“The first man is of the earth, earthy:
the second man is the Lord from heaven” Part 3

(Pro 20:21-26)

[Study Aired October 23, 2025]

Pro 20:21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
Pro 20:22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Pro 20:23 Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
Pro 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Pro 20:25 It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
Pro 20:26  A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

Keeping with our theme of “The first man is of the earth, earthy: [and] the second man is the Lord from heaven”, we’ll look at the next  6 verses of Proverbs chapter 20 with the thought of how we naturally, as the first man Adam, seek out an earthly inheritance at first for our flesh.

[Esau’s 12 princes represent the foundation of man’s fleshly endeavors (Gen 17:20), and the seventy souls that come out of the loins of Jacob represent all the elect (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11) who are established in the earth much later than Esau (Exo 1:5). God tells us the first to be established will be last and the last will be first (Mat 20:16)].

If God is working in our hearts and minds, our perspective changes by God’s grace and the faith of Christ regarding what is truly needful and necessary to be pursuing in this life (Php 3:8-11, Mat 6:33).

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness (Gen 17:20), which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Exo 1:5)
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

We have need of patience to possess our souls as we wait on the Lord to lead and guide us in spiritual battle (Luk 21:19, Psa 27:14), where He faithfully provides for our continual sojourn of dying daily (Col 1:27, Php 1:6, Joh 18:9).

Psa 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

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: [He will daily clothe us for battle if it is His will that we ask, seek, and knock for the things that we need Mat 6:33, Eph 6:10-18]

Joh 18:9  That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

Every believer has received a precious inheritance from the Lord — not of silver or gold (1Pe 1:18-21), but of spiritual riches, divine promises, and a calling to live as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17-18, Heb 11:25-27, Php 3:13-14).

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
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.

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt:(Php 3:8-15) for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

God’s word shows us how we are to protect that inheritance and not let any man take our crown, especially the man we see in the mirror every day (Rev 3:11). That crown represents the spiritual gold that God’s word is, that is now no longer wrapped around the idol of our hearts, but rather is placed on our head which is where our thoughts are miraculously brought into subjection unto God so that we can glorify him in these earthen vessels that possess such a great treasure (2Co 4:7).

Our resisting against the devil regarding the thorns and briars that represent false doctrines, is the life-long goal of God’s people (Mat 24:13), and it is the trial of our faith that is precious unto God as they will burn up the lies of the devil [thorns and briars] represented by the platted crown on Christ’s head. As those lies are destroyed the purified gold needed [word of God] to fashion a crown of life for His children is accomplished through the fiery trials of this life (Heb 12:2-4, Mat 27:29, 1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 4:12).

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. [thorns and briars]

Mat 27:29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

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:

In this study, we’ll look at what must be done to not neglect, or trade away [Esau’s birthright] our inheritance, and pray the God of all grace will be merciful to us to not let us squander this high calling by carelessness, pride or compromise (1Pe 5:10).

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Pro 20:21  An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

Esau’s inheritance was forfeited for a bowl of red pottage that symbolizes our pursuit of fleshly endeavors, with immature perceptions of God’s word that are not meat but an altar of pottage, “An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning”, where we are looking to hastily take the immediate reward that in the end will not be blessed, as opposed to living a lifetime of sacrifices that will culminate in the seven last plagues being poured out upon the kingdom of our old man, so that we can enter into the temple of God and inherit eternal life (Rom 12:1-2, Rev 15:8).

This judgement which is upon the body of Christ (1Pe 4:17) strengthens us in the Lord so that we do not fear the consequence of what others may say of our position of being on the cross, as we carry that weight by the life of Christ within us, through whom we can present ourselves a living sacrifice to God and endure all things at the altar which is the cross, where we eat the life of Christ as opposed to pottage (Mat 10:38-39 ,  Heb 11:25-26, Heb 13:10, Joh 6:53).

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

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

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Pro 20:22  Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.

Part of protecting our inheritance is accomplished by trusting the Lord to defend and vindicate us, rather than acting in the flesh (Rom 12:19).

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head (Mat 5:44, Luk 6:27, Luk 6:35).
Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

“Wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee” (2Th 3:3-5), is something God’s elect can accomplish through Christ alone (Psa 27:14, Psa 37:34, Pro 20:22), and while we wait we are told to pray for our enemies and those who falsely accuse us (Mat 5:10-12) and the LORD will strengthen our hearts with His word (Psa 104:15). We are to “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb 12:14), and when we forgive others’ sins, God will forgive ours and we will continue to be blessed to perceive His presence and guidance in our lives via the holy spirit (Rom 8:14, Mat 6:12-13).

2Th 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
2Th 3:4  And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
2Th 3:5  And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

Psa 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: (Psa 104:15) wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psa 37:34  Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

Pro 20:22  Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Psa 104:15  And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.

Pro 20:23  Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.

The literal meaning of this proverb heralds back to ancient marketplaces where economic deceit was used to take advantage of the unsuspecting public. The lesson for God’s elect is that dishonesty and deceit with the word of God corrupt the spiritual life, whereas not thinking above what is written (1Co 4:6) preserves the purity of our inheritance, where double standards will destroy it. In (Amo 8:4-7) we read:

Amo 8:4  Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
Amo 8:5  Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? [this symbolizing the corrupting of the word of God to make merchandise of the brethren (2Co 2:17)]

2Co 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Amo 8:6  That we may buy the poor for silver [10 second sinner’s prayer], and the needy for a pair of shoes; [another gospel shod on the feet of Babylon (Eph 6:15, 2Co 11:4)] yea, and sell the refuseH4651 of the wheat? [a falling off that is chaff (Isa 3:1)]

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

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.

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

Amo 8:7  The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works [Mat 12:36].

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

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

Joseph typifies God’s elect who are the first to trust in the Eternal God and who will explain one day to all the world that “Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?”. No one verse seems to more perfectly explain this point then (Gen 50:19-20). The way that seems right to man, our understanding of the path to salvation in other words, leads to death for our first man Adam whose self-righteous spirit can only be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives, which is the only way the elect could have ever inherited an inheritance or double portion in this life (Pro 14:12, Php 3:9, 2Th 2:8).

Gen 50:19  And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Joseph, in type and shadow, was saying don’t fear me, “Fear not: for am I in the place of God?” but rather, “fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mat 10:28). “The way” God will destroy “both soul and body in hell” is explained in the very next verse that reads, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father”.

There are two doves in (Lev 14:6-7), one that represents Christ who dies for us, and the other that represents the elect who are kept alive and loosed into the open field, a story that parallels with the two sparrows spoken of in (Mat 10:29). These two birds, in both instances, symbolize the means that God has devised to redeem all of His creation (2Sa 14:14).

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

Lev 14:6  As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

Lev 14:7  And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

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

Pro 20:25  It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.

This verse is explained by the actions of Esau that represents our first man Adam who must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ coming into our heavens to give us the strength to stop making these wrong decisions, being hypocritical in our flesh, which we will be until we’re not, by God’s grace (Rom 7:24-25, Rom 8:37).

Gen 25:28  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Gen 25:29  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
Gen 25:30  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Gen 25:31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Gen 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Gen 25:33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

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

Pro 20:26  A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

Christ is the “wise king” that we fall on at first, and if we are blessed to continue in the truth, we will be crushed under the stone to powder (Mat 21:44), which is what “bringeth the wheel over them” typifies.

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

Spiritually, we guard our inheritance by allowing God’s wisdom to expose and remove sin from our lives, which can only be accomplish through [dia G1223] the resurrected life of Christ within us (Col 1:27, Joh 8:36).

Rolling away the physical stone that covers the sepulchre of Christ represents no longer knowing Christ after the flesh (2Co 5:16). Now we know the spiritual wheel, Jesus Christ and Christ in his Christ (Eze 1:16), who cannot be held by the grave (Mat 28:2-4, Act 2:24, 1Jn 4:17) and is now building the church through judgement in our heavens that crushes us to powder, like a millstone that can easily crush a grain of wheat.

Eze 1:16  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel [Christ and His Christ].

Mat 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Mat 28:3  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: [“lightning” = judgement (1Co 6:3), and “raiment white as snow” = righteousness of the saints (Rev 19:8)]
Mat 28:4  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

Act 2:24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

The stone that covered the tomb of Christ was a physical representation of Christ, who brings life through the destruction of the man of perdition within us who will be crushed and destroyed by the coming of his brightness into our heavens. If we are granted to die daily and be buried with him in baptism (the tomb), we will be raised with him in the end (Rom 6:3-5).

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (both in the earnest of this resurrection (Eph 2:6) and one day in the fulness of this event in the first resurrection (1Co 15:52))

The angel that moved that stone represents the elect who are used of God to pour out the seven last vials that crush us under the stone, which represents the words of God that Christ administers to the body of Christ in this age through the church (Eph 3:10).

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

The great earthquake in this verse (Mat 28:2) represents God’s judgement and “The angel of the Lord descended from heaven”, reminds us that our strength comes from God above through Christ, who gives us the power to roll the stone back. The angel “came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it” symbolizing what Christ told Peter, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [angel], and upon this rock [Christ] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. “ (Mat 16:18).

Mat 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

Our “wise king”, Jesus Christ, does indeed “scattereth the wicked” within each of us, “and bringeth the wheel over” each one of us in this age, if we are His.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the last four verses of this twentieth chapter of Proverbs.

[Study Aired September 4, 2022]

Jer 49:11  Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.
Jer 49:12  For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.
Jer 49:13  For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
Jer 49:14  I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
Jer 49:15  For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.
Jer 49:16  Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
Jer 49:17  Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
Jer 49:18  As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
Jer 49:19  Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
Jer 49:20  Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
Jer 49:21  The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
Jer 49:22  Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

In our last study we saw how Esau’s close relationship to Jacob (‘Israel’) makes Esau the type of those who are the closest to the true “Israel of God”.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Esau is Jacob’s twin brother who at first had the birthright.

Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

The natural mind does not connect Esau’s selling of his birthright for a bowl of pottage to assuage his hunger pangs worthy of calling him a “profane… fornicator”, but that is exactly how the Lord feels about us when we ignore and disobey Him for the purpose of avoiding the tribulation or persecution [which] arises because of the word:

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Esau was not born of a bondwoman as Ishmael was, and he was circumcised in the flesh, along with Jacob and Ishmael. Esau then, and those he typifies today, have a lot in common with the Lord’s elect, yet it is the Lord’s preordained intention that Esau is to be rejected and supplanted by Jacob. This decision by the Lord had already been determined of God while Esau and Jacob were still in their mother’s womb having yet done “neither good nor evil… that the purpose of God should stand… not of works… but of election”:

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

Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
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.

Those words are the ‘birthright’ of those to whom they apply. “The children of the promise” will endure hunger and discomfort and the rejection of this world and will never sell their birthright, not because of their own will or their own works, but because God has “before ordained that they should walk in [those good works]”:

Eph 2:5  Even when we [“the children of promise”] were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; )
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of [our own] works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Esau, and all those who are so close to the Lord’s people and yet are rejected of the Lord, hate these words and feel that the Lord’s ways are not right or fair. Esau feels that he has gotten cheated, and indeed, by the Lord’s own design, Esau, our rejected anointed, has been supplanted by Jacob:

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

Esau, who is Edom, is therefore the type and shadow of all those who are circumcised in letter but not “of the heart, in the spirit”:

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.

Esau does “many wonderful works” in an effort to please his physical father, but our heavenly Father is not interested in our works:

Gen 27:1  And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.
Gen 27:2  And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
Gen 27:3  Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;
Gen 27:4  And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.

A conniving Jacob, at his mother’s commandment, didn’t even have to prepare the “kids of the goats”, to lie to and deceive his father into blessing him while Esau was away doing all his father had asked of him.

Gen 27:8  Now therefore, my [Rebekah] son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
Gen 27:9  Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

The Lord expects us to accept even the evil in this world as part of the “all things” which are His works for our good (Rom 8:28, Eph 1:11).

Edom, Moab and Ammon are the three adversary nations who were all physically related to Israel. Of these three family members who were related to Israel, Edom is the most closely related, and Edom is also by the Lord’s design, the most resentful of the Lord’s elect as the story of Jacob and Esau so graphically demonstrates. So also, it is with Christ. Christ came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

That statement is as true of the church today as it was of “[the Lord’s] own” when those words were first penned. It will always be those who want Christ’s name but refuse to wear His clothes or eat His bread who will most hate Him and want Him crucified. The closer to Christ they are, the more they hate Him, His ways, and those who are His. In plain English, Christians who know that Christ said “resist not evil… love thine enemy… he that lives by the sword will die by the sword” will hate those who live by those words more fiercely than a Hindu or even a Muslim. It is Christians who most hate the Lord’s faithful who teach His doctrines such as:

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

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

The answer of the ministers of Babylon to these words of Christ is, “All that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” They are eating their own bread and wearing their own apparel, but they call themselves ‘Christians’ (Isa 4:1). We’ve all been there. None of us could at first believe that God creates and works in and through evil, wicked men to accomplish “His own” purposes (Isa 45:7).

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Lot, the father of Moab and Ammon, was the son of Abraham’s older brother, Haran. That makes Isaac and Lot first cousins. However, Jacob and Esau are not mere cousins – they are twin brothers. The Lord promises both Moab and Ammon, who are far more distant from Israel than Esau, that in the end He will “bring again [their] captivity”. Esau is given no such honor because Esau, Israel’s closest relative, his twin brother, typifies the Lord’s rejected anointed. The Lord’s rejected anointed king, King Saul, was David’s most fervent enemy and was constantly seeking to destroy David, who typifies the Lord’s ‘accepted in the beloved’ anointed. Abraham just naturally hated to have to drive Ishmael out of his house, and David also mourned the death of the Lord’s anointed, King Saul, showing us that we must never, ever rejoice when our enemy falls:

2Sa 1:21  Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

Pro 24:17  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Pro 24:18  Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

Esau leaped for joy at the judgment of Israel, and that is one of the reasons why the judgment pronounced upon Esau sounds so severe:

Jer 49:11  Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

This is a call for all of us as “fatherless children” to “come out of [Babylon the great]”:

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.

Jer 49:12  For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

We all, “every man in his own order” judged that we will “not drink of the cup… of the Lord’s wrath”. That is exactly what Jerusalem thinks:

Jer 25:4  And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
Jer 25:5  They [“His servants the prophets”] said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
Jer 25:6  And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
Jer 25:7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
Jer 25:8  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
Jer 25:9  Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Jer 25:10  Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18  To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

Jer 49:13  For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

Two of the prophets who speak of the utter destruction of Esau, Israel’s closest relative, are Jeremiah and Obadiah. The entire book of Obadiah concerns the judgment and destruction of Esau and his kingdom of Edom.

Oba 1:1  The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her [Edom] in battle.

Take note of the use of the feminine pronoun. This tells us we are speaking of an adulterous daughter, church, or religion. Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament consisting of a mere 21 verses.  Obadiah builds upon this part of Jeremiah concerning the judgment of Esau. Look at the similarities between these two prophets as they prophesy of the ultimate judgment of Esau:

Jer 49:9  If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.

Oba 1:5  If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

This little book ends with these foreboding words concerning Esau, the type and shadow of those who are closest to Christ but will not do the things He says:

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

Esau typifies all religions which claim to know God but are in rebellion against the doctrines of Christ. “The kingdom [which] shall be the Lord’s” at the time of the judgment of Esau, will be all religion which is in opposition to “our Lord and His Christ”. It will be the whole world which the Lord promised to ‘Abraham’ as the type and shadow of Christ and those who do the things He says:

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

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

The message of both Jeremiah 49 and the book of Obadiah is that those who humble themselves and do the things Christ says to do, those who are willing to wear His clothing and eat His bread, will be the ultimate judges of those who are closest to Christ and who want His name but refuse to submit themselves to His doctrines:

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.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

It is for the Truth’s sake and for our own good that the Lord will play second fiddle to no one. He does not need us or our worship, but we surely need Him and His Truth to deliver us from this great deception to which He first commits every man.

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

No one is above being deceived by “that wicked”. Even the Lord’s elect are first held in this deceitful bondage:

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The Lord is not impressed with the power of this “man of sin…second beast…false prophet…eagle, Esau”:

Jer 49:14  I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
Jer 49:15  For, lo, I will make thee [“her”] small among the heathen, and despised among men.

Jeremiah refers to Esau with the same feminine pronoun, ‘her’ that Obadiah uses in his opening words:

Oba 1:1  The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

This feminine pronoun signifies religion in rebellion against “our Lord and His Christ”. This is taking place before our very eyes. The religions of this world are being revealed to be the hypocrites they have always been, and their hold on mankind is diminishing every day as the religions of this world become “small among the heathen and despised among men”.

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 [the “manchild” of the next chapter]; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Jews claim to be “God’s chosen people”. Christians and Muslims both claim Christ’s name, but the only thing these three religions have in common is their common disdain for the doctrines of Christ. Christianity is still the largest religion on earth. The Muslim religion is the second largest. Between these two religions, both claiming the name of Christ, more than two-thirds of the nations of this world have for thousands of years been in bondage to their false anti-Christ doctrines. Nevertheless, the Lord will judge the house of Esau and will make religion in opposition to Christ “small among the heathen, and despised among men”.

Jer 49:16  Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

Obadiah also refers to Edom in his pride against the Lord and His Christ “dwelling in the cleft of the rock… as high as the eagle”:

Oba 1:3  The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
Oba 1:4  Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

Jer 49:17  Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.

Edom is proud of heart, has exalted himself, and will be brought down, and everyone who passes by ‘shall be astonished and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof’. Where have we read this before?

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Jer 49:18  As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

This is exactly what the holy spirit says about the destruction of the great whore, Babylon the great:

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 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.

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 [Same feminine pronoun for ‘Edom’]
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

The utter destruction and the “burning with fire” of Edom and Mystery Babylon are one and the same, and it is not bad news. Rather, it is good news. It is ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ’:

2Th 1:8  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: [The kingdom of our old man]

Jer 49:19  Behold, he [Nebuchadnezzar, the destroyer of both Judah and Esau] shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong [It is Edom who thinks he is so strong]: but I will suddenly make him run away from her [Edom will flee from the Chaldeans who are also referred to with the feminine pronoun]: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her [Edom]? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

The Lord is sovereign, and it is He who will appoint a governor over Esau. In that day He will appoint saviors over all of mankind:

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

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.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

The destruction of Edom and Babylon within us is the best thing we will ever experience, because that destruction is the beginning of the birth of Christ within us.

Obadiah 1:21 and Revelation 11:15 are one and the same event which will culminate in the greatest work of grace by God which is known as “the great white throne… judgement/the lake of fire/the second death.” It is in the lake of fire that Esau will be destroyed and through that destruction become a new man “as seemed good to the Potter to make [him]”:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

Jer 49:20  Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
Jer 49:21  The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.

The same words are used to describe the fall of Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth:

Jer 50:46  At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

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.

This ‘woman’ is the mother of all harlots and every worldly religion, and every legal denomination within that religion is one of her daughters. As hard as it is to imagine at this time, this entire system of rebellion against the bread and apparel of Christ will be “made desolate [and will] be destroyed”:

Jer 49:22  Behold, he [Nebuchadnezzar in type, and “the Lord’s army… in that day”] shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

“The heart of a woman in her pangs” is the same as being brought to our wits’ end. It really is the end and the destruction of the kingdom of our old man, and it really is a painful and extremely trying time. However, let us not forget that birth pangs, like a seed that falls into the ground and dies, brings forth a new life, both in “this present time” and in the great white throne judgment.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Joh 16:21  A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

We quote many verses of Psalms 107, and some think we dwell much too much on the Lord’s judgments upon the kingdom of our old man. Nevertheless, let’s look at these verses together, and Lord willing, He will cause us to see the positive side of His judgments, the delivering of a child, and He will cause us to sacrifice to the Lord the sacrifice of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing and not with a heart that is ungrateful and unaware that His judgments are actually His “wonderful works” which drag us to repentance. It is only through the Lord’s judgments that He will bring us to “praise [Him] for His wonderful works to the children of men”:

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

I will insert these words from Romans between verses 22 and 23 of Psalms 107.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

It is a very rare ‘lost sheep’ who is made to understand that the destruction of the kingdom of our old man is the first step to laying down the foundation of the kingdom of our new man, “the kingdom of God… within us” (Luk 17:20-21). It is a rare ‘prodigal son’ who is brought to see that Psalms 107 is all about “the goodness of God that brings [us] to repentance”

Continuing in:

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:32  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

It is Christ and His elect who ‘go down to the sea in ships and who are doing His business in great waters’. They alone have eyes that can see and rejoice in His wonders in the deep. When Edom is in the pangs of the Lord’s judgments, Edom is just as much a son of Adam as Jacob is. The only reason we do not read the phrase “And in the latter day I will bring again the captivity of Edom” is that Edom is used of the Lord as a type and shadow of religion in rebellion against the Lord, a system of men which is also called “Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth”. Being used of the Lord to typify that doomed system does not mean that the great white throne judgment does not include all of Edom because:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

These verses are also applicable to Edom as to anyone else who is “in Adam” and who is in the great white throne judgment:

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

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.

So much for the despicable and blasphemous false doctrine of an immortal soul burning in literal flames of fire for all eternity. The Father sent Christ to save the world, and as His Father has sent Him, He has sent us be “Saviors on mount Zion judging the house of Esau” so that they, too, will “learn righteousness”.

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

[Study Aired August 15, 2021]

Jer 15:10  Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
Jer 15:11  The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
Jer 15:12  Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
Jer 15:13  Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
Jer 15:14  And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
Jer 15:15  O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
Jer 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Jer 15:17  I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
Jer 15:18  Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
Jer 15:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
Jer 15:20  And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 15:21  And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

As we study the words of the prophets, we must keep in mind that “these things happened to them, [but] they were written for our admonition [because it is we] upon whom the ends of the ages have come”:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: ‘tupos’ as types of us]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Jeremiah typifies the Lord’s elect who are “born again” of “Jerusalem above, the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26). It is this ‘mother’ to whom he refers when he says:

Jer 15:10  Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

The ‘mother’ whose ‘son’ is “a man of strife and a man of contention… cursed [by every] man” is our new mother, spiritual “New Jerusalem”.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children [The self-righteous “great whore” of Rev 17-18].
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

We must first be born of a harlot before we can be “born again [of] Jerusalem which is above…”

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Our first ‘mother’ is a harlot whom the Lord is in the process of destroying. The Lord had the prophet Hosea marry a harlot and bear children by that harlot just to tell us that our first spiritual mother is a spiritual whore, who is not faithful to Christ and His doctrine.

Hos 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Hos 1:3  So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Hos 1:4  And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Hos 1:5  And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

“The bow of Israel” here is Israel’s weapon for her defense, but our rejected ‘Israel’s bow is her own rebellious self-righteousness, and Jeremiah will mention later in our study what the Lord will do to Israel for her rebellion against Him.

Jeremiah’s complaint to his ‘mother’ is exactly what Christ tells us is the lot of all who are faithful to Him and to His doctrine:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

“Jerusalem above” is our new “mother” who births us again for the very purpose of being hated of all men for Christ’s name’s sake, and for being obedient to Him and to His doctrine:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

As children of “Jerusalem above” we must expect to be “hated of all men”. Yet as this study will reveal, the fact remains that God’s elect really are “the apple of His eye”, and it is not advisable for our old man to touch the Lord’s anointed to do them harm. King David acknowledged this solemn Truth even while his own life was being threatened by the Lord’s rejected anointed, King Saul:

1Sa 24:1  And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.
1Sa 24:2  Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
1Sa 24:3  And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
1Sa 24:4  And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.
1Sa 24:5  And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
1Sa 24:6  And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
1Sa 24:7  So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
1Sa 24:10  Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.

David, for our admonition, was given a second opportunity to disobey the Lord and kill the Lord’s rejected anointed, and again he feared God more than he feared his own men who he reminded:

1Sa 26:11  The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
1Sa 26:23  The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed.

Notice that the Lord’s elect acknowledge that “the man of sin” is ordained and “anointed” of the Lord. As such there is no animus proceeding from the Lord’s accepted anointed towards the Lord’s rejected anointed. Our flesh wants to hate our old man, but our new man knows that the dominion of our flesh is a necessary evil for a time, and he willingly and humbly acknowledges this fact.

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

This Truth is demonstrated for us when Jacob bowed himself seven times to Esau, calling him “My lord Esau”:

Gen 32:3  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Gen 32:4  And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
Gen 33:3  And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

We do well to acknowledge that the flesh has no power to be anything of itself but go into death and corruption. To think we do anything at all to save ourselves is nothing less than denying that the Lord makes us wicked for our own day of evil, that He creates both good and evil, and we were made subject to vanity. The Lord will have none of it:

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

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

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

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.

As evil as the wild beast within us is, it is not in the purview of our flesh to change itself, and as Jacob and his entire family demonstrate we must “bow down” to the Truth that the Lord Himself has made us all “subject to vanity”:

Gen 33:1  And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
Gen 33:2  And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
Gen 33:3  And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Gen 33:4  And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Gen 33:5  And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
Gen 33:6  Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Gen 33:7  And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

The fact that “Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept” is an example of the truth of the second verse of our study today:

Jer 15:11  The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

Esau, the twin brother of the Lord’s accepted anointed, knew that he was destined to be supplanted and replaced by the Lord’s accepted anointed, just as King Saul was made to know that King David was destined to replace and supplant him, and these words make that fact clear:

Gen 27:35  And he [Isaac] said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
Gen 27:36  And he [Esau] said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
Gen 27:37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
Gen 27:38  And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

Twin brothers have much more in common than do the earlier half-brothers Ishmael and Isaac. It is much easier to distinguish between an anointed and an unanointed, between Isaac and Ishmael respectively than it is to distinguish between two twin brothers who are both anointed; one being the accepted anointed and the other being the rejected anointed:

1Sa 10:1  Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his [Saul’s] head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
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.

1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou [His accepted anointed].

1Sa 16:13  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

1Samuel 24 and 29 reveal that King Saul, the Old Testament type of the Lord’s rejected anointed, Babylon, knows who the Lord’s accepted anointed is, and it torments him and them to know that we are destined to supplant them, as Esau understood that Jacob would supplant him. Our rejected anointed  knows he is to be supplanted by our new man, our accepted anointed:

Mat 21:45  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

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.

When we say, “We see” what we are saying is that we prefer our false doctrines and “smooth things” to His fiery words. Our old man identifies with the Lord’s rejected anointed, and our rejected anointed identifies with this world and is at war with Christ and His Christ who twice tell us:

1Ch 16:22  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Psa 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

The Lord, through humbling fiery trials and by giving His elect eyes that see and ears that hear, has given His elect the strength to do as David did. David had already been anointed to replace King Saul by the same prophet who anointed King Saul, but he feared the Lord’s words concerning His anointed.

King Saul typifies the beast within us who comes up out of the earth and is anointed for the purpose of being taken and destroyed:

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.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts [our self-righteous “man of sin… in the temple of God” (2Th 2:3-4)] made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

If the Lord is in the process of taking and destroying our own “man of sin [in] this present time” (Rom 8:18), He will preserve and protect us through every trial. He provides Pharaoh’s own daughter and Saul’s own son to protect and preserve His elect when it seems His elect about to be destroyed by the powers that be, and by the Lord’s rejected anointed in times of great stress and great tribulations.

As the Lord’s elect, we must endure the “great tribulation” which is also spoken of as “much tribulation”:

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

When we are enduring our own “great tribulation” it is indeed “much tribulation”, and while we are enduring “much tribulation” it seems, from our fleshly perspective, to last a lifetime, and we along with all the prophets cry out:

Jer 15:10  Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

This verse is part of the foundation for this statement made by our Lord concerning “His anointed”:

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Now look at what the Lord has to say about His anointed:

Jer 15:11  The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

This is what happened when Esau met Jacob while Jacob was returning to the Lord from Laban and company from ‘Babylon’.

Notice how abruptly the Lord goes from speaking of our new man to speaking of our old man:

Jer 15:12  Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
Jer 15:13  Thy substance and thy treasures [of the kingdom of our old man] will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
Jer 15:14  And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.

The question to us is, “Can your self-righteous, rebellious ‘steel’ break the ‘steel’ of those I am sending to administer judgment upon you?”

The mention of “the north” lets us know that it is the Lord’s judgment which is under discussion:

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate,  which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

These next verses are the foundation for the words from the mouths of “the souls under the altar” in:

Jer 15:15  O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
Jer 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Jer 15:17  I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
Jer 15:18  Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

Verse 18 here is Jeremiah’s version of these words of King David. They both felt forsaken of the Lord in their own appointed time:

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

Being ‘as Christ in this world’, we live out these words in the New Testament. We are not calling the Lord a liar, but like Christ Himself, we do feel that He has turned His back upon us and has forsaken us:

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

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.

We are spiritual martyrs who are spiritually “slain… killed… [and] beheaded for the word of our testimony” and because the Lord’s words were “the joy and rejoicing of [our] heart”. Yet it seems at a certain point, when we are “at [our] wits’ end” (Psa 107:27), that the Lord has forsaken us:

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

In Revelation 20 we read of this same group of people but under different far more favorable circumstances:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Jer 15:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

Being ‘slain’ and being ‘beheaded’ are two different forms of murder, and this is the ‘slaying,’ and the ‘beheading’ to which we are more commonly submitted:

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

These are extremely sober words of warning to each of us because it is so easy for the Lord to give the adversary the ability to allow a spirit bitterness to spring up against a brother or a sister whom the Lord has placed in our midst to show us just how much our flesh is still corruptible flesh. It is sobering when the Lord reminds us of how weak our flesh is from time to time.  So, we are very solemnly warned:

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

A root of bitterness has “defiled… many”, and taken them out of the body, family, house, and temple of the Lord. If and when this “root of bitterness” takes hold of us, we are essentially placing the responsibility of a brother or sister’s offense upon them, and we are bitter toward them, instead of remembering that it is the Lord who is working “all things after the counsel of His own will”. These next verses should help us to look within when a spirit of bitterness attempts to set up house within our “temple of God”:

Psa 119:164  Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
Psa 119:165  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

The Lord is not judging this world at this present time. It is us He is judging now, and the sin and self-righteousness which is still within us, and that is where our focus must be.  If we truly believe the Lord is judging us in this present time, then “nothing will offend [us]”, because we know that all things are being worked after the counsel of His own will.

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

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:

We are told “all things are for your sakes”, and “all things” includes “the day of evil” (Pro 16:4). We are all predestined to experience our own personal “day of evil”, and that “day of evil” is custom made for our own “wicked… man of sin”. These things are all an integral part of the “all things [which] are for [our] sakes:

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

It is through our spirit of gratitude for the Lord’s chastening spirit… “through the thanksgiving of many” for our trials, that God is glorified.

Knowing that all things are for our sakes (2Co 4:15) gives us confidence in these very reassuring and encouraging words of the last two verses of our study today:

Jer 15:20  And I will make thee [you and me] unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 15:21  And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

It is no accident that Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all say the same thing.

Eze 3:1  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness [Rev 10:10].
Eze 3:4  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
Eze 3:5  For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
Eze 3:6  Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
Eze 3:7  But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:3 is the foundation for these words in the book of Revelation:

Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

All the Lord’s prophets have this same experience in common. They rejoice to learn the Truth, but being faithful to that Truth is a bitter pill to swallow. It is the Lord’s people who have turned against Him, and when that takes place the Lord turns against His people, and He is at this very moment in the process of judging us by bringing every conceivable enemy against us until the kingdom of our old man is utterly destroyed:

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Just like Jeremiah, Isaiah is sent as a type of each of us, to be a witness against the kingdom of our old man whose self-righteous rebelliousness make him fit right in with the kingdoms of this world:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Jeremiah is following in Isaiah’s footsteps declaring that the Lord will judge and is judging His people and will destroy the kingdom of our rebellious old man within us all:

Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Jeremiah makes this same declaration when he tells us in the first verses of this chapter:

Jer 15:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
Jer 15:2  And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
Jer 15:3  And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
Jer 15:4  And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

“Manasseh” typifies our own rebellious ‘man of sin’ sitting in the Lord’s temple and demanding that we worship him and do what he demands of us. To which the Lord always replies:

Jer 15:6  Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

Isaiah said the very same thing concerning how the Lord deals with our carnal-minded old man. He gives him no quarter and shows him no mercy:

Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

This 15^th chapter of Jeremiah starts with the Lord declaring His opposition to His own people who have turned their backs to Him. He declares “Therefore will I stretch out my hand against you and will destroy you”.

The Lord’s message to us through Jeremiah, who is prophesying over 70 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, has not changed in the least. Repeatedly, the Lord declares that it is He who is judging His own people first before He will judge the nations of this world:

Notice how the 29^th chapter of Isaiah parallels this 15^th chapter of Jeremiah. Both chapters begin with the Lord declaring that He will first punish and destroy all that offends within His kingdom.

Isa 29:1  Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
Isa 29:2  Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
Isa 29:3  And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
Isa 29:4  And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Isa 29:5  Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
Isa 29:6  Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire [Jer 5:14, the Lord’s chastening words].
Isa 29:7  And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
Isa 29:8  It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
Isa 29:9  Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Isa 29:10  For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
Isa 29:11  And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
Isa 29:12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Isa 29:15  Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Isa 29:16  Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

To our natural mind it seems impossible, but the Lord is ‘calling light out of darkness’, and He is saving us “few” now to become the saviors of all the rest of mankind at a later resurrection of the dead:

Isa 29:17  Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
Isa 29:18  And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
Isa 29:19  The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 29:20  For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
Isa 29:21  That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
Isa 29:22  Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
Isa 29:23  But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
Isa 29:24  They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

I hope to have demonstrated in this study that all the words of judgment, which are so dire and destructive to our old man, are the darkness out of which we are called. That is why Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all the Lords prophets, go from speaking of the destruction of our rebellious old man to the blessing of our obedient new man in the same breath. This method of operating is summed up in these few words:

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.

That is the theme of the prophets, and that is our study for today. We will begin chapter 16 next Sunday if the Lord wills. Rest assured we will come to know our Lord a little better, but it will be through the same Modus Operandi.

Here are the verses for our next study:

Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

(Key verses: Gen 32:1-32)

Under the theme of sanctification through servanthood, the life of Jacob is one of the examples given to typify how God works this process to set His elect apart to bring them to be truthful servants to Him and His people (Exo 28:41; Exo 29:44; Joh 17:17; Eph 5:27; Col 3:24; Rom 12:1; 1Th 1:3-5). We meet Jacob in the scriptures as a deceiver and manipulator, and with this carnal frame of mind, Jacob was not ready as yet to be of service to God and His people. Jacob manipulated Esau out of the rights of the firstborn and also received the blessing of the inheritance of the firstborn from his father Isaac through evil scheming with the help of his mother, Rebekah (Gen 25:29-34; Gen 27:6-29). Taking possession of the inheritance is a trying and painful process, as Jacob also discovered. He had to leave Canaan to flee from Esau who wanted to kill him, and Jacob lived in Haran in Mesopotamia where he worked for his uncle Laban for 20 years for his two daughters, Leah and Rachel, and also to establish his own flock (Gen 27:42-45; Gen 31:4-7; Gen 30:25-43). Jacob again had to flee, this time from Laban to cross over the river Euphrates to get back into the land which God promised to Abraham and his offspring, even to Jacob (Gen 15:18; Deu 11:24):

Gen 31:3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

Gen 31:20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
Gen 31:21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.

Laban then pursued after Jacob and his family in the hope of retrieving his household gods and to convince Jacob and his wives to return to Haran. Laban overtook them in the mount of Gilead, but he was unsuccessful in finding his gods and convincing them to return to Haran. Here in mount Gilead, Laban and Jacob eventually made a covenant not to attack each other (Gen 31:22-55). Jacob was still on the east side of the river Jordan where he is preparing to be confronted by His twin brother, Esau. Before this meeting God knew that Jacob needed special encouragement:

Gen 32:1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
Gen 32:2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim [meaning “two camps” or “two hosts”].

This place called “Mahanaim” has the number two linked to it which spiritually relates to being a witness, as Jacob received this assurance that God’s army will be there for him as he was preparing to meet with Esau:

Gen 32:3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Gen 32:4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
Gen 32:5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

The reference to Esau as lord indicates Jacob’s carnal idea of being at the mercy of Esau even when he already knew God made him lord over Esau. This is just also to indicate how fleshly thoughts will always bring doubt in our minds, which is the inward battle we all must endure. These doubts in Jacob were further fuelled by the message that came from Esau. Esau was already on his way to meet Jacob with a small army of men:

Gen 32:6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

Naturally when the flesh’s doubts are confirmed by bad news, it goes into a panic and stress mode which usually activates the natural mind to strategize its own way to protect itself. This is what Jacob always did in the past, as he was usually successful in manipulating the outcome of things, or so he and all natural minds believe:

Gen 32:7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
Gen 32:8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

This time Jacob also remembered the words of God to him as he is learning to lean and depend on God’s provision more and more. Jacob now turns to God in prayer. Prayer is the spiritual instrument God designed for us to use at all times to confess our total dependence on Him for everything and in every situation (1Th 5:17). Prayer also helps us to grow in our faith in Him, as the flesh and all its solutions are taken out of the equation through prayer. All our battles are in essence spiritual and take place in our heavens, which relates to the way we think about things (Rom 12:2; Eph 6:12-18). Jacob is also learning to use the Word of God in prayer as a powerful weapon in spiritual warfare (2Co 10:3-5):

Gen 32:9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
Gen 32:10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
Gen 32:11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
Gen 32:12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

What comfort and peace fills the most fearful and tormented heart when God brings His word and His full armour to our attention, even in our hearts and minds! Perfect love for God’s word is what the fear of God is about when we place His Word above all else and do His commandments with all our hearts (2Co 13:11; 1Jn 4:17-18; 1Jn 5:2-4). This is how we destroy all fear of men as physical Israel was also instructed to always take heed to (Deu 20:1-4; Mat 10:28):

Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to
love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

In physical terms Jacob also knew that he and the men with him were no match for Esau and his four hundred men. It was Jesus who said that we must sit down and consult how to rather negotiate conditions of peace than to go to war with obvious limited benefits for us:

Luk 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luk 14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

This is what Jacob will do in the form of gifts he will present to Esau to hopefully avoid a confrontation and to cover for his previous transgressions against his twin brother:

Gen 32:13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
Gen 32:14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
Gen 32:15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
Gen 32:16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
Gen 32:17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
Gen 32:18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
Gen 32:19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
Gen 32:20 And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

Jacob sent his family across the Jabbok River that night:

Gen 32:21 So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
Gen 32:22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok [Hebrew: “yabbôq” = emptying/depopulate].
Gen 32:23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

The word “Jabbok” in Hebrew has to do with emptying or depopulation – reducing the numbers. This also links to the number mentioned here, the number eleven, which spiritually indicates the disintegration of the flesh, spiritually represented by the number ten. It ties in with our theme of sanctification, as this also symbolizes what is happening in Jacob’s life even as he is facing his beastly nature alone. God is taking His elect through this process of getting purged from a life which was occupied with so much darkness and many evils, as per the hand of the Potter (Gen 1:2; Psa 51:5; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20; 2Ti 2:21). All of this is attained through the process of bearing our own cross (Mat 10:38-39):

Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Gal 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
Gal 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

Jacob needed to be alone as this is actually how each one of us will encounter separation and the crucifixion of our own flesh – it remains a very personal experience with the help of Christ (1Co 15:31; Gal 2:20). It is in this time of personal judgment when Jacob was wrestling with a man, who was the Lord Himself as He appeared in the form of a man:

Gen 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man [Hebrew: “‘ı̂ysh” – contraction of “ĕnôsh” which is a mortal being – this links to the Hebrew root word “ânash” which means being frail and feeble] with him until the breaking of the day.

Jesus appeared several times in the Old Testament in human form before his incarnation through Mary, and in all these instances He was a spiritual being who materialized for the sake of those to whom He appeared (Gen 16:7-13; Gen 18:1-33; Jos 5:13-15; Jdg 6:11-25; Jdg 13:3-6). When the Lord appeared as a man to Jacob, He could not prevail against Jacob:

Gen 32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him…

Why could the Lord in this case not prevail against Jacob? In this interesting and strange event written down for our learning, we meet the Lord for the first time as the One who associates with our physical weaknesses and feebleness. This is how the apostle Paul also described this association of Jesus with His creation:

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The “form of a servant” is also what connects the Lord to what Jacob was typified as. Jesus indeed took on Him the nature of the seed of Abraham and his offspring, even in service to His human generation in Adam (Mat 20:25-28):

Heb 2:16 For verily he [Christ] took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus associates with our suffering because through Him we learn that it is through suffering, even at the hand of our own brethren as ordained by the Father, that we learn obedience to become mature in spirit (Heb 12:5-17):

Mat 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

It was in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus separated or was withdrawn “a stone’s cast” from His disciples to face His fleshly fear alone:

Luk 22:40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
Luk 22:41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

Jesus was 100% human and went through every temptation we encounter (Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15). He is referred to almost twice as many times as the son of man rather than the son of God, though He associates with both these descriptions. The New Testament scriptures according to the King James translation uses the term “son of man” as referring to Jesus a total of 87 times (in Matthew 30 times, in Mark 14 times, in Luke 26 times, in John 11 times, in Acts 2 times, in Romans 1 time, in Hebrews 1 time, in Revelation 2 times). The term “son of God”, referring to Jesus, is mentioned in the King James a total of 46 times (in Matthew 8 times, in Mark 3 times, in Luke 6 times, in John 10 times, in Acts 2 times, in Romans 2 times, in 2 Corinthians 1 time, in Galatians 1 time, in Ephesians 1 time, in Hebrews 4 times, in 1John 7 times, in Revelation 1 time). Jesus is the God of this creation as appointed by the Father, but He is also intimately connected to our flesh in the first Adam:

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

When Jesus was facing the physical death of the cross, His flesh and natural mind wanted another way than the way of the Father, like all of us will do at our appointed time. There is a time where we are to wrestle alone with this flesh when we need a God who knows what we are going through. This God is Jesus who went through the same agony we all have to face:

Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luk 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luk 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luk 22:45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
Luk 22:46 And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Jacob at this time of trial at his Jabbok river experience is wrestling with this Son of man. The Lord will indeed prevail in the end as we all will be touched on “the hollow of [our] thigh” to put it “out of joint”:

Gen 32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

As we know the thigh relates to power as this is the most powerful part of the human body to bring about movement and action (Rom 1:20; Gen 32:25; Eze 24:4). The strongest, longest and heaviest bone in the body is also located in the thigh (called the femur). The thigh is also the place where a sword was attached, as indicated in the scriptures (Jdg 3:16; Son 3:8):

Psa 45:3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

The name of Christ is also written on His thigh showing authority and power:

Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Abraham wanted his servant to make a vow by keeping his hand under Abraham’s thigh:

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

This all helps us to see that the thigh relates to the aspects of might, glory, majesty, authority, power and the rightful legal position to operate from. Like Jacob, we will all be brought to humiliation to bear the reproach of what we have done in our youth or immature state, even our foolish dependence on the delusional strength of our first man Adam (Jer 31:19; Eze 21:12). This is when we are driven to our wits’ end to witness that our earthly strength and words have failed us, and we will repent of our ideas, God willing (Psa 107:23-31). In this we learn that God’s will and all His ways always work together for the spiritual good of us:

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

It is only when we are driven to come face to face with our fleshly weakness and hollowness that we discover that we naturally do not have what it takes to make war with the earthly beast outside and inside:

2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

It is indeed the Lamb of God in us who will overcome this earthly beast (Ecc 3:18; Rev 13:18; Rev 17:7-14; 2Th 2:3-8). The elect of God will be the first to see why all these trials in their lives were necessary as their own sea comes to rest within this war in our heavens:

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

This is when we, like the apostle Paul, can understand that the joy of the Lord is our strength as we then know that the power and strength is of God alone:

2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

This is the barrier, symbolized by the Jabbok River, we all need to cross as we, like Jacob and Job among all the other earthly types, will learn within this wrestling and contending with the Lord that He knows of what frame we are (Job 40:2; Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19; Psa 103:14). Here we learn that He is our strength and our blessing in every aspect of our lives, especially in the darkest times we will face before the day breaks within. This new day is the birth of the new man with a new name as we are also given the authority and dominion over our inward fleshly nations “by little and little” (Exo 23:30; Deu 7:22; Rom 6:13-14):

Gen 32:26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen 32:27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Gen 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Jacob’s name means “heel catcher” or “supplanter” because that is the way he came out of the womb of his natural mother, Rebekah, when he was holding onto the heel of his twin brother, Esau. As we know and read in the scriptures, a name relates to the nature of that person, and this old nature of Jacob is now being supplanted by God. This all relates to the fact that the new man in Christ will progressively supplant the old man Adam in all at the appointed time. The name Israel means “a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed”:

Gen 32:29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
Gen 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [Hebrew: “penû’êl”/“penı̂y’êl” = the face of God or facing God]: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

To see Christ face to face is to see ourselves first as the marred and weak vessel of clay which He created and subjected to vanity, which He will form again into a new vessel of spirit as He had planned before the creation of this world (Isa 46:10; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20 Rev 1:1-3; Mat 4:4). We can only face our own beast with the new man Christ in us when we bear the marks of Christ in our own bodies. This is the grace of God when we can count it all joy to even endure all the trials He ordained for us and only after that we can enter into His temple (Rev 15:8):

Gal 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Gal 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Facing God is to submit to His rulership as we also acknowledge that all our steps are directed by God even as the Sun of Righteousness rises up on them with spiritual healing in his wings (Pro 20:24; Jer 10:23):

Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

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

Although our earthly body decays and all our worldly interests are losing their grip on us, a new life is birthed in us as we are raised with Christ so that “mortality might be swallowed up of life”, even now as a downpayment of that spirit life of Christ in us (2Co 5:1-4; 2Co 5:16-17; Rom 6:3-6; Eph 1:13-14):

Gen 32:31 And as he passed over Penuel [Hebrew: “penû’êl”/“penı̂y’êl” = the face of God] the sun rose upon him, and he halted [Hebrew: “tsâla” – limp] upon his thigh.
Gen 32:32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

———-

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

Numbers – 2
The Way of a Godly Soldier
Spiritual Bodies Materializing
If A Spiritual Body Materializes, Does It Become Sin?
Christ Made Sin
The Meaning of Names Being Changed
Numbers in Scripture

Video Links

In part 13, we ended the study with a conclusion which I want to start today’s study with. By doing so, we will set the stage for what the Lord has prepared for us during this study.

In the last study, we didn’t actually get to the next time hand was mentioned in the Old Testament in the Hebrew. That verse is Gen 25:26.

What we did do however, is we covered the story as it unfolds from the previous mention of the word hand up until Gen 25:26.

We studied from Gen 24:49 to 24:67 and what we saw is God working through Abraham’s servant, Rebekah, and Rebekah’s family.

As this story unfolded, we ended our last study at the end of chapter 24 leading us to start with Chapter 25 today. Here is where we left off:

Gen 24:63 –  And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
Gen 24:64 –  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
Gen 24:65 –  For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.

When we have come to see how we are Rebekah in this story, sought after by the Father of our master, then we too will understand the meaning of Rebekah covering her head.

Once we have seen our Lord, we know that we too have just been given Life by the marriage He is offering to us.  From this union, we are met in the field of the world … in the eventide of the night, and our Lord shows us that we are His.

In this, we are comforted in the continual death of our old man as we experience the fiery trials in which we know will end in good for us.

Gen 24:66 –  And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
Gen 24:67 –  And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

It is only once we are able to look back at our old man and the ways of the old man that we will be comforted by the union of our Head with His body.

Just as Isaac was comforted by his new wife, the wife of the new man in type and shadow, we too are comforted with knowing that everything the Lord has done to and through us has been for our good.

The Lord uses all He does for our good, and though the death of Isaac’s mother was required for him, we know that this story and admonition are for us now.

House of Keturah

Now, we are picking up in chapter 25 and as is customary, we are going to study the story which leads us to seeing God’s awesome hands working to, through and for His election.

As we are about to read, Abraham continued to be blessed all the days of his life.

Gen 25:1 –  Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
Gen 25:2 –  And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. (6)
Gen 25:3 –  And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan.(2) And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. (3)
Gen 25:4 –  And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. (5)
Gen 25:5 –  And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
Gen 25:6 –  But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.

I took the time to read this side of Abraham’s seed because there are several sons, grandsons, and great- grandsons that are mentioned within the children of the concubines who receive gifts.

That thought breeds another thought. Does God bless those who are our brothers with gifts but NOT with “all that he had”? Does God really show favoritism within His family?

Deu 10:15 –  Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

Act 3:25 –  Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Remember, we have been building upon themes mentioned in the last few studies and one of the points that we have been building upon through this series is that while the prophet of the Lord is being blessed, so too are his brothers and enemies.

Progressing to the present story, we see that in type and shadow the “master Abraham” also blesses the brothers of the bondwomen as well, the seed of the concubines. We can even see this in the numbering of those the Lord saw fit to mention in this lineage of Keturah.

We have 6 sons born to Keturah. Of those sons, we have 2 sons who also have sons. Of those 2 sons, one brother has 3 sons and the other brother has 5 sons.

Six is the number of our flesh; of things pertaining to the earth and this is what Abraham’s concubines produced more of for Abraham.

In this example though, we can also see a connection to the message that God is sharing with us. We can see that of the 6 sons given to Abraham, two of those sons have children which are mentioned but EVEN in that linage we can see that God extends our seed as He sees fits.

One of Abrahams sons, Jokshan, has two sons. Of those two sons, one son is mentioned to have 3 sons. On the other side of the equation, we see the other son of Abraham mentioned, Midian, and he has 5 sons but none of their lineage is mentioned here.

God witnesses to our flesh that He is working all things out to the counsel of His own will and that includes showing a process of grace to all of mankind.

God does things in a process and He blesses them this way, too, just as He shows that He blesses the “father and seed” at the same time. The Lord blesses the fruit of the Spirit in us the same way.

Deu 1:8 –  Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

The question of the minute is, does God show this same love towards others? Does He give all the land to be possessed by those He gives it to? What is the land? Does He give this land to be possessed to everyone?

If we keep focus on what we are being told spiritually, we will understand why they went through these admonitions physically.

In the case of Abraham and his sons, we can glean a lot from how the Lord deals with each of the sons and their lineage after them.

God puts great emphasis on making sure we understand that we are SEPARATE from our brethren, that we are SPECIAL to God in the capacity that He has placed us in. This is because He has given us life to look towards His Life, Truth and Way.

Abraham and his sons were emphasized the same way, so how do we see that portrayed in scripture?

Gen 25:7 –  And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.
Gen 25:8 –  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
Gen 25:9 –  And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
Gen 25:10 –  The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

We now see the “old man” dying and we see that both the “wheat and the chaff”, Isaac and Ishmael, are there at the same time to “bury the old man”. As this comes to pass, we can see:

Gen 25:11 –  And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
Gen 25:12 –  Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
Gen 25:13 –  And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
Gen 25:14 –  And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,
Gen 25:15 –  Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
Gen 25:16 –  These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.
Gen 25:17 –  And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.
Gen 25:18 –  And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

We have just read Ishmael’s lineage are it pertains to his firstborn. Then, we read that Ishmael dies and is gathered to this people. Also, importantly we are told that there are 12 princes each with a nation.

There is certainly something being told to us in that we are told that even the “seed of the flesh” is blessed among men to be setup as such. We have a foundation setup and being told to us by having Ishmaels lineage named.

“Isaac entreated the Lord”

Before we start with Isaac’s lineage, let’s see what we can see when contrasting where Ishmael and his seed dwell with where Isaac and his seed dwell?

Notice, Ishmael and his seed dwell before Egypt in the land of Havilah all the way to the land of Shur.

H2341

cha v yla h

khav- ee- law’

Probably from H2342; circular; Chavilah, the name of two or three eastern regions; also perhaps of two men: – Havilah.

H2342

chu l  ch yl

khool, kheel

A primitive root; properly to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), that is, (specifically) to dance, to writhe in pain (especially of parturition) or fear; figuratively to wait, to pervert: – bear, (make to) bring forth, (make to) calve, dance, drive away, fall grievously (with pain), fear, form, great, grieve, (be) grievous, hope, look, make, be in pain, be much (sore) pained, rest, shake, shapen, (be) sorrow (- ful), stay, tarry, travail (with pain), tremble, trust, wait carefully (patiently), be wounded.

And ….

H7793

shu r

shoor

The same as H7791; Shur, a region of the Desert: – Shur.

H7791

shu r

shoor

From H7788; a wall (as going about): – wall.

H7788

shu r

shoor

A primitive root; properly to turn, that is, travel about (as a harlot or a merchant): – go, sing. See also H7891.

H7891

o

sh yr  shu r

sheer, shoor

The second form being the original form, used in ( 1Sa_18:6); a primitive root (rather identical with H7788 through the idea of strolling minstrelsy); to sing: – behold [ by mistake for H7789], sing (- er, – ing man, – ing woman).

We can see from the above, that the people of Ismael, by definition the children of the bondwoman and of whom we all start out from naturally, dwell in a difficult land. This land is one of continuous turning, a place where we dance by and to a wall.

Though they may not realize it, this wall is God Himself loving some children more and loving some less. How Steven can you profess such a thing? Does God really love some more than others?

Since the Lord sets us all into the position we are in, while in this age, we are all operating in the capacity that He has placed us in.

What then do we see with how the Lord describes Isaac’s lineage, and by type and shadow, how the Lord describes those who are considered “seed of the promise”?

Gen 25:19 –  And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac:
Gen 25:20 –  And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
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.

The first thing I notice is that the Lord doesn’t describe the lineage of Ishmael in detail. The Lord simply lists the physical lineage of Ishmael and his seed and then He moves on to Isaac’s seed.

It is when the “new man” in Isaac is forty years old, that He is ready to go forth and intreat the Lord.

H6279

a thar

aw- thar’

A primitive root (rather denominative from H6281); to burn incense in worship, that is, intercede (reciprocally listen to prayer): – intreat, (make) pray (- er).

H6280

a thar

aw- thar’

A primitive root; to be (causatively make) abundant: – deceitful, multiply.

The whole and complete man is ready to come to the point of praying to the Lord and being accepted, because the beast has been dethroned.

This dethronement is always painful and is always fiercely contended by the beast in us all, but it does result in us, as Isaac, being able to go to the Lord and bear fruit.

This may all sound a bit far- fetched, but what sayeth the Word?

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.
Gen 25:24 –  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

We just read that we know the Lord is the one who is entreated and listens to those who He has caused to pray to Him.

How did He cause Isaac to pray to Him? He put Isaac in a trial of Rebekah being barren and thus the fiery trial caused distress in Isaac and Rebekah and Isaac prayed out to the Lord for deliverance.

In like manner, and as we all know the Lord does with those He loves, He again brings the next trial for us to TRY OUR FAITH and have us call out to Him again.

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.

As we go to the Lord, and ask him in prayer what He is doing with us in our lives, He is liberal with His answer to us … just as He is with Rebekah.

Just like Rebekah, we too all want to have fruit in us that bears the image of our head, correct?

As we cry out to the Lord for this, then He tells us that the wheat and the chaff must grow up together… the old and the new are in the kingdom of God but one is “taken away”.

“His hand took hold on Esau’s heel”

Which of the following with be “taken away from the throne of God” and which will be given all power of the throne, but not the throne itself?

Gen 25:25 –  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
Gen 25:26 –  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

We know the story of Jacob and Esau as we just read, but what we should see, Lord willing, is that the Lord worked even the unnamed baby to grab the heel of the elder.

The Lord causes us, too, to take dominance over and supplant the things in our lives that need to be tripped up.

H3290

ya a qo b

yah- ak- obe’

From H6117; heel catcher (that is, supplanter); Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch: – Jacob.

H6117

a qab

aw- kab’

A primitive root; properly to swell out or up; used only as denominative from H6119, to seize by the heel; figuratively to circumvent (as if tripping up the heels); also to restrain (as if holding by the heel): – take by the heel, stay, supplant, X utterly.

Given the meaning that the name of Jacob has, there obviously was some grabs at position with their father by each of these brethren.

Indeed, we know that when all else fails, Jacob uses His mother’s clever scheme to get the blessing intended for Esau, but before that could happen, Esau despised His birthright.

Gen 25:27 –  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
Gen 25:28 –  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Gen 25:29 –  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
Gen 25:30 –  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

How many times does our “elder”, in type and shadow our “old man flesh way of doing things” come to us wanting to be fed? We do so but we always want to make a deal with our elder brother.

We tend to want to make the best of the current situation and just like Jacob, we want to use the current circumstance to make a deal with the one who can get us to the top or so we think.

After all, this story ends up with Isaac being tricked by Jacob and Rebekah. Esau was saying what he needed to right now to get a little food in his belly because he was next to dead.

I assure you though, that when Esau was strengthened and outside of the immediate distress, he wanted his birthright back.

We know he thought it was still his because when he finds out what Jacob does in getting the blessing, Esau chases Jacob down.

Gen 25:31 –  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Gen 25:32 –  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Gen 25:33 –  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Gen 25:34 –  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

We know this all was orchestrated of the Lord so that He could bring about His will in the situation.

Conclusion of “Awesome Hands – part 14”

Everything that we have read in this study has led us to knowing that the Lord is in control of all things.

However, knowing this is not the same as living it out until we can look back and see how the Lord has led us up to the point where we find ourselves looking back.

While we are being blessed, so are our enemies and those “who are of our household”. The children that came from Abrahams concubines were also given gifts to ultimately do the will of the Lord too.

However, the Lord takes extra time to give detail to us about how He works with those who are “of the seed of promise”.

We can see these workings by looking towards the lives of those who were given lives to live for these admonitions towards us.

Looking forward to the next study, we will continue to build upon the next mention of “hands” in Genesis and will see how the next mention of hands is intimately connected to Mal 1:1-5 and Rom 9:9-13.

Mal 1:1 –  The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Mal 1:2 –  I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
Mal 1:3 –  And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Mal 1:4 –  Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
Mal 1:5 –  And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.

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