Jer 25:29-38  Evil Shall go Forth From Nation to Nation

[Study Aired December 12, 2021]

Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 25:33  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
Jer 25:37  And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 25:38  He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

All the Lord’s ways are judgment, so we should expect to read about His judgments when we seek to know Him and His ways, as we seek His promised “more abundant… life”:

Deu 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Psa 37:28  For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Psa 89:14  Justice [H6664: ‘tsedek’, justice, righteousness] and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Psa 97:2  Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness [H6664: ‘tsedek’, justice, righteousness] and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The two English words ‘more abundantly’ are translated from the one Greek word:

G4053
περισσός
perissos
per-is-sos’
From G4012 (in the sense of beyond); superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication excessive; adverb (with G1537) violently; neuter (as noun) preeminence: – exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly, advantage, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, vehement [-ly].

Life in the spirit realm is far superior to life is this natural realm. However, life in the realm of the spirit comes only through “fiery trials”.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

The very next verse reveals that being given to understand that fact brings great peace and joy to those to whom it is given to understand that principle:

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

“On their part He is evil spoken of” refers to Christ and His ways and His doctrines. It refers to what the religions of this world will say of us:

Act 24:14  But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they [the religious leaders] call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:

Here is how “the way which they call heresy”, ‘the way’ of Christ, is summarized by the holy spirit:

Act 24:25  And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

“Judgment to come… the way they call heresy” is also the subject of our study today, and what a blessing it is to know that “all His ways are judgment” and to know the fruit of His judgments:

Deu 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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.

I will begin this study by reading the last two verses of our last study:

Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

We all just naturally want to avoid being judged, but the Lord’s fiery judgments cannot be avoided by anyone:

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.

There is a beginning to the Lord’s judgments, and scripture reveals that the Lord begins His work of judging mankind at His own house:

Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

The apostle Peter tells us what we should expect if indeed we are the Lord’s elect:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

This is not a “milk of the Word” verse. We just naturally want to hear about all the blessings we receive as Christ’s Christ, but we tire of all the admonitions which tell us to expect to be hated of all men and to be persecuted:

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

The next verse of 1^st Peter 4 tells us how we should react towards our persecution and trials:

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Paul repeats this admonition:

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you… but rejoice…”

That is the same admonition Christ gives us in Matthew 5:12… “Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” The admonition to ‘rejoice’ is addressed to those who are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, but we must never forget that all of us who are persecuted for righteousness sake are the same persons who were persecuting the Lord’s Christ before our eyes and ears were opened to “see… hear… and keep the things written” in the scriptures. We all become puffed up with our own righteousness, and we all must have our own ‘road to Damascus’ humbling, each in our own order:

Pro 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Pro 16:19  Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Saul of Tarsus was extremely proud:

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

That experience was just the beginning of the judgment of ‘Saul of Tarsus’. That was merely the beginning of what Saul had to do. His humbling experience revealed to Saul just how blind he really was in and of himself. His experience on the road to Damascus typifies how each of us hates and murders those who first come to us bringing the words of Truth:

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

Saul of Tarsus had to be told “by the church” (Eph 3:10) “the things which he must suffer for [Christ’s] sake”:

Act 9:15  But the Lord said unto him [Ananias, “the church” (Eph 3:10)], Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

Our families and friends in this world do not consider themselves to be ‘murderers’ while they are rejecting and hating the Truth for which we stand. Nevertheless, we, too, have been murderers when we self-righteously rejected those who first introduced us to Christ. We all mean our hatred against Christ and His doctrines for evil (Gen 20:50), but we know God means it for our good.

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

We are Joseph’s brothers who sold Him and His doctrines into Egyptian slavery before we were humbled like Saul of Tarsus and dragged and made to see Joseph for whom God had made him to be.

Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

How is it possible for the Lord to “roar His voice from His holy habitation… upon His habitation”? That is easily understood by all who have been and are being judged in this present time. The story of how the Lord used “His holy habitation” (1Co 3:16), Ananias, to tell Saul of Tarsus, His newer habitation, what he must do, demonstrates how “The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation… upon His habitation.”

The Lord could easily have told Paul what He had Ananias to tell him, but the Lord speaks and “utters His voice from His holy habitation… upon His habitation” (Jer 25:30). The Lord using His temple, Ananias, to speak to His temple, ‘Saul of Tarsus’, is a perfect example of how it is possible for the Lord to ‘roar from His holy habitation upon His habitation’.

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

Another way of saying all this is that the Lord uses His church to “utter His voice [and] mightily roar upon His habitation”:

Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

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

The Lord roars from His holy habitation, from His church, the very words of this prophecy of Jeremiah “to the intent that the principalities and powers in the heavens [of every man] might be made known, by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.”

Jeremiah 25:31 tells us that the ‘noise’ of this verse is “the sword [of] the Lord plead[ing] with all nations”, but Isaiah repeats this same message in these words:

Isa 66:6  A voice of noise from the city, a voice  from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.

We must first see clearly that “His enemies” are within us. “Them that are wicked” (Jer 25:31) must die, and since “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, we all must die to our old man within. When that begins to take place within us, then Christ begins to rule in His own temple “which [we] are” (1Co 3:16-17):

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The words of the Lord’s judgments are “His ways”. ‘His ways’ teach us He has ordained our lives in this present time to be “an experience of evil” which will give Him the occasion He is seeking to humble and to destroy our old man, and through that destruction He is transforming us into a “new man… in His image”. This present life is the incomplete six days of the creation process. Mankind was created on the sixth day to tell us that we are not yet the humbled, completed product which must “enter into His rest” to be completed. Our entry into His rest in this age is only in “earnest”. We are not given “the redemption of the purchased possession” until the first resurrection:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them. (CLV)

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

Demonstrating that the creation of man in the image of God is an ongoing process, here is Genesis 1:27 with the Strong’s numbers and the numbers for the tenses in brackets:

Gen 1:27  So God^H430 created^H1254[H8799] man^H120 in his own image^H6754, in the image^H6754 of God^H430 created^H1254[H8804] he him; male^H2145 and female^H5347 created^{H1254 [H8804]} he them.

This King James Version says “So God created man in His own image…” This translation makes it appear that the creation process lasted only six evenings and mornings, and then it was completed. Notice, however, that every time the Hebrew word ‘bara’, translated as ‘create’, H1254… appears in Genesis 1:27, it is in brackets, and it is always followed by the TVM numbers for the Qal stem which are in brackets. [H8799] is the TVM number for the first use of the Hebrew word ‘bara’, which is assigned Strong’s number H1254, translated as ‘created’. [H8804] is the number in brackets indicating the Hebrew tense for the last two entries for this Hebrew word ‘bara’, H1254.

This demonstrates that the CLV got it right and that the creation process is not yet complete while we are yet in these clay prototypes. That is why the number which signifies ‘that which is incomplete’, the number ‘six’, is assigned to mankind in His present state of “sinful flesh and blood”. These corruptible bodies of “sinful flesh” are “an experience of evil God has given humanity to humble them by it”:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six.”

The life we are given in “this present time” is but a necessary evil first step in the ultimate goal of “creating … humanity in His image”. The statement “created man in His image” is in the Qal stem in the Hebrew, and the Qal stem is akin to the aorist tense in the Greek. Both convey a fact without regard to any tense, and can and must therefore be understood as something that is taking place, has happened and will continue to happen until the consummation of the ages. That is why in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ we are told many times, in various ways, that Christ “is… was… and will be”. Here are three of those entries, and these three are all found in the very first chapter of Revelation:

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

Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last [which is, and which was, and which is to come]: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

The doctrine of ‘preterism’, which puts the Lord’s words in the past, and the doctrine of ‘dispensationalism’ which teaches that the book of Revelation and many other prophecies, are only for the future, both deny the ‘is, was, and will be’ character of the Word of God, and must be rejected and destroyed by The Truth, which always is, always was, and always will be the Truth and “will not pass away”:

Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

The creation of Adam is a perfect example of this ‘is, was, and will be’ character of the Words of God. Adam’s creation on the 6^th day was just a step towards our completion. ‘Seven’ is the Biblical number which signifies ‘completion’. ‘The seven churches’ of Revelation 2-3 signify the complete church. That is why we are told seven times:

Rev 2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

No man is completed until he is given to “enter into His rest” on “the seventh day” of the Lord’s work. We are even admonished to ‘fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it’:

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Why would we be told to “fear, lest a promise being left us of entering His rest, any of you should seem to come short of [doing so]” if “the first man, Adam” was complete? We are not complete, and that is why we are given that admonition.

This present time is “an experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13) in the creation process. When we are told that the Lord is making mankind into His image, it is in the Qal stem, which tells us the Creation is still in progress. The evil and corruption of these clay vessels are but a first necessary step to bring us through judgment (Isa 26:8-9) to become a new creature in His image. That is why we are assured that:

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

This even applies to the “flesh and blood” of our sinless Savior as we are informed in:

2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
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 [“after the flesh”].
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The Lord making “all things… new” is not ‘plan B’ for God. We know this is true because we are told:

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:

Therefore “the second… Adam… chosen… in Him before the foundation of the world” is the very meaning of “creating is the Elohim humanity in His image”:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them. (CLV)

“Creating [and] creates” are both in the Qal stem, indicating that the creation of man in His image is a process that is still taking place through the fiery trials of this life.

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.

‘Choosing us in Christ and trying every man’s works by fire’ was ‘plan A’ “before the world began”. We are all “called… in Christ Jesus… before the world began”:

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

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

It is the words “in Christ” which are so revealing. If the promise of eternal life “in Christ Jesus” was given to us “before the world began”, that means God knew “before the world began”, before Adam and Eve were created, they would disobey His commandments and would need a Savior.

Being God, He had already determined that we would be brought to acknowledge our need for a Savior “by grace through faith”:

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

Contrary to the doctrines of the harlot and her daughters, your faith is “not of yourself”. “It is the gift of God.”

What exactly is this gift of “grace… through faith”? The answer, to put it bluntly, is that if indeed we are granted this gift of “grace… through faith” then we must expect to be put on trial and be ‘proven and tempered’ and “chastened” in this present time.

Exo 16:4  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, [show them] whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Deu 13:3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know [to show us] whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The word ‘grace’ as a noun is defined with these words:

G5485
χάρις
charis
khar’-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).
Total KJV occurrences: 156

Here are those 156 entries and the various translations of this Greek word ‘charis’:

G5485
χάρις
charis
Total KJV Occurrences: 156
grace, 130
Luk_2:40, Joh_1:14, Joh_1:16-17 (3), Act_4:33, Act_11:23, Act_13:43, Act_14:3, Act_14:26, Act_15:11, Act_15:40,
Act_18:27, Act_20:24, Act_20:32, Rom_1:5, Rom_1:7, Rom_3:24, Rom_4:4,
Rom_4:16, Rom_5:2, Rom_5:15 (2), Rom_5:17, Rom_5:20-21 (2), Rom_6:1, Rom_6:14-15 (2), Rom_11:5-6 (5), Rom_12:3, Rom_12:6, Rom_15:15, Rom_16:20, Rom_16:24, 1Co_1:3-4 (2), 1Co_3:10, 1Co_10:30, 1Co_15:10 (3), 1Co_16:23, 2Co_1:2, 2Co_1:12, 2Co_4:15,
2Co_8:1 (2), 2Co_8:6-7 (2), 2Co_8:9, 2Co_8:19,  2Co_9:8, 2Co_9:14, 2Co_12:9, 2Co_13:14, Gal_1:3, Gal_1:6,
Gal_1:15, Gal_2:9, Gal_2:21, Gal_5:4, Gal_6:18, Eph_1:2, Eph_1:6-7 (2), Eph_2:5, Eph_2:7-8 (2), Eph_3:2, Eph_3:7-8 (2), Eph_4:7, Eph_4:29, Eph_6:24,
Phi_1:2, Phi_1:7, Phi_4:23, Col_1:2, Col_1:6, Col_3:16, Col_4:6, Col_4:18, 1Th_1:1,
1Th_5:28, 2Th_1:2, 2Th_1:12, 2Th_2:16, 2Th_3:18, 1Ti_1:2, 1Ti_1:14,
1Ti_6:21, 2Ti_1:2, 2Ti_1:9, 2Ti_2:1, 2Ti_4:22, Tit_1:4, Tit_2:11,
Tit_3:7, Tit_3:15, Phm_1:3, Phm_1:25, Heb_2:9, Heb_4:16 (2),
Heb_10:29, Heb_12:15, Heb_12:28, Heb_13:9, Heb_13:25, Jam_4:6 (2), 1Pe_1:2,
1Pe_1:10, 1Pe_1:13, 1Pe_3:7, 1Pe_4:10, 1Pe_5:5, 1Pe_5:10,
1Pe_5:12, 2Pe_1:2, 2Pe_3:18, 2Jo_1:3, Rev_1:4 (2), Rev_22:21
favour, 6
Luk_1:30, Luk_2:52, Act_2:47, Act_7:10, Act_7:46, Act_25:3
thank, 6
Luk_6:32-34 (3), Luk_17:9, 1Ti_1:12, 2Ti_1:3
thanks, 4
1Co_15:57, 2Co_2:14, 2Co_8:16, 2Co_9:15
pleasure, 2

Act_24:27, Act_25:9
acceptable, 1
1Pe_2:20
benefit, 1
2Co_1:15
gift, 1
2Co_8:4
gracious, 1
Luk_4:22
joy, 1
Phm_1:7
liberality, 1
1Co_16:3
thanked, 1
Rom_6:17
thankworthy, 1
1Pe_2:19

The English word ‘grace’ is by far the most common translation of the Greek word ‘charis’. There is no fault, in this particular case, in using 13 different English words to translate this one Greek word. In Greek this word has a very broad application, and Greeks have no problem understanding by the context whether ‘grace’, translated from the Greek word ‘charis’, means ‘thanks’ or ‘favor’, the next most common translations in the KJV.

Here is an example of each of those two next most common translations for this Greek word, ‘charis’:

1Co 15:57  But thanks [Greek: ‘charis’] be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luk 1:30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour [Greek: ‘charis’] with God.

None of these thirteen different translations of this word ‘charis’ tells us what ‘grace’ does in our lives. Titus 2 and Hebrew 12 do tell us what God’s favor, His ‘grace’, His ‘charis’ does to those He favors and to those He loves:

Tit 2:11  For the grace [G5485: ‘charis’, favor] of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, chastening], us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

The Lord ‘favors’ those He loves, and this is what His grace, His favor and His love accomplish within us:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811: ‘paideuo’, same Greek word translated as ‘teaching’ in Titus 2:12], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Knowing now that the Lord ‘chastens’ those He loves, gives us a much deeper understanding of this oft abused verse of scripture:

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Knowing that the Lord’s grace “chastens and scourges” us in time stops the tendency of our natural man and even many ministers to “turn the grace of God into lasciviousness”, which is exactly what has been being done by so many from Christ’s time here on earth until this very day:

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation [G2917: ‘krima’, judgment] ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we understand much more deeply the meaning of the verse which tells us that “where sin abounds, grace does much more abound”. Now we can understand that it simply means that God’s chastening will always overcome our self-righteous stubbornness and eventually bring us all to repent of our sins and make us cry out to Him for mercy from His chastening judgments in our lives.

Let no one convince you that the work of grace was completed for you on the cross, or that Christ’s death substituted for our death, and that He received stripes, so we need not be afflicted. Nothing is further from the Truth because we are clearly told:

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.

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

Then there is this incredible statement from the apostle Paul:

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:

As we have just read, “The time is come, that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17), which, as we pointed out, is based upon these words:

Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

Notice that while the Lord is “beginning to bring evil on the city which is called by [His] name”, and is ‘beginning His judgment of mankind at His own house’ (1Pe 4:17), He is at the same time ‘calling for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth”, who are not yet being judged in this present time:

Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

You can apply those words outwardly and say they apply to the worldwide fear of Covid, but more deeply than that these words apply to the Truths that are Christ’s doctrines destroying all the lies of Babylon within us:

Jer 25:33  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

We learned in chapter 22 that we are the ‘earth’ with whom the Lord is pleading to give up our false doctrines for His Truth:

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

We have all believed many false doctrines, and the apostle Paul had also learned that all the doctrines he once believed were nothing more than “dung” upon the ground:

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

Our old man is doomed, and he is being judged in “this present time”. We were all false prophets while we were in the false churches and religions of mankind. In that sense these words are “for our admonition” (1Co 10:11):

Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

When the Truth, the words of Christ, confronts the liar, there is no place to hide, and the liars are all destroyed by the Truth:

Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture. [Their ability to deceive]
Jer 25:37  And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

The shepherds of Babylon within us have “their rock”, and they have their “peaceable habitations”.

Deu 32:31  For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
Deu 32:32  For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

However, the day comes when that “peace” is taken from them, and while the Lord “begins at His own house” to judge His own, He is simultaneously “calling for a sword upon the whole earth”:

Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

This verse is explained for us in:

Rom 8:21  Because the creature [“all the inhabitants of the earth”] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they [“the inhabitants of the whole earth”], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

We are blessed above all men if the Lord comes against our old man and His self-righteous rebellion in “this present time” (Rom 8:18). When He does so, He comes from all sides. He causes our own wickedness to judge us, and He pours out His judgments and His wrath upon us all at the same time:

Jer 25:38  He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

It all works together to produce the best day of our lives. That is the day when we begin to be given spiritual vision. Spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see the things of the spirit.

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

That is our study, and here are the verses for our next study:

Jer 26:1  In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
Jer 26:2  Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
Jer 26:3  If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
Jer 26:4  And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
Jer 26:5  To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
Jer 26:6  Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
Jer 26:7  So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
Jer 26:8  Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
Jer 26:9  Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
Jer 26:10  When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’S house.
Jer 26:11  Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
Jer 26:12  Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

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Isa 63:7-14 In All Their Affliction He Was Afflicted

[Study Aired August 2, 2020]

Isa 63:7  I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
Isa 63:8  For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Isa 63:10  But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Isa 63:11  Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
Isa 63:12  That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Isa 63:13  That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Isa 63:14  As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

The first three verses of our study today remind us of this same message in the New Testament:

Isa 63:7  I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
Isa 63:8  For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
Isa 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

The Lord was afflicted with Israel’s afflictions, and this is what we are told about our Lord in the New Testament:

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.

Because our Lord divested Himself of the glory He had with His Father before the world was and took on “the seed of Abraham”, which is also the seed of Adam, He can identify with us and with all the struggles of being in a body of sinful flesh and blood, even though He never once caved in to the pulls of His own sinful flesh:

Php 2:5  Indeed have this way to think in you, that also was in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6  who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God something to seize and hold.
Php 2:7  But he emptied himself, having taken a form of a bondman, having become in a likeness of men.
Php 2:8  And having been found in a form like a man, he lowered himself, having become obedient until death, even of death from a cross.
Php 2:9  Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name above every name,
Php 2:10  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of the heavenly, and the earthly, and the sub-earthly,
Php 2:11  and that every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ACV)

2Co 5:21  Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him. (Darby)

It is by the Lord’s design that He has high hopes for us even as He knows that of ourselves we can do nothing. So, we are told:

Isa 63:8  For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

Indeed, as humble children we first come to our Lord with little or no knowledge of the trials ahead. Like Queen Esther, we become the Lord’s wife before our trials begin to come upon us. What is also like Queen Esther is that we are the apple of the king’s eye, and our deliverance is sure and secure even as we struggle to believe He will hold out His scepter and spare our life.

Est 4:15  Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
Est 4:16  Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Est 4:17  So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

We, too, come boldly before the throne of grace in a manner “which is not according to the law” of Moses.

Est 5:1  Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
Est 5:2  And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
Est 5:3  Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.

Our high priest identifies with us in our struggles, and He actually suffers with us:

Isa 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

We are not just naturally capable of seeing past our circumstances, and at the time of being betrayed by our own brothers, our own family and our own friends… at the time of seeing the armies of Egypt on one side and the deep Red Sea on the other side… at the time of facing the fiery furnace and the lion’s den, our faith is put through fiery trials, and we will stumble and fall “seven times” before we overcome our fears and our weaknesses of every sort. “The way of the Tree of Life” is securely guarded by a cherub wielding a fiery sword. The only way to the Tree of Life is through the fiery sword which guards the way of the Tree of Life, and it takes patience to go through that fiery sword, which ‘fiery sword’ is “the things written therein” (Rev 1:3).

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Jas 5:9  Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

However, we all like sheep first go astray and must all be the prodigal son before we come into His presence to stay and never again go astray:

Isa 63:10  But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

The prodigal son “rebelled and vexed his [Father’s] holy spirit” and “coming to himself” came only through being brought “to [his] wits’ end” through the seven golden vials of the Lord’s wrath being poured out upon that prodigal son, whom we all are at our own appointed time:

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.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21  And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luk 15:22  But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

Stumbling and falling seven times requires “seven vials” which “fill up the wrath of God” against all our sins and failings:

Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Both the Old and New Testaments verify that the Lord will not forsake those He knows to be His:

Isa 41:13  For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

Isa 42:6  I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
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.

The Lord never really forgets His elect, though it appears to our flesh that He does, and with our Lord we cry out:

Psa 22:1  To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Withdrawing His presence from us for a “small moment” in which He pours out His wrath upon the kingdom and throne of our rebellious, carnal-minded old man is, in the end, the best thing that will ever happen to anyone in this age. Oh yes, it seems like an eternity while it is taking place, but the glory that will be revealed in us will make it all far more than worth-while:

Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
Isa 54:9  For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. [You “shall not be hurt of the second death”]

Our Lord was judged in this age. Consequently, He came up in “the resurrection to life”, and He was given a crown of life and a kingdom which was prepared for Himself and His few elect from the foundation of the world:

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
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:

In this age the scriptures are addressed only to those with whom the Lord is working to give His kingdom and His glory. These words are not addressed to “the goats on [His] left… hand”. Yes, we are all rebellious ‘goats’ before we surrender our heart, the Lord’s throne, to Himself. Nevertheless, before we will understand His doctrine, He must bring us to become as little children and as lambs who realize we were deceived into thinking we are the Lord’s sheep, when in reality we were being devoured by ravening wolves, and we didn’t even know it.

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.

Joh 7:17  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

We must be brought to see that we need a shepherd to save us from all the ravening wolves just looking for the opportunity to destroy us and to rob us of our lives. It is few indeed in this age who are granted to see with spiritual eyes that the ‘light’ in them was really deep darkness, and it is few indeed in this age who will be given a “place for repentance… [in] this present time”:

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

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.

A “place for repentance” is a place which is written in our book before the world began. If that experience in not written in our book before the world began, then we will “[find] no place for repentance” in this present age… “this present time” (Rom 8:18):

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

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

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

The story of Joseph, the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the prodigal son all serve to demonstrate that going into Egypt and being lost in sin must precede coming out of Egypt and coming out of Babylon for all of the Lord’s people, for all of His elect. That is where they all are before He drags them out “by a mighty hand”:

Deu 4:34  Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Knowing that all this deception and suffering is an integral part of the Lord’s plan, for all whom He calls in “this present time”, brings us to our next verse in today’s study:

Isa 63:11  Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

The Lord is again asking questions which He Himself then immediately answers:

Isa 63:12  That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Isa 63:13  That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Isa 63:14  As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

It was the Lord who “led them by the right hand of Moses with His [The Lord’s] glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name.”

Moses did not part the Red Sea and destroy the Egyptian army while simultaneously delivering His people. It was not Moses who caused the earth to open and swallow apostate Korah and company. Moses typifies what we are. Moses was just a tool in the Lord’s hand. It was the Lord who “led [Israel] through the deep”, through the Red Sea. “The spirit of the Lord caused [Israel] to rest” while they were all led by the Lord… No, they were dragged by the Lord deep down into the waters of the Red Sea. It is all being done by “the spirit of the Lord”, and it was all ordained “before the world began”.

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

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

The passing of Israel through the Red Sea typifies our crucifixion with Christ who also entered into His rest upon the cross. Death is commonly called ‘sleep’ in scripture. When Christ told His disciples that Lazarus was ‘asleep’ this is what they naturally thought:

Joh 11:12  Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Joh 11:13  Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14  Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

We are to “reckon [ourselves] dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. That is what it means to be a beast being “led through the deep”:

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are all aware that our calling is to be the “living sacrifice… the scapegoat” to bear with Christ the sins of mankind.

Lev 16:8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Lev 16:20  And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
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 [scape]goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Lev 16:22  And the [scape]goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

“The Lord’s lot fell… upon… the goat… which [was] for the Lord, and the other lot [was] for the scapegoat.” The sacrifice of “the Lord’s… goat” signifies the life and death by crucifixion of our Lord Himself, and the “living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1) which we are clearly told “shall [also] bear upon all the iniquities of “the camp of Israel” is the scapegoat. What these Old Testament types are very clearly telling us is that it takes both goats, both Christ and “His Christ”, to “bear… all their iniquities…”

We will now examine the scriptures which plainly teach that we are “a living sacrifice”; that we “are crucified with Christ” while we yet live, and that our afflictions, as the afflictions of Christ were, are also “for His body’s sake which is the church”. The scriptures all teach that this scapegoat is just as much a part of the “atonement” as “the Lord’s goat”. The scriptures teach that we, as this scapegoat, are the living sacrifice who must “fill up in our bodies that which is [yet] lacking in the afflictions of the Christ”, and we are even told that we are to do so “for His body’s sake which is the church”:

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.
Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
Rom 12:5  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Even while in Babylon we all heard and believed we were to “present our bodies a living sacrifice to God.” We believed that this was “our reasonable service”, considering the great sacrifice Christ has made for us. However, who among us thought, or were ever taught while in Babylon, that “many members in one body” (Rom 12:4) had anything at all to do with “filling up what was behind of the afflictions of Christ”?

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

Who among us was ever taught while in Babylon that there was anything “behind of the afflictions of Christ”???

About 25 years ago in Melbourne, Florida, I asked an 80-year-old minister, with two others of the leading ministers of his denomination, one on either side of him, what Colossians 1:24 meant to him. I am to this very day amazed at his unhesitating, forthright answer. He looked me in the eye and said, “If you can explain that verse, you will be doing more than anyone in this room can do.” That was at the very end of an extended, very animated discussion about the function of grace in the work of God with mankind. That particular denomination believed, as do many other denominations of men, that Christ’s death upon the cross was in and of itself sufficient to finish the work of God with mankind. That denomination taught that Christ’s sacrifice paid the price for our sins and for the sins of all men, past, present and future, and that His grace covers our sins once and for all. That doctrine is known as “the doctrine of substitutionary atonement”, and it will, in the end, be recognized as one of the most damnable doctrines ever concocted from the depths of the “abussos” of the carnal minds of mankind.

There are many and varied applications of this damnable doctrine. Most denominations apply it only to the few who they say will be saved, but not just by ‘the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ’. In the most basic way they boldly teach that their salvation comes by choosing of their own free will to accept Christ’s so-called substitutionary sacrifice for their sins. The doctrine which teaches that God gave mankind a will which is free of Him and His will for each of us is another damnable false doctrine, which is widely believed and accepted by most denominations of men. But I digress.

Getting back to the false doctrine of ‘the substitutionary death and atonement of Christ’, that damnable doctrine teaches that there is nothing at all which is “behind of the afflictions of Christ”, and without actually saying so, it is implied that you really don’t need to “present your body a living sacrifice unto God” at all. After all, so they reason, Christ did all that messy stuff for you so you do not need to die at all. I quote, “He died in your stead so that you do not need to die.” This insidious doctrine subtly denies any need to “suffer with Christ…[be] crucified with [Christ or] die daily” with Christ.

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

Yes, indeed, Paul taught that, “Christ… gave Himself for me.” For what reason and to what end did Christ ‘give Himself for us’? Did Christ give Himself for us so we would not have to die? Did His death substitute for our death? Absolutely not! Christ died for us so we also can “die daily [and be] crucified… daily… with Christ”. That is not the doctrine of “the substitutionary death of Christ”!

Two major Truths are completely hidden from all the churches of Babylon. One is the function of grace, which chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live Godly lives in this age:

Tit 2:11  For the saving grace of God has appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  disciplining us, so that, having denied irreverence and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and piously in the present age. (ACV)

Tit 2:11  For the favour of God, bringing salvation for all men, hath shone forth,
Tit 2:12  Putting us under discipline—in order that,—denying ourselves of ungodliness and worldly covetings, in a soberminded and righteous and godly manner, we should live, in the present age,

The King James reads:

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;

The Greek word translated “teaching” in verse 12 is ‘paideuo’, and this is how this word is variously translated in the New Testament:

G3811
παιδεύω
paideuō
Total KJV Occurrences: 13
chastened, 3
1Co_11:32, 2Co_6:9, Heb_12:10

chasteneth, 2
Heb_12:6-7 (2)

chastise, 2
Luk_23:16, Luk_23:22

chasten, 1
Rev_3:19

instructing, 1
2Ti_2:25

learn, 1
1Ti_1:20

learned, 1
Act_7:22

taught, 1
Act_22:3

teaching, 1
Tit_2:12

Of the 13 times this word appears in the New Testament, it is translated into some form of the English word ‘chasten’ eight times. Chastening is the very function of grace. Anything less turns the grace of God into lasciviousness.

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Knowing the true function of grace and not just the definition, which is ‘favor’, should give us a much better understanding of what Paul meant when he told us:

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace [God’s chastening hand] did much more abound:

If the Lord loves us, He will chasten us. It so happens that the Greek word translated as ‘chasteneth’ in…

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?

… is the Greek word ‘paideuo’, and it is “by [God’s chastening] grace through faith [we] are saved, and that not of our [own free will], it is the gift of God”:

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

The proper understanding of the function of grace is the exact opposite of the insidious, false doctrine of a “substitutionary atonement”.

Accepting Christ’s ‘substitutionary’ death through our own free will is nothing less than self-righteousness and the enshrinement and worship of our own will over God’s will for us. Nevertheless, lies are lies, and Truth is Truth, and Truth is totally unaffected by lies. The Truth remains the Truth whether anyone believes it or not.

You and I, if Christ is living His life within us, are Christ’s Christ. It matters not who believes that to be true. We are indeed Christ’s scapegoat who will be rejected of all men, just as He was because:

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

Exactly what did our heavenly Father send Christ to do and to accomplish?

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

That is what “even so send I you” means. Those words right out of the mouth of our Lord Himself prove that we are indeed the scapegoat who is as much a part of the atonement for the sins of the people as is the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell. One last confirming verse for this doctrine that we “fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church” is:

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

Christ was sent by His Father to save the world. We are sent by Christ to save the world by “presenting [our] bodies a living sacrifice… for His body’s sake, which is the church, [by] filling up in our bodies the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church, by bearing the sins of the world along with our head, Christ.

Lev 16:22  And the [scape]goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

The only “land not inhabited” is the grave, the land of death, where we with our Lord give our lives “for His body’s sake, which is the church”.

The second major Truth which is not understood by the churches of Babylon is the function of judgment. Once again, the Lord has used the definition of this word ‘judgment’ to blind our eyes from the function of that word in our lives.

‘Judgment’ is not simply the statement or pronouncement of guilt or innocence. Rather, as with the word ‘grace’, ‘judgment’ is also a process we must endure if we are to enter into “the house of God… His temple, which we are”:

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 [including our own old man] defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

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

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Why must the seven plagues of the wrath of God be fulfilled before any man can enter into the Lord’s temple? The answer to that question is what reveals the function of judgment:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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.

“When [the Lord’s] judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness”, and that is the function of judgment. Judgment is not merely the pronouncement of guilt or innocence. Judgment is the process of “learning righteousness”. Hence all judgment is a work of chastening (Greek: ‘paideuo’) grace, with the view of ‘learning righteousness”:

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

All judgment, both the judgment which is now on the house of the Lord as well as the judgment of the great white throne judgment, all of the Lord’s judgments are the Lord’s chastening hand to teach mankind righteousness.

It is with the loving chastening hand of the Lord that we are all led “through the deep… baptized into His death… led [dragged] by a fit man unto a land not inhabited… the valley of the shadow of death”:

Lev 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Psa 23:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth [drags] me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy [chastening] rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy [bringing me to my wits’ end (Psa 107: 27)] shall follow me all the days of my life: and [after being judged] I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Yes, we must die, or more accurately stated, we must “reckon ourselves as dead [and we must be] dying daily” before we will even begin to be judged in “this present time”:

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

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Being with us as He leads our beast through the judgment of the valley of the death of our old man is the very meaning of our concluding verses of this study:

Isa 63:13  That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
Isa 63:14  As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead [drag, Joh 6:44] thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: ‘hekuo’, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

G1670
ἑλκύω, ἕλκω
helkuō    helkō
hel-koo’-o, hel’-ko
Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): – draw. Compare G1667.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

That is our study for today. In our next study we will learn just how involved the Lord’s chastening rod and staff are in our walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 63:15  Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?
Isa 63:16  Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Isa 63:18  The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Isa 63:19  We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 44:9-20 – Part 2, He [That Builds an Idol] Warms Himself, and Says, Aha, I am Warm, I Have Seen the Fire - Discussion

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Isa 44:9-20 – Part 2- He [That Builds an Idol] Warms Himself, and Says, Aha, I Am Warm, I Have Seen The Fire

This is the second part of our study on how the Lord makes us plant, nourish and work so very hard at twisting the Lord’s words and constructing the idols of our hearts that we actually think we have endured the fire that is His Words. We work so hard we actually tell ourselves “Aha, I Am Warm, I Have Seen The Fire” of the Lord’s Word (Jer 5:14), all the while being in “strong delusion” and “feeding on ashes”, totally unaware that “a lie is in [our] right hand”.

Here are the last verses we covered in last week’s study:

Isa 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:

Notice that the emphasis is upon all the effort we put into building this idol. Look at the personal pronouns in these verses… “the strength of his arms… his rule… he marks it… he hews him down cedars… which he strengthens for himself… he plants an ash…”, etc. Not one mention of God and what He does in any of these verses.

What is an ‘idol’ in spiritual terms? It is always good to be reminded of the meaning of the words we are studying in light of the scriptures themselves. Here is the spiritual meaning of and ‘idol… an image or a molten image’:

Eze 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD ; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

It is because of what is in our hearts that we are said to be worshipping an ‘idol’ or an ‘image’ or a ‘molten image’. A molten image cannot of ourselves be moved and therefore it is “fastened with nails that it should not be moved… that it might remain in the house”.

Isa 41:7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

Going back to verse 13:

Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

“He fastens it with nails that it should not be moved… that it may remain in the house” tells us just how attached we all are to our false doctrines, and to the idols of our hearts. When the Lord Himself deceives us then there is nothing which we of ourselves can do to deliver ourselves out of our own deception:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

So much for that “idol of [our] heart” which teaches us that God would never have punished Adam and Eve for doing what He made them to do. These verses tell us that when Adam and Eve were deceived it was the Lord Himself who deceived them and then He punished them by casting them out of the garden of Eden, and cursing the ground and making it bring forth “thorns and thistles”, typifying the fruit, of the lies and deceits of our cursed composition.

The Hebrew word for ‘figure’ in verse 13 is:

H8403
תַּבְנִית
tabnı̂yth
tab-neeth'
From H1129; structure; by implication a model, resemblance: - figure, form, likeness, pattern, similitude.

We just naturally make our heart’s idols after “the figure of a man” (Isa 44:13). Our heart’s idols are thought and doctrines which fit the patterns of our own thinking and our own minds and our own understanding. That is the meaning of “after the figure [pattern] of a man”.

The most common translation for this Hebrew word, ‘tabnyith’, is the English word ‘pattern’.

H8403
תּבנית
tabnı̂yth
Total KJV Occurrences: 20
pattern, 9
Exo_25:9 (2), Exo_25:40, Jos_22:28, 2Ki_16:10, 1Ch_28:11-12 (2), 1Ch_28:18-19 (2)
likeness, 5
Deu_4:16-18 (5)
form, 3
Eze_8:3, Eze_8:10, Eze_10:8
similitude, 2
Psa_106:20, Psa_144:12
figure, 1
Isa_44:12-13 (2)

Here is a very good example of how the holy spirit has used this Hebrew word, ‘tabniyth’:

Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern [H8403: tabniyth] of the tabernacle, and the pattern [H8403: tabniyth] of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

The point the spirit is making is that “the figure of a man” is “enmity against” (Rom 8:7), [and] contrary to God and “to the image of His Son”.

We are specifically told:

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We are even plainly told:

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Only if we are given to realize that our ways are not His ways, that our thoughts are not His thoughts and only if we are given to lean not to our own understanding, only then will He begin to conform us to the pattern, the ‘tabnyith’, and the “image of His Son”. It is all His work:

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We must be made aware that the scriptures do not teach what the King James English teaches:

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

This is a grievous mistranslation based upon the idol of our hearts which teaches that we are “free moral agents”, with flesh and blood, which can and will inherit the kingdom of God in complete and total contradiction to what the scriptures actually teach from Genesis to Revelation, which is:

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

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

The scriptures teach that our days are written for each of us in advance, “before the world began”, and that flesh and blood was never intended to inherit the kingdom of God:

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. (ASV)

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

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

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

We are the Lord’s ‘tabernacle’, and when our hearts, minds and doctrines are “conformed to” the mind and doctrines of Christ, that is when we will begin the process of having no “idols of [our] hearts”, and we will then begin to be “conformed to the image of His Son”. Then His ‘tabernacle’ will be being built “according to all [He has shown us”, and He will begin to be pleased to dwell within us. Our old man will begin to decrease and the mind of Christ increases in us day by day:

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

2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

The Hebrew from which the word ‘created’ is translated in Genesis 1:27 is in the Qal stem and is the equivalent of the Greek aorist tense. It denotes a simple statement of fact without any regard to tense.

The Concordant Version captures the proper translation of:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

God is in the process of creating man in His image, and that process will not be completed until we “cease from our own works as God did from His [and we] enter into His rest” from our sins. There remains yet another step before we are completed and we are truly “created in His image [and] conformed to the image of His Son”:

Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Heb 4:9 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 work, 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.

With this understanding, let’s return to the idols of our hearts which we are ‘creating’ in “the figure of a man”, according to the thoughts of a man and not according to the mind of God:

Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure [Hebrew: ‘tabnyith’] of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

This word, ‘tabniyth’ also appears in:

Exo 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern [‘tabnyith’], which was shewed thee in the mount.

“The pattern shown you in the mount” is the house plans for the Lord’s house. Moses was commanded to build the tabernacle according to the exact pattern, the exact ‘tabniyth’, which was shown to him by Christ Himself.

As a contractor I have built many homes from the ground up, and I had to sit down with the people who were paying me to build their home and sign a contract, a “covenant”, agreeing to build their house according to their plans. No contractor worth a dime would dare to vary from the plans he is given. To do such a thing is a legal breach of contract, and that contractor will not be paid for refusing to follow the plans he was given and which he signed a contract to follow.

Yet that is exactly what we have all done with the Lord’s house plans, which are His Word. We are not at liberty to add to or to take away rooms and doors and windows and the quality of the materials with which we are building His house. All of that is meticulously specified in our contract with the Builder with whom we have contracted to build Him a house.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Our “spiritual sacrifices” are our attentiveness to our Lord’s words and the zeal we have in being faithful to His doctrines and His Words. Those are the quality materials He has ordered for the construction of His temple.

He has ordered “stones” for His walls, and we have taken it upon ourselves to build His house with “bricks for stone”. He has ordered the highest quality mortar, and we have substituted “slime… for morter”:

Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

Those are the materials with which we have built our own ‘tower of Babel’, and they are fitting types of all the false doctrines with which we first attempt to build a house for our God.

The New Testament consistently reveals that we are that ‘house’, and that the Lord dwells in us as His temple:

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The only temple in which Christ dwells is one in which His mind and His thoughts and His doctrines dwell. If we believe false, lying doctrines then He is not going to live within us. Being purged of false doctrines is a process that takes time, and Christ will “bear with the weak” babes who are simply not yet able to consume the strong meat of His doctrines, but He will not ‘bear with’ a mind that is ‘enmity against God’ and is rebelling against His Words, nor will He bear with a mind which cannot be entreated. When Christ is truly dealing with us and dragging us to Himself, He makes us “easy to be intreated” by His Words:

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

On the other hand, if we are “filled with bitter envying and strife” then we certainly cannot claim to be “endued with [Godly] knowledge:

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

When such non-entreatable men tell us: “You must believe what we are saying”, while ignoring all the scriptures which command us to seek “a multitude of counselors” (Pro 11:14; 15:22; and 24:6) and “be persuaded of your leaders and be deferring to them” (Heb 13:17 CLV), those who know the True Shepherd’s voice will very soon discern that spirit and “will not follow… a stranger”:

Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety.

Pro 15:22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellers they are established.

Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellers there is safety.

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

Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

"A graven image" is a false God. A false God is false because everything he stands for and teaches is a lie or has been tainted by lies.

Satan was made to be a very accomplished deceiver and to lie to all men. Neither Adam nor Satan experienced a ‘fall’ to become what they are. Rather, by the mouth of our Lord Himself, Adam was flesh and blood, which was never meant to inherit the kingdom of God and Satan is what He was “from the beginning”. Satan did not ‘fall from heaven’ to become Satan. Satan was and is in our heavens from birth just as “that old serpent the devil” was in the garden of Eden “from the beginning”.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

It was the Lord Himself who created him as such simply because His plan called for an adversary, so He made Himself an adversary.

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Lest we miss the point that the Lord’s “hand has formed the crooked serpent”, the Lord also poses this question:

Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

The first and and most enduring lie of the “crooked serpent” was and is "You shall not surely die". As with many lies, this lie is mixed in with the Truth "You will become as Gods, knowing good and evil".

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [The most enduring lie of all time]
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [True! Verse 22: "The man is become as one of us, to know good and evil..." ]
Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Truth mixed with a lie makes the entire conversation a lie, and "the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water [is] taken away” and replaced with idols of our hearts.

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

According to the holy spirit, that first sin embodied all the sin that is in the world:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh [the tree was “good for food”], and the lust of the eyes [it was “pleasant to the eyes”], and the pride of life [“a tree to be desired to make one wise], is not of the Father, but is of the world.

When Adam and Eve first disobeyed their Lord, they committed the first act of idolatry by placing the words of the serpent above the words of the Lord.

Now let’s continue to see how the idols of our hearts subject us to the same act of idolatry and the same fruit of that sin:

Isa 44:15  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
Isa 44:17  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

These words are a perfect description of how we plant, nourish, and manufacture our own doctrines with no fear of adding to or taking away from the truths of the Word of God:

Deu 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

At first we have no fear in either adding to or taking away from the Lord’s Words. We have all believed many lies such as, “You shall not surely die…”, "Why, you are made in God’s image, and you are already endued with an immortal soul which cannot die’." It is a lie, but we are given over to believing a lie, and in so doing, we are both adding to and taking away from the words of our Lord.

Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

As we all know, the “He” here is not referring to the Devil who is Satan. It is referring to God Himself, whose plan and design, from the beginning, requires that we are first “marred in the Potter’s hands” (Jer 18:4). The scriptures consistently teach:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

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

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

When we are given by God “eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, then this is how we react to the Lord’s counselors and His teachers and the leaders He gives us:

Isa 44:19  And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Earlier we were told that this is all speaking of the work of our own hands, meaning our own minds and hearts. This entire chapter is all about how we construct our own idols of our own hearts. We plant these lies and false doctrines. Then we nourish and refine them and then we harvest them and manufacture our hearts idols. In this deceived state everything that happens confirms to us that our heart’s idols are truly our God, because we are told that God will ‘answer him that comes to the prophet with his idols of his heart’ “according to the multitude of those idols”. They are multitudinous and so are the Lord’s answers to such men.

Just look at these words:

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
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, [Isa 44:16]
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.

Let’s take the time to look at what we were told earlier in this same study:

Isa 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: [Rev 13:13]
Isa 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he [the Lord Himself] hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

We have all lived out every one of these words. We have all been full of our own “idols of the heart”, and we have truly seen and are experiencing, “the fire” which is the word of God (Jer 5:14). These words apply to “every man [and they apply to] every man’s works”:

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.

This truth concerning this certain fire, which is the word of God, is repeated in the book of Revelation:

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2 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 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

These seven last plagues “fill up the wrath of God… against all… unrighteousness of men” including, and especially all the “idols of [our] hearts”.

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

I say ‘especially the idols of our hearts’ because it is evident that while the Lord disapproved of the adultery of the woman brought to Him, and He even told her “Go and sin no more”, His real ire was reserved for the self-righteous religious old man within us who dragged that poor blatant sinner before Him to be stoned, while being completely unaware of our own far more insidious spiritual adultery and hypocrisy and spiritual nakedness and idols of our hearts, which have us looking down on those who our flesh deems as spiritually worse sinners than ourselves. These words are addressed to “He that has and ear let Him hear…”

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

“The Lord dwells in the heavens” in which all of these things are taking place:

Psa 123:1 A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

“The heavens themselves” are our hearts and our minds into which He has entered to cleanse and to purify for Himself a house fit for His dwelling:

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.

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [the physical temple in Jerusalem] should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [our hearts and minds] with better sacrifices than these. [Calves and goats - vs 19]
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands [the literal, physical], which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [our defiled hearts and minds], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

The Lord’s plan requires that some of those who are chosen and who are anointed of God to be “enlightened… taste of the heavenly gift… be made partakers of the holy spirit… taste the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come” and the outward and inward nature of that age and that kingdom, will “return to [their] vomit and [their] wallow in the mire” from which they were delivered:

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.

2Pe 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

These words are the answer to the question Peter poses in his first epistle concerning those whose judgment is not completed “in this present time” (Rom 8:18).

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?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

1Peter 2:21-22 is where they will appear. They will appear with those who return to their vomit and their wallow in the mire at the time of the great white throne judgment, the resurrection of judgment (Joh 5:28-29), the resurrection of the cursed (Mat 25: 41), the lake of fire, which is the second death (Rev 20:15), and indeed “it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness” and the way to avoid leaving the body of Christ, than to have known these truths and then rejected them for their own pride and the idols of their hearts.

We have all sinned willfully, and we have all returned to our vomit and to our wallow in the mire, and we have still been brought to repentance because:

Mat 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mat 19:25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

“The eye of a needle” is not a gate in Jerusalem which, if a camel gets on its knees it can go through that gate. If that were the case, then it would not be impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. However, it is indeed “impossible” for men to restore to repentance those whose hearts the Lord has hardened, and it is “impossible… to make straight that which the Lord has made crooked”:

The Lord has written into His book “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2) that some will taste the heavenly gift, partake of the holy spirit, know the power of the age to come in this present time and still reject Him and His doctrine and be cast into the lake of fire. He has already made that decision as to whom will be those so cursed. We are all “marred [and] made crooked” in this present time, but some are given by the Lord’s hand and foreknowledge to do what is impossible for men and to repent in this present time. Our crooked ways are His work just as much as our repentance and obedience:

Lam 3:9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

And when He makes our ways crooked, then it is true that we plant, nurture and work very hard at manufacturing our own doctrines in complete rebellion against the doctrines of our Lord:

Isa 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

So it has all been predetermined, and the best thing we can do is to follow the Lord’s instructions which He gives us right after posing the question, “If the righteous scarcely be saved where then shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"

1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

That is our study on how the Lord deals with the idols of our hearts. Here are our verses for our next study in which we are again encouraged to “commit the keeping of [our] souls to Him in well doing [because He is] a faithful Creator” who loves all of His creatures.

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD , thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
Isa 44:26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
Isa 44:27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.