The Book of Hosea – Part 6, Hos 6:1-11

[Study Aired May 18, 2024]

In the previous chapter, Hosea 5, our Lord forecasted punishment upon the Bride of Christ. Typically, from experience and old Israel’s espousal to her Lord, it is a long and arduous process to route all the iniquities from our land.

We, the Gomer-like harlot that we were, if weak in the faith without implicit dedication to our husband, sometimes dally, tickling our ears with our old adulterous lovers’ (doctrines) and with dull, weak Leah-like unreciprocated eyes, like Jacob, despise her disunified spirit.

In the flesh, a husband’s marriage to an unconverted spouse has the same disunified spirit as a harlot has with her client. In the case of the converted husband and his unconverted wife’s refusal to be washed by the unifying word of God, she is deemed “unclean” effectively like Leah was to Jacob, to the point that he hated her even while she was ‘pleased to dwell with him.’ Conversely, the converted wife, married to an unconverted husband, has the spiritual tool of “chaste conversation” coupled with enthusiastically giving him her whole body as the Bride does for her Lord. Comparatively, it is much harder for a converted husband to win an unconverted wife since his only mechanism for winning her is spiritual, where her innate physical connectivity is mostly cursed.

However, and for the time being, like old Israel and Judah, we need to be vigilant not to return to our Gomer-like whoredoms only to again have our unrepentant hearts shredded (Hos 6:1). For the Bride of Christ, the cycle continues with repentance and His forgiveness on an expectant decreasing scale.

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.

Israel and Judah are Unrepentant

Hos 6:1  Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 
Hos 6:2  After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

It is upon the witness of two days having gone through the figurative past six days of man’s life on earth that Christ first gives His Elect a double portion of spirit for their understanding of the seven seals of Revelation 5. Can you feel the enlightenment, the deep understanding that comes from this revelation? Christ is the seventh-day Sabbath that revives us. Being smitten as Christ was physically smitten and having our flesh torn and being ground to powder, His little flock goes ahead of their brothers and sisters who remain in Babylon, and Christ begins to rebuild the New Man of God, the budding Christs (plural) on their figurative seventh day, today. The entire affair of change from the old man to the new is a symbolic three days of Christ-like ministry for personal spiritual change.

The term “birthday” is only twice featured in scripture, with a third mention alluding to Job’s children, who were apparently celebrating a birthday of one of the siblings. On each occasion, someone lost their head or, in Job’s children’s case, were crushed by the symbolised stone riches of Job’s wealth collapsing upon them.

Gen 40:20  And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

Mat 14:6  But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

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.

The number three symbolises the spiritual progression for the completion of judgment, and we torturously endure many revelations of denying Christ all the way to the First Resurrection before our perfection.

Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 

2Co 11:25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

A most damning condition for the incipient Christian is reflected in the meaning of the name Capernaum, a village in Palestine. She represents our former Babylonian selves in the past, resting luxuriously in imagined peace believing we are saved without needing to be chastised.

Mat 11:23  And thou, Capernaum [G2584 = village of comfort. From G5151 Definition: 1. thrice From G5140 – three], which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

In fact, the Lord was so critical of Capernaum’s arrogant luxuriating in comfort that, most shockingly, she is depicted worse than Sodom.

Mat 11:21  Woe unto thee, Chorazin! [Chorazin = a furnace of smoke 1. a town in Galilee] woe unto thee, Bethsaida! [Bethsaida = house of fish 1. a small fishing village on the west shore of Lake Gennesaret, home of Andrew, Peter, Philip and John. Dung, mire]  for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, [1. an ancient and wealthy city of Phoenicia, on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, less than 20 miles (30 km) north of Tyre. Known for worshipping Ashtoreth] they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Luk 12:48  But he that knew not [Sodom, Tyre & Sidon], and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given [Babylonian Christianity and supremely the Elect of God], of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 

Regarding Paul’s thorn in the flesh that remains in each of the Lord’s Elect before being perfected on the third day IN the developing New Heavenly Jerusalem, where he and we spiritually perish, he says,

2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Hos 6:3  Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2  But unto you [The Bride who…] 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.

Christ is the rising sun, the morning star who has healing in His wings, pictorially seen as shafts of light imaged as a red anvil-shaped storm cloud, an eagle’s wing lanced with bright shafts of sunlight. He is the sailor’s warning for the deluge of life-giving rain on the Saints today and the latter fiery rain at the end of the One-Thousand Years culminating in the Lake of Fire upon every conception of human life since the creation.

Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you [Old Israel physically and now, the Elect of God] on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

Rev 12:14  And to the woman [Old and New] were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Calves grown into young yet mature beasts are stall-fed grain (not genetically modified grain and hormone enhanced) and specialised fodder, which enhances the meat’s flavour, particularly when seasoned with salt (Col 4:6). Being raised in a stall restricts muscle movement and makes the meat more tender on the plate. That imagery represents our Lord’s tender mercies upon His young Wife. As Christ is, so is she.

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? [His Bride, of course!]
Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

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:

Hos 6:4  O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

To the non-spiritual eye, our Lord sounds as if he is lamenting Ephraim and Judah’s wretched plight of harlotry as something beyond his control. She is depicted as a fatted calf in its youth, even as his very own Aholibah, glorying in her seductive beauty only to dry up in the midday heat of chastisement as just another old harlot with bruised teats.

Eze 23:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women [representing Ephraim and Judah], the daughters of one mother [… one church with one doctrine made void by fornication]:
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria [representing Ephriam in the north of Israel] is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah [in the south].
Eze 23:5  And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours.

Eze 23:11  And when her sister Aholibah [The Priests of God represented as Jerusalem portraying the future Bride of Christ] saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms. 
Eze 23:32  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou [the younger, Aholibah] shalt drink of thy sister’s cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much [humiliation].

Eze 23:43  Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them? [… when you’re just an old dried-up harlot having dissipated the glory of your youth upon all the outwardly superb young men?]
Eze 23:44  Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.

To the stubborn and stony heart, those scriptures humiliatingly stop the mouths of the mighty lions we once thought we were in the glorious beauty of our Aholibahish youth.

Hos 6:5  Therefore have I hewed [divided into two parts, Judah in the south and Ephriam representing the rest of Israel in the north ~ Aholah and Aholibah; Old Israel and the New Israel of God] them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. 

Those with spiritual eyes easily see in those scriptures the multiple representations of the two prime women (fatted spiritually – negatively and positively) in scripture. Hosea, Jehu, and all the prophets preceding and succeeding her amply warn of her luxuriating in her beauty and disregarding her Lord’s admonitions to be colloquially seen as ‘mutton dressed as lamb.’ The Lord’s chosen to hopefully become the very Elect are the King’s (meaning, Christ’s) daughter who has previously been known to dress and refurbish herself to optimistically seduce her ‘bedfellows.’

2Ki 9:30  And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. 
2Ki 9:31  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
2Ki 9:32  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 
2Ki 9:33  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 
2Ki 9:34  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

Hos 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

There is no greater “mercy” upon any man than what Christ is doing to his Elect, His Wife! Since ‘all things are hers’ (1Co 3:22-23), she, with wide eyes now that she spiritually sees, starkly understands her miserable condition all the way from Egypt to the cross. Her endless works of sacrifice and by the sweat of her strength, even for some into the twenty-second century, she is alarmed yet joyfully sees her former self.

Isa 1:11  To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isa 1:12  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isa 1:13  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 
Isa 1:14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 
Isa 1:15  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isa 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 
Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 
Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

That “mercy” the Lord desires is in the ridiculously simple act from our heart to acknowledge our sins and rely on Christ’s strength to rebuild the spiritual Temple within. When compared to the Old Covenant Laws, how gloriously merciful is the simplicity in Christ’s methodology in relying totally on His strength to overcome the man of sin. Looking back to Sodom, Egypt, Babylon and Old Jerusalem being one and the same and recalling an exhilarating sensuality or material item long gone is not advancing the spiritual Adam but covertly displays one’s underlying heart not fully devoting our ‘land’ to our Husband (Account of Ananias and Sapphira – Act 5:1-11).

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband [not a husband of the Old Covenant and personal sacrificial works], that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Hos 6:7  But they like men [the flesh as opposed to the spirit] have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.

Our “covenant” is the sacred marriage agreement we have with Christ, our spouse. Our natural feminine tardy desire to stir up the gift of God, the holy spirit, can result in insidious hypocrisy of accusing our spouse of the very thing we do spiritually to Christ. Thankfully, Christ’s desire for mercy over judgment emphatically keeps Him from being hypocritical (as if!) of His law. We know that it is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:18), but not so many husbands in the flesh become bitter against their wives, remembering her in the glory of her youth, full of righteous sensuality, vigour and enchantment.

2Ti 1:6  For this reason, I am reminding you to fan into flames the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands (ISV).

The fast-disappearing orthodox act in the apostolic era of the laying on of hands was a symbol of being imbued with the holy spirit. A person of the time, and likewise today, having his eyes and ears open for the first time, is being highly spiritually aroused that we all first equate with the natural in sensual incitement. As we naturally age, those heady days of glorying in our youth often become a dull glow that the directly correlating spiritual likewise needs to be fanned alive daily.

Job, speaking concerning Leviathan, is the forthright antipathy of Christ in every respect of Job 41:21! With the experience of Shulamite poetic arousing drama, it is easy to see the righteous sensuality depicting its spiritual counterpart using only one verse from Job:

Job 41:21  His breath [Leviathan’s/Christ’s] can ignite coal; and flames proceed from his mouth.

Son 1:2  Let him kiss me over and over again! Your love is better than wine (ISV).

Only a harlot would suffer with righteous disdain for her hire’s dissolute repetitive kissing of lies, but not the Shulamite, the Bride of Christ she represents.

The most lamentable form of dealing treacherously against our husband is graphically experienced in the flesh of Leah-like disunity of spirit with Jacob. Jacob was unaware that Leah’s marriage to him was the tradition that the elder daughter must be first married before her younger sister Rachel, whom he loved. Jacob effectively ‘hated’ Leah for her God-given separation of like-mind, just as the Great Whore today unwittingly hates the Lord’s Bride. As such, Jacob unconsciously dealt treacherously with Leah. Try as she might to win Jacob’s affection with mandrakes sensualities and subsequently the majority of tribal Israel, disunion of spirit will never trump the works of the flesh.

Spiritually, our treacherous transgression of the covenant in Hosea 6:6-7 is blaming Old Israel, alive and well today, for the world’s plight of Zionism. In our physical marriages, it is represented as a converted husband blaming his unconverted wife (symbolically Old Israel) for not understanding nor wanting to be washed by Christ’s commandments. It is first experienced most ‘bitterly’ by a husband and his wife’s innate indolent boudoir intimacies consequent to Eve’s curse from Eden. Since a husband is to be head of the wife and understand spiritually Christ’s word, there is barely a husband in the flesh who understands her curse and is thus more profoundly likewise cursed and condemned for (unconsciously) not understanding that curse. Mercy is to be expressed by a believer for the babe in Christ or non-believer, and if that believer rages his Deuteronomy 24:1 displeasure upon his spouse for their unbelief, the following verse is likely to apply:

Jas 2:13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Hos 6:8  Gilead [Gilead = rocky region] is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood.

A husband dealing treacherously with the innate and inevitability of a physically dis-inflamed wife unwittingly condemns himself equally innately with a “rocky” (i.e. stony) heart that pollutes the New Temple he is supposed to represent with the blood of his iniquity.

Hab 2:12  Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! 
Hab 2:13  Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?

Such an obtuse husband labors with his two-fold child of hell-like self-righteous inflamement vainly attempting to change his wife when he should rather have mercy upon her God-given tardiness.

Eze 3:18  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not [meciful…] warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

The hypocritical husband who is self-righteous and gives no mercy earnestly seeks mercy himself.

Probably no more profound measure of mercy is there than Christ for His Bride’s sins even before she has learned to swiftly acknowledge them herself (Jer 3:13, Rom 7:24-25).

Hos 6:9  And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness. 

There is no greater robber than Satan, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So, too, we were such while in Babylon, heaping to ourselves co-conspirators to justify our lies. Accordingly, they murder Christ and His word afresh and relatively innocent blood is on their hands.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Hos 6:10  I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

It is bad enough that Ephraim, representing the body of Israel, is full of harlotry. However, the greater blame lies at the feet of her Priests in Judah, you and I, who hold the oracles of God with Oholibah’s intent. A little bit of wink and nudge harlotry, colloquially expressed as ‘boys will be boys’, had already leavened the entire Body.

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

1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

1Co 5:5 [Reverse order] To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Hos 6:11  Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.

The little harvest of the first seeded fruits is with Judah, representing the little flock of the Lord’s faithful Elect whose harvest is in progress this very day since the cross – it is only she who can begin to understand that statement.

Luk 18:7  And shall not God avenge his own Elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 
Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The Priests of God, His Elect who are predestined before the creation to be His Priests, receive the most blessed inheritance of Christ, their Husband. In being given that office, they are automatically given mercy, initially seen as torturously being ground to powder and utterly consumed by fire. Upon them joyfully enduring their chastisement, they “returned [their] captivity” in coming out of Babylon and are named by their Husband as “my people.”

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

Amen! 

[Study Aired November 3, 2022]

2Ki 9:1  And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 
2Ki 9:2  And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber.
2Ki 9:3  Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith Jehovah, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. 
2Ki 9:4  So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 
2Ki 9:5  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of us all? And he said, To thee, O captain. 
2Ki 9:6  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, even over Israel. 
2Ki 9:7  And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah, at the hand of Jezebel. 
2Ki 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. 
2Ki 9:9  And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 
2Ki 9:10  And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. 
2Ki 9:11  Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man and what his talk was. 
2Ki 9:12  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 
2Ki 9:13  Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king. 
2Ki 9:14  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; 
2Ki 9:15  but king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this be your mind, then let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel. 
2Ki 9:16  So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 
2Ki 9:17  Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 
2Ki 9:18  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not back. 
2Ki 9:19  Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 
2Ki 9:20  And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not back: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 
2Ki 9:21  And Joram said, Make ready. And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 
2Ki 9:22  And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
2Ki 9:23  And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 
2Ki 9:24  And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and smote Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 
2Ki 9:25  Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, Jehovah laid this burden upon him: 
2Ki 9:26  surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith Jehovah; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith Jehovah. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of Jehovah. 
2Ki 9:27  But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot: and they smote him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 
2Ki 9:28  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
2Ki 9:29  And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. 
2Ki 9:30  And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window. 
2Ki 9:31  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master’s murderer? 
2Ki 9:32  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 
2Ki 9:33  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot. 
2Ki 9:34  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink; and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter. 
2Ki 9:35  And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 
2Ki 9:36  Wherefore they came back, and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; 
2Ki 9:37  and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

This entire ninth chapter’s primary focus is on the destruction of spiritual Babylon, the churches and religions of this world represented by “the whole house of Ahab” (2Ki 9:8), which fittingly included Jezebel, King Jehoram, King Ahaziah, and many other characters. 

2Ki 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. 

The certainty of that destruction at the hand of Jehu, who was anointed of God to be used in that capacity, will be shown in the death of these characters at his hand. All these actions are analogous to what God must do to our old man of sin in order for us to ‘come out of her my people’ and be saved through Christ (2Co 5:17, Isa 37:32, Isa 9:7).

Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

How this order of events is going to be made possible to unfold, (“the whole house of Ahab shall perish“) is made clear for us, in the first three verses (2Ki 9:1-3) where there is an anointing that is needed in the life of Jehu in order to accomplish this ‘cleansing of the house of Ahab’ (2Ki 9:8) as it is referred to, and that is type and shadow language telling God’s elect that unless God’s spirit is within us there will be no inward cleansing of the temple of God which we are (1Co 3:16), but rather our lives will be representative of this verse in Jeremiah 6:14): “They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace“, as opposed to: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David” (Rom 8:9, Rom 9:8). If we are being judged today, we can experience that lasting and very precious spirit of God’s peace that passes all understanding because of Christ being on the throne of our hearts, typified by “the throne of David” (Php 4:7).

Rom 9:8  That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The clear message for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, which is a gift from God (Eph 2:8, Mat 13:16), is that in order for us to have His peace that passes all understanding (Php 4:6-7), we must die daily and cry out to our Lord to help us do battle against all the powers and principalities, “the whole house of Ahab” that Christ in us is able to overcome and “shall perish” by the power of His brightness that destroys these strongholds within us (Heb 5:7, 2Th 2:8): “the whole house of Ahab shall perish“.

Php 4:6  In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

The anointing

2Ki 9:1  And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead: 
2Ki 9:2  And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
2Ki 9:3  Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

Ramothgilead^H7433 which means “heights of Gilad” (Strong’s) or “high mounds of testimony” (PNB), and symbolizes the idolatry of the nation of Israel and the place that Elisha will send “one of the children of the prophets” to humble the nation through judgment. In like manner, Christ is sending His elect to come up or ascend on mount Zion. Zion represents that which has overcome through Christ and through His judgment, and the mount of Esau represents that which is yet to be judged by the saints who come up on mount Zion (Oba 1:21). Inwardly we overcome the mount of Esau by girding up our loins and taking a box of oil in our hand as we go to face the giants of our land in Ramothgilead where we will overcome through Christ (Num 14:9).

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. 

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

It is “Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi” who God sends his power to, through one of the “children of the prophets” who represents the angels or messengers, that God sends to us in this age with the word of God that anoints us and makes it possible for us to be extricated or pulled out from Babylon [Nimshi ^H5250].

“Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi^H5250“

H5250 nimshı̂y BDB Definition: “rescued”

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: probably from H4871 [“to pull out”]

Strong’s: extricated  Total KJV occurrences: 5

Saying, “and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber”, is symbolic language that tells us what happens to us when we are anointed by God giving us this increase through Christ (1Co 3:6). The “inner chamber” represents the Christ-centric life we can now have after we have been anointed of the Lord and are hidden in Him in the “inner chamber” (Eph 2:6, Col 3:3). 

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

After he pours the oil out on the head of Jehu, by his actions this servant of Elisha sets an example to Jehu of what to do with this gift that he is not to neglect (Heb 2:3). The zealousness of Christ is expressed in us by ‘opening the door’, which represents our communion with Christ in our heavens where we labour diligently and stedfastly in the Lord, knowing He is a rewarder of those who do this (Heb 11:6): “Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not“. Fleeing and not tarrying reminds us that we overcome sin by distancing ourselves from it and “make not provision for the flesh” (Rom 13:14, 2Ti 2:22)

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Faith without works is dead

2Ki 9:4  So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.
2Ki 9:5  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. 
2Ki 9:6  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. 
2Ki 9:7  And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

The captain, who is Jehu at this point, represents us when we are by the way doing our own thing and Christ comes along by way of his servants and says, “I have an errand to thee, O captain“, which is what these words to Christ’s disciples mean: “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mat 4:19). That is the errand to which God has called us; the work of feeding the lambs and sheep in this life. At first, we can’t understand that this anointing is specific to the peculiar people and royal priesthood we have become (1Pe 2:9), which is why Jehu asks “Unto which of all us“? And to which the young prophet answers, “To thee, O captain.“

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 

Our labour in Christ is done with a two-edged sword at the ready as we are dead to sin and alive in Christ (Rom 6:11). The ‘dead to sin’ part requires our dying daily with that sword [his spirit, his word] which is what this verse symbolizes: “And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.” Without God’s anointing on us, we would not have the desire or zeal, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure in this life, which desire is to be consumed for the zeal of His house by driving every unclean thing out of His temple, which we are (Php 2:12-13). It is stated this way: “the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel”, to remind us that this is speaking primarily to God’s elect today who will later judge the rest of the world, if we are blessed to be judged in this life first (Luk 11:50-51, 1Co 6:3).

Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

To further clarify the specificity of our calling, we read: “And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel“, which symbolizes the power God has given to His saints to pour out the seven last vials of God’s wrath upon this world (Rev 15:1-2, Rev 21:8-9) that were first poured out on us (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12, Rev 15:8). This is how God’s servants, who have already been judged of God, are avenged (Rev 6:9-11). All of this wrath of God will work good in the end as it will do away with Babylon, and great shall be the fall of her, typified by Jezebel’s horrific demise from the height from which she fell (Rev 14:8, Rev 18:2).

He will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor

2Ki 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
2Ki 9:9  And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
2Ki 9:10  And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

These verses (2Ki 9:8-9) graphically demonstrate what God will do with all fleshly carnal thinking and how thoroughly He will cleanse His threshing-floor in the heart of every man in time (Mal 4:1). 

2Ki 9:8 Every man and boy in Ahab’s family must die, whether slave or free.
2Ki 9:9  His whole family must be destroyed, just like the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. (CEV)

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

Leaving “neither root nor branch” happens as a result of “the whole house of Ahab” perishing. For God’s elect this message is happening now as we die daily and judge ourselves daily and keep under our body daily to be sure that there is no root of bitterness overtaking us, not missing seeing or understanding any opportunity of the Lord to prune away the branches that need to be taken out of our lives and burned (1Co 11:31, Heb 12:15, Joh 15:2, Heb 12:6, 1Co 9:25-27).

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; 

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

“And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her” represents our eating of false doctrines in the churches of Babylon, symbolized by the woman Jezebel. We don’t think this is us at first, but because we do not yet have “another spirit” as did Caleb and Joshua(Num 14:24), we go right along with the harlotries of this world from our own elevated position in our flesh just as Jezebel did. ‘And there was none to bury Jezebel’ tells us that there is no honour in her and no burial ceremony as such for this extremely wicked woman who represents Babylon which will be destroyed (Jer 51:8-9, 2Pe 2:12).

Jer 51:8  Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Jer 51:9  We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

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

The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ:

2Ki 9:11  Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication. 
2Ki 9:12  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 
2Ki 9:13  Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. 

It took this conversation with Jehu, who was now anointed by the Lord, for the people to realize that this was really happening and that Jehu was the anointed king. The lesson for us is that the Lord will persuade the world one day through God’s anointed church that we are who we say we are, the body of Christ and the wife of our Lord who has made herself ready (Rev 19:7). 

It is God who does the dragging and the converting, and Jehu typifies those who are being dragged to Christ by the Father (Joh 6:44). When that day of acknowledgement comes in the earth of what God’s workmanship has manifested in the saints, the world will be zealous toward God’s purpose just as this group was toward the anointing of Jehu. Their compliance and agreement to these actions of the servant of Elisha are symbolized by taking off their garments and putting them under the top of the stairs where the king is exalted, “Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.” Blowing the trumpets is another symbol that tells us this story typifies the time when the last trump will sound and we shall be changed (1Co 15:52).

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal:

2Ki 9:14  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.

Jehu is conspiring against Joram, which actions of Jehu demonstrate that the spirit is against the flesh (Gal 5:17), and now that Jehu is anointed, he is ready to do battle against his enemies, typifying God’s elect, the bride of Christ, who will be made ready to do battle against all flesh that is in bondage. Our enemy is Satan, and we wrestle against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” and not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12), so the words “Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria“, represent the bondage that the devil has us all in, in our appointed time, from which we can only be delivered through Christ (Joh 8:36) who is represented by Jehu who is a type of the elect in this particular parable (Oba 1:21).

Keep fighting:

2Ki 9:15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.

Jehu’s anointing is already producing the fruit of wisdom that instructs the people to not let anyone go into the city Jezreel to give advance warning to Joram of Jehu’s intentions. If we are of the same mind, we will battle together as one body, one army like Gideon’s army who, although they were few in number, were promised victory because the battle is the Lord’s, and it is given to those who are obedient to the commands of the King (Act 5:32).

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

2Ki 9:16  So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 
2Ki 9:17  And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 
2Ki 9:18  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. 
2Ki 9:19  Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 

The watchman does not interact with Jehu and goes to the king straightway to tell him what he sees, which in turn has Joram send a horseman to ask him his intentions, trying the spirits, as it were, to find out if Jehu is come to make peace or come to do battle. This tells us a whole lot about the world who is looking for an alliance in the flesh, but there will be none found with God’s elect whose mantra is “I would rather be divided by the truth than united by a lie”.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

The question brought to Jehu from king Joram is, “Is it peace?“, and the shocking response was, “What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.” Yes, get behind me Satan for you savour not the things that be of God but that which is of your father the devil (Mat 16:23).

Again, a “second on horseback” comes out asking the same question, “Thus saith the king, Is it peace?” and getting the same response from Jehu. There’s the witness for us of the world saying peace, peace when there is no peace (Jer 6:14), and that theme will continue right until the end of the thousand years when the truth about mankind’s heart will be made crystal clear in their attempt to destroy the camp of the saints after “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison” (Rev 20:8).

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

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 

And keep fighting:

2Ki 9:20  And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 
2Ki 9:21  And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth^H5022 the Jezreelite.^H3158

The watchman is giving the play by play here to Joram which prompts Joram to say ‘make ready’ as Jehu was on the attack, typifying for us that we do not bear the sword of God in vain and that the Lord will increase our zealousness and deliver us from our enemies if we are granted to seek Him with all our hearts (Jer 29:13-14).

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 
Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 

Now Joram and Ahaziah, the kings of Israel and Judah are aligned, each in his chariot coming out against Jehu whom they meet “in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelit“. The word Naboth means “fruits” and the word ‘Jezreelit’ is similar to the word ‘Jezreel’, meaning “God sows”. 

H5022  nâbôth naw-both’  Feminine plural from the same as H5011; fruits; Naboth, an Israelite: – Naboth.  Total KJV occurrences: 22

H3158  yizre‛ê’lı̂y yiz-reh-ay-lee’  Patronymic from H3157; a Jizreelite or native of Jizreel: – Jezreelite.  Total KJV occurrences: 8

H3157  yizre‛ê’l yiz-reh-ale’  From H2232 and H410; God will sow; Jizreel, the name of two places in Palestine and of two Israelites: – Jezreel.  Total KJV occurrences: 36

So this is a moment of revealing what God has sown and created, the good and the evil, the light and darkness of these two groups, and it was not their fabled free will that put them in this situation (Isa 45:7).

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

Still keep fighting:

2Ki 9:22  And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? 
2Ki 9:23  And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 
2Ki 9:24  And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 

Now Joram hears it from Jehu’s own lips after he hypocritically asks him, “Are you coming in peace?” “How can there be peace in this world” is what Jehu responds to Joram “so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?“ Joram has rightly identified the spirit of Jehu and “turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah“. Then “Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms” representing the word of God that will go forth in the strength of Christ to accomplish this destruction against mystery Babylon and all the corrupt fruit of that huge vine of Babylon that Christ will give us the power to destroy with the threshing tool, a sickle, that represents God’s power working in the body of Christ through the true vine, Jesus Christ (Joh 15:5). We will judge the world in time, and angels (Rev 14:15, 1Co 6:3): The vital organ of the heart being hit so precisely (Heb 4:12, Psa 129:4) tells us that God will deal with sinful rebellion immediately during the thousand-year reign, and that we consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ now because of that ongoing righteous judgment of Christ upon our own lives: “the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot” (1Ki 22:34).

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

Rev 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

2Ki 9:25  Jehu said to his chariot driver Bidkar, “Take Joram’s body up and throw it into the field of Naboth from Jezreel. Remember when you and I rode together with Joram’s father Ahab, the Lord said this would happen to him.
2Ki 9:26  The Lord said, ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons. So I will punish Ahab in this field.’ The Lord said that. So take Joram’s body and throw it into the field, just like the Lord said!” (ERV)

Jehu is a man on a mission now, telling his captain Bidkar [H920 =by stabbing, that is, assassin (Mat 10:34)] to put Joram’s dead body in this plat, “Cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite“, which words were a fulfilled prophecy found in 1 Kings 21:19-22 that “the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD.” We are reassured that what the Lord starts, He finishes (Php 1:6), including the revelations He gives us (Amo 3:7) that continue to assure us that we will be more than conquerors through Christ over our old man of sin within and without. We are buried into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3) even while our old man is cast “into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.“

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

2Ki 9:27  But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur^H1483, which is by Ibleam^H2991. And he fled to Megiddo^H4023, and died there. 
2Ki 9:28  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

When Ahaziah [H274 = Jah has seized/taken by Jehovah] recognized what was happening and that death was potentially imminent, “he fled by the way of the garden house” like Adam and Eve, who when they realized they were naked, [a symbol of sinful flesh that God tells us is spiritually dead (Joh 6:63)], covered themselves with fig leaves, symbolizing their own works, and hid from our Lord among the trees in the garden. Jehu followed after Ahaziah and said, “Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur^H1483, which is by Ibleam^H2991“, the chariot being a symbol of ‘his own power’ that was going to be taken away from him. They followed him up to “Gur^H1483, which is by Ibleam^H2991“, two names which tell us that Ahaziah was an immature leader who was going to be destroyed (Mat 24:19).

Isa 43:15  I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 
Isa 43:16  Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 
Isa 43:17  Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

All these names mentioned prior to the death of Ahaziah are significant as they tell us something about the stages that we go through until our old man is cut down in “Megiddo^H4023” which is in northern Israel, in the north where judgment symbolically comes from (Jer 50:41). 

H1483 gûr goor  The same as H1482; Gur, a place in Palestine: – Gur.  Total KJV occurrences: 1

H1482 gûr    gûr goor, goor  Perhaps from H1481; a cub (as still abiding in the lair), especially of the lion: – whelp, young one.  Total KJV occurrences: 7

H1481 gûr goor A primitive root; properly to turn aside from the road (for a lodging or any other purpose), that is, sojourn (as a guest); also to shrink, fear [Heb_10:39 , 2Th_2:8](as in a strange place); also to gather for hostility (as afraid): – abide, assemble, be afraid, dwell, fear, gather (together), inhabitant, remain, sojourn, stand in awe, (be) stranger, X surely.  Total KJV occurrences: 98

H2991 yible‛âm yib-leh-awm’  From H1104 and H5971; devouring people; Jibleam, a place in Palestine: – Ibleam.  Total KJV occurrences: 3

H4023  megiddôn  megiddô meg-id-done’, meg-id-do’  From H1413; rendezvous; Megiddon or Megiddo, a place in Palestine: – Megiddo, Megiddon.  Total KJV occurrences: 12

H1413 gâdad gaw-dad’  A primitive root (compare H1461); to crowd; also to gash (as if by pressing into): – assemble (selves by troops), gather (selves together, self in troops), cut selves. Total KJV occurrences: 9

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Ahaziah is the king of Judah but does not have the honour of dying in Jerusalem as a man of God would. God’s elect understand that to die in Jerusalem is a parable that Christ gave us (Mar 4:34) that tells us those who die daily (1Co 15:31) are doing so in the place where they have been raised (Eph 2:6), Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Luk 13:33, Gal 4:26). Ahaziah, in type and shadow, has not been raised and in fact when he is brought back to Jerusalem below in a chariot carried by his servants, he was not buried with the kings but they “buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.“

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free [Eph 2:6-8], which is the mother of us all.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works:

2Ki 9:29  And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
2Ki 9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tiredH3190 her head, and looked out at a window.
2Ki 9:31  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

When Jezebel gets word that Jehu is coming, she paints her face, or puts makeup on, and tired^H3190 her head as she looked out a window at Jehu coming toward her.

Tired H3190 yâṭab  yaw-tab’   A primitive root; to be (causatively) make well, literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right): – be accepted, amend, use aright, benefit, be (make) better, seem best, make cheerful, be comely, + be content, diligent (-ly), dress, earnestly, find favour, give, be glad, do (be, make) good ([-ness]), be (make) merry, please (+ well), shew more [kindness], skilfully, X very small, surely, make sweet, thoroughly, tire, trim, very, be (can, deal, entreat, go, have) well [said, seen ].  Total KJV occurrences: 115

1Ki 21:7  And Jezebel his [Ahab’s] wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry^H3190: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

That window and its position signifies her vantage point, which is one that is proud and haughty, very much like a harlot, which she typifies (Pro 5:1-6). The first part of these last few verses inform us of the spirit the we are looking at: “in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah“. Jezebel is the number 11 in spades, “the ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh”, and she demonstrates this dissolution of flesh that must happen within us if the new man is to be created.

It is as Jehu enters the gate that Jezebel asks him “Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?“, referring to Zimri who reigned only seven days before he died and “the treason that he wrought” (1Ki 16:15-20). 

2Ki 9:31  Jehu entered the city. Jezebel said, “Hello, you Zimri! Just like him, you killed your master!” (ERV)

1Ki 16:20  Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought [killing king Elah], are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Jehu is not hearing any of this nonsense. He knows who she is, and what she has done, and more importantly for God’s elect, this story tells us how we ought to deal with the harlotry of this world (Rev 18:6) that is found in mystery Babylon represented by Jezebel who was trying to lay a guilt trip on Jehu for doing the Lord’s work. This story reminds us of what a rod of iron rulership will be like in the thousand year reign where all rebellion will be put down by God’s elect.

Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 

2Ki 9:32  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

This article of Aaron Lohman brings out the answer of whom is on Jehu’s side, and the only “one” that could be on his side are those going through a process of judgment, as witnessed and typified by the statement, “And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs“. We have the witness of two and, the process of judgment with three, and two and three totalling five, meaning salvation by grace through faith.

As this article explains,

“Eunuchs are officers of kings, and they carry out their king’s orders“

(Excerpt from https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/gospels-in-harmony-mat-191-12-and-mar-1012-part-3/)

How blessed are we to be spiritual eunuchs today for the kingdom of God!

2Ki 9:33  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 
2Ki 9:34  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

Wow! Could you go and eat and drink right after seeing the grisly death of a woman who was thrown from a window and then trodden under foot by horses? Naturally we couldn’t, but this story is demonstrating for us how little regard God has for flesh and the false doctrines we harbor in it. It was so violent a death that blood was “sprinkled on the wall” and “on the horses“.

As gruesome as this story is, these events have a hope-filled message in them, and they were written for our sakes upon whom the end of the ages is come (1Co 10:11). It is our old man that must be trodden under foot by the powers of this world for 1260 days (Rev 11:2), and it is our old man whose blood must be spilled on our high walls of pride (Pro 18:11) and the horses represent our own strength in the earth within us (Psa 147:10). Jehu did go and eat and drink afterwards because it is after the death of our old man, which is an ongoing process, that we partake of the life of Christ (Joh 6:51). Our past must be buried no matter how ugly it is, and we must never forget that “she is a king’s daughter” meaning she is us in our appointed time, and God has devised a means to save her through Christ and His Christ (2Sa 14:14).

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. 

2Ki 9:35  And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 
2Ki 9:36  Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: 
2Ki 9:37  And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

Jezebel represents Babylon that will fall, and not any part of her will remain, as a reminder that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The good news is that her death will bring about new life, and the scriptures go as far as to describe our experience along with Jezebels as nothing more than dung that is passing and being used as a means to an end in this life in this “field”, in this world (Php 3:8, 1Co 15:50, Mat 13:38).

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,

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

What use is your skull, your feet and the palms of your hands in life or death if they are not connected to your body, and these last remnants of Jezebel are a final testimony of what mystery Babylon leaves the world, a very disconnected and vile representation of a body that cannot even be properly buried.

The dogs that feed on Jezebel represent our carnal relationship with Mystery Babylon the Great as we, in our appointed time, partake of her false doctrines and eat her flesh and drink in her false ways. God calls His elect out of this unholy communion with Babylon showing us mercy by converting our hearts so that now we deeply appreciate our communion in Christ which is represented His body and blood which we eat (Joh 6:54-55).

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

We will never have peace if we are partaking of the table of devils (1Co 10:21), but if we are blessed to ‘come out of her my people’ and share in the true communion of Christ, we will grow and overcome in this life through that proper spiritual communion or altar (Heb 13:10) that is found in Christ’s body (1Co 10:16).

1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

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

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

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Rev 2:21-25 The Angel of Thyatira, Part 2

A very simple question which, if occasionally asked, will help to keep us properly focused is: to whom is this prophecy addressed? The answer to that question is: this prophecy is addressed to the angels of the seven churches of Asia (Rev 1:4). The angel which is the object of our study today will serve to demonstrate this Truth:

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass;

Then, at the conclusion of the admonition to each and every church, we are told:

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

So whenever we see any pronoun like ‘thee’ or ‘thou’ or ‘ye’ or ‘you’ anywhere in this prophecy of what the spirit is saying, if that pronoun is not referring to Christ Himself, then it is addressed to the angel of each and every church. So we could inject the words: you, the angel of Thyatira, “have suffered that woman Jezebel to teach and to seduce my servants…” If we do this, our perception of the object and purpose of this entire prophecy will be that much clearer.

Finally, if we constantly remind ourselves of who these “seven angels” are, then we will never forget that these seven angels are, “He that hath an ear”, and he who is admonished to “read, hear, and keep the things written therein.”

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

In other words, all of these words are addressed to each of us, if we have been given ears to hear what the spirit says to the churches.

Last week we saw that the angel of the church of Thyatira within us, is a very works-oriented spirit, who has not yet entered into Christ’s rest. Here is part of what we covered last week:

Rev 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than the first.
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

While being so concerned with doing good works, the angel of the church of Thyatira is also very unconcerned about doctrine. This angel is so wrapped up in doing good works that it fails to notice that it is actually facilitating the doctrines of Jezebel and allowing heresies of all sorts to be taught and to seduce us, the children of God, to commit spiritual fornication and spiritual adultery. Instead of being nourished by God’s Word, the angel of the church of Thyatira is spiritually nourished on those false doctrines of Jezebel. Like the angel of the church of Pergamos, the angel of the church of Thyatira is far more concerned with unity than it is with purity.  Remember, these words are addressed to the angels of the churches. Jezebel and her doctrines cause “the angel of the church of Thyatira” within us, to commit spiritual fornication and spiritual adultery by placing unity over purity. This week we will see how the spirit deals with the doctrines of Jezebel, and how the spirit deals with all these false doctrines within us:

Rev 2:21 And I gave her [Jezebel] space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

When we come to see that we are spiritually in bed with Jezebel, we then realize that we have been committing spiritual fornication, and spiritual adultery. We have been believing the lies and false doctrines of Jezebel instead of going to the Word of God and seeing what is really the Truth. At this point judgment begins, and we begin to come out of Babylon, and we begin to search the scriptures and to try the spirit of Jezebel, the doctrines of Balaam, and the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Jezebel is loathe to give up her hold on the angel of the church of Thyatira. “I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not.” While Jezebel still retains her hold on us, turning the grace of God into spiritual lasciviousness and teaching us that unity is more important than spiritual purity, we will experience “great tribulation, except we repent of our spiritually adulterous deeds… This generation will not pass till this [great tribulation] is fulfilled.”

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.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Rev 2:22  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

There are not two “great tribulations.”  “The time was at hand to read, hear and keep the things written… to the angel of the church in Thyatira” here in Revelation 2, and Christ tells us the exact same thing in Matthew 24 when He says, “These things are all even at the doors… this generation will not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.”

Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

All of Christ’s words are “is, was and will be” words which “shall not pass away.”

Is all or any of this accomplished in a ten-second sinner’s prayer? Absolutely not! Coming out of Babylon continues as we decrease and Christ increases throughout our lives. We have all “committed adultery with Jezebel,” and we all must “decrease as He increases. We must all enter into the kingdom of God through much tribulation,” and we must all “endure to the end.” Getting that woman Jezebel out of our spiritual house is not an instantaneous event, but it is a present and ongoing experience in the lives of the angels of the seven churches and in the lives of those who have ears to hear what the spirit says to the seven angels of those seven churches. It is an ongoing experience for all who are given eyes to see what they are to “read, hear and keep of what is written therein.”

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

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.

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.

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

Jezebel was the outwardly legal, yet spiritually illegal, wife of King Ahab of Israel. Jezebel was the daughter of a Zidonian king, whose God was Ashtarte, and Jezebel was bent on destroying all the prophets of God in Israel.

1Ki 16:31  And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

1Ki 18:4  For it was [so], when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

It is through the spiritual fornication, through the spiritual adultery and through being in bed with the doctrines of Jezebel, that we, too, “cut off the prophets of the Lord” and refuse to hear their words. It is the doctrines of Balaam and Jezebel which bring the “great tribulation” upon us and which, in turn, bring us all into the darkest days of our lives:

Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Only then, when we are at our very lowest point in life, when “the sun is darkened and the moon is giving no light”, does the Son of man appear as a thief in the night, burning out of us all the tares and the wood, hay and stubble of our lives and all the false doctrines of Balaam and Jezebel, which have been guiding our lives. Our lives are “the tribes of the earth.” Our bodies are “the earth”, and it is “the earth” which needs to hear “the word of the Lord,” but refuses to do so until we see the sign of His coming “in [the] heaven” of our hearts and minds.

Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

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

As we “read, hear and keep the things which are written… to the angel of the church of Thyatira… the tribes of the earth mourn”, as they face “the great and terrible day of the Lord, being killed with death in bed with Jezebel.” When we are dragged to see and hear what our sad and dark spiritual condition is, then we go through “great tribulation” in “this generation.” It is at this point that “judgment must begin at the house of God.” It is at this point we begin to “come out of Babylon” and begin to “search the scriptures” and begin to “try the spirits” of fornication and adultery in the bed of Jezebel. It is at this point that we try the spirits of the doctrines of Balaam and the deeds of the Nicolaitans.

Balaam taught Israel to commit fornication within the camp of Israel, but Jezebel is more insidious and is married to the king himself, and has virtually taken control of the kingdom of God within us through her spiritual fornications and adulteries; meaning through all of the false doctrines to which we have subscribed while in our blinded, Babylonian condition of total apostasy.

Again, none of this is accomplished in a ten-second sinner’s prayer. We have all “committed adultery with Jezebel” for a very long time before we were given eyes to see that we really have “suffered that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” Christ tells us “blessed are your eyes for you see” (Mat 13:16). Yet it will be a lifetime of overcoming and enduring to the end before we will ever be past the need to struggle against all the false doctrines which are now ‘that woman Jezebel’ within Babylon out of which we, as the repentant angel of the church in Thyatira, are yet coming.

This is the product of that blessing of Matthew 13:16:

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Ours is a calling of separation, and rejection,  and loneliness. It is right here in this same chapter:

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.

It is in Genesis:

Gen 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

… and it is also in Timothy:

2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

… and the disciple is not above his master:

Mat 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Rev 2:23  And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

Surely these are not words which apply to us as the repentant angel of the church at Thyatira! After all, isn’t that the deal; that if we repent, then we won’t be thrown into a bed with Jezebel and be killed with death, as her children? If you believe that is what is being said here, then you are still afflicted with one of Jezebel’s doctrines which teach that Christ died for you so that you do not have to die. It is called “the doctrine of the substitutionary death of Christ.” That false and damning doctrine is alive and well in Babylon, but it is being burned out of the repentant angel of the church of Thyatira.

The answer to both of these questions is in Isaiah 1) Yes, these words do apply to us, and 2) Yes, we must be “killed with death and come to know that Christ is He which searches the reins and hearts and gives to us all according to our works.” Remember verse 3 of chapter 1. We are to “keep the things written therein.” Christ did not die so we could avoid death. Christ died for us so He could live His life of “dying daily” within us. Here are His own words on the false doctrine of “the substitutionary death of Christ.”

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.

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 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

It is not our faith alone which is so precious in the sight of God, but it is rather “the trial of our faith… tried with fire.” That is what the angel of the church of Thyatira learns when he comes to know that Christ “searches the reins and hearts and gives to every one of us according to our works.”

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:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Now we come to our last two verses for today’s study:

Rev 2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
Rev 2:25 But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.

It is verses like this which bring us back to Revelation 1:3 so often:

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

Our natural man demands, “Well, do we have this doctrine or do we not?” To which the answer is and will always be, “You and I and the rest in Thyatira have had this lascivious, spiritually fornicating and adulterating doctrine, and when we come to see its damnable fruits, we become those who ‘have not this doctrine, and have not known the depths of Satan as we speak.'” “Have not known” does not mean that we have never been “the chief of sinners” because we all have been just that. What it does mean is that we have overcome the depths of Satan as we spoke, and we have kept the sayings of this book and lived by every word of God, including the repenting before our candlestick is removed. In like manner the beast causes every man, small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in his right hand and in his forehead:

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:

This “all” is thrice qualified “small and great, rich and poor, free and bond.” Yet we are told:

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 worshiped 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.

Well, had all men “small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” received his mark, or had they not? Here is the answer to this quandary:

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.

These are those who overcame the mark with which every beast is marked. Having overcome that beastly mark entitles them to say that they had not worshiped the beast nor “received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands.”

So it is also with those who “have not known the depth of Satan as they spoke.” We have all been in bed with the lascivious doctrine that it is better to be united in a lie than to be divided by the Truth. That is the very essence of politics, whether ecclesiastical or secular politics, and it is the broad way which attracts the masses and which leads to destruction. When we repent of that damnable doctrine of Jezebel, we can then say we have not known those depths of Satan, and have not received his mark in our hands or our foreheads. What is even better is we can also honestly say that we have indeed “kept the things written therein and lived by every word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God.”

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

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

I will put upon you none other burden.

For all who know that they will indeed keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book (all the things written therein) this is a very comforting statement which bears witness to another very comforting verse of God’s Word. While our trials always seem like the worst that anyone has ever endured, this is the truth of the matter, along with a very comforting promise:

Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we [are] dust.

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

Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

Which is just another way of saying:

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.

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

Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
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.

There is yet a consummation and a “redemption of the purchased possession.”

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Conclusion

We have seen that that woman Jezebel has seduced us to believe all of her false doctrines. We have also seen that when we were confronted with those false doctrines, that instead of repenting, we have all been guilty of refusing to repent, thus bring upon ourselves “great tribulation” followed by a time of total spiritual darkness.

Rev 2:21 And I gave her [Jezebel] space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great
tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

We have seen that this part of our walk is addressed to the angel of the church of Thyatira within us. We have seen that we are “the earth” upon whom “all these things will come… in this generation.”

We have seen that it is expedient that we all must die in order to gain life. Only then are we able to acknowledge that all these things are of Christ, Who is “searching the reins and hearts” Not for His benefit, but for ours.

Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

We have seen that we all first, by God’s design, willingly accept the seductive doctrines of Jezebel and the depths of Satan before we are given the strength, grace and the knowledge of God’s Word to “know not that doctrine.” Then we saw that God has promised “He will not allow us to be tempted above what we are able to bear.”

Rev 2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

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

We saw that this admonition to “hold fast that you have till I come” is nothing less than Christ’s promise to be with us to the end:

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.

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Next week, Lord willing, we will finish with the blessing promised to the angel of the church of Thyatira if he repents and overcomes. We will learn what it means to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and we will learn what we have when we are given “the morning star.”

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
Rev 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

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Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
Rev 2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than the first.
Rev 2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Introduction

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

The angel within us which is being addressed in the verses we are covering today, is the angel of the church in Thyatira. Thyatira is the forth of the seven angels of the seven churches of Asia. This being the middle of the seven churches of Asia, it is good for us to remind ourselves of how the holy spirit has commissioned us to apply the prophecies of this book. Let us never forget that we are commissioned to “read, hear and keep the things written therein.”

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

At this fourth, middle church, let’s remember what these “seven churches of Asia” represent. To understand what is meant by “the seven churches of Asia, go back to the notes on the spiritual significance of the number seven in scripture, and for the spiritual significance of the word ‘Asia, go back to the study notes on verse 4 of chapter one. If we allow scripture to interpret scripture and we look at the mention of ‘Asia’ in the scriptures, we will see this:

Act 19:8 And he went into the synagogue [at Ephesus], and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Act 19:9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
Act 19:10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Asia was the one Roman province in which Paul spent more of his time than in any other province. And yet “divers were hardened and believed not, but spake evil of that way…” Later in this same chapter we are told this of Asia:

Act 19:27  So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

Asia is, by the holy spirit, connected with “the world” as a whole, but that is just the beginning. Here is the spiritual significance of Asia within God’s word within us:

Act 21:27  And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,

It was “the Jews which were of Asia,” who precipitated the apprehension of the apostle Paul while he was in Jerusalem. It wasn’t the Jews of Achaia or Pisidia. It was “the Jews which were of Asia,” the very province in which Paul had spent so much of his time and efforts in service to the body of Christ. Now let’s see what the Lord did to God’s apostle through these seven churches:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

It is not a coincidence that the seven churches of the book of Revelation are also in the province of Asia. ‘Asia’ represents the apostasy which is common to mankind. We all experience what we are reading about in these seven churches. These churches were literal churches, but they actually typify “he that has an ear,” and the messages to these seven churches are not to be understood as being addressed to “he that hath and ear to hear.”

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

As we saw last week, the churches are addressed by Christ in a way that is appropriate to the message to the angel of each church. To see how this rule is applied to Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamos, refer to last week’s study. Here is how Christ introduces Himself to the angel of the church of Thyatira:

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

We have already covered the burning and purging signified by the reference in this verse to Christ’s eyes being “like unto a flame of fire”, and His feet being “like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.”

Rev 1:14  His head andhis hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

So we will not reiterate the depth of that study, but we will be reminded that Christ’s eyes, we are told, are “the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the world.”

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

The fact that Christ’s “eyes were a flame of fire” also tells us that Christ’s words, while burning up all that is capable of being burned up, at the same time are providing illumination and the ability to perceive:

Psa 119:105  … Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Christ’s “feet like fine brass” tells us that if Christ is in us, then ours will be a burning and purifying walk, because we are called to be “kings and priests unto our God.” Because of this we are given much knowledge and therefore required to be of pure mind and character above that of the Pharisees of Babylon.

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

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Getting back to what “he that hath an ear” is admonished by the angel of the church in Thyatira…

Rev 2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Rev 2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

These verses logically follow the thought of having feet as fine brass. Fine brass, as we demonstrated in our study on base metals [link here], typifies Christ in our flesh. Christ in our flesh is our flesh at the peak of its service to God. After all, it is “through death” that life is found. Even Christ’s flesh could not live forever and could never have inherited the kingdom of God:

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

All who deny that Jesus Christ was not born of Adam, deny that He is even qualified to be our sin offering, because they are denying that he was of the lineage of Adam. Never mind the fact that Christ calls Himself the “Son of Man” twice as many times as He calls Himself the “Son of God.” Never mind the fact that the holy spirit has seen fit to trace Christ’s genealogy all the way back to Adam, for the very purpose of establishing the fact that Christ was “according to the flesh [of Adam] the son of both King David and of “the seed of Abraham,” both of whom were “of Adam.”

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was [the son] of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

While the whole world works to separate Adam from God, God calls Adam His own Son. Is Adam marred? Of course he is. Will Adam die? Yes, in Christ he died and dies in the christ of Christ (1Jn 4:1-3). In spite of all these truths which are so prominent in scripture, what most orthodox Christianity believes about the flesh of Christ is what John says is “that spirit of antichrist” of which John speaks in his first epistle.

Yet the spirit of these two paragraphs reveals that this writer believes that Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil of his own free will. It also reveals that this writer believes that if Adam and Eve had not eaten of the tree of the knowledge of God and evil, they would have lived forever and their flesh would never have corrupted back to dust. The whole point being that “Christ was not ‘in Adam’ [and] would never have died physically if He had not willingly and in obedience to His Father’s will allowed Himself to be crucified on the cross.”

“Unlike all humanity that has been born since God created Adam and Eve and who have entered this world by natural procreation through the union of a man and a woman, the Lord Jesus Christ was conceived as a result of the Holy Spirit overshadowing a virgin called Mary [see Luk 1:35] and so the Lord Jesus was not born in the ‘natural’ lineage of Adam. Because of this He was not a ‘fallen son’ of Adam and was not subject to Adam’s legacy namely “death”–“as in Adam ALL die” [1 Co 15:22] and “as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men (in the lineage of Adam) for all have sinned” [Rom 5:12].

The Lord Jesus had to “become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” [Php 2:8]. Every individual from Adam [except for Enoch and Elijah who were taken from this earth by God before experiencing death] has because of ‘the fall’ eventually died physically – human beings don’t have to do anything or ‘obey’ anything for death to finally overcome them – the truth is as quoted earlier “in Adam all die”. However, the sinless Christ who was not “in Adam” would never have died physically if He had not willingly and in obedience to His Father’s will [see Mat 26:39 and Act 2:23] allowed Himself to be crucified on the cross.”

Without coming out and saying so, this doctrine is telling us that Christ’s flesh was not that of Adam, and without saying so, that doctrine is telling us that Christ’s flesh was not the same as our Adamic flesh at all. Here is what the scriptures reveal of such a doctrine as is found in the teachings of ‘Take Heed Ministries.’ Here again is what the scriptures have to say of this “Christ was not of Adam” doctrine:

1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Doesn’t everyone believe that Christ came in the flesh? As always, the Adversary speaks with a forked tongue. He tells you God is love, but God will burn most of His creation in hell forever. He tells you God is sovereign, but God cannot overcome your free will, and He tells you that Christ came in the flesh, but “Christ was not in Adam.” That is seen as protecting Christ from being tainted with the sin that is all flesh:

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

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

So a thousand different versions of an immaculate conception have been concocted by well meaning Christians who, with one breath will agree with scripture that Christ was “in all ways tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” and in the same well-meaning breath deny that Christ’s flesh ever struggled with a carnal mind which did not want to go to the cross. In saying that Christ was not in Adam they are denying that Christ actually had to “die daily” as we do and overcome the temptations of His Adamic flesh, day by day.

What do the scriptures teach?

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. [“Every man” includes our sinless Savior]

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Heb 2:16  For verily he 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.

What utterly hollow words if Christ was not even “in Adam” as you and I are!

This is but one of “two hundred thousand thousand,” false doctrines which serve to “darken the sun” as we look behind us to see Christ as He is revealed to us through our walk as the angel to the church at Thyatira.  Revelation 9 is just part of the prophecy of this revelation of Jesus Christ. Here is part of what is addressed to these seven churches, which we are to read, hear and keep.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Conclusion

In keeping the things written to Thyatira, we see that we really have “suffered that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”

We saw that fire of Christ’s eyes and the fire that produces the feet of fine brass, are both the word of God which sees all the sins of all the churches which are in the hearts and mind of all those who are given ears to hear what the spirit is saying to the seven churches of Asia.

We have seen again, that Asia represents that fallen spiritual state which we must endure when we lose our first love, have the doctrine of Balaam, in our hearts and allow that woman Jezebel to teach us to commit spiritual fornication.

Next study, Lord willing, we will see that these false doctrines are loathe to leave the throne of our hearts, and we will see what the process is which Christ uses to cleanse us of these false doctrines and of all of our spiritual fornication. Here is the rest of what the spirit has to say to the angel of the church of Thyatira, which we will read and hear and keep if we have been given ears to hear what the spirit is saying to the seven churches of Asia:

Rev 2:21  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
Rev 2:23  And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Rev 2:24  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
Rev 2:25  But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.
Rev 2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.