Ezekiel 33:21–33 The City of Jerusalem Had Been Captured

[Study Aired October 7, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

Today’s study is about the condition of those who were left as remnants after the invasion of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and the desire of these remnants to inherit the land which they believed they, as descendants of Abraham, were entitled to it. The Lord’s response through Ezekiel was that they were not worthy of the inheritance of Abraham because of their sins.

The rest of the chapter focuses on the unwillingness of the people of Israel to obey the word of the Lord proclaimed by Ezekiel. The Lord also promised that everything that He has said through Ezekiel shall come to pass in the fulness of time. That is what will make the people of Israel recognize that a prophet has indeed been among them.

Eze 12:21  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 12:22  Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
Eze 12:23  Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.
Eze 12:24  For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.
Eze 12:25  For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. 

The Report from a Fugitive

Eze 33:21  And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. 

The number ‘twelve’ is the number of Christ. It also means foundation. That of the number ‘ten’ signifies the completeness or fulness of the flesh. The number ‘five’ is a symbol of grace through faith. ‘On the fifth day of the tenth month in the twelfth year of the captivity of the Lord’s people’ signifies that it is when the sins of our flesh have reached their fulness or become complete during our time in the physical churches of this world, or Babylon, that Christ comes to us with His judgement (grace) to begin the walk of faith as we leave behind the Law of Moses. That is the time that we escape from Jerusalem as fugitives when we become aware that the city is smitten or taken. What this implies is that our exit from Babylon is when we come to the realization that the city of Jerusalem is smitten or the churches of this world are under the dominion of the evil one.

This brings to mind Psalm 124 where the Lord has caused us to escape as fugitives from the snare of the fowler as follows:

Psa 124:1  A Song of degrees of David. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
Psa 124:2  If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
Psa 124:3  Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
Psa 124:4  Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Psa 124:5  Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Psa 124:6. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 
Psa 124:7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 
Psa 124:8  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

The snare of the fowler in Psalm 124 refers to the attractiveness of the churches of this world and their false doctrines. These false doctrines refer to the waters which overwhelmed us including the stream and the proud waters which went over our soul in Psalm 124:4-5.

Our exit from Babylon is initiated by the Lord coming to us with the Spirit of His mouth and His brightness. That is when we come to see who the harlot woman really is. That is the time that we begin to understand the spiritual meaning of the Lord’s words.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The Lord Opened Ezekiel’s Mouth to Speak

Eze 33:22  Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.   

The news that the city of Jerusalem is smitten is not good news to hear when we have spent all our time in the city and are therefore in love with the city or Babylon. As shown in verse 22, the Lord prepares our hearts before we are given to receive such news. The hand of the Lord being upon Ezekiel, a type of the Lord’s elect, in the evening before the fugitive came with the news, was to prepare him for the message from the fugitive who represents the Lord’s elect.

Psa 10:17  LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

1Ch 29:18  O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

The man who fled from Jerusalem to meet Ezekiel in the morning signifies the Lord leading us from Babylon to meet the Lord’s elect. The morning represents the time that the morning star, who is Christ, comes to us with His words. That is when we hear the mysteries of the kingdom of the Lord spoken to us by His elect symbolized here by Ezekiel. The time that Ezekiel was made dumb was when he was with the exiled people of Israel who in this case represent Babylon, since the word of truth would not have profited them.

Eze 3:26  And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.

Psa 39:9  I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

The fugitive, who represents the Lord’s elect, hearing the word of the Lord from Ezekiel, confirms the fact that we speak wisdom to them who are mature, that is, the Lord’s elect. It is instructive to note that the Lord gave a sign to Ezekiel that when he sees a man who has escaped from Jerusalem, then he shall speak. That is to suggest that the words of the Lord are for the Lord’s elect in this age.

Eze 24:25  Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
Eze 24:26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? 
Eze 24:27  In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD

Eze 33:23  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 33:24  Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 

As indicated in the previous studies, the word of the Lord coming to Ezekiel signifies the Lord coming to His elect with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness. What this means is that the Lord coming to His elect is to judge them for the destruction of their flesh. The coming of the Lord is also to illuminate His words so that we can understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

Verse 24 shows us our mindset when we were in the physical churches of this world, or Babylon. The ‘wastes of the land’ of Israel refer to the spiritual degradation state of our lives when we were living in Babylon. At that time, we thought we were Abraham’s seed and therefore we regarded the Lord’s promise to Abraham as His promise to us. This is the Lord’s promise to Abraham about the land of Canaan on the day the Lord made a covenant with him:

Gen 15:18  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 

As the Lord’s elect, we are Abraham’s seed and therefore are recipients of the Lord’s promise to Abraham. Spiritually, the land here in Genesis 15:18 symbolizes our bodies which we must possess to please the Lord. It is insightful to note that Abraham was promised not only the land but the rivers of Egypt and that of Euphrates. This implies that possessing our bodies involves possessing the false doctrines of this world. That means not living according to these false doctrines.

In His life here on earth, the Lord demonstrated how we can overcome the pull of the flesh to possess our bodies by walking on the sea, which signifies the flesh of mankind. Peter, who is a symbol of the elect, followed His example and started walking on the sea initially, towards Jesus. However, when he became afraid when he saw the boisterous waves, he started to sink. Jesus saved him but questioned him for doubting.

Mat 14:23  And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Mat 14:24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mat 14:26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Mat 14:27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Mat 14:28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 
Mat 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 
Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 
Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 

This whole episode is to demonstrate to us that our victory over the flesh is through faith, and the word of the Lord makes us aware that this faith is not ours but the Lord’s.

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.

In verse 24 of our study for today, the people of Israel who remained in the land after the Chaldean invasion thought that just because they were physically related to Abraham they are entitled to the land. In other words, our brothers and sisters in Babylon think that they are Abraham’s seed and therefore, they can possess their bodies. Their reliance on the law of Moses means that their walk is not that of faith and therefore they cannot possess their bodies, or overcome the flesh. The next verses show us why they are disqualified from receiving the promise of Abraham.

Eze 33:25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? 

Here in this verse, we are given a list of what we were doing in Babylon which disqualified us from receiving the land promised to Abraham or being given to possess our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord. The first thing mentioned here is eating meat with blood in it. Eating meat with blood in it signifies imbibing false doctrines which causes us to hate our brothers and sisters. As Apostle John indicated, hating our brother or sister spiritually means committing murder. During our time in Babylon, we hated the Lord’s elect and therefore were guilty of the blood of Christ and His messengers.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 

Looking for our idols for help means depending on our false doctrines which have become our idols of the heart and therefore prevent us from knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder we are deceived into thinking that we are Abraham’s seed and therefore we shall inherit the land.

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 33:26  Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile everyone his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land? 

The sword here is put in a negative context. The negative aspect of sword refers to words that are spoken which destroy us. The sword therefore refers to the lying words and false doctrines of the adversary.

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

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

Standing upon our sword means relying on our false doctrines instead of the truth of the word of the Lord. In this case, our works become an abomination to the Lord. That is to say that we engage in idolatry, which means we worship another Jesus, instead of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

In verse 26, we are also guilty of defiling our neighbor’s wife. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Lord showed us who spiritually signifies our neighbor.

Luk 10:36  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 
Luk 10:37  And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. 

From the parable, we can see that our neighbor is one who has shown us mercy. We know that it is our Lord Jesus Christ who has shown us mercy and therefore is our neighbor. Defiling our neighbor’s wife is therefore doing evil to the Lord’s bride. This is the same as what happened in the Corinthian church where a man defiled his father’s wife.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

We are therefore not different from this man. In our time in Babylon, we polluted the Lord’s elect who were captives in Babylon with false doctrines. The Lord is therefore asking us whether we really deserve to possess the land, or our bodies, in view of our sins during this time of our walk in Babylon.

The Remnants Shall be Judged

Eze 33:27  Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. 

In view of our sins as described in the preceding verses, we are to face the Lord’s judgement. Here in verse 27, the Lord is applying His judgement tools to correct us. These tools are ‘the sword’, ‘pestilence’ and ‘noisome beasts’. If we continue to remain in the ruined cities or Babylon, then we shall fall by the sword, that is, be deceived by false doctrines. The open fields represent the world. If we continue to conform our lives according to the standards of this world, then we shall be devoured by the beasts of the field. That is to say that we shall live according to the dictates of our flesh. The ‘caves and forts’ in verse 27 symbolize anything that we depend on or hide in. These shall be taken away by the Lord through pestilence.

‘Pestilence’ comes from the Hebrew word “deber” which means ‘murrain’ or ‘plague’. ‘Murrain’ means ‘destruction’, and the only place that the word was used in the Bible was in the fifth plague in Egypt when there was widespread destruction of cattle of the Egyptians:

Exo 9:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Exo 9:2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

The Lord uses pestilence when we have gotten far away from Him. For example, when the children of Israel were in Egypt, the Lord used pestilence to get their attention. The Lord’s use of pestilence means that the people of Israel were given over to the devil, which in this case was represented by Pharoah who caused the people of Israel to be under great affliction.

Lev 26:25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Exo 1:8  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Exo 1:14  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in the  morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

When the Lord got the people of Israel’s attention, He came to help them as the people drew closer to the Lord. Today, the Lord still uses pestilence to get our attention when we have drifted far from Him. For example, in the Corithian church, Paul gave over the man who slept with his father’s wife to the devil so that he may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Eze 33:28  For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. 
Eze 33:29  Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed. 

Verses 28 and 29 continues with the Lord’s judgment of our old man, or flesh. When a land is laid desolate, all kinds of wild animals roam about looking for something to devour. When our bodies, which are represented by the land, are not being offered as a living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to the Lord, then our bodies are dominated by our flesh that is empowered by the devil. In this case, our bodies can be described as being “desolate”. The “pomp of the strength of the land ceasing” means that our old man, or flesh, shall be destroyed through the Lord’s judgement. The “mountains of Israel” are places of idol worship which refers to the idols of false doctrines in our hearts and minds. It is in our hearts and minds, which is the seat of the our old man, who thinks that he is God. The judgement of the Lord, therefore, cleanses our hearts and minds such that “the none” can pass through. That is to say that the flesh cannot dominate us again.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

In verse 29, we can see that the Lord’s judgement results in us coming to know Him.

Our Inability to Obey the Word of the Lord

Eze 33:30  Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. 
Eze 33:31  And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goth after their covetousness. 

These verses show us our state when we were in the physical churches of this world or Babylon. We desire to hear the word of the Lord, but to do according to what we hear, is the problem. We therefore worship the Lord with our mouth but our hearts were far away from Him.

Isa 29:13  And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
Isa 29:14  therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Mat 15:7  You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
Mat 15:8“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 
Mat 15:9  in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” 

During this period of our walk with the Lord in Babylon, we were the four angels bound by the river Euphrates. In other words, we were captives of the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition, which is represented by the river Euphrates that nourished Babylon. No wonder we were not able to worship the Lord acceptably in Babylon.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4  How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? 

In the fulness of time, the Lord gave the command for us to be loosed from the river Euphrates so that we can hear the voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar which is before the Lord. What this means is that we are given the strength of the Lord to be able to do according to what we hear from His words.

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

Eze 33:32  And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 
Eze 33:33  And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. 

These verses continue to let us know our deplorable state in the churches of this world. Here in verse 32, the Lord is saying that during this stage of our walk in Babylon, when we hear from the Lord’s elect represented here by Ezekiel, we regard them as nothing more than singers with beautiful voices who sing love songs, or musicians with instruments. We listen to their words but we do not do them. Jesus, in His ministry here on earth, also said the same thing about us during this period of our walk in Babylon, in another way as follows:

Mat 11:15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 11:16  But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
Mat 11:17  And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
Mat 11:18  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
Mat 11:19  The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

From the Lord’s words, we can see that the reason we were not able to do what we hear was simply because we did not have the power to carry them out until we are loosed from the river Euphrates. In the fulness of time, we, as the Lord’s elect, are given the power to understand the words of the Lord’s elect and to do them. That is when we come to realize who really are the Lord’s elect, signified here as a prophet in verse 33. It is this time of our walk with Christ that we are able to say, “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

May the Lord be praised for opening our eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of the Lord!! Amen!!

Rev 9:20-21-Part 4-The Sixth Trumpet

[Study Aired Sept 1, 2024]

We are continuing to seek to know the scriptural significance of all the symbols used to inform us of our judgment, and the judgment of all men in the sixth trumpet.

Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

The rest of the men

8) “The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues” tells us that God’s wrath is on all our self-righteous, ungodliness, and His Wrath is an ongoing yet incomplete process in which we are “dying daily” and being “crucified with Christ” daily. If we do not believe on Christ and do the things He says then we are not ‘dying daily’ and ‘His wrath abides on us’:

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

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.  [I am “killed by these plagues… daily”]

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

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, [dying daily and being crucified with Christ daily]
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Yet repented not of the works of their hands

9) “Yet repented not of the works of their hands” signifies the same ongoing judgment which is upon the self-righteous “worship of devils” and “idols of the heart” with which we struggle for so very long. All of this is leading up to the revelation and the judgment of self- righteous Babylon within us in chapters 17 and 18. It is we who are admonished to “read, hear, and keep the things written therein”:

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

We read and we actually understand those words and yet we struggle every day to apply the Lord’s words of admonition to ourselves instead of all those sinners somewhere ‘out there’

Jeremiah admonishes us:

Jer 2:30  In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. [Our own words condemn us “like a destroying lion”]

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Paul admonishes us:

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

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: [All men, Eph 2:2, are by nature “the children of disobedience”].
Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in 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.

We all ‘lose or first love’ (Rev 2:4) and “return to [our] own vomit [and our] wallowing in the mire”.

Idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood

10) “Idols of gold, silver, brass, stone and wood” are these very same false convictions with which we struggle, ranging from the false doctrine of salvation through self-righteous good works to “turning grace into lasciviousness”. These are all false doctrines called “idols of the heart.”

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 [self-righteousness, Eze 33:13] before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
Eze 16:18  And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.
Eze 16:19  My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, [wherewith] I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and [thus] it was, saith the Lord GOD.

“The stumbling block of our iniquity” is our own self-righteousness, the most insidious of sins. Ezekiel defines this phrase for us in:

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

When we fail to believe these following verses, at that moment we become self-righteous:

Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670, ‘helkuo’, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth [How much clearer can the Lord be?], nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

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

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

Which neither see, nor hear, nor walk

11) “Which neither see, nor hear, nor walk” is the perfect spiritual description of these self-righteous idols of the heart which have taken away our spiritual sight, our spiritual ears, and therefore our ability to walk in Christ’s  steps and live as Christ lived.

Job 12:25  They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like [a] drunken [man].

Isa 59:12  For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
Isa 59:13  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Isa 59:14  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
Isa 59:15  Yea, truth faileth; and he [that] departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw [it], and it displeased him that [there was] no judgment.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed [are] your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And [some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth

Neither repented they of their murders

12) “Neither repented they of their murders” signifies both the hatred which is in our hearts for our fellow man, as well as the blasphemous doctrine of a “Christian soldier” being a physical soldier physically fighting for his country.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

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

Nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication,

13) Refusing to repent of “…their sorceries, [and] their fornication” signifies the tenacity of the false doctrines of “another Jesus” which cling to us even as we are being judged “in one day… the day of the Lord… the day of His wrath”, and as we are struggling to be free of them, and of the influences of “another Jesus”.

Isa 47:9  But these two [things] shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, [and] for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against thee (Pergamos), because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

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

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong [is] the Lord God who judgeth her.

Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

14) The gold and silver implements of the temple signify the doctrines and thoughts of our Lord:

Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

“Nor of their thefts” tells us that we have stolen God’s Words and doctrines of gold and silver, and we have twisted them and have perverted them and have used them in that way to cover the idols of our hearts and the doctrines of “another Jesus” signified by all those “idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood”.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

Joe 3:5  Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

These are not physical idols in either Ezekiel, or Joel, or Revelation. These are self-righteous idols of our hearts, made by twisting God’s gold and God’s silver, which signify His Words and His doctrines. These are self-righteous “idols of the heart… images of men” which we have “made to ourselves”, and we commit whoredoms and fornication against our Lord by believing in and living by those self-righteous “idols of the heart.”

Our ‘idols of our hearts’ are always accompanied by “the stumbling block of [our self-righteous] iniquity”:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

‘Iniquity’ is defined as “trusting to our own righteousness”:

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

That is exactly what every harlot does. Spiritual ‘harlots’ do not perceive themselves as harlots at all. This is what a spiritual harlot always does:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

A spiritual harlot cannot see that she is spiritually malnourished and naked. Instead, this is how she perceives herself:

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.

What this “adulterous woman” is eating is “[her] own bread” while she is dressed in [her] own apparel”, and she really believes that “I have done no wickedness” and she “has need of nothing”, while the spiritual truth is that “thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”.

The whole world is groaning and travailing with us as we are being judged. But there are far more of those men who continue in their self-righteous, rebellious ways and do not repent who will be judged at a later resurrection, the resurrection of the great white throne judgment:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920, ‘krisis’, judgment].

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.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Summary

Here is what we have just seen in the demonstration of the spirit (the Word, Joh 6:63) and of power [the Word, 1Co 2:4).

Mat 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in [words of the] demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of [the words of] God.

God’s words are His power. It is our fidelity to His words which empowers us to overcome the adversary and all His lies.

Ecc 8:4  Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

All these symbols signify what the Lord is doing with His power:

1) An army signifies ongoing spiritual warfare within us all.

2) Men on the horses signify the incredible power and influence of the testimony and doctrines of this vast army which is within us.

3) The number two, as in “two hundred thousand, thousand” tells us  that  that there are myriads of false witnesses to all those false doctrines.

4) The breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen tell us that we will be judged by the words of our own mouths and by the very doctrines we have been teaching to others.

5) The death of “the third part of men” tells us that we are dealing with the process of judgment upon “the inhabiters of the earth,” upon the house of God first (1Pe 4:17).

6) The fact that the power of these horses is in their mouths, which are “as the mouth of a lion,” instead of coming out of the mouth of the men on the horses, tells us that the horse and his rider are both one and the same beast speaking all the same lying doctrines of demons.

7) “Their power is in their mouth and in their tails” tells us that these are the false doctrines of false prophets with which doctrines we all have been hurt, and from which we are being delivered by the process of judgment which is at this very moment taking place in “the house of God.”

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

8) “The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues” tells us that God’s wrath is on all ungodliness, and this is an ongoing, yet incomplete process in which we are “dying daily,” and being “crucified with Christ” daily.

9) “Yet repented not of the works of their hands” signifies the same ongoing judgment which is upon the “worship of devils” and “idols of the heart” with which we struggle so very long.

10) “Idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood” are these very same false convictions with which we struggle, ranging from the false doctrine of salvation through good works, to “turning grace into lasciviousness.”

11) “Which neither see, nor hear, nor walk” is the perfect spiritual description of these ‘idols of the heart’ which have taken away our spiritual sight, our spiritual ears, and therefore our ability to walk in Christ’s footsteps and live as Christ lived.

12) “Neither repented they of their murders” signifies the false doctrine of a “Christian soldier” being blessed to be a physical soldier physically fighting for God and country, as well as failing to understand that hatred of one’s fellow man is spiritually the same as murder (1Jn 3:15).

13) “Nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication” both signify the tenacity of the false doctrines of “another Jesus,” which cling to us, even as we struggle to be free of them, and of him.

14) “Nor of their thefts” tells us that we have stolen God’s Words and have twisted them, and have perverted them, and have used them in that way to cover the idols of our hearts, and the doctrines of “another Jesus.”

Next week, Lord willing, we will consider what is the little book in the hand of Christ, and why it is that we are not given the message contained in the voices of the seven thunders.

Rev 10:1  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Rev 10:2  And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and [his] left [foot] on the earth,
Rev 10:3  And cried with a loud voice, as [when] a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Rev 10:4  And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
Rev 10:5  And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
Rev 10:6  And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Rev 9:16-19- Part 3- The Sixth Trumpet

[Study Aired Aug 30, 2024]

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses [were] as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev 9:18  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths
Rev 9:19  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Introduction

We have already established the spiritual significance of every symbol found in these six verses.

1) An army signifies ongoing spiritual warfare within us all.

2) Men on the horses signify the incredible power and intellect of the persuasive testimony and doctrines of this vast army of wicked doctrines which are within us.

3) The number two tells us that these are the myriads of witnesses to those false doctrines.

4) The breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen tell us that we will be judged by the very false doctrines we propound to others. ‘Jacinth’ means “deep blue”, signifying the intense heat of the blue flame produced by the burning sulfur proceeding from the mouths of these powerful horse like destructive locusts.

Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

5) The death of “the third part of men” tells us once again, that we are dealing with the process of judgment upon our old man who is signified as “the inhabiters of the earth”.

We are all “the children of disobedience” prior to beginning to be judged by the Lord.

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

6) The fact that the power of these horses is in their mouths, which are “as the mouth of a lion,” instead of coming out of the mouth of the men on the horses, tells us that the horse and his rider are both one and the same powerful lying beast.

7) “Their power is in their mouth and in their tails” tells us that these are the false doctrines of false prophets by which doctrines we all have been hurt, and from which we are being delivered by the process of judgment which is at this very moment taking place in “the house of God.” (1Pe 4:17)

8) “The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues” tells us that being killed by these plagues signifies the death of our old man and the beginning of the birth of our new man, Christ in us (Col 1:27). God’s wrath is on all ungodliness, and this is an ongoing, yet incomplete process in which we are “dying daily,” and being “crucified with Christ” daily.

9) “Yet repented not of the works of their hands” signifies the same ongoing judgment which is upon the “worship of devils” and “idols of the heart” with which we struggle for so very long.

10) “Idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood” are these very same false convictions with which we struggle, ranging from the false doctrine of salvation through good works, to “turning grace into lasciviousness.”

11) “Which neither see, nor hear, nor walk” is the perfect spiritual description of these idols of the heart which have taken away our spiritual sight, our spiritual ears and therefore our ability to walk in Christ’s steps and live as Christ lived (1Pe 2:21).

12) “Neither repented they of their murders” signifies the doctrine of a “Christian soldier” being blessed as a physical soldier fighting for his physical country, as well as failing to understand that hatred of one’s fellow man is spiritually the same as murder (1Jo 3:15).

13) “Nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication” both signify the tenacity of the false doctrines of “another Jesus,” which cling to us, even as we struggle to be free of them, and of that ‘other Jesus’ (2Co 11:4).

14) “Nor of their thefts” tells us that we have stolen God’s Words and have twisted them, and have perverted them, and have used them in that way to cover the idols of our hearts, and the doctrines of “another Jesus” (Eze 14:1-9; Eze 16:17).

Since we have already given the scriptures for these symbols, we will take each symbol and put with it a few verses of scripture which, without comment, will establish the meaning of that symbol.

An army

1) An army signifies the ongoing spiritual warfare within us all.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. [Greek, epuranios – the heavens of our hearts and minds]
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Rev 19:14  And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Men on Horses

2) ‘Men on the horses’ signifies the incredible death dealing power and influence of the testimony and doctrines of this vast army which is in the world within and without. It is so vast and universal that our flesh poses the question “Who is able make war with [the beast]” (Rev 13:4):

Isa 43:17  Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

Nah 3:3  The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and [there is] a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and [there is] none end of [their] corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

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

The number two

3) The number two tells us that there are ‘two hundreds million’ false witnesses to those false doctrines.

This link include the spiritual significance of both numbers one and two: https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/numbers_one/

Deu 17:6  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

Mat 26:59  Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
Mat 26:60  But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, [yet] found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,

Rev 11:3  And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen

4) The breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen tell us that we will be judged by the very fiery wicked doctrines we propound to others. ‘Jacinth’ is the color deep blue which signifies the things of the spirit. It also signifies the intensity of the heat produced by such destructive doctrines. It may seem strange that the horses which come out of the smoke of the bottomless pit with tails like scorpions, which ‘tails’ are specifically designated as “false prophets who prophesy lies”… it may seem strange that they can have riders whose breastplates are of fire and of jacinth and brimstone, but all these words have both a positive and a negative application:

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

How is this possible? Here is how God uses evil and makes good come of it. Here is how God calls light out of darkness.

Isa 9:13  For the [Lord’s] people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the [jacinth, blue] fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Assyrians are Babylonians. Babylon is located in the land of Assyria and is the rod of God’s anger and indignation. God’s wrath at this time is not against Babylon. At this present time, it is against His wayward elect. It is while we are spiritually in the bondage of Babylon that God speaks to us these words:

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

Jer 2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, [thou] wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

We all have transgressed against our Lord, we have refused His correction and denied and destroyed His prophets. This is common to all men, and it is this experience itself that becomes the fuel for the fire and brimstone which will bring us to the jacinth intense blue heat at the end of God’s judgments upon our sins and false doctrines.

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.

You and I are “the earth”, the “vessel of clay in the Potter’s hand”, and if we are we are   “His house” then we will be experiencing His judgment in “this present time”.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings [and fiery trials of judgment] of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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:
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 4:17  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?

The third part of men

5) The death of “the third part of men” tells us once again that we are dealing with the process of judgment upon “the inhabiters of the earth”. The death of “the third part of men” who are also “inhabiters of the earth” signifies that all the doctrines of this earth inhabit  us and make us “of the earth. It is instructive that Jeremiah addresses the earth three times in this verse:

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

Isaiah 26:9 and Ezekiel 5:2 shows us that “a third part” is just the beginning of the judgment of God which will teach “the inhabiters of the earth” righteousness by the time that three step process is completed:

 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.

Eze 5:2  Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, [and] smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

The phrase “a [or] the third part” appears 5 times in the 8^th chapter of Revelation alone. It appears 19 times in the entire Bible and it always signifies the process of judgment all men must endure.

Isaiah 26:9 and Zechariah 13:9 both reveal the glorious fruit of the Lord’s fiery judgments through the trials He places in our lives:

Zec 13:9  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

The natural man sees “the third part” as 33 and 1/3 percent of mankind, or the physical nation of Israel, or one third of the body of professing Christians, but  the sum of the Lord’s words reveal that “the third part” is always referring to the process of judgment which is taking place within those who rejoice to be given the privilege of dying daily to the kingdom of our old man. A third part of the trees dying, a third part of the fish in the sea dying and a third part of men dying, one and all signify those few who are finally given to repent of their abominable lives and begin the judgment of God in this present time:

Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

The overcomers who stand on the sea  of glass mingled with fire are those who were privileged to be crucified with Christ by dying daily in this present time:

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

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

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.

As the mouth of a lion

6) The fact that the power of these horses is in their mouths, which are “as the mouth of a lion”, instead of coming out of the mouth of the men on the horses, tells us that the horse and his rider are both one and the same beast with a mouth speaking great blasphemous doctrines which devour us all in our own appointed time:

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

The words of the beast devour us and “kill [us]” before the fiery trials of the Lord devour the kingdom of our old man.

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

2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and [that] all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the [devouring] mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a [devouring] mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his [devouring] mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

“The mouth of a lion” is the same mouth uttering false doctrines which devour our old man, as the “mouth of a lion” devours his prey.

Time and again we have watched as our adversary the devil has devoured our poor unsuspecting brothers with the words of his lying mouth. This is how Peter warns us against the mouth of this “roaring lion”:

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Their power is in their mouth and in their tails

7) “Their power is in their mouth and in their tails” tells us that these are the false doctrines of false prophets with which doctrines have devoured all men establishing the kingdom of our old man within us.

Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

It is from that well established kingdom, dominated by a great spiritual harlot that we are being delivered by the process of judgment which is at this very moment taking place in “the house of God”. It is in this same 9^th chapter of Isaiah which reveals to us the spiritual significance of “their tails” that Isaiah makes another very revealing statement concerning the fuel which fires our judgment:

Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

The “briers and thorns [and] thickets of the forest” all signify the blasphemous false doctrines which keep us in bondage while we are dominated by the great harlot and all her daughters.

Job 16:10  They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

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

The head is our leader. The doctrine of our leaders has led us astray and into Babylon.

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

It is from the power of these lying leaders that we are told to “come out of her My people”:

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.

There are five verbs in Rev 18:4. They are… ‘heard; saying; come; partakers, and receive’. Of those five verbs the word ‘saying’ is the only verb which is not in the aorist tense. The verb, ‘saying’, is in the present tense because that is what the holy spirit is presently  telling us to do.

We will pause our study of the spiritual significance of the symbols of this sixth trumpet at this point. In our next study we will finish revealing what the scriptures reveal to be the spiritual significance of the remaining symbols of this sixth trumpet.

[Study Aired June 22, 2024]

The Lord’s Love for Israel

In the previous Study, Part 10, our Lord blessed us to see that His endless hammering us to powder, particularly in the Old Covenant, for being a troupe of self-styled ‘shady ladies’, most bitingly termed “whores”, is to jolt us into not contesting that innate nature, but rather, acknowledge the condition. Revelation 18:7, in particular, is one of many prominent cases of denying that we are a lineage of harlots:

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon [WITHIN] the great is fallen, is fallen [Falling], and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Babylon within does figuratively fall in one hour when we receive the mighty earthquake of understanding that all we have learned in Babylonian Christianity was perverted with lies by our ‘first father, the Devil’ and his ‘pimping’ us as harlots sold into his service! However, from that earth-shattering spiritual realisation, it takes a Christ-designated timeframe unique to the individual He chooses and tells to “come out of her, my people”, be it an indeterminate six minutes or sixty years before spiritual eyesight is given.

Rev 18:3  For all nations [nations within the individual] have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies [1. excessive strength which longs to break forth, over strength 2. luxury 3. eager desire. 1. strong, firm, immovable, solid, hard, rigid a. in a bad sense, cruel, stiff, stubborn, hard b. in a good sense, firm, steadfast. Meat ~ that all signifies incredibly stubborn pride and confidence in man’s works.]

There it is! In knowing that a woman represents a church, and since all nations past and present have drunk her mixed wine of infidelity, we individually are a harlot within the harlotry of one woman ~ in fact, 40,000 plus harlot churches of the world collectively called ‘the Great Whore’ (Rev 17:1-18). All men and women are intrigued by women’s natural seductiveness. If we dwell lustfully upon the enchantress spiritually, we become spiritual fornicators and adulterers. Early teen women quickly get the idea that if they flaunt their highly seductive “delicacies”, they will receive a flood of social likes that stroke their vanity; so, too, do the harlot churches of the world bewitch the laity with lies.  

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people[yes, greater Israel “come out”, but most eminently the Lord’s very “little flock”, his embryonic Bride to go before her sisters who go back to Babylon], that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

The “her” in verse six has subtly shifted to meaning the incipient Bride of Christ, first to be chastised for her harlotries, compared to Babylonian Christianity’s and the world’s time for judgment in the Resurrection to Judgment. 

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

The name “Second Resurrection” doesn’t exist in scripture. With impenitent harlots not being included in the First Resurrection, the second group’s time for judgment is too late for them to understand and is indirectly referred to as the ‘Second Resurrection.’ The fact that there is a “second death” denotes a Second Resurrection. The “second death” is the spiritual death of the old man of every person since Adam, not in the First Resurrection, and his process of becoming alive in Christ through the Lake of Fire. Christ’s Elect are being spiritually resurrected now, today, through fiery trials to test their faith, but it is not the Lake of Fire reserved for Satan and his ‘angels’ of inveterate harlots!

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.

If we continue to follow His truth, we will take part in the First Resurrection. Gentile Christians erroneously believe that they are currently saved and will go straight to “heaven” when Christ returns. However, they do not understand that there are two resurrections and that they, now in unfinished spirit bodies, must confront the utterly misunderstood Lake of Fire, which consumes all their spiritual falsehoods (Rev 20:12-14).

Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

Rev 18:7  How much she [the Lord’s very Elect; all in the Aorist tense] hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously [G4763 1. to be wanton, to live luxuriously. From G4764 – 1. excessive strength which longs to break forth, over strength 2. luxury 3. Eager (unrighteous) desire], so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one [her day of judgment and stark realisation] day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

However, according to Hosea’s prophecies, our Lord is not done physically judging Old Israel, even though He is beginning to infer the realities of love and not oblivion since we shall shortly see that He covertly had “healed them”. Paradoxically, when life is good and the wrath of God seems distant, they revert to luxuriating in the fornication delicacies and haughty pride of being the ‘chosen’ ones. Hence, her judgment will come “in one day.”

The Significations:

The Lord’s Love for Israel

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. 
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 
Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 
Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. 

As parents, we take joy in our children and teach them to be respectful and honour us, even as they are spiritually transforming from a figurative Egypt, becoming more and more like Christ, mirroring the example we set for them.

The Lord’s grand plan in “the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev 3:14) via carnal corruptible flesh is for us to be His “children.” Even as young adults, Adam and Eve were His children. So, Israel, foreshadowing us, all began as children learning the commandments first physically and subsequently spiritually in the progression to maturity. We all, as children, as was physical Israel, had bits and reins in our jaws to guide us (“drew them with cords” verse 4) where we didn’t want to go and leave the milk and honey doctrines behind and eventually mature as doctrinal meat eaters of Christ’s spirit.

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans [We, as “children”!] write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? [God in the making; His beginning of creating us as He is – God, under his order of headship, the Father, Christ, Christ’s Bride and the world of ‘children’]

Ephraim, depicted as our children today inclusive of the world without Christ’s commands, are sacrificing to false gods and indulging in sexual passions as harlots, which blinds their relationship with their parents and with Christ.

Since creation, the entire world without knowledge of the King of Kings is “without excuse”(see verse below) in knowing from personal experience and historically that a highly stable society and nation stems from its foundation of heterosexual monogamy and good conscience for every adulterous thought and action. Just as Joseph Daniel (J.D.) Unwin (1995-1936), an Oxford University social anthropologist, discovered in his research on 80 primitive tribes and six civilisations that societies that practised heterosexual monogamy were far more successful. (“Sex and Culture”). Unwin’s research, quite likely unconsciously, is backed up by these verses:

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 [meaning upon ALL nations regardless of them knowing THE God]; 
Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 
Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened [How? By knowing in their hearts what was foundationally family, tribe and nation building!].
Rom 1:22  [Thus, and for this study’s cause, Israel and we as children forming our own ideologies outside of God’s word…] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 
Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man [IN MAN’S IMAGE, sitting on the throne of God in the Temple of God that we are, effectively stating that WE ARE GOD], and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 
Rom 1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies [Sexually representing the fornicating spiritual] between themselves:
Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature [Himself; the Beast sitting in the Temple of God] more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 
Rom 1:26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections [Sexual perversions that directly portray a spiritual element]: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature [bestiality – fornicating spiritually with the 40,000 + beasts in gentile Christian churches. Polygamy is not against nature in the wild, but a calculated union with the same gender is against nature. However, all fornication is utterly against the ‘natural’ order of God’s innate spiritual “nature”]: 
Rom 1:27  And likewise also the men [The alleged leaders of the home], leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 
Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient [Why? Because they are carnal, corruptible flesh not finding it convenient without the holy spirit to be subject to God];
Rom 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
Rom 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors [manipulating the truth] of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
Rom 1:31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 
Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Israel, and most outstandingly, we in our time, ‘Knew not that Christ was healing us’ (Hos 11:3) through endless trials and bewildering tribulations before He dragged us out of Babylon. 

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 
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? 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh [Isreal and earthly fathers] which corrected us [And directly for this study and Hosea’s theme of whoredoms, Israel’s resisting of chastisements for our intent reflection], and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. 

In verse 3, Israel was vaguely aware that their Lord was in the process of healing them through chastisements. Even though Egypt, Sodom, Old Jerusalem, and Assyria collectively represent the epitomised filth of Babylon, they are collectively represented as Babylon. Israel’s not returning to the land of Egypt subtly represents the Elect of God’s progression of spiritually going geographically northward to Assyria to come into Babylon and eventually exiting her, spiritually following the cross (Rev 18:4).

Israel’s ‘refusing to return’ to Egypt is her rejection of her Lord’s chastisements to do her first works of repentance, just as it spiritually is for us. Verse 5 of Hosea 11 reflects back to verse 2 and Israel’s unrepentant heart for continuing to sacrifice to Baalim. If you look up the Net for images of Baal, he classically has his right arm raised, even holding a hammer and chisel to hammer, depicting for us our self-styled image of god, sitting on the King of King’s throne, announcing that we are god by our design! (Rev 13:11-18)

Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 
Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 
Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 
Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Of course, God’s very small little flock is delighted to receive the fiery sword of Christ’s spiritual mouth representing His every commandment.

Hos 11:6  And the sword shall abide on his cities [man’s self-styled Baalim-like ideologies and doctrines within] and shall consume his branches [Again, self-styled off-shoots twisting God’s truth], and devour them, because of their own counsels.
Hos 11:7  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
Hos 11:8  How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

Admah means ‘red earth’, the dust of the ground of which we are made and Zeboim ‘gazelles’ and cities of the plains around Sodom. The association of the two names can portray God’s frustration with our gazelle-like speediness to return to our foundation of dust and decay rather than move forward to the spiritual glory Christ has in store for His Bride and mankind.

Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

God certainly strives with mankind all the way to salvation, yet Genesis 6:3 illustrates the Lord’s deliberate delay in creating God in man as He works with Israel in the flesh for us to understand spiritually. Hence, the term of his “repentings are kindled together” features a designed delay in striving with man and for us, as Jesus on the cross expressed, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

What we do in our walk in and with Christ is what counts and backs up with our mouths what we say and profess as belief.

Jas 2:17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 
Jas 2:18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 
Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. [Why? Because they are designed to reject Christ utterly and do not have his spirit to perform righteously]
Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 
Jas 2:21  Was not Abraham our Father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 
Jas 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 

Hos 11:9  I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. 
Hos 11:10  They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. 

Since the cross, the only people given to genuinely “tremble” are Christ’s Elect. They immutably know that their sins will be utterly destroyed as Christ, the “rock”, falls on their city within. For the time being, outwardly with Ephraim, their time and order for salvation is in the Lake of Fire. Their intense ‘trembling’ in the Lake of Fire, meaning the Resurrection to Judgment, will finally lead to a glorious end.

Hos 11:11  They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.

Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? [Nobody, of course]

The two women representing the Great Whore and the Bride are the two “houses” in Hosea 8:11, just as they represent the ‘old man’ earthy Adam and the ‘new man’ Christ within and typified by the “two armies” seen in Son 6:13 meaning the Old and New Covenants.

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

Rom 9:9  For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 
Rom 9:10  And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 
Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 

Hos 11:12  Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints. 

No wonder today the ongoing Zionists believe that Jews in the flesh are the Lord’s “chosen people” and easily backed up by scripture ~ so it seems when they read that “Judah yet rules with God and is faithful with the saints”, meaning mainstream Christianity and later, the Elect of God. However, strong delusion pervades the non-spiritual mind since the sum of God’s word is truth with this verse that will eventually stop the roars from the counterfeit lion of Judah at Christ’s outward coming.

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

May the Lord hasten His coming ~ Amen.

Ezekiel 14:1-23 Idols in our Hearts – The Stumbling Block of our Iniquity

[Study Aired April 22, 2024]

Introduction

We will look at chapter 14 of Ezekiel which deals principally with idols of our hearts, which the Bible calls the stumbling block of our iniquity. Idols are images made by man and worshiped as deities. Since these idols are the work of man, they reflect man’s carnal wisdom and tradition. 

1Ch 16:26  For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 

Isa 2:8  Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 

Isa 45:16  They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

The idols of the heart, therefore, represent the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition which prevent us from knowing the truth of the word of the Lord. Right at the beginning of creation, when Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent, the Lord told Adam that because of what he had done, the earth or ground was cursed such that he shall eat from the earth in sorrow and that thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth.  

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

The thorns and the thistles that come from the earth means that what naturally comes from our earthen vessels or flesh is false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition which is represented here by thorns and thistles.

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

We know from the word of the Lord that we are able to appreciate spiritual truth by the things that are made. No father or mother teaches his children how to lie. However, children naturally lie. Since they are earthen vessels, what comes out are these thorns and thistles or false doctrines.  

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

In Paul’s farewell speech to the elders of Ephesus, he warned them that of their own selves men shall arise speaking perverse things. Our own selves here refer to our earthen vessels that naturally come up with false doctrines, that is, perverse things.  

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

The fact that we have come to know the Lord does not extricate us from false doctrines in our heavens or earthen vessels. It is when we start to submit to Him that He gradually takes away our false doctrines.

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 
Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

The first part of today’s study shows us how our false doctrines or idols of our hearts prevent us from coming to know the truth of the word of the Lord. It also shows us how the Lord uses these false doctrines to blind us as He keeps us in outer darkness until He comes to us with His words. 

The second part of our study today deals with the Lord’s judgment of our old man. Here in this chapter, we are shown the whole of the Lord’s judgment tools that He uses against our old man and the people of the world. 

Idols of our Hearts

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 

If we are the Lord’s elect, then we are the elders of Israel whom the Lord is addressing here in verse 1. In this case, Ezekiel represents our Lord Jesus Christ to whom we come to hear the word of the Lord. In verse 3, the Lord identifies our problem. That is, we have set up idols of our heart which are a stumbling block of our iniquity before Him. As we have explained in the introductory portion of this study, the idols of our hearts refer to the false doctrines in our heavens which have become a stumbling block of our iniquity before the Lord. A stumbling block means a difficulty that prevents progress, understanding or agreement. What this means is that it is our false doctrines in our hearts and mind which are the stumbling blocks that prevent our progress in the Lord as it makes it impossible for us to understand the truth of the word of the Lord.

Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:8  But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 

In verse 3, this stumbling block is described as being of our iniquity. That is to say that it comes from our iniquity. What is iniquity? This is how the Bible defines iniquity. 

1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

It is what is within us which causes us to be stubborn before the Lord. As we all know, it is our flesh or our old man that is stubborn before the Lord. Sin, on the other hand, is the outward manifestation of the iniquity within us. The idols of our hearts, which are a stumbling block of iniquity, therefore affirms the fact that our flesh is a repository of false doctrines. That means, out of our earthen vessels, we produce thorns and thistles or false doctrines.

It is important to note that the question the Lord asked Ezekiel saying, “Should I be enquired of at all by them?” is a rhetorical one. That means that the question was asked to make a statement and not to require an answer. Definitely, the Lord is making a statement here that when we harbor these idols of our hearts or idolize these false doctrines in our hearts and minds, there is no way we can hear from Him. 

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. 

Verse 4 shows us that if we continue to treasure the idols of the heart more than the truth of the Lord’s words, what will happen is that the Lord will cause us to be deceived by answering us according to the false doctrines in our hearts. Again, by the things that are made, we are able to know the Lord. We speak to children according to what they know. I remember when my brother was teaching his son (four years old) that God is all knowing and that He sees everything done here on earth and in the heavens. His son then asked my brother whether God sees him when he goes to the washroom. When my brother answered yes, that He is there with us even in the washroom, the response of my nephew was, “that is not good!!” He struggled to see how a good God can see his nakedness in the washroom. To make it simple, my brother told him that God sees everything here on earth and in the heavens except when we go to the washroom.  That was when he became comfortable. 

This illustration shows us that the Lord answers us according to what we have in our hearts and minds. Have you heard of some of our brothers and sisters in Babylon in the churches of this world having the harrowing experience of being tortured in hell? I have read books, during my sojourn in the churches, of people having this out-of-body experience in hell. This is because they have this idol of the heart or false doctrine of the lake of fire being a literal fire that will burn people forever. They are therefore being answered according to the multitude of idols in their hearts. To the elect, when Christ comes to us with His truth, these idols of the heart are destroyed. However, to those who are not given to know the truth in this age, being answered according to their idols of the heart is a way that they become entrenched in deception such that they continue in outer darkness until they die.

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Taking the house of Israel in their own heart in verse 5 is the same as being deceived by the Lord.   

Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: 
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 

In verse 6, the idols and the abominations, from which we are to turn away, refer to the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. Until we come to see that what we thought was the truth of the word of the Lord are all lies of the adversary, we are not ready to repent from our ways.

The Lord answering us Himself in verse 7 when we come to Him with our idols of the heart, or our false doctrines, means we are given over by the Lord for the devil to deceive us. As we are aware, the Lord Himself does not do evil, but since the Lord created everything, including the devil, He is responsible for all that takes place here on earth. Therefore, the Lord answering us by Himself means the Lord takes responsibility for all that takes place here on earth.

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

When we hold on to these idols of the heart, the Lord sets His face against us, and we are cut off from His people. Over the years, many who have separated from us are due to their entrenchment in the idols of their hearts. Our separation from our brothers and sisters in Babylon was due basically to the idols of the heart that they are not prepared to let go. In verse 8, it is through this separation that we are assured of our election as we are given to know more about our Lord.

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing [false doctrines]; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
Eze 14:11  That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD. 

There are several examples of men of God that were deceived and ended up being destroyed from the midst of the Lord’s people. In other words, they became spiritually dead and therefore cut off from the Lord’s people. For example, Nadab and Abihu were deceived into thinking they can offer any kind of sacrifice to the Lord without any consequence. As a result, they were destroyed by the Lord from His people.

Lev 10:1  And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 
Lev 10:2  And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

Just as Jacob was deceived into thinking that he was marrying the love of his life (Rachel) and ended up marrying Leah, who represents Babylon, so we were deceived when we embraced Babylon as the true bride and took in all her false doctrines. At that time, we were cut off from the Lord’s elect because we were spiritually dead until the Lord intervened by coming to us with His fiery words.

In verse 10, the Lord is saying that our judgment will surely come without fail, whether we were the propagators of false doctrines or followers of those who preach false doctrines. In verse 11, we are being told that the reason we are to bear the punishment of our iniquity is that it is through this process of judgment that we do not go astray from the Lord and therefore become obedient children of the Lord. That is when we become the Lord’s people, and He becomes our God. Our becoming the Lord’s people is therefore contingent on the false doctrines in our hearts and minds being destroyed through the Lord’s judgment of our old man. 

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

The unclean thing in 2 Corinthians 6:17 refers to these idols of the heart or false doctrines in our heavens.

The LORD Will Judge Jerusalem

Eze 14:12  The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 
Eze 14:13  Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: 
Eze 14:14  Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. 

When we go astray by sinning against the Lord, there are always consequences, or judgment, if we are called and chosen. Through the false teaching we hear in the churches of this world, we come to see the Lord’s judgment as a punitive action taken by the Lord which does not result in any correction. However, judgment is a loving way that the Lord uses to make His children learn righteousness.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 

Psa 119:67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. 

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. 

In verse 13, the Lord uses famine to destroy both man and beast. This verse also confirms that the Lord’s use of judgment is to destroy the old man or the beast within His elect.

Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 

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

Famine as one of the four sore judgments of the Lord means absence of the truth of the word of the Lord which makes us worse off as we wander from sea to sea. 

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. 
Amo 8:13  In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 

It is through famine of the word of the Lord that facilitated our exit from Babylon and caused us to come to treasure the truth of the word of the Lord. The fact that three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were mentioned in verse 14 is to let us know that our process of becoming spiritually mature is through the Lord’s judgment. Noah, Daniel and Job here represent the Lord’s elect of every generation who are privileged to be judged in this life. The fact that these righteous men can only save themselves through the Lord’s judgment suggests that every human being will face judgment. However, those who are being judged here in this life are the Lord’s elect. In a later age, the rest of humanity will also experience the judgment of the Lord. They will be judged by the Lord and His elect.

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Eze 14:15  If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
Eze 14:16  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

The word “noisome” means evil. Thus, we are talking about evil beasts. As we stated earlier, human beings are evil beasts.

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

Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

It is this “evil beast” or mankind, that the Lord is using to judge His elect in this age. Peter speaks of this very same beast, by whom God will judge all men:

2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.
2Pe 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.

It is with “natural brute beasts” that God is at this very moment judging His house, and it is with “natural brute beasts” that He will outwardly judge this world and make the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, His Christ, who we are.

Again, in verse 16, we are reminded that it is the elect who are being saved through judgment in this age and that every person will face his or her own judgment.

Eze 14:17  Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: 
Eze 14:18  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

The sword on a positive note means the word of the Lord. 

Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The negative aspect of sword refers to words that are spoken which destroy us. The sword refers to the lying words and false doctrines of the adversary. 

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

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

These negative words spoken are one of the tools the Lord uses to cause people to speak bitter words to us, His elect. 

Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Jdg 7:22 And the three hundred [men with Gideon] blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host [of the Midianites]: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

Eze 14:19  Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: 
Eze 14:20  Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Pestilence comes from the Hebrew word “deber” which means murrain or plague. Murrain means destruction, and the only place the word was used in the Bible was in the fifth plague in Egypt when there was widespread destruction of cattle of the Egyptians.

Exo 9:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 
Exo 9:2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 
Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

The Lord uses pestilence when we have gotten far away from Him. For example, when the children of Israel were in Egypt, the Lord used pestilence to get their attention. The Lord’s use of pestilence means that the people of Israel were given over to the devil which in this case was represented by Pharaoh, who caused the people of Israel to be under great affliction.

Lev 26:25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Exo 1:8  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 

Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 

Exo 1:14  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in the  morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

When the Lord got the people of Israel’s attention, He came to help them as the people drew closer to the Lord. Today, the Lord still uses pestilence to get our attention when we have drifted far from Him. For example, in the Corinthian church, Paul gave over the man who slept with his father’s wife to the devil so that he may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? 

Here in verse 21, the tools the Lord is using to judge us are listed. The number four means the whole of the matter under discussion, and in this case, we are dealing with judgment. Thus, the whole of the Lord’s tools that He is using to accomplish His purpose of judgment are the sword, famine, noisome beast and pestilence.

Eze 14:22  Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
Eze 14:23  And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD. 

In spite of the experience of evil that the Lord was unleashing on Jerusalem, He assured them that a remnant shall be brought forth whose conduct and actions will justify His actions. As indicated, the end result of the Lord’s judgment of our old man is that we come to know that the Lord’s way is perfect. In other words, through all the fiery trials we go through, we come to appreciate the way or the path that the Lord has chosen for us. 

Psa 18:30  As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

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

May His name be praised. Amen!!

Dan 5:1-31  Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting

[Study Aired March 21, 2024]

Dan 5:1  Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 
Dan 5:2  Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
Dan 5:3  Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
Dan 5:4  They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 
Dan 5:5  In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 
Dan 5:6  Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. 
Dan 5:7  The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. 
Dan 5:8  Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. 
Dan 5:9  Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. 
Dan 5:10  Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: 
Dan 5:11  There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; 
Dan 5:12  Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
Dan 5:13  Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
Dan 5:14  I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. 
Dan 5:15  And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: 
Dan 5:16  And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. 
Dan 5:17  Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 
Dan 5:18  O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 
Dan 5:19  And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. 
Dan 5:20  But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: 
Dan 5:21  And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. 
Dan 5:22  And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 
Dan 5:23  But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: 
Dan 5:24  Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. 
Dan 5:25  And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 
Dan 5:26  This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 
Dan 5:27  TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 
Dan 5:28  PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. 
Dan 5:29  Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 
Dan 5:30  In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 
Dan 5:31  And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Belshazzar represents our old man who is “weighed in the balances, and… found wanting.” Belshazzar, like our first man Adam, never learns and is why we must die daily and endure until the end in order to be saved in this life, which is only possible through Christ (1Co 15:31, Mat 24:13, Php 4:13). 

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

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Christ must increase, and we must decrease (Joh 3:30). The statue of Daniel 2 is corrupt from the head to the foot (Isa 1:6), and the empires of mankind are waxing worse and worse, typified by the decreasing value of the metals that are used for the different parts of the statue that represent the empires of man. There’s never been a just empire, there is none righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10), only a series of empires that rise and fall revealing to us how our old man must completely fall seven times [completely] if we are going to go on to perfection on the third day (Pro 24:16, Luk 13:32). God set the prophetic stage since the garden of Eden to this present day, and right up until Gog and Magog come up against the camp of the saints, all to show mankind that we are beasts (Rev 20:8, Ecc 3:18).

Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 

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

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

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

If we are granted to be judged in this life (1Pe 4:17), we will be able to see that there is a tearing down of the old empires in our life, starting from the head of gold represented by Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar who is a chip off the old block [another representation of the carnal first man Adam], right down to the last empire represented by the legs and feet of the statue in Daniel 2:33. 

Dan 2:33  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 

The transition of empires being looked at in this section of scripture (Dan 5:1-31) is from Babylon to Persia, and Daniel 7:4-5 describes these two sections of the statue in Daniel 2:32: the first empire being Babylon, “This image’s head was of fine gold”, then the torso and arms of the statue, “his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass”, representing Persia that will be ruled over by “Darius the Median” who “took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old” (Dan 5:31). The age of Darius is significant and is a witness [#2] to the truth that the beast [#6] is still on the throne of this new leader’s heart who is controlling this new empire [62 years old].

Dan 7:4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. 
Dan 7:5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 

Dan 2:32  This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

Dan 5:1   Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 

Belshazzar being the son of king Nebuchadnezzar is a parable in itself, as the son represents the doctrine, and as we will see, this section of the book of Daniel is all about the heart of mankind that corrupts the word of God as we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8). Making a feast with the king’s food and feeding it “to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand” shows us a couple of significant details. First, the number thousand demonstrates the fleshly state of affairs [multiples of 10 represents the unjudged flesh at this stage], with 1000 of his lords, and secondly, where Belshazzar is drinking wine before the thousand, which wine also represents false doctrines and the corrupted words of Babylon (Rev 17:4, Rev 18:6-8). God declares the end from the beginning with Belshazzar’s father Nebuchadnezzar by the “seven times pass over you” statement of Daniel 4:25 which represents the lake of fire, great white throne judgment, and Belshazzar his son, his own flesh and blood, is “weighed in the balances, and…found wanting” as a type of our own flesh and blood that cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50).

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her [Gal 6:7-8].

Dan 5:2  Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 
Dan 5:3  Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 
Dan 5:4  They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

It is in Babylon that we eat our own food, drink our own wine, and wear our own apparel and yet want the name of Christ, represented by “the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem” (Isa 4:1).

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

Belshazzar wants his lords of thousands to partake of his wine as a type of Babylon controlling God’s word via the idol of mankind’s heart that worships God in vain, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mar 7:7), represented by the wine of Belshazzar that further intoxicates the harlot so that other gods are worshiped rather than the true God who created all things: “They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.” It is “the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines“ who “drank in them“ as a type of the churches and the leaders of Christendom who perpetuate the lies of Babylon from generation to generation. They drink the wine and praised the gods that rule their hearts, “gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone“, telling us mankind has worshiped every type of false god, from gods of gold to gods of stone, “which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell” (Deu 4:28).

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Deu 4:28  And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

Dan 5:5  In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Judgment is now coming upon Belshazzar as he sees a man’s hand writing “against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace.” The candlestick symbolizes the light of God’s word that is going to illuminate the minds of those who see this message written “upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace.” The king only sees “part of the hand that wrote” signifying that he does not know who the author of this event is, and it is written on “the wall of the king’s palace“, walls that signify the heart of Belshazzar that now have a message written on them which he can’t interpret. God’s word is spiritually discerned, and those who are drunk on the wine of Babylon are not going to be able to interpret the meaning of the words on the wall.

Dan 5:6  Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. 
Dan 5:7  The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. 

Belshazzar was terrified, his face changed, his thoughts troubled him, so much so that he lost bodily control and his loins were loosed. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord as Nebuchadnezzar learned, and now his son is experiencing this same fear and crying out as his father did for help from his own household, his own entourage: “The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers“, which Nebuchadnezzar also did at first. Again, this group represents how, while in Babylon, we search answers to our spiritual dilemmas in life by turning to the carnal wisdom of men in Babylon [astrologers Chaldeans and soothsayers – another Jesus] instead of going to Christ and the church to which we must be dragged in order to come to know Him (Joh 6:44, Joh 17:3).

These circumstances were created to the glory of God who would give the answers to Belshazzar via Daniel, a type of the elect who can interpret the writing on the wall, which typifies for God’s elect how we can in like manner interpret or discern the word of God that is hidden from the world today, even though it is in plain sight (1Co 2:14-16).

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The reward for being able to read the writing and interpret it is to “be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck” symbolizing the reward of rulership God will give to those who are blessed to have the mind of Christ in this age (1Co 2:15-16). Being “the third ruler in the kingdom” has a physical interpretation according to history (history – Why did Belshazzar, King of Babylon name Daniel as the third ruler of his kingdom? – Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange). However, the spiritual lesson is that our Father in heaven is first, the Great All in All, and Christ second, and those who rule under Christ are third in this God-ordained order. We are growing to become more and more like Christ, having His mind, and think it not robbery to be equal with Him, not in greatness (Joh 13:16, Joh 14:28) but in having the same spirit (1Co 12:8-9) that the Father gave Christ and has given to us who now believe (Php 2:6, 1Jn 4:17).

Joh 13:16  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

Joh 14:28  Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

1Co 12:8  For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9  To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

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 [“the same spirit“].

Dan 5:8  Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. 
Dan 5:9  Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. 

No one could read or interpret the writing on the wall, just as no one could interpret ‘the dream that is one’ in the earlier chapters with the statue and tree. This part of the story is no different, and again we’re shown the blindness of Babylon with this first verse: “Then came in all the king’s wisemen: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.” This situation greatly troubled Belshazzar and left his lords astonished, seeing all his regular sources of wisdom come to nought in a second, representing how all the wisdom of mankind will not be able to interpret the word of God that can only be understood by the power of God. We all start off ever searching and never being able to come to the knowledge of the truth (1Co 2:5-6, 1Co 2:13, 2Ti 3:7).

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

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

2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Dan 5:10  Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: 
Dan 5:11  There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
Dan 5:12  Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
Dan 5:13  Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?

This queen comes on the scene and brings to Belshazzar’s attention that he should not be troubled because of the dream, seeing there is one who can interpret it, that being Daniel. She, not being able to interpret the dream herself, represents the churches of this world who don’t see the need for God’s judgment upon us in this age, and are not troubled in that regard, and so her advice to the king is ‘don’t worry about anything’, expressed this way: “O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.“

Her description of Daniel goes back to how Nebuchadnezzar had initially described Daniel referring to “the spirits of the holy gods“, showing us that she, like Nebuchadnezzar, had no idea who the real God was who was giving Daniel the power to do all these works. She goes on to describe the history of Daniel and the excellent spirit within him, but always with a darkened sense of only knowing the outward works and not personally knowing the source of the power that was given to Daniel. The same mindset was found in the king when Daniel was brought before him as evidenced by this verse, “The king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?” His focus is on what his father Nebuchadnezzar did for him, taking him out of captivity and bringing him out of Jewry, and not on God’s power that was working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

Dan 5:14  I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. 
Dan 5:15  And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: 
Dan 5:16  And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Once again, from the same darkened heart that can only see the outward manifestation of Daniel’s gift (1Co 14:22), we hear Belshazzar go on as the queen did in regard to the gifts Daniel has, and how that if he can interpret the writing on the wall, he will be rewarded with rulership, as mentioned in the earlier verses. This is now twice mentioned, witnessing to God’s elect that this story is a type of what He is doing with the body of Christ who will be given rulership over the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15) as a result of God’s spirit sealing them “until the redemption of the purchased possession”, giving us the ability to discern the truth and believe: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.“

[being sealed (Eph 1:13-14, Eph 4:30) the resultant fruit of being sealed (Joh 6:26-27, Joh 5:19-20, 1Jn 4:17, Joh 14:12)].

Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed [1Jn 4:17].

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Joh 5:20  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel [1Jn 4:17, Php 2:12-13].

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father [1Jn 4:17].

Dan 5:17  Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 

This opening statement of Daniel is akin to this verse in Revelation 19:10 where the servant of God is making clear that he is not a respecter of persons and does not want a gift (Pro 17:23) or adulation for that which is completely a gift given from God (Mat 6:2). Regardless of the message he is going to interpret, good or bad, Daniel goes on to say, “Yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.“

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

Pro 17:23  A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Dan 5:18  O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: 
Dan 5:19  And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. 
Dan 5:20  But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: 
Dan 5:21  And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

These verses simply recap what we already know about Nebuchadnezzar and are the words to witness against his son who also should know these things, and should have acted accordingly. Of course it was not given to him to do the right thing as he is a type of our old man that, regardless of the history and facts laid out plainly before us, we still rebel and do what we want because of the law of sin in our flesh (Rom 7:14-17). If the Lord is working with us, we will contend less and less if we are His workmanship in this age, being received through His chastening grace (Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6).

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 
Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 

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;

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? 

Dan 5:22  And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; 
Dan 5:23  But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: 

Now we have the recap of Belshazzar’s actions, and it’s not sounding good at all. There is no evidence of repentance, and Daniel reminds him that the very breath he breathes is a gift of God, typifying the words he speaks are all given by God, like the breath we breathe (Joh 3:27). Belshazzar is left this witness from Daniel of his blindness that does not acknowledge God for past works with his father that God accomplished through him or present works that have been accomplished in his life by God as well, “and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.“ Belshazzar in that regard is twofold more the child of hell (Mat 23:15) than his father was in being self-willed and not acknowledging God’s hand in his life, even with all the evidence to the contrary, past and present, “and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.“

Joh 3:27  John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

Dan 5:24  Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. 
Dan 5:25  And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 
Dan 5:26  This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 
Dan 5:27  TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Dan 5:28  PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

These words “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” are interpreted for us to mean that “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it“, and this was written for our sakes upon whom the end of the ages are come (1Co 10:11). The end of our earthly kingdom that was ruled over by the powers and principalities of this life must come to an end. The king is found wanting just as our old man is found wanting, “TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting“, a kingdom divided against itself that cannot stand (Mar 3:24-26) “PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.“

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Mar 3:24  And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Mar 3:25  And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mar 3:26  And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

Dan 5:29  Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 
Dan 5:30  In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 
Dan 5:31  And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and the powers that be will willingly give over the kingdom to God’s elect, as symbolized with these words, “Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.“

It is in the night that our old man is killed, being cut off from the light of God’s truth that, as we continue (Joh 8:31-32), we will see the death of our old man in this life, symbolized by this verse, “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.“

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

The new king Darius has now come on the scene and he, like Belshazzar, will also be weighed in the balance and in due course be found wanting as well, all telling us that there is a process of judgment that takes our whole lifetime as all these kings are destroyed and found wanting in different and various ways within us. The ‘thou’ in this verse “TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” is speaking about our old man, and the flesh of mankind who we don’t want to know anymore (Joh 17:15-17, 2Co 5:16). That is what is “weighed in the balances” and “found wanting” (Mar 10:18-21). 

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.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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.

Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Mar 10:19  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Mar 10:20  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 
Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Ezekiel 6:1–14 The Judgment Against Idolatry

[Study Aired February 26, 2024]

Introduction

Today’s study is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the promise of destruction of the people of Israel for their idolatry, together with the destruction of their idols. The second part focuses on the return of a remnant of the people of Israel to God as they shall exhibit true repentance and reformation. The third part gives direction to Ezekiel to lament on the iniquities and the calamities that have befallen the people of Israel.

Before we go into the details of the study, we need to understand what idolatry entails and how it applies to us. Idolatry means worshiping someone or something other than God. In other words, anything that engages our focus in this life and therefore diverts our attention from the Lord constitutes idolatry. All of us at some point in our lives were worshiping idols before the Lord came to deliver us. It is the truth of the Lord’s words which has the power to help us focus on Christ. However, in our time in Babylon we exchanged the truth of the word of the Lord for the lies of the devil, which became the idols of our hearts in the sense that they diverted our attention from Christ. 

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 stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block 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;

Many of the Israelites were uncomfortable with the idea of an invisible god. They preferred a god that could be represented in some solid, tangible and visible form. In many of the churches of this world, there are many statues of Jesus; His hanging on the cross, etc. These are all forms of idolatry. Aaron building the golden calf was therefore not meant to displace God, but to make the Lord more tangible to the Israelites. Flesh always begets flesh. In our carnal state, we always want something that is tangible or fleshy. However, a sign of maturity is believing even though we have not seen. This was what the Lord told Thomas when he doubted that the Lord had risen. 

Joh 20:26  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 
Joh 20:27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Joh 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 
Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Our life in Babylon was characterized by worshiping what we see as tangible. That is why Babylon is dependent on evidential proofs of the spiritual reality portrayed in signs and wonders and gifts of the spirit such as word of knowledge, tongues, etc. As we are aware, it is children who are always looking for gifts from parents. As we mature, we become less dependent on gifts. The fact that many come with signs and wonders must alert us to be wary since these signs and wonders are all rudimentary, as our brother Paul warned us. In his letter to the Corinthians, he told them that it is only love (obedience to the Lord’s words) that will endure. In other words, a mature person is the one who obeys or trembles at the Lord’s words. Other gifts of the spirit such as word of knowledge, prophecies, signs and wonders, are all elementary and as we mature, they become less and less significant. 

1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

What we must understand as we mature in the things of God is that we serve a living God who is hiding Himself in this dispensation and it is only as we worship Him in spirit that we come to appreciate the spiritual reality of His existence, love, care and His wonderful plan of salvation for us. 

Isa 45:15  Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 
Isa 45:16  They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. 
Isa 45:17  But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 

One of the typical examples of idolatry in the Bible was when the Israelites worshiped a golden calf that they had made at the foot of Mount Sinai where they had camped to receive the Law from the Lord.

Exo 32:1  And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:2  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 
Exo 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 
Exo 32:5  And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD. 
Exo 32:6  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 
Exo 32:7  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

In verse 1, Aaron negatively represents our leaders in Babylon who put a stumbling block of iniquity – idols of the heart – before us and cause us to become worse than before we have started our walk with the Lord.

The idols of the heart, which are represented here as the molten calf, come at a cost. In other words, we exchange the gold we have received of the Lord’s words with false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. This gold of the Lord’s words we have received is the truth of the word of the Lord, and is accompanied by our fiery trials which cause us to learn righteousness. Thus, exchanging the gold we have received for a molten calf or idols of the heart also means our rejection of the fiery trials we must go through in favor of the smooth words in Babylon which exclude our fiery trials. We all at a certain point in our walk with Christ worshiped or bowed down to the molten calf (idols of the heart) instead of Christ’s words. 

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, 

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. 
Isa 30:12  Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: 
Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. 

As we go through today’s study, we shall learn more about our idolatrous state when we were in Babylon and how the Lord is gradually delivering us to become His remnant. 

The Mountains Shall be Judged

Eze 6:1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 6:2  Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 

The reason for the mountains of Israel to be the target of Ezekiel’s prophecy was because almost all the mountains or high places of Israel had become places of idol worship. Worshiping idols in high places was how the Moabites worshiped, as shown in the following verses:

Isa 16:11  Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.
Isa 16:12  And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail. 

These mountains in Israel used to be the mountains of the Lord. However, over time, the Israelites were influenced by the Moabites’ form of worship of idols on these mountains.

Isa 11:9  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 

Isa 65:11  But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.  

Num 33:51  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 
Num 33:52  Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: 

Lev 26:30  And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

The mountains used to be New Jerusalem but in the time of Ezekiel, the holy mountains had been defiled and therefore represent Babylon. When Christ first came to us, we were like the New Jerusalem, but we took the Lord’s words (gold and silver) and turned them into the wisdom and traditions of men when we were in Babylon.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, 

The Lord speaking to the mountains and the hills is the Lord speaking to us, His elect, about the fact that we are to face judgment.

Mic 6:1  Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 
Mic 6:2  Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. 
Mic 6:3  O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

The mountain signifies the house of the Lord, which is the same as His temple, which we are. Thus, the judgment of the Lord regarding the mountains refers to our judgment since we are the temple of the Lord. 

Isa 2:2  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 
Isa 2:3  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 

Mic 4:1  But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 
Mic 4:2  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 

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. 

Eze 6:3  And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 

Here in verse 3, the Lord mentioned the mountains, the hills, the rivers and the valleys to hear the word of the Lord. The valleys had all become places where idolatry was committed as shown in the following verse:

Isa 57:5  Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?

The rivers mentioned in verse 3 refer to the false doctrines of Babylon which have become idols of our hearts and prevent us from knowing Christ. When the Lord comes to us with His judgment, He not only destroys our old man but our rivers and valleys.

Eze 6:4  And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 
Eze 6:5  And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

When the Lord comes with His judgment, He cleanses our temple (our bodies) by destroying everything within us, such as our altars and images, so that Christ can come and sit on the throne of our hearts and mind. 

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

The slain men in verse 5 is the same as the dead carcasses before their idols in verse 6. They refer to the death of our old man through the fire of the Lord’s words. The bones which were to be scattered round about our altars signify our flesh or our old man as seen in the following verse:

Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  

An altar is where we offer sacrifices to the Lord. It is from our heart and mind that we offer a sacrifice of praise to the Lord and offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord.  The altar therefore signifies our hearts and minds which must be cleansed through the Lord’s judgment. The bones to be scattered round about our altars as a result of the Lord’s judgment means that it is through the Lord’s judgment that we come to see how our flesh has dominated our heart and mind such that we cannot offer ourselves to the Lord as living sacrifices.

Exo 20:24  An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.   

Psa 86:12  I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 

Eze 6:6  In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 
Eze 6:7  And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 

It is through the Lord’s judgment that our cities and altars are laid waste, the high places made desolate, our idols broken, our images cut down and our works abolished. Cities either represent the church of the first born or Babylon. In this case, it refers to Babylon. This implies that Babylon within us shall be destroyed. Babylon within us is that which makes us want to worship Jesus but at our own terms. It is therefore destined to be destroyed.

Jer 21:9  He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
Jer 21:10  For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

As we have indicated earlier, the altars signify our hearts and minds where we offer ourselves to the Lord as living sacrifices. However, if our hearts and minds are dominated by the flesh, then our altars become our high places and therefore need to be destroyed through the Lord’s judgment. As shown in verse 6, the Lord shall make our altars and high places desolate. Our idols represent our false doctrines which prevent us from serving the Lord. Through the Lord’s judgment of our old man, our idols of the heart are destroyed.

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 

Our images represent another Jesus that we worship when we were in Babylon, which must be destroyed through the Lord’s judgment. Our works which must also be destroyed relate to all that we do outside of Christ. 

Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

Gen 31:19  And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.

Ecc 1:14  I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

In verse 7, the slain falling in our midst means that the death of our old man is all within us. Just as the kingdom of the Lord is within us, the enemy who fights against the building of the kingdom of the Lord is also within, and that is our old man which must be destroyed. As we see the old man within us die daily, we come to know who the Lord is as indicated in verse 7. 

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

The Remnant

Eze 6:8  Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. 
Eze 6:9  And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 
Eze 6:10  And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. 

The remnant represents the Lord’s elect, who, although they shall go through the Lord’s judgment, they shall learn righteousness and shall hate themselves for the evil they had committed in serving another Jesus (verse 9). The fact that the remnant will escape the sword does not mean that they would not be judged by the Lord. However, as the Lord’s elect, we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear, and the Lord will, in all that we go through, provide a way of escape so that we bear the Lord’s judgment. The remnant escaping the sword therefore means that the Lord will provide a way of escape for us so that we can bear the judgment of the sword.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

It is through the Lord’s judgment that we come to know Him as explained in verse 10. Knowing Him in verse 10 means that we are assured that the Lord will perfect His work in us through His judgment. In other words, what He has started in us, He will surely bring to completion.

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

The Lord will Surely Judge Us

Eze 6:11  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 
Eze 6:12  He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. 

Here in verse 11, we are told of the use of three of the Lord’s four sore judgments against the house of Israel which represents us. Three of the four sore judgments mentioned are sword, famine and pestilence. The negative aspect of sword refers to words that are spoken which destroy us. The sword refers to the lying words and false doctrines of the adversary. 

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

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

These negative words spoken is one of the tools the Lord uses to cause people to speak bitter words to us, His elect. 

Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Jdg 7:22 And the three hundred [men with Gideon] blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host [of the Midianites]: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

Famine as one of the four sore judgments of the Lord means absence of the truth of the word of the Lord which makes us worse off as we wander from sea to sea. 

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
Amo 8:13  In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 

Through famine, we come to see who we truly are – that is, we are beasts before the Lord. Thus, our proud old man is brought low when the Lord comes to us as we come to cherish the truth of the word of the Lord.

Psa 73:21  Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 
Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 
Psa 73:23  Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 
Psa 73:24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Pestilence comes from the Hebrew word “deber” which means murrain or plague. Murrain means destruction, and the only place the word was used in the Bible was in the fifth plague in Egypt when there was widespread destruction of the cattle of the Egyptians.

Exo 9:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 
Exo 9:2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 
Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

As we learned in the previous study, the root word for the word “murrain” means ‘God speaking.’ Thus, it is the Lord’s fiery words at work in us which shall cause a grievous murrain of our old man, that is, our old man shall be completely destroyed. 

In verse 12, we are made aware of how the Lord uses His four sore judgments to cause us to know Him. The Lord uses pestilence when we have gotten far away from Him. For example, when the children of Israel were in Egypt, the Lord used pestilence to get their attention. The Lord’s use of pestilence means that the people of Israel were given over to the devil, which in this case was represented by Pharoah who caused the people of Israel to be under great affliction.  

Lev 26:25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Exo 1:8  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 

Exo 1:14  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in the  morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 

When the Lord got the people of Israel’s attention, He came to help them as the people drew closer to the Lord. Today, the Lord still uses pestilence to get our attention when we have drifted far from Him. For example, in the Corinthian church, Paul gave the man who slept with his father’s wife over to the devil so that he may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 
1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

Unfortunately, as we come out of the world and draw near to the Lord, we end up in Babylon and therefore the Lord uses the sword and famine to get us out of Babylon as He prepares us to be part of the heavenly assembly or the church of the firstborn. 

Eze 6:13  Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. 
Eze 6:14  So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

In verse 13 and 14, we are given to know the end result of our judgment – that is, to know who the Lord really is!!  What a blessing therefore, to be judged in this age so that we can know Christ!!

May His name be praised!! Amen!!

Conscience – A Defiled Conscience, Part 3

[Study Aired October 28, 2023]

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Thomas Baird (mentioned in Part 2), in his “Conscience” dissertation, highlighted one of the contemporary world’s outstanding classics of Christian literature: the “Holy War” by John Bunyan.

Baird’s expressive introduction to Bunyan’s ‘immortal’ essay is worth repeating; he says:

“In John Bunyan’s imperishable allegory of the “Holy War”, we have one of the most masterly portrayals of Conscience in all this vast world’s remarkable accumulation of literature. There is nothing like it outside the realm of [Biblical] inspiration.[end]
He conceives the soul of man to be a corporate town called “Mansoul,” situated in the Continent of Universe. Diabolus, who had just been deposed from his exalted position for sin, is depicted as ranging through space, searching for an opportunity to be avenged upon God for his punishment. He espies the corporation of “Manscoul” and determines to make an assault thereon. He formulates his plan of attacking in conjunction with other vengeful demons, and they approach the town and demand an audience. The inhabitants dispute their five responsible elders to interview the besiegers. Their names are as follows: Captain Resistance, Lord Innocence, Lord Will-Be-Will [Bunyan could have gone one step further and called him IWWB Will], Lord Understanding and Mr. Recorder. The latter is Bunyan’s inimitable name for Conscience.” [end]

I love the poetic names Bunyan chose for the cast and locations in his essay. When quite young, I remember having the “Holy War” read to our class in Sunday School, and those creative names inspired my imagination ~ and inward torment to avoid a Dante-depicted type of death.

Indeed, John Bunyan’s “Holy War” would have inspired millions upon millions of Christians to vacate some distance from Babylon with no whit that they never left since they were not given sufficiency spirit to endure. Sure, many put their hand to the plough and, through the heat of the day, have remained diligent their entire lives, unwittingly serving ‘another Jesus’.

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles [… and is NOT their fault!], deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers [we all once in Babylon] also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ [prompting a good conscience].
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him [… the dichotomy of weighing a good or evil conscience]. 

Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:62 embeds three primary forms of conscience. First, we have our conscience pricked to choose life or death. Like ALL humanity, and particularly Orthodox Christianity, shuffling out of Babylon, the New Jerusalem is too far a trudge to rebuild the walls with elegant buttresses and towers of her breasts defending her heart (Psa 48:11-14, Son 8:10). With a disturbed conscience we return to Babylon excusing our conscience with lies that the task is too great; accusing life as too difficult to worship Christ more than our physical spouses and children, let alone support them. We thus hide in Babylon in plain sight with our broad-is-the-way friends eating and drinking from the Lord’s stolen golden cup (Joe 3:5). Life is good; fight for our esteemed democracy, capitalism, socialism, Hagar’s ‘isms and, most fiercely, Zionism. We are now rooted in a “Defiled Conscience”, having murdered the Lord’s commands with imagined, more exciting and liberating ideologies.

Just as one could be infected with legions of evil spirits, the nuances of evil consciences are many, yet there is only one type of a good conscience, just as Christ and his Father are one in perfect conscience to which the Bride aspires. Paul and all the Apostles and Body of Christ, keep and instruct their brethren concerning the principles of a good conscience that opposes a defiled conscience. As such, this study on a “Defiled Conscience” is centered around its source of inspiration in Titus 1:4-16, Paul instructing Titus for consistency in sound governance within the Church and, particularly the individuals, the pillars. There are many nuances of a defiled conscience, however, and for brevity’s sake, we will largely confine attention to the evil of a ‘defiled conscience’ represented in the following scriptures mostly for one’s personal study and introspection.

Tit 1:4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. 
Tit 1:5  For this cause left I [Paul] thee [Titus] in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: 
Tit 1:6  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 
Tit 1:7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 
Tit 1:8  But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
Tit 1:9  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 
Tit 1:10  For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 
Tit 1:11  Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. 
Tit 1:12  One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies [an accusing conscience?].
Tit 1:13  This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Tit 1:14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth [by what kind of conscience?]. 
Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 
Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate [G96 – 1. ‘not standing the test, not approved’ – by a good conscience]. 

Returning to:

Tit 1:4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Right out of the gate is imbedded Paul’s undefiled conscience’s urgency to caution Titus to be an Elder of the highest demands. Paul refers to Titus as “mine own son after the common faith.” Since Paul and Titus are two of the Christs, they are in unity of mind with ‘the’ Christ. Paul’s practised good conscience joyfully obligates him to instruct Titus in the same “commandment”, indeed, the whole Church to be ‘common in faith.’

Tit 1:3  But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

Grace, mercy and peace are taken in our stride to be elements of a good conscience; however, what are their enemies causing the turbulence of a defiled (H3392) conscience?

Here defined is the term “defiled”.

Defile/Defiled H3392
– Transliteration: Miaino
– Phonetic: me-ah’-ee-no
– Definition: 

1. to dye with another colour, to stain 
2. to defile, pollute, sully, contaminate, soil 
3. to defile with sins

As seen in this study’s heading…

Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure [because a good conscience rules]: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

Spiritually, we see that a defiled conscience is one stained, polluted or contaminated by a different color compared to Christ’s White horse misrepresented by Satan’s colors. Namely, Satan’s spiritual deceptions of White followed by Red (color of man), Black (death) and Yellow (pale = disease) horses, depicting the progression from a foundationally unsound mind’s inability to choose a pure course of action resulting in a defiled conscience. Hence, this study’s heading scripture notes the unbelieving mind, being polluted by lies, is incapable of enacting a pure conscience since, and by the lying foundations of his own will, such a one insists on being ruled by idols of the heart. 

Psa 11:3  If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? 

As we know, if the foundation of the Temple we are is built on the sand of a defiled mind, our conscience is already conditioned for defilement, which is colored with many confusing Satanic shades from which to choose.  The only symbolic choice should be pure white, representing the Lord’s flawlessness. Yet, like Jacob separating the straked from the purebred stock, we all in Babylon are straked with some good mixed with a lot of evil, confusing our minds to inconsistently choose an undefiled conscience.

Gen 30:35  And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

Gen 31:7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
Gen 31:8  If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
Gen 31:9  Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

Understanding Jacob’s segregation of straked and speckled stock:

“Hybrid vigour is the increase in certain characteristics like growth rate, size, fertility, yield, etc., of a particular hybrid organism over its parents. Hybrid vigour is also known by some other names, including heterosis and inbreeding enhancement. Hybrid vigour occurs because the hybrid offspring’s traits are enhanced due to the mixing of genetic contributions of its parents.” – (Science ABC)

Jas 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted [spotless; free from vice, unsullied G4695 – Spiloo– Phonetic: spee-lo’-o– Definition: 1. to defile, spot – Origin: from G4696] from the world.

Jacob kept the speckled and spotted stock of sheep, goats and cattle for his hire of fourteen years under Laban, his father-in-law, with the deception that he was going to further remain and serve Laban (Gen 30:31; the entire story 30:25-43). Selecting the seeming weak of Laban’s flock for himself depicts the mixed nature of his family by the ten tribes from Leah’s and Rachel’s handmaid’s loins. These people make up the greater portion of the ten-tribe nations of Israel and represent the eventual saving of the entirety of mankind and Jacob’s prosperity. In the meantime, they symbolise distant Israel coming out of Egypt and into the wilderness to learn about their God and the Lord’s seeming weak, motley ringstraked Elect coming out of Babylon to become pure white, the nemeses of Laban’s seeming purity of Orthodox Christianity.

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Laban got to keep the outward uniformity of one color in all of his stock and the appearance and glory of wealth when, in fact, and by the absence of hybrid vigour, the livestock were unwittingly becoming inferior through inbreeding. Sadly, today the same physical condition is seen in much of Britain and Europe’s royalty and even society’s choosing of spouses who are spiritually impoverished yet rich in academia and positions of prominence, particularly the ‘inbreeding’ of harlot Christianity and the world.

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

Laban, the father-in-law representing the elder as do much later Joseph’s brothers, always mistreats the younger, not knowing that they will serve the younger all the way to the world serving Christ’s Wife. 

The Bride of Christ being unspotted from the world juxtaposed with Jacob’s keeping of spotted and ringstraked stock maintains the world’s blindness to the Lord’s plan for her and her rulership in Christ over mankind. The world only sees its unwitting whitewashed righteousness being superior to the rag-tag seeming inferior ringstraked nature of the ones the Lord calls his Elect.

Jacob, whose name means “heel holder or supplanter H3290 and H6117 – 1. to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow at the heel, assail insidiously, overreach”, with his God-given shifty conscience is meant for good and the future event depicting Christ’s Wife of an undefiled conscience having come out of Babylon.

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Luk 19:26  For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath [Christ and His doctrines] shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

The seeming condition of Jacob’s defiled spotted and ringstraked conscience is meant for good. His God-given vengeance against Laban and taking into his own hands to make right his hire ultimately pointed to Jacob’s son, Joseph’s rulership over all his brothers, inclusive of Laban’s family, representing all of humanity serving the younger, Joseph.

(The natural points to the spiritual ~ with poetic flare: In the deep, the depths of the Sea where the Beast resides with Leviathan, is a metaphorical boiling putrid mass of aquatic maggots, mankind (Job 25:6), feeding on each other’s dross and Saint’s ‘marine snow’, crumbs from the Lord’s table above providing enough spiritual enlightenment to wildly excite them. The Bride of Christ, on her journey coming out of the defilement of the Sea and Babylon, is given to righteously discern the nuances of Jacob and all other personalities in scripture to see the hidden parables and subtlety of a defiled conscience.

What is “marine snow”?: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/marinesnow.html 

The Sea is home to many allegorically unclean creatures, such as white, blind shrimps, feeding on this marine snow and algae from hydrothermal mineral-rich vents: https://www.livescience.com/31034-embargoed-eyeless-shrimp-discovered-deepest-volcanic-vents.html

Fearsome-looking Anglerfish carry their own ‘lantern light’ of spiritual enlightenment to attract the blind laity who live in a warm zone next to a Dante-like boiling vent and devour anything dead or alive that will barely fit into their exaggerated yawning jaws).

Apart from the spiritual indication of defilement inducted by Adam and Eve’s defilement of their minds, the very first time the term “defiled” is used is covertly in Genesis 34:2. As such, Mr Baird’s study on “Conscience” soundly and unwittingly submits to 1 Corinthians 2:14 in that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

We shall review the first scriptural noting of the term “defiled”, which is in Genesis 34:2.

Gen 34:1  And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 
Gen 34:2  And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

We know that the many spiritual connections of the term defiled are allegorically hidden in the nuances of other ensamples all the way back to Adam and Eve’s defilement of their land of physical and spiritual Eden (within) ~ they were subsequently spewed out of Eden. Adam and Eve set the path for the entirety of mankind being defiled while in Eden by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is synonymous with Satan staining God’s word a different color, contaminating Adam and Eve’s minds with confusion (Babylon) with the following words ~ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (Gen 3:4).

Lev 18:27  (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled 
Lev 18:28  That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

Notice in verse 27 that the people were already defiled by their forefathers’ (foundation of) bias for sexual idols of their hearts, so unwittingly, they would, by default, inherit defiled consciences.

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above [of the mind!], or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water [the word] under the earth [our bodies]:
Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

By the Lord’s design, it is only the Elect of God who are able to draw near to the Lord and have Him touch our lips and minds to create within an undefiled conscience.

Exo 20:21  And the people [the world] stood afar off, and Moses [the Elect] drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

It all is part of Adam’s curse for us all to initially be defiled and full of abominations that spew out of our spiritual nostrils to learn a good conscience from an evil conscience.

Though Dinah’s defilement by Shechem was one of man’s many ‘endless’ staining sins of the land with different colors, it was Cain’s shedding of righteous Abel’s blood that was the most distinguished sin after Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Num 35:33  So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
Num 35:34  Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

Cain and we all defile our land within by the shedding of our Lord’s innocent blood in the slaughterhouse of false doctrines. A false doctrine begins with a law for the mind to consider to obey or defy, subsequent to a dividing path of a good or defiled conscience.

As with the sins of Adam and Eve, Cain and Shechem are foundational in that they are first in their genre; all sin begins with a breach of God’s Commands. The sequential flow is a broken law, followed by the acknowledgment of the sin and its hopeful forever dismissal. If one’s mind excuses the sin, then it remains embedded to possibly sear one’s conscience and defile our Temple within. Typically, we go into hiding. However, the seared conscience is likely to further defile our land by blatantly continuing to perform fornication before the Body.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up [a seared conscience defiling one’s conscience] and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Once the “ensamples” (1Co 10:11) of all categories of sin are installed in the chronicles of scripture, that above-mentioned ‘sequential flow of broken laws’ should instantly stop by its filtration through our conscience. We either learn to joyfully comply with the Lord’s commands or suffer the torture of defiance until we do comply. Consistently failing to comply and for a rejected elect will land him in the Thousand-Year Reign to suffer without the holy spirit, continued dichotic suffering and bewilderment in failure for a guaranteed change in the Resurrection to Judgment. Conversely, consistent or random failure for a genuine Elect will cause him to be mindful of his Lord’s light yoke of no personal sweat for his prodigally tortured conscience to return to his Father and Lord. (Luke 15:11-32).

All forms of a defiled conscience result in a purged conscience by the shedding of blood, led by Christ the First Fruit, followed by the Elect in this age spiritually, and the world spiritually in the Lake of Fire.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things [all sins unto death] are by the Law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. [Therein is the mindfulness, the pricking of our conscience that our Lord died as our ‘ensample’ to follow]
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns [ensamples] of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Once we are immutably established in Christ at the First Resurrection, we don’t need further sacrifices of spiritually dying (blood) daily, since any kind of evil conscience is abolished. A good conscience is the nature of God, with evil being utterly foreign.

Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 
Heb 9:25  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 
Heb 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself [forever!].
Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? [In jeopardy of death is our constant search to retain a good conscience by dying hour by hour to our sins]
1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

Our hour-by-hour consciousness causes the Christ-centric to be highly aware of maintaining a good conscience by the shedding of allegorical spiritual blood to our sins. Such spillage is undefiled blood of a good conscience. Any other emission of blood, bodily fluids and waste symbolically defiles the building of the Temple we are.

All sixteen references in the Bible to the different nuances of our conscience are strongly interconnected; it is thus hard not to encroach on those individual studies and make a mishmash of cross-references and possible confusion. A “convicted conscience” is one such case in point since all the remaining fifteen instances (most yet to be studied) righteously or unrighteously convict or acquit one’s conscience for our actions. The following example is one instance speaking of the woman taken in adultery and her accuser’s consciences being stabbed, slinking off one by one,

Joh 8:9  And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 

Note that the young and brash were last to skulk off since life’s experiences hadn’t humiliated them sufficiently to draw experience for a timely decamp. It is a subtle case of the older old covenant school of Moses serving the younger Christ and His New Covenant Bride. 

The murderous Pharisees were in a dichotic state of having the Laws of Moses challenging their peace by this strange new conscience, convicting them of something utterly foreign to what they, since Moses, emphatically knew to be ‘right’, namely, and spiritually speaking… “A man’s foes shall be of his own household” (within – Mat 10:34-39). They now have a defiled conscience where once their conscience, as was Saul’s (Paul) and Job’s, pure by keeping the Law. The blood of this poor woman which would have satiated their consciences written in a good stoning was sharply polarised by a new conscience hidden in the meaning of this newborn chastisement to all parties of the affair, namely the sword of the word tumultuously dividing the bone and marrow of their consciences. (Saul kicking against the pricks of his conscience – Act 9:4-5).

Heb 4:11  Let us labour [Seeking a good conscience] therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 
Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [Convicting or excusing our consciences’]
Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [of our good or evil consciences’] are naked and opened unto the eyes of him [Christ] with whom we have to do. [to give an account of an evil or good conscience]

Synopsis

A “defiled conscience” opposes the word of God and is thus a polluted conscience, stained a different color to our Lord’s pure white vesture. Those who keep Christ’s commandments have no accusation from within or without challenging their conscience.

Those who have an accusing conscience excuse themselves with academic pseudo-spirituality that can bamboozle the spiritually weak conscience to believe a lie. Any of the scripturally mentioned aspects of an evil conscience cascaded from any one instance to create a legion of demonic confusion (Babylon) and imagined hiding from the light of the Word.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness [hiding] rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

Such a person assuredly has his evil conscience pricked, but his pride has the greater power to evade the truth, and he thus remains in darkness with a tortured conscience. He often angrily defends his defiled conscience, gnashing his teeth upon any who challenge him since force now is his only way to sustain his imagined integrity, subconsciously knowing that he is condemned by his conscience.

Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

The person who swiftly acknowledges his error has shed his chains of darkness and lives in the peace and tranquillity of a good conscience under Christ’s light yoke.

The Bride of Christ who goes before her sisters in Old Jerusalem has received a double portion of all forms of evil consciences. She is mightily strengthened and joyful by the sordid affair, having struggled out of the sea with putrefying sores and fallen seven times. 

Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman [wow, eh? The KJV uses a capital “W”], where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

The Bride of Christ thus doesn’t hide from her sins but delights in their exposure and, more so, in her Lord’s forgiveness and her upward growth. She has an undefiled conscience cleansed by her Lord.

So you may ask, ‘What happened to the exposition of Tit 1:4-16?!’ The answer is that you are now skilled, as many already are, in identifying a defiled conscience, and the fun part is identifying ‘who done it’, knowing that every aspect of those verses is a reflection of ourselves. For the maturing spiritual mind being released from defilement, your understanding will be elementary; in the vernacular, it will be the confidence of “no sweat” ~ since fear produces sweat from a pricked conscience. 

Eze 44:16  They [the budding Kings and Priests, the Bride of Christ] shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. 
Eze 44:17  And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool [keeping warm by our own works] shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 
Eze 44:18  They shall have linen bonnets [Turbans; a wife’s glory symbolised by her hair, Christ, and not one strand hurt] upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

Such a person is confident by their Lord’s word to come near to Christ and touch Him without a defiled conscience, knowing that she is her Lord’s workmanship, His Wife.

In the next study, always Lord willing, we will review our endemic nature of an “Evil Conscience”.

Lam 4:1-22 Part 4, Scattered Like Dry Sun-bleached Bones

[Study Aired September 2, 2023]

Our Lord has drawn out His little flock from every nation on Earth. Initially, they were unwitting dry bones, temple stones collapsed, dead in a heap until the Lord began raising them to life in Him. There are 120 accounts of scripture using the term “scatter/scattered”, and almost all refer to the Lord’s people in the Wilderness and having come out of Babylon. (Please see Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones)

Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Joh 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 
Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

That is the Lord’s modus operandi; he destroys our flesh and then sets about rebuilding the new man in his spiritual image.

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

Lam 4:1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 
Lam 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 
Lam 4:3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 
Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 
Lam 4:5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 
Lam 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
Lam 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 
Lam 4:8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 
Lam 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 
Lam 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 
Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the World, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Lam 4:13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 
Lam 4:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 
Lam 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
Lam 4:16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 
Lam 4:17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 
Lam 4:18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 
Lam 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 
Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. 
Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 
Lam 4:22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. 

Interpretations

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

Lam 4:1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 

Our gold is changed to ‘dim’ when we uphold our righteousness. Self-righteousness makes it hard to authenticate integrity without others, particularly Christ, seeing through our falsehoods. While building our temple under our strength in high places, the stones will likely remain crying out, a rubble heap without foundation at the top of every street in our city. Outwardly, Babylonian Christian denominations, and particularly Roman Catholicism, built their churches on the highest point in each town. At the beginning of the One Thousand Years, every edifice enabling magic arts will undoubtedly be made a ruinous heap of stones and wood at the top of their street.

Christ is the stone cut out without hands that will smash the idols of those He has chosen in this age, leave them in a heap, and break our self-made pot by his hand to pieces at the top of our street.

Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Luk 14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him.

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 

Jer 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps [expressed outwardly by the Romans, and now his Elect within], and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. 
Jer 9:12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? 
Jer 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
Jer 9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

Lam 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

Our Lord knows His precious sons of Old Jerusalem within are weak-framed earthen vessels we at first believe are so valuable as we journey to becoming the heavenly Jerusalem, fine gold, at the hands of the Master Potter [Rom 9:20, Jer 18:2-6].

Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. 

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Lam 4:3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 

We are the “sea monsters” coming out of the abussos, the deep, the bottomless pit (Rev 13), all representations of one and the same. We suckle the breast of the harlot and give seed to more evil children within. We become like our former mother from Mt. Sinai who, like female ostriches, abandons her eggs, never to look back, leaving the male (a zoological fact), the other Jesus, Satan, to brood and raise us.

2Co 11:3 But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your thoughts should be corrupted from the simplicity due to Christ. 
2Co 11:4 For if, indeed, the one [you and I in Babylon] coming proclaims another Jesus, whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive another spirit, which you did not receive, or another gospel, which you never accepted, you might well endure these [… and we did]. 
2Co 11:5 For I judge myself to have come behind the highest apostles in nothing.

‘The Jesus’ chooses His disciples, the Elect of God, to be His Church, vagabonds in ragged clothes of no worldly prestige. We were left in the field in our blood, and He found us (as if we never knew we were there) and raised us to become His own beautiful young woman to be His wife.

1Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many wise men according to the flesh are called, not many mighty, not many noble. 
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the World to confound the things which are mighty; 
1Co 1:28 and God has chosen the base things of the World, and things which are despised, and things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are; 
1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.
Eze 16:3 And say, So says the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem, Your origin and your birth is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. 
Eze 16:4 And as for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you. And you were not salted, nor swaddled at all. 
Eze 16:5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these to you, to have compassion on you. But you were thrown out into the open field, because your life was despised in the day that you were born. 
Eze 16:6 And when I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you in your blood, Live! 
Eze 16:7 I have caused you to multiply like the bud of the field, and you are grown, and you are great; and you come in the finest ornaments. Your breasts are formed, and hair is grown, yet you were naked and bare. 
Eze 16:8 And I passed by you and looked on you, and, behold, your time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Jehovah. And you became Mine.

Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 
Lam 4:5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 
Lam 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Those verses support and amplify the decoding of the previous ones. Old Jerusalem, Sodom, Egypt and Babylon, all of whom we were sent in slavery, fed us the most unsatisfying food and drink. We believed what we had was the best spiritual food available, yet the Lord annoyed our consciences by the undecipherable aspect of His word, eminently the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, in fact, ‘endless’ aspects of the entire Bible subconsciously niggled us. We fed most sumptuously on Babylon’s richness, not knowing that we were poor, blind and naked, sitting in our dung (Rev 3:17).

Thankfully, our greater punishment and judgment are now, in this age, as we come out of Sodom and her sister cities, Old Jerusalem and Egypt, collectively called Babylon. We learn quickly to be incredibly grateful that we were overthrown in a moment.

1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. 
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.

Mal 2:1 And now, O priests, this command is for you. 
Mal 2:2 If you will not hear, and if you will not set it on your heart to give glory to My name, says Jehovah of Hosts, then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. And indeed I have cursed it, because you do not set it on your heart. 
Mal 2:3 Behold, I am rebuking your seed; and I will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your appointed feasts. And one shall lift you up to it.
Mal 2:4 And you shall know that I have sent this command to you, to be My covenant with Levi, says Jehovah of Hosts. 

Php 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 
Php 3:8 But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith,
Php 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; 
Php 3:11 if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. 

Lam 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 

That verse is the epitome of sarcasm. We were the Nazarites, the priests of God, saying that we had a husband and were not a widow and would not see death. We dressed ourselves in self-righteous purity and decked ourselves in fine jewelry like Jezebel and Queen Vashti for all to see, and we much later saw our nakedness to our enduring shame (Rev 18).

We begin to see that we have been Old Jerusalem sacked by the Romans, correlating to the Babylonians within. Our spiritual understanding was to us just as black as the Shulamite was to Solomon. We learn to delight that the Lord’s sword never leaves the city’s streets within.

In the positive sense, Christ is the ruddy one, whiter than milk, and as he is, so is the Bride outstanding among her ten-thousand sisters in Babylon.

Son 5:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. 

Pro 3:15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 

Lam 4:8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 
Lam 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 

That verse depicts our judgment today on the household of God in the hope of the First Resurrection. The Lord’s Elect are sustained with oil and wine, the holy spirit that keeps their flame brightly alive for the hope of their marriage to the Lamb of God.

Just as Solomon couldn’t understand the Shulamite’s outstanding purity that defied his God-given wisdom, her visage was black as the tents of Kedar, and she was seen in the streets of Old Jerusalem, Babylon, yet her sisters couldn’t and still don’t know her; she is blacker than coal. She is unknown in their inward streets of Old Jerusalem, and they, like the Elect of God, are slain, each in his own order.

Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The rest in the “field” is the World since Adam until the First Resurrection, who have no whit that they are stricken while feeding luxuriously on the World’s spiritual bread of wokeness; they will be slain in the soon coming age in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. 
Rev 20:3 And he cast him into the abyss and shut him up and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little time.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.

Lam 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden [Boiled; baked] their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 
Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the World, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.

2Ki 6:26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 
2Ki 6:27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 
2Ki 6:28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 
2Ki 6:29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 
2Ki 6:30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 

Those three verses of Lamentations continue depicting the physical with the spiritual. The “pitiful women” have been the Lord’s very own people who have “come out of her”, that is, Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom and collectively Babylon (Rev 18:4), while their brothers and sisters continue spiritually consuming their children in Old Jerusalem to this very day!

Our brothers and sisters in Babylon emphatically believe that salvation is of the Jews since scripture says so. In the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans, its inhabitants believed that God wouldn’t forsake them, the holy people; until it was too late.

Joh 4:21 Jesus said to her, Woman [addressing our old woman and the Bride of Christ], believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither worship the Father in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem. 
Joh 4:22 You worship what you do not know, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Nonetheless, by the oligarchy of the financial and political World’s Satan-directed design, the Balfour Declaration finally and firmly established the idol of physical Jews leadership in the World. https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration Babylonian Christianity will not suffer its discretion, not knowing that the Beast will “burn her with fire”.

Salvation is through Christ and His spiritual Jews ~ Christs (plural). That event is profoundly spiritually discerned in the following verses and in cursed strong delusion for adherents of the Balfour Declaration.

 Oba 1:19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau [Our kin brothers and sisters of Mt Sinai, today’s Christianity]; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
Oba 1:20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south [the so-called “holy land”].
Oba 1:21 And saviours [plural] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 
Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 

Lam 4:13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 

In the following verses, Christ speaks of our former ways that morph into the Elect of God by ‘sleight of spirit’ in verse 49.

Luk 11:47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 
Luk 11:48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 
Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: [The “they” is us judging ourselves in this age, slaying our idols within]
Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; [~ the generation within, today if you hear His voice. Heb 3:15].
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation [~ the Lord’s people right now]. 
Luk 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers! [Pastors; ministers, our former unrighteousness of being a two-fold child of hell] for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Those verses above richly depict in hidden minimal detail us coming out of Babylon and seeing that we are becoming the spiritual Jews who were the lying Jews who remain looking to rout the modern Romans from the World’s political establishment.

Mat 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Lam 4:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 

Just as the pure water from Mt Hermon runs down and through the midst of the former physical nation of Israel, so does our righteousness at the top of our streets run down in dead works through Sodom within to the dead sea of our rottenness, purified by salt.

Our spiritual wombs’ “streets” are automatically renewed every four weeks as depicted by the moon’s cycle. Its interior exfoliation has polluted us with blood, and it figuratively purges us of dead works, polluting our spiritual garments by our idols in secret places.

Gen 31:35 And she [Rachel / we becoming the heavenly Jerusalem above] said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images. 

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he [The Father through Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

Just as Rachel didn’t confess to her father, we, too, have hidden our idols beneath our self-righteous clothing, denying our sins and shed the Lord’s blood yet again.

Lam 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 
Lam 4:16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.

Israel and we, in our time, departed like deranged King Nebuchadnezzar for his self-importance, figuratively announcing that he is god, and we, sitting in the Lord’s temple, unwittingly stating that we are God. We could not touch the Lord until he said, “Enough”, and blessed our dragging to himself with His spirit, symbolised by Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration to sanity and our God-given spiritual sanity.

Dan 4:28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 4:29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 
Dan 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 
Dan 4:31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 
Dan 4:33  The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. 
Dan 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 

Lam 4:17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 

Watching for a nation that cannot save us is a classic example of seeking answers from our many witches of Endor (1Sa 28). When we have suffered long enough with legions of evil spirits in our tombs within and being fearful of our blindness, as was Saul of Tarsus (Paul), our Lord begins setting us free, and we listen to our Elders in the Body who favour our salvation.

Mar 5:1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 
Mar 5:2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 
Mar 5:3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 
Mar 5:4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 
Mar 5:5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 
Mar 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
Mar 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Mar 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mar 5:9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 

Act 20:26 Therefore I [Paul, the Elders and each of us] testify to you on this day that I am pure from the blood of all. 
Act 20:27 For I did not keep back from declaring to you all the counsel of God. 
Act 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock in which the holy spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He has purchased with His own blood. 

Lam 4:18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 
Lam 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 

Our persecutors are evil spirits sent by the Lord, fouls of the air, represented as eagles generically denoting all kinds of raptors, including falcons (a little trivia), the Peregrine falcon being the fastest creature on Earth (dives up to 300 km (186 mph hr) – Rev 22:12-20, “… I come quickly…” with a ministry of 3 years – 300÷100=3)

2Sa 1:23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. 

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Lev 11:13 Of birds these are they which you must not eat, and which are to be avoided by you: The eagle, and the griffon [vulture], and the osprey. [Griffon vulture, incidentally the world’s highest recorded flying bird at 36,000 feet, synonymous with high flying proud- evil spirits]
Lev 11:14 And the kite, and the vulture, according to their kind. (DRB)

Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

Pits are hollows, dungeons, the depths of the abussos we live with, the wilderness of Babylon’s shadow, yet are not partakers of her unclean bird’s ways. The Lord’s people have come out of her yet remain in the world.

Jer 29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 
Jer 29:5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 
Jer 29:6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 
Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD. 
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 

Zec 2:7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. [1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.]
Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. 

Esau, whose land is Edom, is the elder brother of Jacob. The daughter of Edom represents the Lord’s people who despised their inheritance, as typified by Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a pot of red lentils.

Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz [Edom synonymous with Babylon]; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 

Esau’s cup, represented by the daughter of Edom, reflects the Lord’s people’s transition to being the heavenly daughter of Zion that is Jerusalem above.

Lam 4:22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. 

Just as Rachel’s idols hidden under her secret parts were eventually revealed, so will the Lord see under our skirts and discover our sins revealed in humiliation and horror upon our faces.

Jer 13:25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Jer 13:26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear. 
Jer 13:27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

Lord willing, that time will consummate for his Elect at the First Resurrection.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Acts 19:21-41  Our Craft is in Danger to be Set at Nought

[Study Aired July 15, 2023]

Act 19:21  After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
Act 19:22  So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.
Act 19:23  And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.
Act 19:24  For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;
Act 19:25  Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.
Act 19:26  Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:
Act 19:27  So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
Act 19:28  And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
Act 19:29  And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
Act 19:30  And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
Act 19:31  And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.
Act 19:32  Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
Act 19:33  And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.
Act 19:34  But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
Act 19:35  And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
Act 19:36  Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.
Act 19:37  For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.
Act 19:38  Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.
Act 19:39  But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.
Act 19:40  For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.
Act 19:41  And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

Act 19:21  After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

“After these things” means after the twelve men had received the holy spirit and had been given the gift of speaking in other languages, “for a sign… to them that believe not” (1Co14:22), and after the evil spirit had acknowledged Jesus and Paul but did not acknowledge the seven sons of Sceva as having any authority over that spirit. These two events were such a powerful witness to the Truth of the gospel that our last study ended with these words:

Act 19:17  And this [demonic spirit overpowering the seven sons of Sceva] was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Act 19:18  And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
Act 19:19  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. [Five and a half million dollars]
Act 19:20  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

It was after these two powerful witnesses and after spending three years in Ephesus on this third journey that Paul “purposed in spirit” to go back to Macedonia and Achaia before returning to Jerusalem, and then he wanted to “see Rome.”

Act 19:22  So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.
Act 19:23  And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

Christ is “that way.” He is the only way to know God and the only way to obtain life eternal:

Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Joh 14:5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Contrary to the ‘New Age’ doctrine Christ did not say ‘I know the way’. He rather asserted “I AM the way”.

Thomas was just being honest. He was not yet converted, and he knew that of himself he had no idea what Christ was saying about where He was going or the way to get there. Nevertheless, it all happened for our sakes so Christ could let us know that He is the way, the Truth, and the life, and that no one would ever know God without first accepting Christ as the Father’s sacrificial exemplary propitiatory Lamb, to atone for the sins of all men of all time.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The gospel made Christ and His Father known to the Ephesians, and it makes Christ and His Father known to us.

Act 19:24  For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;
Act 19:25  Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

The idol making industry, just like its antithesis, the ‘body’ and ‘household’ of Christ, is a multifaceted body with many members each contributing to the health and success of that industry. There are men who make the molten images. Others are carvers of wooden images which are then covered with gold and silver. Others are polishers of the idols, and yet many others built shrines in which the idols are housed. There is a lot at stake if the Truth “that they be no gods, which are made with hands [and] God dwells not in temples made with hands” became too acceptable to the people of “Ephesus [and] throughout all Asia”:

Act 7:48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Act 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Act 19:26  Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:
Act 19:27  So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

All physical idols spiritually signify “idols of the heart”, which are false doctrines of men which twist and “wrest… the… scriptures… unto their own destruction”:

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them [those leaders who teach false doctrines], 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 [self-righteousness (Eze 33:13)] before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself [according to the idols of his heart]:

We all by nature identify with our own mind and our own thoughts. When those thoughts and doctrines conflict with the doctrines of Christ they constitute an “idol of the heart”, which is nothing more or less than an evil spirit from the Lord placing lies within our hearts.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him [King Ahab].
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Here are two examples of how the Lord answers us “according to the idols of [our] heart.” The first is right here in this same chapter of 1 Kings 22:

1Ki 22:15  So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

Of course, Ahab died at Ramothgilead as Micaiah went on to foretell, after he first answered him according to the idol of his heart.

Here is another example of where the Lord answers us ‘according to the idols of our heart’.

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

The Lord had ‘sown’ a talent, a year’s wages, with this man, yet he answered him “according to the idol of his heart.”

Demetrius and all his companions in the idol-making industry had lived for many outwardly-prosperous years with their idols of Diana. Through the preaching of Paul, the hedge around that industry was beginning to come down just as our own idols of our hearts feel so very threatened when we first begin to hear the Truth of the words of Christ:

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

“All Asia” of Acts 19:26 signifies ‘all the earth’ (Psa 83:18, Rev 18:23). “All nations… and the merchants of the earth” are made rich by the multitude of the idols of the heart of the churches of Babylon:

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies [Her false idols of the heart (Eze 14:1-9)].

The day is coming when all the lying false doctrines and “idols of the heart” of all the religions of all mankind will be judged, and they will indeed all “be set at nought… at the appearing of… The Lord and His Christ” to rule over the kingdoms of this world. The scriptures foretell that day when they reveal the fate of all our false doctrines and of all who, like Demitrius, fabricate those false idols and false doctrines:

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.

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

Just as each of us have had to endure the humiliation of acknowledging that we had been deceived by all the lies of all the false prophets of Babylon, those false prophets themselves will come to that same point by the Words of the Lord and those Words in the mouths of “His Christ”:

Eze 34:1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 34:2  Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Eze 34:3  Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
Eze 34:4  The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
Eze 34:5  And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
Eze 34:6  My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
Eze 34:7  Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
Eze 34:8  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
Eze 34:9  Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
Eze 34:10  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

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

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

That day is not yet here, and in the meantime, those who “love His appearing” are nothing less than “sheep among wolves” and must be “wise as serpents and [at the same time] harmless as doves”:

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them [church leaders] and the Gentiles.

2Ti 4:1  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Here in Ephesus, Paul’s faith is being tried as the holy spirit guides him and helps him to be “wise as a serpent but as harmless as a dove.” His message of the loving gospel of Christ is cutting into the profits of the idol-worshipping Ephesians, and the idol worshipers understand that when the people have their eyes opened to see that “they be no gods which are made with hands” their means of staying physically wealthy will vanish:

Act 19:28  And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
Act 19:29  And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

Luke makes Paul the center of attention in telling of his travels and all the holy spirit does through this apostle. However, from time to time it is revealed by the use of pronouns like ‘we’ and ‘us’ and in a few cases the names of “Paul’s companions in travel” that Paul had an entourage who traveled with him much of the time and who were under his direction and supervision. Silas and Timothy see what the Lord has done in Paul’s life, and they are more than willing to go where Paul feels they are needed to feed the Lord’s sheep and to oversee their continued welfare and to prepare for Paul’s arrival.

In this incident it is “Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia” who are revealed to be there in Ephesus as Paul’s “companions in travel.” In our next chapter we will learn from exactly which city in Macedonia some of these men originate. We were just told there was a ‘Gaius… of Macedonia’:

Act 19:29  And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

In our next study, we will learn that Aristarchus was of Thessalonica, and we will be introduced to another “Gaius of Derbe”:

Act 20:4  And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.

There is also a third ‘Gaius’ of Corinth:

1Co 1:14  I thank God that I baptized none of you [Corinthians], but Crispus and Gaius;

The men apprehended by this mob were “Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel”. Paul, by the Lord’s provision is out of the reach of this angry mob so they catch Gaius and Aristarchus, and the mob drags them into the theatre.

Act 19:30  And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
Act 19:31  And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

Paul was led of the holy spirit to be persuaded by “his friends… of the chief of Asia” not to attempt to reason with a mob, and the Lord worked “all things after the counsel of His own will… for good to them who love Him and are the called according to His purpose” (Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28) as He is always doing in “all things”:

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Act 19:32  Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

Verse 32 is the perfect description of most of us when we were still in the churches of Babylon. We have no idea why we believe as we do, but we nevertheless loudly proclaim the doctrines we are familiar and comfortable with.

Act 19:33  And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.

This ‘Alexander’ may well be “Alexander the coppersmith”, who later did Paul “much evil.” Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus when he went into Macedonia, and this is the last we hear of Alexander until Paul mentions him again to Timothy:

1Ti 1:3  As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

It is in his second epistle to Timothy from his prison house in Rome that we learn that “Alexander the coppersmith did [Paul] much evil” and withstood Paul’s doctrines:

2Ti 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

This Alexander was apparently a Jewish convert to Christianity. The phrase ‘a Jew’ or ‘the Jews’ in the New Testament, spiritually signifies the Christians of today who claim God’s name but “do not the things [He] sayeth” (Luk 6:46). Alexander may have been a Christian, but he was also a Jew, and the one thing Jews and Christians had in common at that time was that they both agreed that physical idol worship was a sin. When the Ephesian idol worshippers learned that Alexander was a Jew, they were enraged:

Act 19:34  But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

The Jews looked down on idol worshippers because they could not see the spiritual idols of their own hearts. We have all had idols of our own hearts because we all at one time believed the many false doctrines of the churches of Babylon the great. The fact is that ‘the Jews’ with idols of the heart are just as culpable before the Lord, or more so, as the pagan idol worshippers who do not claim to know the God of the scriptures. The Lord used “the powers that be”, the government of Rome, to step in and “appease the people” with the reminder that the proper way to handle the situation at hand was through the court system:

Act 19:35  And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
Act 19:36  Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

Notice the truth of what this ‘townclerk’ [G1122: ‘grammateus’, scribe] told this mob, and let it be a lesson for each of us:

Act 19:37  For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

I wondered whether the word translated as ‘churches’ here was the Greek plural of ecclesia. It is not. The Greek word here is hierosulos. Thayer defines this word as “guilty of sacrilege’, and Strong’s defines it as “a temple despoiler.”

G2417-  Hierosulos
– Phonetic: hee-er-os’-oo-los
– Definition: guilty of sacrilege
– Origin: from G2411 and G4813
– TDNT entry: 07:16,3
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

– Strong’s: From G2411 and G4813; a temple despoiler: – robber of churches.
Total KJV Occurrences: 1

churches, 1
Act_19:37

The “townclerk” spoke the truth. Neither in Athens, where Paul preached Christ to the pagans on Mars Hill, nor here in the pagan city of Ephesus, does Paul directly attack the religion of his audience. Rather, he gently reasons with them and persuades them to consider that they themselves are the source and the creators of their gods, and therefore it is obvious that “they be no gods which are made with hands”, and ‘God does not dwell in temples made with hands.’ Then the town clerk appeals to the legal ramifications of “this… uproar” and this demonstration against the Truth of the gospel:

Act 19:38  Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.
Act 19:39  But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.
Act 19:40  For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.
Act 19:41  And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

Matters of offense within the body of Christ should be settled within the body of Christ and not before judges of this world:

1Co 6:1  Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

“Any of you”, according to the previous chapter, refers to “any man who is called a brother [in Christ]”:

1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

That is the “any of you” referred to here in this sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and we are specifically admonished against “going to law with [“any man that is called a brother”] before the unjust”.

When we are forced into going to law with those who are not “called a brother”, then we can rejoice in the provision the Lord has made for our own good and our own safety as is demonstrated in this story of this uproar against the apostle Paul by the idol worshippers of Ephesus. “Wicked… men which are your hand” are often used of the Lord as His sword both to judge and to be deliverers of the Lord’s elect:

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14  From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

I had a brother ask me what he should do about his children being bullied at school. I told him to go to the principal and tell the principal what was happening to his children. He did just that and the bullying stopped. That is how the Lord’s elect deal with the wickedness of this world:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

“It shall be determined in a lawful assembly” is the Biblical formula for how “any man who is called a brother” deals with those who are not called a brother and who withstand the Lord and His Christ. It was the threat of ‘a lawful assembly’ that delivered Paul and his companions in travel in Ephesus. It was also Paul’s appeal to Caesar that kept him from being tried by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.

Act 25:11  For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Act 28:19  But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.

Mat 5:25  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Mat 5:26  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Christ is not telling anyone to agree with a liar. What He is telling us is to confess to our sins before those sins are proven in “a lawful assembly”, which is “ordained of God” to settle disputes with those who are not called brothers.