Dividing the land according to the tribes of Israel means the Lord calling His elect from all the nations of the world to inherit His promise.

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. 

In verse 22, we are told that our inheritance is by lot. This implies that it is the Lord who has predetermined us for an inheritance. As we are aware, the Lord has selected His overcomers even before the foundation of this world.

Jos 14:2  By lot was their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe.

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

In modern times, this is what Proverbs 16:33 means: we may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall. It implies that it is the Lord who has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world to possess an inheritance.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

In verses 22 and 23, strangers sojourning among the people of Israel are also entitled to an inheritance among the people of Israel. The children born by these foreigners among the people of Israel are regarded as part of the people of Israel. We, who are classified as Gentiles by the people of Israel are now no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. We, His elect, are therefore entitled to an inheritance as we represent the spiritual Jews.

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.   

Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We thank the Lord for showing mercy to us to be counted as fellow citizens of the household of God. May His name be praised. Amen!!

5: Events That Typify How We Must Come Out of Exile by God’s Power

[Study Aired October 10, 2024]

This section of our study is really the most open-ended in my mind, because we can talk about any miracle of Christ and see it as a deliverance from the exile from evil spirits that God sends (1Sa 16:15). The world does not understand that God sends evil spirits, controlling the light and darkness and working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Isa 45:7 , Eph 1:11-12).

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

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

Without the faith to see and believe this, we will be deprived of knowing how great God’s purpose is within all of those situations of spiritual bondage that He causes so that He can then deliver the person, or persons from it. What we are told is that all of those typical miracles of Christ represent the greater works of conversion that God will manifest through the saints, both in this age and in ages to come, and is the reason Christ told his disciples that they would do greater works than these (Joh 14:12); greater works than Christ who did not convert a single soul during his ministry, knowing that this time of conversion would only begin with the church on the day of Pentecost.

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Here are some events that stand out in regards to how God created situations that had us in a bondage, representing sin at an appointed time in our life, and created to the glory of God who would deliver that person or persons from that bondage.

The first verses we will consider are in chapter 9 of the book of John, which hold the principle that is true for all captivity that happens in the flesh of mankind, where we read of ‘a blind man from birth’, representing spiritual blindness that was taken away, but not before Christ explained why it was there in the first place (Joh 9:1-5).

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Restoring physical sight, healing the lame, or curing any and all illness, is a matter of sweeping the house clean, “he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished”(Mat 12:44), by gaining dominion over that spirit, which healing does occur in Babylon. This is from where God’s elect are called out of in order to do greater miracles, ‘greater works than these’ (Rev 13:13 , Joh 14:12). Those greater works are speaking of being able to give spiritual eyesight to those that God drags to the body of Christ, along with spiritual hearing that is the greater miracle granted to the elect of God (Mat 13:16).

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

This initial dominion that God grants us over our flesh is for the period of time that He has ordained and is preceded by “seven other spirits more wicked than himself”. The first works, or cleansing of the ‘wood, hay and stubble’, are the events that God uses to seek an occasion against us with seven spirits worse. The number ‘seven’ demonstrates the complete bondage an overcomer of ‘wood, hay and stubble’ has when they cannot give all glory to God for that which He has worked in our lives, freeing us from the ‘wood hay and stubble’ (1Co 4:7). It is then, if God is working with us as His elect (Rev 18:4), that those “seven other spirits more wicked than himself” will bring us into a captivity, or place of deeper and more complete exile into sin, which only by God’s grace will be overcome. This parable, in Matthew chapter twelve, is really telling us how we must ‘lose our first love’ and then go into a place of complete captivity in order, Lord willing, to be received of our Father through his chastening grace upon our old man of perdition that must be destroyed in order for us to give all glory to God for all things, light and darkness, peace and evil (Mat 12:43-45 , Tit 2:11-12 , Rev 15:8 , Heb 12:6 , Php 2:12-13).

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.

Being a disciple of Christ by believing on him and overcoming any number of vices, is just the beginning of our coming out of exile. It is the “disciple indeed” who is crushed under the stone having all those ‘seven spirits worse’ cast from us and destroyed, through a life-long process of overcoming that complete bondage to sin, especially the sin of self righteousness that will abound more and more at the end of the age (Rev 17:11 , Mat 24:12).

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Just how wicked is that man of perdition that God plans to destroy with the brightness of his coming? I would say these verses, (2Th 2:2-10), appropriately describe our deepest and darkest place of exile, and none of us were even aware that we were there until the Son of righteousness came into our heavens and began the process of taking us out of our spiritual exile, delivering us from Satan’s spirit that operates mightily in the harlot churches of this world (Rev 17:5). We are humbled to our core as we come to see how enslaved we were to that harlot system and now must go through a process of fiery judgement (1Pe 4:12 , 1Pe 4:17 , Act 14:22) in order to learn of the patience and faith of the saints (Rev 14:12), as we are grafted into the body of Christ, ‘possessing our souls patiently’, which is only possible through Christ (Mat 24:1-51 , Rev 14:1-12).

2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

As stated to the 70 disciples that Christ gave dominion over spirits, just like sweeping a house clean of an evil spirit, this is not conversion but a starting point that will result in seven spirits worse coming back to that swept and clean house to completely [7] dominate that life that was ‘cleansed’ of the “wood, hay and stubble”.

Luk 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

A worse thing does come upon us after we initially repent of our ‘wood, hay and stubble sins’ overcome in Babylon, all by God’s design (1Cor 3:12-15). That worse thing, if God is going to cleanse us in this life, is self-righteousness represented by cankered “gold, silver, precious stones”, wrapping Truth around the idols of our hearts which must needs be purified in this life if we are going to be His jewels that are being judged and prepared in this age (Mal 3:1-3 , Mal 3:17).

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

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

That ‘something’ that comes upon us [seven spirits worse] is the harder and more deceitful and undetected sin of self-righteousness, represented by seven spirits worse that come back, with the one spirit glorying in the things that God has done in our lives [victory over wood, hay and stubble], as if we had done them (1Co 4:7-10). That spirit which does not acknowledge God’s complete sovereignty in our lives is the one that must be destroyed, and will be in this age if God is judging us in this age.

1Co 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
1Co 4:8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
1Co 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
1Co 4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
1Co 4:11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
1Co 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
1Co 4:13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

What Christ directed his disciples to rejoice in was not in having power over these spirits (Luk 10:17-20). Babylon can have dominion over this as well, which creates strong delusion in the earth. No, it was the fact that their names were written in heaven, and as such they would, in time, once the holy spirit was given on Pentecost, have dominion over Satan whom Christ in this parable said he ‘beheld him fall from heaven like lightning’, foreshadowing what He was going to do in their minds by the power of God’s spirit dwelling within them (Luk 10:17-20 , Col 1:27).

Luk 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

“Your names are written in heaven”, our heavens, the elect’s heavens who, like the other parable of the seven spirits worse taking over the swept and cleaned house, are blessed to have a stronger man come in after this event and bind those seven other spirits completely, because our names our written in heaven and Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

What is in the world is sin, and that sin is something we will need to overcome the rest of our lives by dying daily, and if Christ is the author and finisher of our faith, He is writing our books to that end that we will be more than conquerors through him, the fit man in the wilderness, who can direct the scapegoat as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). This bondage to sin and the deliverance from it is a little and by little process (Exo 23:30) that God has called us unto. It is continually being demonstrated for us throughout God’s word and in the lives of those who are God’s workmanship being brought unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

[Posted July 1, 2024]

Hi Mike,

I wanted to ask you what the Bible says about people in the world who claim they have spiritual gifts to heal physical ailments or diseases. I know we can heal ourselves through prayers and having the mind of Christ by thinking of things of good report and pure (Php 4:8).

However how can we try the spirit of someone who has the gift of healing? For example, I found this person on line who claims she can heal.

YbiTChrist
B____

Hi B____,

Thank you for your patience and for your question.

You ask:

“…how can we try the spirit of someone who has the gift of healing? For example, I found this person on line who claims she can heal.

I clicked on that link, and at the top of the home page in large letters I saw the words ‘reiki‘ and ‘tarot‘. Both are doctrines of demons which take our eyes off of Christ and put our attention and trust in ourselves and in a vague ‘life force’.

Here is also another proof positive of the total lack of respect for the words of the Lord expressed throughout this website:

“40 min session – £60
“Or you can buy a package of 3 sessions for £170” (End Quote)

Can you even imagine Christ saying such a thing to any blind, lame, leprous, or epileptic seeking His mercies??? I certainly cannot, and I have no problem discerning the demonic influence of this website.

Healings and miracles must never be conflated with truth and obedience to Christ’s doctrines. Christ’s doctrine concerning healing or anything else is not “40 min session – £60, Or you can buy a package of 3 sessions for £170” (End Quote)

In stark contrast, this is Christ’s doctrine concerning everything He had to offer mankind:

Mat 10:8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The fact is that the scriptures actually warn us that healings and miracles are two of the methods by which the Lord sends His “strong delusion” upon this world:

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The “delusion” with which the Lord is deceiving this world is not called ‘weak delusion’. It is called “strong delusion” because when the Lord “deceives that prophet” His “strong delusion” is irresistible for those who are not firmly grounded upon “The Rock” and upon His doctrines. Those who are given to love healings and miracles more than obedience to the Lord’s doctrines will hear these words when they are resurrected from the dead at the great white throne judgment:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. [“… freely give” (Mat 10:8)]
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [Healings and miracles (Rev 13:11-15)]
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Christ does not contradict the claims of these apostates. He simply replies, “depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”

So once again I repeat: healings and miracles are never to be conflated with Truth and obedience. Healings and miracles happen to both be mentioned as the very means by which the Lord is deceiving the masses and multitudes who come to Him:

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb [He could heal and perform miracles, but…], and he spake as a dragon… [“40 min session – £60, Or you can buy a package of 3 sessions for £170” (End Quote)]
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

This is not speaking of fake miracles. These are real miracles which the Lord uses to try our faith in His Words and whether we will be faithful to His doctrines:

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, [with “strong delusion” (2Th 2:11)] 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 [or her];

I hope these very clear scriptures help you to see what a false prophet this woman is. This entire website is nothing more than deceitful New Age doctrine to be avoided like the plague.

Your brother who struggles with you, Mike

Malachi 4:1-6  Healing In His Wings

[Study Aired January 18, 2024]

Last week we looked at how John the baptist was the messenger of God who prepared the way of the Lord in the wilderness for Christ (Isa 40:3-5, Mat 3:1-3), as a type of the elect bride of Christ who will be prepared to receive her husband (Rev 19:7) in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye at the first resurrection (1Th 4:16-18). 

Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Our life of overcoming in this flesh is a process that is explained by John himself who realized he must decrease and Christ must increase (Joh 3:30). In John’s mind, that was a very physical statement, as he was acknowledging the greatness of Christ in the earth (Joh 1:27), but for the elect it is an inward statement that we are blessed to contemplate as we think upon our hope of glory within, Jesus Christ, the treasure in earthen vessels (Col 1:27, 2Co 4:7), who increases in us by the growth that God gives, even as we decrease (1Co 3:6-8). 

The meek who inherit the earth are typified by John the baptist, and through Christ God’s elect become the generation who have no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3  how that fleshly confidence is taken away Mat 24:34, Heb 12:6, Heb 5:8), while at the same time we don’t cast away our confidence in Christ, which has great recompense of reward (Heb 10:35), thanks to the faith of Christ that makes it possible for us to endure until the end in order to be saved in this age (Luk 22:31-32, Mat 24:13). That recompense of reward is to be the bride of Christ and to be blessed to inherit the earth as His bride (Mat 5:5, Oba 1:21, Gal 4:27), we being His inheritance and He ours (Eph 1:18-19, Psa 16:5-11).

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

Psa 16:5  The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
Psa 16:6  The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
Psa 16:7  I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
Psa 16:8  I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Psa 16:9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

In this last chapter of Malachi, we’ll look at how all the prophets of old, including John, prophesied not to themselves but to us, the body of Christ (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11), and how Elias who had restored all things in his day, and John the baptist in his day, are all types and shadows of the true spiritual restoration which will come to the world through the church, of which Christ is the head (Eph 3:10, Col 1:18). Christ is our preeminent forerunner in all things (Col 1:18), and His body, the church, must fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ (Col 1:24) identifying with this statement of Christ (Mar 9:12-13), being “accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Rom 8:36) who must supernaturally be armed with the mind of Christ, the faith of Christ to endure unto the end in order to be “more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

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.

Mar 9:12  And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.
Mar 9:13  But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

[John coming in the spirit of Elias is a parable of how Christ came in the spirit of His father and how we are sent as Christ was sent with the same spirit (Joh 20:21, Joh 6:37, 1Jn 4:17) Whatever was restored was restored up to that point which God had intended according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). Christ went on to say that, with God’s holy spirit, the body of Christ would do greater works than what He had done, speaking of the spiritual restoration of those called and chosen in this age, and that which the body of Christ would do beyond this age as well (Joh 14:12)]

Mal 3:1  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

This day “that shall burn as an oven” is referring to the day of our visitation, the day of the Lord for those who are being judged now (1Pe 4:17), and also referring to the lake of fire or great white throne judgment for those who will be judged then (Rev 20:14-15). 

Ultimately all the sin of the world will be washed by the blood of the lamb (Joh 1:29) and “all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble“, which represents all the sin of the world that God tells us “the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Those things are first burnt out of the elect so that their lives can be transformed and conform with Christ’s life (Rom 12:2). We are preserved through that judgment (Jud 1:1, 1Th 5:23) that takes away all of our false foundations that we all start off with in Babylon, represented by this statement – “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.“

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

Mar 4:24  And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
Mar 4:25  For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch“

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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;
Php 2:16  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;^H3671 and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

It is the “Sun of righteousness” that bears us on eagle’s wings (Exo 19:4) causing us to “grow up as calves of the stall.” Christ represents the bullock in the offerings of the old covenant (Exo 29:14), and it is those who fear His name who will “grow up as calves of the stall” just as He grew up fearing God and was heard of Him “in that he feared” (Heb 5:7-8, Luk 12:5). 

Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings^H3671, and brought you unto myself.

Exo 29:14  But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

The bullock is taken without the camp to be burnt and when we go without the camp with Christ who is represented by that bullock and lay down our lives for each other, we fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake (Col 1:24), a dying daily event of having no fear of what man can do to our flesh (Mat 10:28), but rather supernaturally going where our flesh does not want to go, even giving no thought in that hour what you shall speak, not even premeditating on it, because the Lord will be our strength and the holy spirit will give us what to speak in that hour as God makes “known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27, Joh 21:18-19, Mar 13:11-13). Christ has preeminence in fulfilling all these living sacrifices of the old covenant that represent what he has done for us, and because we partake of the life of Christ through our communion in him (1Co 10:16), we also can be strengthened as he was to go without the camp and fulfill God’s will in this life through those sacrifices. In other words carrying our cross and following Christ is what is preparing us for whatever God has set before us to His glory (1Jn 4:17, Heb 13:13-16).

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Mal 4:3  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Christ is our strength, as the bullock within (Col 1:27) who gives us the power to “tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.” Like the bullock that is sacrificed without the camp and burnt until there is nothing left but ashes, so is our first Adamic life put off through a life time of much tribulation (Act 14:22) that burns up that wickedness, eventually, onto the third day (Luk 13:32), leaving “neither root nor branch” within our naturally carnal and desperately wicked hearts (Jer 17:9), to the point where we can overcome the wickedness of this world within and without and not be controlled any longer by our former conversation in the earth as we go without the camp with Christ (Eph 2:1-6).

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;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The question always remains, “Who is doing this work within us?” As always, the answer never changes. It is Christ ‘the bullock’ working within us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure. If our eyes are set on the strength which God has promised He will give us through Christ, we will be more than conquerors through Him, and we will not grow weary in well doing (Gal 6:9-10) as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure in our lives (Php 2:12-13).

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Exo 29:14  But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

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 [Col 1:27, Joh 14:20].

Mal 4:4  Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

Verse four of Malachi is juxtaposed against the last two verses. In verse four we’re told to “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant.” That is the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9) that does not change the heart, and all the “statutes and judgments” only typify a better covenant, the law of the spirit of life in Christ (Rom 8:2) which will be typified by the prophet Elijah whose life is a shadow of the life of God’s elect who have been called to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.”

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

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

The law was given in Horeb^H2722, a name that is typical of how the law cannot produce any good spiritual fruit in anyone’s life: [desolate ,  parch (through drought), that is, (by analogy) to desolate, destroy, kill: – decay, (be) desolate, destroy (-er), (be) dry (up), slay, X surely, (lay, lie, make) waste].

Horeb  H2722 chôrêb kho-rabe’

From H2717; desolate; Choreb, a (generic) name for the Sinaitic mountains: – Horeb.

Total KJV occurrences: 17

H2717 chârab    chârêb khaw-rab’, khaw-rabe’

A primitive root; to parch (through drought), that is, (by analogy) to desolate, destroy, kill: – decay, (be) desolate, destroy (-er), (be) dry (up), slay, X surely, (lay, lie, make) waste.

Total KJV occurrences: 40

The law was for all of Israel, which in this instance Israel typifies all the world that are under governors and tutors, under the schoolmaster, whether that schoolmaster is the ten commandments for Jews and Christians or the law unto themselves that gentiles are in the world (Rom 2:14-15). 

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

Both parties are governed by law, but that law does not convert the heart of mankind. Rather it shows us how inadequate we are and incapable of our own selves to reflect a righteous spirit which can only come from God (Rom 7:13). Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags to God (Isa 64:6), and that will be revealed in time by God who creates this contrast for humanity so that in time we will all be able to “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” within ourselves first and foremost (Mal 3:18).

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 

What exactly is “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” in which Elijah the prophet will be sent just prior to its unfolding? The dreadful day of the LORD is the dreadful day when our old man is exposed by the brightness of Christ’s coming, nothing more and nothing less (2Th 2:2-13). Elijah typifies the spirit of God that comes into our lives to destroy that man of sin on the throne of our hearts preparing the way for the physical Christ in his case as oppose to these verses in Thessalonians that reveal a time when the holy spirit will convict those who God has given his spirit (Rom 8:9) so that they can be prepared for the return of Christ as His bride (Rev 19:7).

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2Th 2:13  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

In the last verse of Malachi, we see the fruit of what Christ coming into our land produces (Isa 26:9), and it is an admonition for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear today that God is able to turn us to observe His truth (Joh 6:44). He is the one who turns the heart of the fathers to the children, meaning He gives us the desire and strength to labor in His word and continue in the truth (Joh 8:31-32). The doctrine is likened to seed and children, and if we are blessed to have a hunger and thirst for that word, we will continue to be drawn as disciples to Christ who alone can satiate that hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mat 5:6).

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. 

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The father represents the head and Christ is our head, and if he is leading us he is turning us to God’s word “fathers to the children.” He is also using the church to receive those who are being dragged to Christ “children to their fathers“, and so Christ admonishes us to not just look to our own needs but to all the needs (Php 2:4) of the body as well and to receive the children as Christ did (Mat 18:10-14).

Php 2:4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Mat 18:10  Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 18:11  For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Mat 18:12  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
Mat 18:13  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Mat 18:14  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

The children are drawn to the fathers, meaning to the mature among us, to the leaders, to the heads in the church, and our response must always be to support and love one another, bearing the infirmity of the weak, the young spiritually (Rom 15:1-3), and not taking for granted what it is that our Father is doing in His house (Heb 2:3, Heb 10:25).

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 
Rom 15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. 
Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

If we do not pay heed to this commandment, and to all of God’s commandments, it will be of the LORD as well, and He will “come and smite the earth with a curse” for our inattentiveness to what He is accomplishing within the body of Christ. If we are called and chosen and faithful to the end, that chastisement will only make us that much more zealous and capable through Christ to accomplish that which He has called us to in this age (Heb 12:6-7, Tit 2:11-12, Eph 2:8).

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

God has already determined from the foundation of the world who it is that will be able to endure until the end of this age and find spiritual healing in this life via the “healing in his wings” (Mat 23:37, Gal 4:26), which typifies the life of Christ within them, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.”

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. [“even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings“]

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city [the church that says we will go to Jerusalem above where we are raised in heavenly places Lord willing], and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:[spiritual increase that comes from God alone (1Co 3:6-9)]
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil [Rom 3:27].

2Ki 5:1-10  “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you”

[Study Aired September 15, 2022]

2Ki 5:1  Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
2Ki 5:2  And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 
2Ki 5:3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
2Ki 5:4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 
2Ki 5:5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
2Ki 5:6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
2Ki 5:7  And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
2Ki 5:8  And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 
2Ki 5:9  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 
2Ki 5:10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 

In God’s word, the condition known as leprosy that Naaman had is typical of the first man Adam who was ‘marred in the hand of the Potter’ and ‘shapen in iniquity’ as we all are (Jer 18:4, Psa 51:5-6). The good news is that what God desires, He will accomplish through His spirit which we are told is greater than him who is in the world, which is all that is within us, the leprous condition of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1Jn 2:16, 1Jn 4:4). All men will be saved from this necessary evil of being in sinful flesh, in other words, and that will be accomplished each man in his order (Psa 51:6, Joh 4:24, 2Sa 14:14, Col 1:27, 1Co 15:22-23).

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.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

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

Psa 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

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

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

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

“The abundance of the things which he possesseth” of Luke 12:15 is typified in this section of scripture by Naaman who represents us in our flesh, our many good works, and yet despite those many wonderful works and titles, “captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour.” God will bring all mankind into remembrance and will never let us forget that we’re leprous in His sight (“but he was a leper“), and only by the life of Christ and the cleansing that His life brings will we become a new creation to the glory of God, in a kingdom that leprous flesh and blood cannot inherit (1Co 15:50).

Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

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

2Ki 5:1  Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper. 
2Ki 5:2  And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

This little maid^H5291 represents God’s elect in our early immature stage of our calling when we are taken captive by the false doctrines of this world. We’re subservient to the Nicolaitan spirit within the churches of Babylon that ruled over us (Rev 2:6, Rev 2:15), and so we “waited on Naaman’s wife” who represents a church whose husband is another Jesus, a leprous Naaman who has power to rule over all the earth (Dan 2:39-40).

Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Dan 2:39  And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 
Dan 2:40  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

Naaman represents the strength we have in our flesh, and so he is described as a “captain of the host of the king of Syria,” who “was a great man with his master, and honourable,” and “a mighty man in valour“, yet unaware, as all flesh is without Christ within them, that every good and perfect gift comes from above and all glory and honor is of the Lord (Jas 1:17). Even with God’s spirit within us we can easily glory in that which God has given us (1Co 4:7) forgetting that “because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria:” (Php 2:12-13) which just further confirms that all flesh is leprous in God’s sight (“but he was a leper“) and it requires constant vigilance on our part to keep under our bodies, “and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (Rom 7:19, 1Co 9:27), becoming conceited and thinking that the works I’ve done should somehow be attributed to my own efforts without completely acknowledging Christ as the one who is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Rom 11:11-12, Rom 11:17-18, Rom 11:20, Php 2:12-13)

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

1Co 4:7  For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (Rom 11:20)

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

This healing of Naaman is typical of us overcoming our flesh, the wood hay and stubble of our life (1Co 3:12-14), but it is also a form of strong delusion when we are delivered from fleshly sins or nations as was the case with Syria only to find out later that we came behind in no gift but were yet carnal (1Co 1:7, 1Co 3:3). All these signs and wonders, these victories that were given in our flesh, deceive the world, keeping them from seeing the only sign we need to know and understand and can’t unless Christ is in the heart of our earth judging our flesh in this life (Mat 12:39-40, 1Pe 4:17).

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

1Co 1:7  So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 

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

Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: (just because a sign is given does not mean that it is understood for what it is saying)
Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God [Mat 12:40]: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 

2Ki 5:3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
2Ki 5:4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

In time that little maid within us matures and starts to boldly come before the throne of grace to obtain  mercy in time of need, a time of need for the body of Christ now while we are in this corruptible flesh (Heb 4:16). The maid represents Babylon who we start overcoming by coming out of her and pointing to Elisha “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.” Elisha typifies Christ as the only one who can heal Naaman of his leprous condition (Joh 8:36).

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

“And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel” tells us that our witness in this world, our preaching the gospel to all men, is needful and necessary even if those seeds that are sown are only meant to mature at a later time in the lake of fire (Isa 55:11, Php 1:18, 1Co 15:58).

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

Php 1:18  What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

2Ki 5:5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

Naaman is given command by the king of Syria to, “Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.” These actions are  going to lead to the healing of Naaman’s flesh eventually which is typical of spiritual healing, and so the silver, gold and raiment that represent Christ’s righteousness are juxtaposed against the flesh represented by “ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment”.

Faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17) and it is only when we’re able to receive the command to “go to, go” that our faith will be tried and matured, which is symbolized by the ultimate healing that will come to Naaman when he is sent of the king to go see Elisha (Psa 107:20).

Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

2Ki 5:6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
2Ki 5:7  And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
2Ki 5:8  And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 

Elisha is essentially saying to the king of Israel, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” The king of Israel’s clothes being rent symbolizes the futility of our flesh that is so easily beset by sin and not able to be anything other than a doubting Thomas until Christ shows us His wounds by which we are healed (Joh 20:27, 1Pe 2:24-25).

Joh 20:27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1Pe 2:25  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

The king of Israel is us denying the works that God can do through the body saying, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive [The answer is, “Yes, with Christ in us as our hope of glory” (Rom 14:7-9)]

Rom 14:7  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 
Rom 14:8  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 
Rom 14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 

“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me” (Mat 8:26), is another way saying in type and shadow that the king of Israel was denying the faith that as saviors in Christ, we the elect, typified by Elisha, can bring healing to the world. The king was not convinced or persuaded of God’s power at this point (Oba 1:21, Rom 8:38-39).

Mat 8:26  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm [This great calm symbolizes the peace that passes all understanding which God alone can bring to us through Christ. (Php 4:7)].

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

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It takes “the man of God” Elisha, who typifies Christ, coming to us to reassure us that there is no need to “rent thy clothes” (Joe 2:13). Rather, “Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” We wrestle not against flesh and blood, and this king represents our lack of faith and inability to see that we are more than conquerors through Christ who can and will deliver us from all sin. The struggle we experience in the flesh is very real, as it was for Christ, but through it all we are admonished to remember that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We will be more than conquerors over them through Jesus Christ (Eph 6:12, Rom 8:37).

Joe 2:13  And rend your heart, [Lev 16:21] and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

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

[Christ, represented by Aaron, gives us the power to rend our hearts and not our garments as we’re given to confess all our iniquities and learn of how our Father in heaven is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil“]

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

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

2Ki 5:9  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 
2Ki 5:10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 

Naaman comes to the door of Elisha still in the strength of his flesh represented by “his horses and with his chariot“. He is only at the door, and Christ in type and shadow is not yet ruling over him (Gen 4:7). The command comes to Naaman as it does to us to, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, [complete repentance] and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” The flesh that becomes clean and comes to us is the positive use of flesh like the fleshly heart that is spoken of in Ezekiel 36:26 where there is no condemnation in this flesh and bones which represent the body of Christ (Rom 8:1, Eph 5:30).

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

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

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

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at these last verses in this chapter of Kings (2Ki 5:11-27), which have a strong emphasis on the truth that it is only in Christ and with the body of Christ that we can be healed and washed of all our iniquities.

2Ki 5:11  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 
2Ki 5:12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 
2Ki 5:13  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 
2Ki 5:14  Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 
2Ki 5:15  And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. 
2Ki 5:16  But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 
2Ki 5:17  And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. 
2Ki 5:18  In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. 
2Ki 5:19  And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. 
2Ki 5:20  But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.
2Ki 5:21  So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 
2Ki 5:22  And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 
2Ki 5:23  And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him. 
2Ki 5:24  And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed. 
2Ki 5:25  But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 
2Ki 5:26  And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 
2Ki 5:27  The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow. 

2Ki 2:11-25  “So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake”

[Study Aired August 4, 2022]

2Ki 2:11  And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
2Ki 2:12  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 
2Ki 2:13  He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
2Ki 2:14  And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
2Ki 2:15  And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
2Ki 2:16  And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 
2Ki 2:17  And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. 
2Ki 2:18  And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? 
2Ki 2:19  And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 
2Ki 2:20  And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
2Ki 2:21  And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
2Ki 2:22  So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. 
2Ki 2:23  And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 
2Ki 2:24  And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
2Ki 2:25  And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

Each joint of Christ’s body is contributing in love to the labor He has called us unto, of seeing every part of His bride come into the unity of the faith “and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). He leads us into paths of righteousness for His name’s sake that restore us (1Co 15:58, 1Ti 6:6-8, Psa 23:1-4), and we are being persuaded through that relationship of obedience to His word “for his name’s sake” (Rom 8:38), that it is Christ who is doing that labor within us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom, a kingdom within, now (Luk 17:21). This is understood by knowing God and His son (Joh 17:3) in a relationship that we’ve been promised that none can separate us from if we are His (Php 2:13, Luk 12:32, Joh 17:12), and these truths are really at the heart of what Elijah and Elisha’s journeys will mean to God’s elect who are being led by the spirit of God today (Rom 8:14-16).

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [Php 2:12], forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord [Php 2:13].

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out [1Co 15:50]. 
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content [the food and the raiment symbolize what we labor for with a hunger and thirst God gives us for His righteousness (Mat 5:6), a desire that God abundantly satiates as we seek the kingdom of God first and see all our needs met in Him (Mat 6:33-34)].

Last week’s study pointed to the transition of power that would be given to Elisha after Elijah went away, and it is a typical story written for the elect’s sake (1Co 10:11, 1Pe 1:12) of how the holy spirit would be sent to the church who were tarrying in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. They were told to wait on the Lord and the Lord, who does not change (Mal 3:6), will always be faithful to send the comforter to us as we learn to wait on Him, possessing our souls patiently (Luk 21:19) in Jerusalem above where we have been raised (Luk 24:49, Joh 16:7, Psa 27:14, Eph 2:6, Eph 3:10).

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: [“but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem“]

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, [“but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem” (Heb 10:25)]

This section of the book of Kings typifies for us how we can work out our own salvation with fear and trembling as a result of having His life within us (Php 2:12, Col 1:27, Rom 8:9). With that life of Christ within us we can “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18) and learn to rightly divide God’s word through a lifelong process of “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” within us that is needful if we are going to be able to try the spirits outside ourselves (2Co 10:5, 1Jn 4:1). These heavenly endeavors spoken of in 2Corinthians 10:5 describe our spiritual wrestling match in this life, which is not against flesh and blood and is carried out in weak and contemptible earthen vessels that must die daily, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Eph 6:12, Rom 8:13).

It is in Christ’s body, the church (Col 1:24, Eph 5:30), where we learn of ‘the principalities and powers in heaven‘ that we can rule over through Christ who is far higher than all those principalities and powers (Eph 1:21, Eph 2:6, Eph 3:10, Rom 8:37).

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 

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

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

At this stage in Elisha’s journey, he is being separated from Elijah where great miracles are manifesting outwardly, as they did for Paul on the road to Damascus and the early church on Pentecost. When we no longer know Christ after the flesh, typified by Elisha not seeing Elijah after he departed in a whirlwind, then we begin to believe that Christ is abiding within us, and with that belief we can now do the work of God, works that will be typified by the actions of Elisha that we will be looking at in this study (Joh 6:28-29).

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

2Ki 2:11  And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

The first thing we notice is that when we know Christ after the flesh and then don’t know Him in that regard, it takes great spiritual forces to separate us from that immature initial way of knowing Christ, and this separation is typified by this moment when Elijah and Elisha are still walking together both in their flesh and then “a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven“. The chariot represents Christ who is the vessel of honor God gave to the church so He can increase and mature within us as a result of having our senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Heb 5:14). The discerning does not come about except there is power from God being given to help us through the process of having our senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Christ is that power in our heavens who makes this possible along with His word and His life within us, represented by “a chariot of fire, and horses of fire” that give us the ability to part way with our corrupt flesh, forsaking ungodliness and worldly lust (Tit 2:12).

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

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Christ is the one represented by Elijah who has the preeminence in all things (Col 1:18) as Elijah, in type and shadow, was the first one to go on to perfection, which was typified by this separation from Elisha. The “chariot of fire, and horses of fire” represent the power of God’s word that separates us from our fleshly thinking via the judgment of God that is progressively explained in the four horses spoken of in the book of revelation (Rev 6:1). These “horses of fire” are a precursor to the horses talked about in Zechariah 6:1-5 and then later in Revelation 6:1 and reveal a progression of judgment that matures the body of Christ.

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. 

Zec 6:1  And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. 
Zec 6:2  In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; 
Zec 6:3  And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. 
Zec 6:4  Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? 
Zec 6:5  And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

Rev 6:1  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

[It will be the matured resurrected first fruits of God having had the experience of  “These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth” accomplished in their heavens that will instruct others as to what these things mean saying, “Come and see.“]

2Ki 2:12  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 

Elijah told Elisha “if thou see me when I am taken from thee” then what you have asked me regarding receiving the double portion of spirit will happen (2Ki 2:10). In order to see Christ in whom we are hidden from the world (Col 3:3), we must have God’s spirit within us typified by the double portion that was given to Elisha, and so Elijah being taken away represents our now knowing or seeing Christ in the spirit, no longer needing to have signs of any nature (Joh 20:29) to convince us of our relationship with our Father and Christ and each other which now manifests within us (Joh 14:10, Joh 14:20) and brings forth the fruit of love that witnesses to this  outward relationship (Luk 6:43-46, Luk 17:20-21).

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

Luk 6:43  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Luk 6:44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart [Col 1:27, Mat 13:46, Mat 6:21] bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you [Joh 20:29].

This section of scripture where Elisha says “And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof” is also typical of this section of scripture in Acts 1:9-11, and the last part of the verse which reads “And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces” is a type and shadow of the veil of the temple being rent, which temple we are (1Co 3:16) and can only be rent by Christ within us who gives us power over our flesh (Heb 10:20), or former conversation represented by Elisha’s old clothes that must be rent. The renting represents our putting off our flesh through Christ who is the faithful witness who makes this possible, and so it is in “two pieces” (Mar 15:38, Joh 8:36, Rev 3:14, Php 1:6).

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. 

Mar 15:38  And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. 

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

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

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: [Heb 12:2]

2Ki 2:13  He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 
2Ki 2:14  And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

After our flesh is rent, our own righteousness represented by the garment of Elisha (Isa 4:1), we are found in this ‘abased’ position represented by standing “by the bank of Jordan”^H3383 and begin to do the work of God symbolized by taking “up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him“. That it “fell from” Elijah is symbolic language of how the comforter is sent to us coming from heaven, from above (Joh 14:26, Jas 1:17)

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Joh 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

It is with “the mantle of Elijah that fell from him“, representing the righteousness of Christ, that we can be given power to continue to search for the Lord with all our hearts (Isa 61:10, Rev 19:8, Jer 29:13).

Isa 61:10  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 

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. 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

We rightly divide God’s word like Elisha used this mantle of clothing to part the waters when he “smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” Smiting the waters is akin to these statements the apostle Paul made in 2 Timothy 2:15 and 1 Corinthians 9:27.

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

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 

The water can represent our flesh or the word of God that must be tried within us through affliction, persecution, tribulation, and suffering, in order for these symbolic words to become a reality in our lives: “and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over“. The parting “hither and thither” is a witness to that symbolic language telling us that the word of God must be rightly divided in order for us to be baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3) which baptism was also typified in the Red Sea when Israel crossed over (1Co 10:2, 1Co 10:11,  1Pe 3:21).

Christ is found in our lives by our being received of him through chastening and scourging that is represented by the smiting of the waters in this story (Heb 12:6). It is only when we cease from sinning as a result of suffering (2Ti 2:12) that we can go forward in our walk, and this increase is a gift from God who provides the water and the seed of which He gives increase (1Co 3:6). Notice that Elisha does what Elijah did first (2Ki 2:8, 2Ki 2:14) reminding us that Christ like us was tempted in all diverse manner and had to overcome all the pulls of His flesh and the powers and principalities in heavenly places as His body the church is able to do now through Him (Heb 4:14-16, Rom 5:10). With this gift from God we are becoming as Christ is (1Jn 4:17), and with the mind of Christ we can live to the will of God (1Pe 4:1-2) as this story typifies.

2Ki 2:8  And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

2Ki 2:14  And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

2Ki 2:15  And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 
2Ki 2:16  And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 
2Ki 2:17  And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. 
2Ki 2:18  And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho^H3405) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? 

The sons of the prophets see Elisha now at Jericho^H3405 which is a symbolic name that reveals that Elisha is now reflecting the light of Christ in type and shadow. The prophets saw him and said “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha“. It rests on the prophets of old but it abides within God’s elect today (Rom 9:8). These prophets have been given a spirit of discernment and believe that Elisha is anointed and so “they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him“. What they’ve come to ask of Elisha however represents the idol of their own hearts and is not what Elisha wants to do. Elisha is told “there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master” which is a shadow of how we seek after the Lord with our own strength and not by being led by the holy spirit (Rom 8:14-16).

H3405 yerı̂ychô    yerêchô    yerı̂ychôh  yer-ee-kho’, yer-ay-kho’, yer-ee-kho’

Perhaps from H3394; its month; or else from H7306; fragrant; Jericho or Jerecho, a place in Palestine: – Jericho.

H3394 yârêach yaw-ray’-akh   From the same as H3391; the moon: – moon.

H7306 rûach roo’-akh  A primitive root; properly to blow, that is, breathe; only (literally) to smell or (by implication perceive (figuratively to anticipate, enjoy): – accept, smell, X touch, make of quick understanding.

These fifty prophets represent the way we can falsely apply grace in our search for Christ and reveal how we will not find him even as these prophets will not find Elijah who typifies Christ. God therefore answers us according to the idol of  our heart with all such endeavors as Elisha did with these prophets who continued to urge him to let them go search for Elijah by their own efforts (Eze 14:4). These words of the prophets, “Let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send” reminds us of the persistent spirit in Babylon to follow a man after the flesh (2Co 5:16, Heb 12:14).  Matthew 24:26 also mirrors this spirit shown to us by these prophets in regard to how the world says where Christ is, “Peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.“

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Mat 24:26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

They were truly persistent and, trying to convince Elisha against his own will, the end result of that persistence is: “they sought three days, but found him not.” The fruit of that search yielded nothing; no stay of bread or water was found, represented by Elijah who is a type of Christ who they did not find. It also took three days to come to that conclusion as these actions represent judgment that was upon these ever-searching-but-never-able-to-come-to-the-knowledge-of-the-Lord prophets (2Ti 3:7).

When the search was over Elisha says, “And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?” But we do go, and all of our searching in Babylon is needful to create contrast for when we are given to find the pearl of great price, Jesus Christ (Mat 13:46). Then we can look back and clearly see the vanity of all our efforts of trying to only know Christ after the flesh.

Mat 13:46  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

2Ki 2:19  And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 
2Ki 2:20  And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.

The prophets reporting on the real condition of the city is a confession of sorts that the outside of the sepulcher is white, “the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth“, but the inside is dry and full of dead men’s bones: “but the water is naught, and the ground barren” (Mat 23:27-28).

Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 
Mat 23:28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 

The new cruse with salt put therein that Elisha asked them to bring to him represents the new vessel God is making that was initially marred in the hand of the Potter (Jer 18:4), and the salt in the vessel is a symbol of the covenant of the Lord that He will heal the land so that it will become spiritually abundant in time. The salt also represents the fiery trials that must come upon the land in order to rid it of all impurities so that it can bring forth much fruit (Amo 3:6). Every sacrifice was salted with fire in other words (Num 18:19, Mat 5:13, Mar 9:49-50).

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.

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

Num 18:19  All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 

Mar 9:49  For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 
Mar 9:50  Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

2Ki 2:21  And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
2Ki 2:22  So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. 

The waters being healed from that day forward “according to the saying of Elisha which he spake” is a reminder of what Christ has done for humanity, and how God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Rom 4:17). Christ’s life was sacrificed for us, and He represents these new living waters that were made possible by his presenting himself a living sacrifice to God which we now do through him (Rom 12:1-2). Christ is the salt of the earth within his people (Mat 5:13, 1Jn 4:17) and the words “I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.” spoken after Elisha “went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there“ is also expressed with these verses (Joh 6:55-56, Joh 4:10-11, 2Pe 1:8).

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed [Eph 5:30].
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Joh 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 

2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is “according to the saying of Elisha which he spake” which symbolizes God’s word being sent forth to heal all the nations, first within the body of Christ upon whom His judgments are (1Pe 4:17), and then the rest of humanity in the great white throne judgment (1Pe 4:18, Rev 20:11-12) that this healing will be accomplished: “So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake“. It takes God’s judgments in our earth (Isa 26:9) in order for us to be healed which is what these symbolic actions of Elisha typify for us.

2Ki 2:23  And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 
2Ki 2:24  And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

It was as Elisha was heading up to Bethel, which means “house of God“, that God inspired these circumstances (2Ki 2:23-25) to demonstrate to us what happens when His judgments are in our earth. In the preceding verses we are told, “So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake” and this healed water, which represents the undefiled word of God, was made so by the salt being put into “the spring of the waters“.

Then we are shown another outward example through Elisha who is a type of the elect of what God’s word can accomplish within us and how increase comes in our life through the destruction of false doctrines represented by these “little children out of the city” who “mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head”.

First, let’s establish this point that ‘children’ represent ‘doctrine’ in God’s word. In Luke 8:11 we learn “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God“, and the opposite of the “good seed” are “tares”, referring to doctrine in this parable in Matthew 13:38.

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

These little children who come out of the city to mock Elisha in this story are a witness to the whole of Babylon that mocks us with their false doctrine, 4 being the whole and 2 representing the witness to the fact that there is no stay of bread or water in Babylon (42 children – Isa 3:1). It also shows us the utter carnality of Babylon as Mike describes in this FAQ:

Getting back to the story of Elisha and the children and the two bears, the number ‘forty two’ is closely associated with the works of the flesh. It is a multiple of six which is the number God has given to man, who was created on the sixth day along with the lion and the bear.  The fact that 42 is 7 sixes witnesses to the total carnality of these teenagers who were mocking the prophet of God. (Excerpt from Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word » Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty » The Two Female Bears and Forty Two Children (iswasandwillbe.com))

Elisha “turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD” which is what we can do when we submit to God and resist the devil (Jas 4:7) and repent of all the lies of Babylon, all the leaven of the Pharisees which is their doctrine (Mat 16:12) that tries to contaminate our spiritual house (Gal 5:9). We discern their falsehood by trying their spirits (1Jn 4:1) symbolized by Elisha who “looked on them”  and then cursed them “in the name of the Lord” (Zec 3:2, Jud 1:9).

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Mat 16:12  Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

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

Zec 3:2  And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 

Jud 1:9  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

The healing of the waters in our life through Christ is connected to this death of the forty-two children as they represent tares or false doctrine that must be plucked up and burned, and the means by which this is done in this story is by “two she bears out of the wood“. The woods are symbolic of the wilderness of Babylon, and the “two she bears” are a witness of Satan’s influence in the churches of Babylon [two she bears]. The power that God has over all such powers and principalities [two she bears] is demonstrated by the destruction of all these children. God uses the devil in other words as His sword (Psa 17:13) which is what happens here when Elisha “cursed them in the name of the LORD“.

All of this death happened because of the mocking that occurred to Elisha, and God tells us that this will happen to His elect as it did to Christ (Joh 15:20, Luk 23:31). The most noted case of mocking that comes to mind in God’s word was when Christ was mocked on the cross (Luk 23:36) as we are mocked and hated by all men for not running to the same excess of this world (1Pe 4:4) as we die daily and mortify the deeds of our flesh (Rom 8:13) being crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20).

The specific way that the children mocked Elisha was cruel and the insults were directed at his head saying “Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head“, so they were in type and shadow mockings that were directed at Christ his head. Elisha simply “cursed them in the name of the LORD” and the prophet of God knew this was not going to end well for these children (Amo 3:6-7). The obvious lesson is to honour your head (1Co 11:3), which we do when we don’t think above what is written (1Co 4:6) and cast “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 10:4-5).

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; 

That he was bald can also signify both mourning and a new start on our road to Christ (Isa 22:12, Jer 48:37, Lev 13:40, Act 21:24)

Isa 22:12  And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 

Jer 48:37  For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 

Lev 13:40  And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean.

[www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-two-female-bears-and-forty-two-children/]
[www.iswasandwillbe.com/book-of-jeremiah-jer-471-7-the-day-cometh-to-spoil-all-the-philistines/]

2Ki 2:25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

After this destructive event of these children that represents the death of our old man and his false doctrines or tares, we are shown that Elisha’s life typifies the elect seed or vessel of honor that is dying to self and going to bring forth much fruit as a result of this process of dying daily (Joh 12:24).

The place that Elisha goes to now, after these events, will symbolize bringing forth much fruit in his life “mount Carmel”^H3760 and then after that he goes to “Samaria”^{H8111 H8104} to continue to be the watchman of God’s word that he represents.

H3760 karmel  kar-mel’

The same as H3759; Karmel, the name of a hill and of a town in Palestine: – Carmel, fruitful (plentiful) field, (place).

H8111shômerôn sho-mer-one’

From the active participle of H8104; watch station; Shomeron, a place in Palestine: – Samaria.

H8104 shâmar  shaw-mar’

A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc.: – beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

Exo 15:1-27  Thou hast Guided them in thy Strength unto thy Holy Habitation

[Study Aired June 27, 2022]

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Exo 15:4  Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 
Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 
Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 
Exo 15:8  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. 
Exo 15:9  The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 
Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 
Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 
Exo 15:13  Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 
Exo 15:14  The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. 
Exo 15:15  Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. 
Exo 15:16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. 
Exo 15:17  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
Exo 15:18  The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 
Exo 15:19  For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 
Exo 15:20  And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 
Exo 15:21  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 
Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 
Exo 15:23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 
Exo 15:24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 
Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 
Exo 15:26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. 
Exo 15:27  And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. 

This chapter deals with the song of Moses. The Lord’s miraculous deliverance is always followed spontaneously by our praise and worship. Moses and the people of Israel could not help but worship the Lord by singing to the Lord a new song. This song of Moses is actually the song of the Lamb of God – Jesus Christ!!

Psa 96:1  O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. 
Psa 96:2  Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. 
Psa 96:3  Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. 
Psa 96:4  For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

When the Israelites were in the promised land and were oppressed by King Jabin of Canaan and Sisera, the captain of his army, the Lord raised up Deborah and Barak to defeat them. Immediately after the great victory, Deborah and Barak worshiped the Lord with this song of praise (Song of Moses):

Jdg 5:1  Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 
Jdg 5:2  Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 
Jdg 5:3  Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. 
Jdg 5:4  LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 
Jdg 5:5  The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. 

Incidentally, after we have overcome the flesh after the Lord’s judgment of our old man or the beast, we shall sing this song of Moses on that day!!

Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 
Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 
Rev 15:4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
Exo 15:4  Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. 
Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 

These verses attest to the fact that the death of the old man, or the beast within, is all the work of the Lord. They are also to assure us that despite the situation in which we find ourselves in this life, if we are called and chosen, then victory will surely be ours. The Lord triumphing gloriously is to let us know that the Lord’s work on our old man is done in a superb fashion.

Psa 107:15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

The horse and the rider refer to the old man, or the flesh or the beast within. The horse and the rider being thrown into the sea means that the Lord uses the flesh and its works to destroy our flesh. In other words, our own wickedness will correct us.

Jer 51:21  And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

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

The destruction of this unsurmountable enemy (our old man) makes the Lord a man of war indeed!! The description of the Lord as a man of war refers to His might and the arsenals at His disposal to deal with our flesh.

Isa 42:13  The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

In verse 2, we come to know the Lord as our strength and song. Being our strength means that we do not have any strength of our own to do anything. This is what it means:

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

The Lord being our song means that He is our object of worship. All our worship is directed towards Him.

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; 

As we have indicated in an earlier series, Pharaoh, his chariots and his army constitute our old man, or the flesh within us. Sinking to the bottom as a stone in verse 5 is to let us know about the gradual process the Lord takes to dismantle our old man. The death of the old man is a process that takes a lifetime. Jesus told us that His perfection came on the third day, which means it was after resurrection that He was perfected. Our perfection is also to be achieved in the first resurrection if the Lord wills!!

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 
Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 
Exo 15:8  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. 
Exo 15:9  The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 
Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

These verses focus on the arsenal at the Lord’s disposal to destroy our old man. The weapons identified here are Lord’s right hand, his greatness, his wrath, the blast of his nostrils, his wind and the sea. In the Lord’s right hand are pleasures for evermore. The pleasures relate to His mercies, lovingkindness, protection, grace, etc.

Psa 16:11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psa 89:13  Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

Psa 17:7  Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

Psa 18:35  Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

His greatness relates to the fact that it is through Him that everything consists!! Thus, nothing is impossible!!

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

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

Although human wrath worketh wickedness, our Lord’s wrath brings us to salvation. His wrath brings us trouble, but it is all part of the process of bringing us to our desired haven.

2Ch 29:8  Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

The blast of His nostrils is His breath, which is the Spirit of promise. This is the Spirit which empowered the disciples and is empowering us through the baptism of the Holy Spirit to do the work of God.

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. 

Act 1:5  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 

His wind is all the spiritual resources at the Lord’s disposal. This includes both good and evil spirits.

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

As we have indicated earlier, the sea represents the flesh and its works. The Lord uses our fleshly works to correct us.

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

Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 
Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 

Here we are looking at the incomparability of our Lord. His might and attributes are beyond description. Words cannot be uttered to describe Him completely!!

Psa 86:8  Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

One of His attributes described here is that He is fearful in praises. Our praises are our worship. As we revere or worship our Lord, He does wonders on our behalf. Our worship includes the fruit of the lips in singing His praise but it is principally about how we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord.

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

Exo 15:13  Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 

Our walk with Christ in this world of wilderness is for the purpose of providing the Lord a habitation in our hearts and mind for the Lord to reign in our lives. What we must note here is that it is the Lord’s strength which usurps the old man, or the beast, from the throne of our hearts to make a way for the Lord to come and sit on His throne in our hearts and minds.

Heb 8:1  Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

Exo 15:14  The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Exo 15:15  Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
Exo 15:16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

The inhabitants of Palestina, the dukes of Edom and the mighty men of Moab, are all describing the old man within each one of us, who must be driven out of our land (bodies) in order for us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord. As the Lord starts His work of judging us, which results in the gradual destruction of the old man, it becomes obvious to the old man that his days are numbered in our lives, and therefore, we are gripped with fear and dread because we think that if we lose our lives, then we are doomed. Saul found himself in the same situation with David when David defeated Goliath. The women of Israel started singing that Saul had slain his thousands and David, his ten thousands. Saul was filled with fear and dread as he realized that David would ascend the throne at his expense. Saul represents our old man, and David signifies the new man who is after the image of Christ.

1Sa 18:6  And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.
1Sa 18:7  And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 
1Sa 18:8  And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 
1Sa 18:9  And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

Exo 15:17  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
Exo 15:18  The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. 
Exo 15:19  For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 

These verses imply that the destruction of the old man, or the flesh within us (Pharaoh, his chariots and army), is a prerequisite to being planted by the Lord in the mountain of His inheritance. The mountain of His inheritance is the same as the Lord’s sanctuary, which is our bodies – hearts and mind. The Lord will ascend the throne of our hearts and mind after usurping the old man and reign forever!!

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.

Exo 15:20  And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Exo 15:21  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Miriam here represents the church of the firstborn or the elect, which is Christ’s body. All the women going after Miriam with timbrels and with dances is to let us know that all the various assemblies of the church of the elect worldwide must worship the Lord for His wonderful works to the children of men. As we have said earlier, our spiritual form of worship to the Lord is to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord!!

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 
Psa 107:32  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. 
Psa 107:33  He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; 
Psa 107:34  A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. 
Psa 107:35  He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. 
Psa 107:36  And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; 

Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

The Red Sea experience is to let us know as we come out of Babylon that our efforts do not play a role in our salvation. Everything is of the Lord, and all we need to do is to depend on Him through faith as He begins to deal with our enemy (the old man within). The Lord wants us to know our real situation after leaving Babylon as He brings us to Shur where there was no water. The name Shur means wall and so the lack of water of the word of the Lord is like a wall that prevents us from getting access to the word of the Lord. Throughout our stay in Babylon, we did not have access to the word of the Lord which is able to give us an inheritance. This is what our situation was as we leave Babylon:

1Sa 3:1  Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. (ESV)

Amo 8:11  “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Surprisingly, the famine of the word of the Lord is all part of the Lord’s judgment of our old man. The three days the Israelites spent in the wilderness of Shur without water is to let us know that the judgment of famine is all part of the process of our spiritual maturity.

Eze 14:21  “For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

Exo 15:23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 
Exo 15:24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 
Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 

Again, immediately after our exit from Babylon (Egypt), the Lord wants us to know that during our sojourn in Babylon, what we taught was the truth of the word of the Lord was a polluted word of the Lord, which makes it difficult for us to assimilate. In other words, what we were drinking was bitter water (polluted word of the Lord) making it impossible for us to drink. As we cried to the Lord in our desperation, He heard us and showed us a tree. This tree is Christ, who represents the tree of life. The tree here also symbolizes the elect as shown in the following verses:

Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 
Psa 1:2  but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 
Psa 1:3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.  

Psa 52:8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.

Psa 92:12  The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

It is when the elect is cast into the water that we are enlightened to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. The casting of the tree into the water is the same as the stirring of the water which causes our eyes to see and our ears to hear. This tree is the same as the angel, or the elect, who came to stir up the pool called Bethesda in Jerusalem, and whoever was first (the firstfruit) to enter the stirred water got healed of his sickness (sin).

Joh 5:2  Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 
Joh 5:3  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 
Joh 5:4  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 

The elect’s experience of being enlightened by the word of the Lord is described in the scriptures as the word being sweet in our mouth when we receive it. That was the experience of the Israelites as they drank water with a tree in it.

Eze 3:1  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. 

Exo 15:26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. 

The Israelites were made aware right at the very beginning of their journey in the wilderness that if they obey the Lord, then the Lord will not put the diseases the Egyptians experienced on them. This is the same as telling a child learning how to walk that he should not fall down and that if he falls, he will be punished. In saying this, the Lord wants us (the Israelites) to come to see that we cannot, of ourselves, obey the Lord’s commandments. Our failure to obey the Lord also accomplishes the purpose of giving Him the opportunity that He is seeking to come to judge us, since it is through judgment that we learn obedience. The statement, “I am the Lord that healeth thee” is to make us aware that it is the Lord that heals us of our disobedience.

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 
Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 
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.

Exo 15:27  And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

This verse is to point to us our destination (where we are supposed to end up) in this wilderness of the world. Our final destination, after going through the famine of the word of the Lord and drinking polluted water in the churches of Babylon, is the church of the firstborn, signified by Elim, which was an oasis of seventy palm trees and twelve springs of water. The number seventy is seven multiplied by ten (70=7×10). The number seven signifies completeness, and the number ten means the fullness of the flesh. Thus, the seventy palm trees represent the assembly of the complete number of the elect who recognize the fullness of their flesh and are being delivered through the Lord’s judgment. The number twelve is the number of Christ, and so the twelve wells signify the whole counsel of the word of Christ. In other words, the church of the elect is where we have the pillar and ground of the truth!! That is where we are to encamp in this life.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 

May the Lord help us so that we do not refuse Him Who speaks to us through what every joint supplies!! Amen!!

Heb 12:9-17 “Be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits and Live” – Part 2

[Study Aired April 15, 2021]

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 
Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Everyone who was drawn to Christ to be healed physically when he was on the earth was healed, and that healing is contrasted with the greater works spoken of in John 14:12 that God is doing through the church today in the earth (Mat 12:40, 1Co 14:22, Mat 12:39) “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” by God’s holy spirit (2Co 5:8-10, Php 2:13). Those greater works bring spiritual healing to those who are first drawn to Christ in this age (Joh 6:44).

2Co 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
2Co 5:9  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him [‘Labour to have a successful harvest‘ (Heb 4:11, Eph 1:6)].
2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (Joh 6:28-29, Rom 2:13,  Joh 20:21).

In this section of Hebrews we will be focused on how that healing can take place with those who are blessed to learn in this life what it means to ‘Be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live‘. The kind of first fruits of God’s creation which we are, must be subject to God today so that “at the end of the year” (Exo 23:16) we can be used to gather in the second harvest, “the feast of ingatherings”, which represents the rest of mankind who will be saved by being grafted into the body of Christ [‘being made subject one to another‘] with the end result of God being all in all (Jas 1:18, Exo 34:22, Joh 10:16, 1Co 15:27-28).

1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures [“every man in his own order“].

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

Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

God’s people are to be submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God today as described in these verses (Eph 5:21-32), which is what it means to “Be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live”. We can’t say we love God or that we are being obedient to God’s commandments, which is what defines love, if we are not properly subject to those relationships God gives us, and so if we are not submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God; we are not being obedient (1Jn 4:20).

Eph 5:21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
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.
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.

[“This is a great mystery” of Ephesians 5:32 is not the negative example of mystery Babylon where we find a “woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” (Rev 17:4-5, Isa 4:1). All those outward adornings represent how we stubbornly at first want to wear our own clothing and eat our own bread, having the outward appearance of the temple of God (1Co 3:16, Rev 21:21) but being full of dead man’s bones (Mat 23:27(]

“This is a great mystery” indeed “concerning Christ and the church” because it is hidden from a world that cannot be subject “unto the higher powers” in the same way we can be through Christ. In other words, prior to our conversion, we may have given reverence to our physical fathers even as others in the world when we had to endure their correction, but now God calls us to see the eternal benefits of being subject unto our heavenly Father which no one can do without the power of God enabling us to endure the chastening that He calls us to be subject to as the “Father of spirits” so that we can “live” (Heb 12:9, Rom 13:1-9). It takes God’s power within us (Col 1:27), the mystery that is hidden from the generations, to get us to the point where we can turn the other cheek and “resist not evil” or “for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully”. God alone can give us the power to go from glory to glory in this process of learning obedience by the things we suffer (Luk 6:29, Mat 5:39, 1Pe 2:19-21, 2Co 3:18).

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God (Jas 4:12, Jas 1:25, Jas 2:10)
Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Rom 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law [Joh 14:15, 1Co 14:37].

When we are not subject to Christ within each other by not following each other as we follow Christ (1Co 11:1), we are committing all these sins – ‘adultery, murder, theft, bearing false witness’ – simply because we are now subject to the spirit of a harlot and have become one with her (1Co 6:16), and “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Overcoming harlotry is a lifelong endeavour as we overcome the rebellious giants in our land and in time bring every thought into subjection unto Christ. This is why we must be led by the spirit of God in order to be sons of God (Rom 8:14). This is the life-long good fight of faith to which we have been called, and we will find victory by overcoming through Jesus Christ (1Ti 6:12, 2Co 10:5).

Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

1Pe 2:19  For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1Pe 2:20  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with 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:

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

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;

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

The benefit of being “in subjection unto the Father of spirits” is contrasted with our physical parents and “we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us” or those who had influence over us to whom we gave reverence while growing up. The obvious physical and mental benefits of having good guardians through life can be very clearly seen in the physical world, whatever our circumstances were growing up, but so can the tragic results of those who are not given that opportunity. Thankfully God is a father to the fatherless (Psa 68:5-6) and has always had His sights set on saving all of mankind by turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers (Mal 4:6), starting with the elect who were called to receive each other as children of God (Mar 9:37, Mat 18:3-4).

Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Mar 9:37  Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

In order to become that child of God who is received, we must go through a chastening process, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” God can humble us and give us a humble and contrite heart (Isa 66:2), and this has nothing to do with our supposed free will (which we don’t have), so when we read “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child” this is also Christ doing this work within us both to will and to do (Php 2:12-13).  If we endure chastening, which is also through Christ, that we are strengthened to do this (Php 4:13), God dealeth with us as with sons; “for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Heb 12:6-8). Knowing the benefits for what we’re going through is important (Mat 19:27-29, Rev 20:6), as it gives us incentive to go through the fiery trials so we can say wholeheartledy and with full assurance of faith “shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” These admonitions of God are for those who have been blessed to be given eyes to see and ears to hear so we can be motivated by what God has promised through His spiritual word which is filled with the promise that we can overcome through Christ being more than conquerors through Him (Joh 6:63, Rom 8:37).

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

We can apply this thought of having reverence to both our physical parents and also to Babylon or any situation that God had us wherein we were under some sort of tutor or governor that was appointed of the Father (Gal 4:2). This part of God’s counsel in our life was working according to His will as are all things (Eph 1:11), and if we have been predestined to be heirs, it is necessary that we don’t look back negatively at those experiences but rather give great thanks that so many people were sacrificed for us whether they were great parents by worldly standards or horrible parents so that when the fullness of time was come God would send “forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” who were given to be the first to trust in God (Eph 1:12) and understand that “verily for a few days [they] chastened us after their own pleasure; but he [‘God‘] for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.” Trusting God comes about as a result of being received of our Father, and no son can be received except we be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) who will cleanse our temple so we can worship our Father in spirit and in truth (Joh 2:15, 1Co 3:16, Joh 4:23-24).

Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

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

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.

Christ is our preeminent example regarding loving our enemies, and He learned obedience by the things He suffered and resisted taking vengeance on anyone (Mat 26:53). Through the power of God’s spirit He forgave His accusers and said “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luk 23:34). This is the “profit” that this section of Hebrews is talking about, knowing that this chastening we are receiving of God is working an eternal purpose (“eternal weight of glory” – 2Co 4:17-18) so we can be “partakers of his holiness” as we learn to love our enemies and overcome the sons-of-thunder spirit that we all start off with so “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Luk 9:55-56, Mat 5:44-45).

Mat 26:53  Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
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.

Luk 9:55  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
Luk 9:56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

The fact is that flesh hates the process to which God has called us that will lead to eternal life (Joh 21:18), even though we may intimately know that keeping or continuing in His words will result in that blessing of being in the first resurrection (Joh 8:32, Joh 8:36, Joh 6:68). This is why we must cry out to God as Christ did in his time of need, and know that we will be heard as Christ was in that he feared him (Heb 5:7, Luk 12:5).

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

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Christ was armed with the mind of the Father, and we are to be armed with the mind of Christ in order to overcome (1Co 2:16, Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5). Christ had no delusion in His mind regarding what was going to happen to Him and neither should we if we are as He is in this flesh (1Jn 4:17, Rom 8:36).

To be armed with the mind of Christ is to know that we are lambs for the slaughter and that regardless of how we die and leave this world we must have the patience and faith of Christ within us in order to patiently possess our souls and resist sin unto the shedding of blood, which is what God can give us the power to do through Christ (Php 4:13).

Being armed with the mind of Christ does not take away the grievous trials and chastening we must go through, but with that mind of Christ (1Co 2:16) we can look to the joy which has been set before us and be reminded that God has promised that He will always faithfully “not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1Co 10:13).

We are not shadow boxing (1Co 9:26) but wrestling against powers and principalities (Eph 6:12) that we could never overcome if it were not for our Lord and Saviour Who has promised to set us free and give us the victory over those powers to which He is far higher (Eph 1:21).

This wrestling match is ongoing and throughout the twelve-hour night that makes up the day of the Lord (Joh 11:9). This wrestling match of Jacob with the angel represents the whole (#4) of our life going through a process of judgment (#3) that will afterward yield “the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (4X3=12). The fullness of that “peaceable fruit of righteousness” is granted to those who are given to endure until the end and be raised as a kind of first fruits of God (Jas 1:18, 1Co 15:52, 1Co 15:58).

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. [peaceable fruit of righteousness – Heb 12:14, Rom 12:18]

[Quoting Mike: “Our salvation is not contingent upon our good works, but it is contingent upon the workmanship of Christ who has “created us unto good works”, and that is simply what the scriptures teach:” (Eph 2:8-10, Mat 7:16, Mat 7:20, Jer 29:13).]

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 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Because of all we have just read up to now in this section of Hebrews, we are encouraged to “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” and “make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed“. In other words, we must and have to be about our Father’s business as Christ was (Luk 2:49) in order to be healed. It is healing to come together often, it is healing to partake of the Lord’s supper together, it is healing to know that our affliction is not uncommon as well as the joy that we experience as we share our life in Christ and come to believe together that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom 8:37).

Luk 2:49  And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

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

The imagery of lifting up “hands which hang down” can be found in Exodus 17:12-13 where Moses’ hands were heavy but attended to by Aaron and Hur. John the baptist also uttered these words for our sakes: (Mar 1:3). We  understand that the wilderness he was speaking of is the place where Christ gives us victory over our sinful flesh by giving us power to overcome sin, symbolized by the fit man who takes the scapegoat into the wilderness making straight paths for us with God’s spirit of power, love and soundness of mind (Lev 16:21, 2Ti 1:7).

Exo 17:12  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Exo 17:13  And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Mar 1:3  The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

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

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 

Peace is not an inactive state of mind as these verses demonstrate (Heb 12:14, Rom 12:18-19, Isa 9:6, Heb 7:2), but rather something that we labour to enter into through Christ (Heb 4:11-12) who is our Prince of peace and King of peace.

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Our flesh says, “Peace peace when there is no peace” and so God shows His elect that peace can only come about by warring against the powers and principalities against which we wrestle and find ourselves overcoming through Christ. Then we shall see the Lord in all circumstances as a result of pursuing “peace with all men, and holiness” (Jer 6:14, Rom 8:37). Peace comes to us when we visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, which is what pure religion requires in order to “see the Lord” that no man in the flesh can see, meaning our knowledge of Christ should be based on understanding that God’s elect are the spiritually widowed and fatherless of this world who have been adopted and grafted into the body of Christ where we visit each other or receive each other through our communion that is found in Christ (1Co 10:16).

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.

Heb 7:2  To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

Jer 6:14  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

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

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

This specific section of Hebrews (Heb 12:17) echoes back to Hebrews 6:4-6, which circumstances should cause us to look “diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God“, remembering that “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” If we labour together with a ready mind, we will overcome and destroy the schisms that God causes to exist in order to exercise the body of Christ (1Co 12:12-27). The way we do this is by looking well unto ourselves and to the church (1Pe 5:2, Act 20:28), “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled“.

Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Don’t take anything for granted. Keep fighting a good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12) and know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Heb 11:6). It takes a lifetime of concentrated effort that is accomplished through the work God is doing within this temple which He is cleansing (Col 1:29) to overcome “any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright” within us. So, we are shown in this last verse of our study this very sobering admonition: “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” Finding “no place of repentance” is the result of despising the goodness of God that leads us unto repentance (Rom 2:4). This good work of God dragging us to Christ is what we need in order to destroy all our earthly and carnal appetites that would otherwise enslave us as they once did in our former conversation or way of life (Eph 2:1-5).

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

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?

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;)

It takes only a little leaven to leaven the whole lump (Gal 5:9), or one “morsel of meat“, meaning some false doctrine that God allows to deceive the prophet (Eze 14:9). I will say this: “Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak”, because we understand that these admonitions were written for our sakes and that God can give us the victory through Christ to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling as we continue to much rather “be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live” as we look well to ourselves and the flock of which God has made us overseers (Act 20:28, 1Pe 5:2-4).

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

1Pe 5:2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Heb 9:1 Part 1 – “Christ Being Come an High Priest of Good Things to Come”

[Study Aired November 26, 2020]

Heb 9:1  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 

The statement “Christ being come an high priest of good things to come” in verse 11 of Hebrews chapter 9 (Heb 9:11) is contrasted with the first ten verses of Hebrews chapter 9 which speak of the “ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary” that were all found within the temple or tabernacle God ordained and established for our sakes (2Co 4:15) to help us understand what He is doing within the temple which we are today (1Co 3:16).

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

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

As we compare “spiritual things with spiritual” (1Co 2:13), using the physical tabernacle and all the “ordinances of divine service” within that tabernacle, what God is doing today in His workmanship which we are (Eph 2:10) should become brighter, giving us the vision and hope of those things He has promised to finish in us through Christ (Php 1:6) to whom we look as our high priest (Heb 12:2) who is the “minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb 8:2).

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

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb 8:2  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

We are abiding in Christ’s body, which is the temple (Col 1:24), where we “consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself” knowing that as the body of Christ we can fill up what is behind of His afflictions “for his body’s sake, which is the church” as we endure, through Christ (Php 4:13), being hated of all men for His name’s sake (Mat 10:22). This endurance is only possible as we nourish and supply what each of us needs, (Eph 4:16) bearing each other’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).

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

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

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

The new commandment God has given His church is a spiritual law in our members, His love being shed abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5) that makes it possible for us to abide in His truth (Joh 8:31-32) which is witnessed in our obedience to His commandments (Joh 14:15). Our discipleship, our love toward one another, is expressed through that obedience (Act 5:32, Joh 13:35).

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The “ordinances of divine service” in the temple of old is a type and shadow of that discipleship and explains to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear (Mat 13:16) how we are nourished at the altar, which is the cross and the place where our Lord strengthens us and provides all that we need in order to fulfill our Father’s will “in earth, as it is in heaven” (Php 1:29, Mat 6:10).

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

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

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

If we don’t labour for that meat which does not perish, we would “be wearied and faint in your minds” of Hebrews 12:3, but if we know that our labour is not in vain and that Christ is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, then we should rejoice and again I say rejoice (Php 4:4, Rom 8:16) as we go about our Father’s business working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Heb 11:6-7), knowing that those labours are building up the temple of God and making us stronger and ready to face whatever the future holds (Php 2:12-13, Eph 6:11-12, Heb 4:11). This building up of the temple is all being accomplished through Christ (Psa 127:1) and is the reason we point each other to this statement: “Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle (Col 1:24), not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building”.

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

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.

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil [Mat 24:24, Mat 16:17-18].
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Heb 9:1  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service^G2999, and a worldly sanctuary.

In this first verse it is very informative to notice how the word “divine service^G2999” is used in other verses, particularly in John 16:2 and Romans 9:4.

G2999 latreia
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
service, 5
Joh_16:2, Rom_9:4, Heb_9:1 (2), Heb_9:6
divine, 1
Heb_9:1

The service^G2999 of God can have both a negative and positive viewpoint, and yet as with all of the promises of God and all the service that we render unto Him, whether it is under strong delusion (Act 4:27-28) or with the clear mind of Christ, they are still all working out “for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” in the end (2Co 1:20, Rom 8:28).

2Co 1:20  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

When the time is appointed for God’s elect to be put out of the synagogue, there are those who believe they are doing Godly service by carrying out these actions, which we do in our appointed time when we rejected Christ and put Him out of our midst because of our spiritual blindness (Psa 14:3, Psa 53:3, Rom 3:10).

For those who are called and chosen in this life (Mat 22:14), we are told “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service^G2999“. The positive end result of this service is expressed with the story of the blind man who was healed and put out of the synagogue, where he then met Christ who had a very pointed question for him (Joh 9:35, Joh 9:1-39).

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Joh 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Joh 9:6  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Joh 9:7  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
Joh 9:8  The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
Joh 9:9  Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
Joh 9:10  Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
Joh 9:11  He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
Joh 9:12  Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
Joh 9:13  They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
Joh 9:14  And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
Joh 9:15  Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
Joh 9:16  Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
Joh 9:17  They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
Joh 9:18  But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
Joh 9:19  And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
Joh 9:20  His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
Joh 9:21  But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
Joh 9:22  These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
Joh 9:23  Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
Joh 9:24  Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
Joh 9:25  He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
Joh 9:26  Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
Joh 9:27  He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
Joh 9:28  Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.
Joh 9:29  We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
Joh 9:30  The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
Joh 9:31  Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
Joh 9:32  Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
Joh 9:33  If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
Joh 9:34  They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
Joh 9:35  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? [Joh 6:28-29, Jas 2:19, 1Jn 5:4, Joh 8:31, Joh 8:44]
Joh 9:36  He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
Joh 9:37  And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Joh 9:38  And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

This story in John 9 typifies our coming out of Babylon and the need for us to be healed from spiritual blindness (Joh 9:39, 1Pe 4:17). Spiritual healing comes through judgment that occurs once we are able to receive God’s word that is sent to us (Psa 107:20). We come to see that we have been spiritually blind and are now coming out of the strongholds under which Babylon had us. Through the grace and faith God gives us, we begin to see how that blindness has always overtaken the whole world (2Co 4:4), including the religious world of Babylon out of which we have been called (2Co 6:17). Christ meets us with our newly opened eyes and asks the question in John 9:35: “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” because there is a lifetime of overcoming in front of us that is going to be accomplished by believing “on the Son of God”. That belief in the truth motivates us to labour for the meat that will not perish (Joh 6:27).

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

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

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

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

That blindness continues to this day in the synagogues of this world where there are blind guides leading the blind, and both are falling into the ditch (Mat 23:24, Mat 15:14, Mat 16:6). Christ had compassion on this one specific man for our sakes (Joh 9:1-39, Joh 6:44), so we see with this one story how a man was dragged out of “a worldly sanctuary” that represents the churches of this world today where there is no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1) and was healed by the only One who can heal our eyes spiritually so we can understand the truth (Joh 9:32, Luk 8:10). This statement in John 9:32 is still true in the body of Christ. Even greater works than these physical healings Christ did are predestined to happen as Christ works in us both to will and do of our Father’s good pleasure, which is to bring spiritual healing to the eyes and ears of those whom the Father drags to us (Joh 14:12, Joh 6:44).

The verses which lead up to Paul mentioning the service of his fellow Israelites (Rom 9:1-4) reveal the desire that should be within each of us for all our fellow kinsman in Adamic flesh. We know that in their appointed time they will come to know the truth (1Co 15:23). Moses expressed this same sentiment in this verse (Num 11:29):

Rom 9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Rom 9:4  Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

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

Num 11:29  And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!

Paul longed for his fellow Israelites “to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service^G2999 of God, and the promises” to know what he knew by grace through faith. However, not only his fellow kinsman but all the world, represented by the seven churches of Asia, would “be turned away from me” (2Ti 1:15). Those churches represent the “worldly sanctuary” as well, in not being able to spiritually see and eat at the table which the Lord has exclusively given to very few in this life (Heb 13:10, Luk 10:24).

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

There is a divine order in Babylon as people live and move and have their being in Christ (Act 17:28) just as there is order in the court section of the temple that we are not to measure (Rev 11:2). That service that is rendered through the unbelieving who are typified by Levi who are joined unto us is for our sakes, and they serve us in their unbelief (Rom 11:32) and remind us of the incredible miracle of our calling and the need to never take it for granted, neglect it, or become highminded or conceited as though we had anything to do with our eyes and ears having been opened (Rom 11:11-22). We are to remember these words as God’s elect and see our calling as a work of God’s hands: “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service^G2999, and a worldly sanctuary“, never spitting on it or looking down on anyone, knowing that God has each and everyone of us exactly where we are, to His glory.

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Rom 11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Rom 11:14  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look into a few of the various physical items in the tabernacle of old so we may learn what those various parts of the temple mean for Christ’s body today. The story of the blind man being healed really encapsulates what we want to learn from our Lord as He draws us out of the shadows or “patterns of things in the heavens” so that our heavens can be purified with “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Heb 9:23-24)

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Who is cleansed?

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

[Study Aired August 11, 2020]

Luk 17:11-19 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

In our last study we reviewed how leprosy is cleaned. Leprosy represents sin, especially the sin of self-righteousness. Leprosy, therefore self-righteousness, is cleansed by patience, washing, burning and sacrifice. This study will show us who is cleansed in this age.

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

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

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. 

Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. 

Heb 13:10-16 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

The above story in Luke 17 tells us that all ten were cleansed, but only one returned to give thanks for being cleansed. The Samaritan was the only one to glorify God. Christ asked the questions “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”

There are three numbers mentioned or inferred by Christ. One which represents “unity”, nine which represents “God’s judgement”, and ten representing “completeness of the flesh”. Here are links to those studies.

Spiritual Meaning of Numbers – Number One
Spiritual Meaning of Numbers – Number Nine
Spiritual Meaning of Numbers – Number Ten

This story tells us part of the process of the judgment of the world. Who are those in this age that are cleansed and give glory to God? Remember all ten were cleansed but only one turned back, gave thanks, and glorified God. 

Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Paul speaks a “great mystery”. He is describing “Christ and the church” also known as the “body of Christ”, the “head and the body” and as the “church of the living God”.

Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

1Co 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

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.

1Ti 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 how we are cleansed and a sacrifice we must give in order to continue in the Christ.

Eph 5:22-33 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 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. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 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. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. 

In Colossians chapter 1, Paul describes the significance of what Christ is showing us in our story above.

Col 1:1-29 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,  Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 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. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. 

During the cleansing process of the leper and his house, waiting seven days is part of the cleansing. This represents our patience and time of longsuffering during tribulation.

Luk 8:9-15 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. 

Rom 5:1-9 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

Eph 4:1-6 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Now anything that cannot be saved must be burned.

2Sa 23:1-7 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

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

Psa 140:9-10 As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. 

Pro 6:20-26 My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. 

Joh 15:1-10 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

A sacrifice must be given, but what is the true sacrifice we must give?

Psa 116:16-17 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 

Joh 15:11-17 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Heb 13:15-16 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 

Here once again are the verses in our study. 

Luk 17:14-19 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Earlier in the chapter the apostles said, “Increase our faith.”

Luk 17:5-6 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

We saw in our two previous studies that during the offerings of the leper, the only offering that was not mentioned was the peace offering. This Samaritan stranger, however, did perform this offering in type and shadow. Here is the peace offering commandment.

Lev 7:11-15 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD. If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. 

Finally, the Samaritan represents us, the priests of God. After being cleansed we must ensure we remain undefiled.

Lev 21:1-24 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:  But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God. Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy. And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD. And he shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them. And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel. 

I will end this study with the following scriptures of hope.

Joh 16:25-33 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.