2Ki 4:38-44 “For thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.”

[Study Aired September 8, 2022]

2Ki 4:38  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 
2Ki 4:39  And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
2Ki 4:40  So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
2Ki 4:41  But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
2Ki 4:42  And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 
2Ki 4:43  And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
2Ki 4:44  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

This last section of the fourth chapter of 2 Kings looks at another parable that helps us understand how God provides for all our physical and spiritual needs which are met through Christ (Php 4:19). The primary lesson is that the physical provision is not to become an idol of our hearts but rather a reminder that God knows what we need, and the natural provision reveals the spiritual (Rom 1:20). That spiritual provision makes it possible for us to grow in faith and in appreciation of how He miraculously provides all we need through what each joint supplies in love via the body of Christ, until we all come in the unity of the faith via that blessed increase that comes through the vine by way of the Father (Eph 4:16, 1Co 3:6). Christ works through the branches giving us the power to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and Christ is directed by our Father who gives that increase through the body both to will and to do of His, the Father’s, good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom (Php 2:12-13, Luk 12:32).

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 

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

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

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase [spiritual provision].

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

These verses below help us understand what God’s spiritual provision is all about. With them in mind we can look at the last few verses of this section of Kings and be reminded of how God worked with a longsuffering spirit with the prophets of old who represent the patience and faith of the saints being accomplished in God’s workmanship which we are today (Psa 132:15-16, Jer 15:11, Jer 15:20-21, Zep 3:13, Zec 8:12, Eph 2:7, Php 4:6-7, Heb 13:20-21)

Psa 132:15  I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. 
Psa 132:16  I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

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

Zep 3:12  I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. 
Zep 3:13  The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Zec 8:12  For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing 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 keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2Ki 4:38  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

Gigal^H1537 is defined by BDB as “a wheel, rolling” and that wheel represents the “wheel in the middle of a wheel” within the body of Christ found in (Eze 1:16-17, Joh 14:20) where God is showing us how we are connected as a many-membered body through Christ (1Co 12:12, Col 1:27) experiencing in this life how all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose because of that middle wheel, our hope of glory within (Rom 8:28.

H1537 gilgâl ghil-gawl’    BDB: Gilgal = “a wheel, rolling”

The same as H1536 (with the article as a properly noun); Gilgal, the name of three places in Palestine: – Gilgal. See also H1019. Total KJV occurrences: 41

Eze 1:16  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 
Eze 1:17  When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. 

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

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Again it is at that day (Joh 14:20) through Elisha, who typifies Christ, that we learn of this relationship granted to the “sons of the prophets” who typify the elect of God (Jas 5:10, Rev 14:12). What it is that God gives those sons is described as being given through the servant who is given instruction on how to serve the rest, just as we are learning how to serve one another in the body of Christ.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Elisha’s servant is told, “Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.” This food is needed because there is “a dearth in the land” meaning that our life goes through periods of spiritual dearth, but God is faithful to those who are called according to His purpose of election to bring Christ to us and to feed us with spiritual food that is convenient for us and given in due season. Christ is the faithful and true witness within us (Rev 3:14) who makes that provision through the church (Eph 3:10-11) and so the proverb reads, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die.” Christ will not deny Himself, His own body which we are, and will be victorious through the church (Mat 16:18) that He is blessing by answering this prayer, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.” (Mat 24:45-46, Pro 30:7-9, 2Ti 2:13)

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

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

Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? [Joh 21:15-17]
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

Joh 21:15  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
Joh 21:16  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Joh 21:17  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Pro 30:7  Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 
Pro 30:8  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: [Joh 21:15-17]
Pro 30:9  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

2Ki 4:39  And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

This verse reminds us in the early stages of our walk what it is that we gather as the elect of God who have been ordained to be a kind of first fruits from the foundation of the world. We gather herbs in “the field” which represents the world, and we find a wild vine which represents the church in the wilderness that we come out of to become part of the true vine into which we’re grafted (Joh 15:5). The wild gourds^H6498 [wild vine] are a symbol of faith that is untried (or food that is uncooked) and not yet been “shred” in a seething pot, symbols of the fiery trials and judgments brought into our lives (1Pe 4:12) to refine us (Zec 13:9).

H6498   paqqû‛âh   pak-koo-aw’

From the same as H6497; the wild cucumber (from splitting open to shed its seeds): – gourd.

Total KJV occurrences: 1

H6497  peqa‛   peh’-kah

From an unused root meaning to burst; only used as an architectural term of an ornament similar to H6498, a semi-globe: – knop.

Total KJV occurrences: 3:  1Ki_6:18, 1Ki_7:24 (2)

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: 

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

Mat 13:32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

The knowledge is indeed Christ’s while yet still in Babylon, symbolized by the herbs and the wild gourds and wild vine, still wild and not yet prepared, like John the Baptist who was preparing the way for Christ with wild honey and locust (Isa 40:3, Mat 3:1-3). All of these food types are instructive for the new Christian, and it will be in the proper preparation and enduring through the process of maturing over time that we will be able to be strengthened with these foods to then partake of the stronger meat spoken of in Hebrews 5 (Heb 5:13-14, Joh 8:31-32).

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 

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

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

2Ki 4:40  So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
2Ki 4:41  But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

Until we’re granted to bring the meal^H7058 that represents our presenting our life to God as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2), the word of God, which is represented by the food within the pot, will not be able to be digested and taken in to nourish our new man and destroy our old man. We can only “pour out for the people” after we are strengthened through Christ to present our lives a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service to God (Rom 12:1).

H7058  qemach keh’-makh  From an unused root probably meaning to grind; flour: – flour, meal. Total KJV occurrences: 14

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

This action of bringing meal to the “great pot” is typical of what happens when we “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luk 6:38). We can’t see clearly how all these ingredients put into the pot are going to work together for the good, but God calls us to trust Him through our trials and much tribulation through which He will deliver us, which will result in our seeing all men “give into your bosom” (Rom 8:28-31, 2Ti 1:9, Jas 1:12).

Luk 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 

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

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

2Ki 4:42  And there came a man from Baalshalisha^H1190, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.

There came a man from “Baalshalisha^H1190“, which is interpreted “thrice-great lord”, who brought two gifts which represent the word of God that is given to us in due season and nourishes us that we may eat (Jas 1:17-18, Joh 6:51, 1Co 10:16). Notice that the food, which represents the word of God, comes from a pagan culture in “Baalshalisha”^H1190 because in God’s eyes we are gentiles and pagan when we have God’s gold, and silver and precious jewels, which are symbols of His word, wrapped around the idol of our hearts and claim ourselves to be spiritual Jews when we are not (Eze 14:3, Rev 3:9). It takes our coming out of “Baalshalisha”^H1190 and being dragged to Christ, who is typified by Elisha (Joh 6:44), to have that word purified in our lives so those idols are destroyed.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 
Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

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?

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 

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

H1190  BDB Definition: Baal-shalisha = “thrice-great lord”

1) a place in Ephraim near Gilgal
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H1168 and H8031

God’s provision is being described for the elect now with these physical food sources that represent Christ and His Christ and the word of God that sustains us. What is our communion but the body and blood of Christ (1Co 10:16), and we receive this nourishment through the church where “the man of God” (Eph 3:10) is provided with “bread of the firstfruits” (Jas 1:18),”twenty loaves of barley“, which represents the witness of Christ’s undefiled truth we are blessed to be nourished with via the true bread of life who was broken for us. Elisha tells the servant to “Give unto the people, that they may eat” as Christ does for us (Exo 9:31, Isa 53:4, Luk 22:19, Mar 14:22).

Exo 9:31  And the flax and the barley was smitten [Isa 42:3]: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Mar 14:22  And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

Christ’s body, which is the church, is represented by the “full ears of corn in the husks thereof” that are sustained through Christ and blessed to mature to that point so that they can be used to nourish the nations one day with God’s judgments, his words in the earth that will bring healing (Gen 27:37, Psa 107:20).

Gen 27:37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

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

I’ve taken this excerpt from Mike’s Revelation Series –  Revelation 1:5 – Part 2 – which explains that when we die daily and reckon ourselves buried into Christ’s baptism, we in turn become as that first holy seed (1Jn 4:17) that died and fell into the ground and brought forth much fruit, Jesus Christ (Joh 12:24, Rom 5:17). The first fruits are not just a kind of first fruits. We are also those who have become a holy seed through Jesus Christ Who will be used to populate the world with truth and be given the power through God’s holy spirit to judge the nations in the great white throne judgment so that they can be purified and made one with the body of Christ and our head Jesus Christ.

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

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.

Rom 5:17  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

*** Excerpt: 

So we are actually told to “reckon ourselves” both dead with Christ, and yet living “in newness of life” in Christ. But are we actually counted as firstfruits from the dead, as Christ is?

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The wave sheaf of barley, at the days of unleavened bread, immediately after the Passover, was the first of the firstfruits. However, fifty days later was another festival which was called Pentecost. Pentecost was also called “the feast of firstfruits,” because we, the church which was established on Pentecost, was to be “a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

Rev 14:4  These [144,000] are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Lev 23:10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Lev 23:11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

“The sheaf of the firstfruits” at Passover, is Christ Himself. The feast of firstfruits, fifty days later, at Pentecost, typifies Christ’s Christ, the church.

Lev 23:15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they are] the firstfruits unto the LORD.

Exo 34:18  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Exo 34:22  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks [Pentecost], of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Exo 34:23  Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. [Pentecost is called “the feast of firstfruits”.]

“Thrice [three times] in the year…” are the feast of unleavened bread [passover], the feast of weeks [Pentecost], and the feast of ingathering [tabernacles] at the year’s end. These three seasons typify the three seasons of God’s judgments and His harvest of mankind. They are the first, the barley harvest in the spring, which typifies Christ, the first of the firstfruits; the second, the wheat harvest in the summer, the judgment which is on the house of God; and third, the grape harvest in the fall, when all men are raised up from among the dead and are judged and cleansed in the white throne judgment, lake of fire.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

So while our Head certainly does have the preeminence in all things, we are still “as he is… the first begotten of the dead and the firstfruits of them that slept.

*** End Quote

2Ki 4:43  And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
2Ki 4:44  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

Our time of need is now in these marred clay vessels of flesh witnessed by “an hundred men” – ten representing the flesh (10×10). The servant provided spiritual meat in due season and “set it before them” and they did eat, because it was all done “according to the word of the LORD“. Elisha’s servant lacks the faith and is typical of us saying ‘Lord help me in my unbelief’, and Elisha, who typifies our Lord, helps his servant accomplish what seems impossible to his flesh:

2Ki 4:43 He asked: »How am I to feed a hundred hungry men with this?« Elisha replied: »Give it to them to eat, because Jehovah says that they will eat and still have some left over.« [Mat 14:20]
2Ki 4:44 So the servant set the food before them. Just as Jehovah said, they ate and had some left over. (NSB – New Simplified Bible version)

It is when things are done “according to the word of the LORD” that we will be properly nourished, not thinking above what is written (1Co 4:6), and believing that there is safety in a multitude of counselors (Pro 11:14, Pro 24:6). It takes becoming like children (Mat 18:3) in order to receive the word of God in due season, and God is humbling our old man for that express purpose of overcoming all the sins of the world within us so that we can fulfill the will of God in this life as His servitors to one another (1Jn 2:16-17, Gal 6:2).

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

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

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

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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

We are called to “give the people, that they may eat“, meaning we are called to ‘feed my lambs, and feed my sheep’, and are assured of God that if we seek Him with all our hearts and minds and souls (Mat 22:37-40) that this promise of provision of His word which nourishes us will always be supplied, “for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.“

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

[Study Aired August 12, 2021]

1Ki 3:1   And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
1Ki 3:2  Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.
1Ki 3:3  And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
1Ki 3:4  And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

Before we come out of Babylon, we have to go into her (2Co 6:17), and in this section of the book of Kings we will look at the typical language of God’s word that informs us how Solomon who is a type of God’s elect “made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David“, which typifies how we bring Babylon into the city of David, Jerusalem that does in the positive sense, typify Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26).

This is all happening “until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about“. This reminds us as God’s people that it is a lifetime of overcoming Babylon within that we are called unto as His kind of firstfruits who are maturing (Jas 1:18), through an experience of evil that God has given us in this life that brings us unto completion through judgment (Ecc 1:13, Luk 13:7, Lev 19:23). It is through that judgment that the elect end up understanding the purpose for being alive, as God fashions and makes us fit vessels of honour to His glory, preparing us in God’s service to be fitly framed into the temple of the Lord that is being made without man’s efforts (Joh 14:3, Rev 19:7, Eph 2:18-22, 1Ki 6:7).

1Ki 6:7  And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

The building of that part of the temple of God which we each are, is typified by the words: “until he had made an end of building his own house” which is “the house of the LORD” where there is no more night and only peace and security, symbolized by “the wall of Jerusalem round about” that has been built to represent how “there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie” (Rev 21:27). This is the positive expression of building your “own house“, and the negative is very clearly expressed in the book of Judges where every man did what is right in his own eyes, which is building your own house, or being found with your own righteousness which does not “win Christ” (Jdg 21:25, Psa 127:1).

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (1Co 10:17).

Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

In order for God’s temple to be built, we must be humbled throughout this lifetime of judgment where we will learn of God’s faithfulness to finish this work He has started in us, even telling us in advance how this election of His remnant who are likened to a kind of first fruits, will bring forth fruit that will remain (Luk 14:11, Joh 15:16, Rom 11:5, Jas 1:18).

Luk 14:11  For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

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

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1Ki 3:1   And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 

It is Christ who is working within us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13), and this includes how our Lord humbles us throughout this life of much tribulation (Act 14:22) in order that we may be exalted in due time.

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.

That starting point of an experience of being humbled begins, in typical terms, for us on the road to Damascus where we learn that all we thought we knew was just vanity and fodder that God would use going forward to burn out of us the wood, hay and stubble to purify the mind of Christ over time (gold, silver and precious stones) (Job 6:5, Act 9:3-6, 1Co 3:12-14, Php 3:8).

[See also Job 6:1-10 – “Oh That… It Would Please God To Destroy Me!]

Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

[We must fall to the earth (Jer 22:29) which typifies the church in order to hear how we have persecuted Christ and need going forward to be about our Father’s business. The center of that business is being accomplished in our assembly where God’s elect are dragged (Joh 6:44) and admonished to not forsake it (Heb 10:25).]

Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, (Eph 2:6) and go into the city (Jas 4:13), and it shall be told thee what thou must do (Eph 3:10, Php 2:12-13).

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

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: [winning Christ defined]

Solomon making “affinity^H2859 with Pharaoh king of Egypt” is typical of us not yet being able to let go of the world completely, as we still find ourselves loving the things of the world even to the point of having this affinity with Pharaoh which brings us to take his daughter into Jerusalem, which symbolizes our yet carnal mind that is still wanting to give birth to false doctrines at the hand of the Pharaoh’s daughter who represents the churches of Babylon that God’s elect go into and come out of (1Jn 2:15-17, Rev 18:4). It is that friendship with the world that brings us to take “Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David” like Rachel taking Laban’s idols and hiding them in her own tent (Gen 31:34).

The good news for God’s elect is that this season, which is a lifetime of overcoming the idols of our hearts, is going to come to an end. The member of Christ who we are, “our own house” and the rest of the body we are one with, “the LORD’S house“, is going to be completed and made ready (2Ti 2:21) to do the service of God, which will be to send us as saviours to judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21). Those saviours will have been crushed and humbled having gone into Babylon and then dragged out by God (Luk 20:18, Joh 6:44) in this life so that we can be purified through that experience of evil and be found with His righteousness and not our own, and in so doing “win Christ“.

Affinity – H2859 châthan khaw-than’
A primitive root; to give (a daughter) away in marriage; hence (generally) to contract affinity by marriage: – join in affinity, father in law, make marriages, mother in law, son in law.

Luk 20:18  Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

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.

It is in the fourth year of his reign that Solomon begins to build “the house of the Lord” (1Ki 6:1, 1Ki 6:38), which took seven years to build, and then his own house took thirteen years to build (1Ki 7:1), for a total of twenty years, represented by the time that Jacob served Laban, via Leah (type of Babylon), Rachel (type of grace working in our lives now) and the beasts of the field (typical of the life long process of overcoming the beastly flesh of man within and without through a process 6.6.6.) (1Ki 6:1, 1Ki 7:1, 1Ki 6:37-38, Gen 31:41).

Gen 31:41  Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

These numbers in Genesis 31:41 coincide with this study’s section of scripture that shows a typical blue print for God’s elect, reminding us how we are going to be going through a process of judgment (3) that will complete both our “own house” (1Co 3:8), the “house of the LORD” (Col 3:15, Eph 4:16, 1Th 5:10-11) that will result in “the wall of Jerusalem round about“, which we will need to keep our enemies from overcoming: our gates, our hearts and minds, being ready to “revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled”(Eph 6:13, 1Pe 5:2, 2Co 10:6).

1. “own house”

1Co 3:8  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

2. “house of the LORD”

Col 3:15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

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

1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

3. “the wall of Jerusalem round about”

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

1Pe 5:2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

1Ki 3:2  Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

What we do before a house is “built unto the name of the LORD” is sacrifice in “high places” which represents our own earthly attempts to say ‘Lord, Lord’, thinking we have a relationship with God and Christ (Mat 7:21), when in reality He does not ‘know us’ because we are not able at this point to worship God in spirit and in truth, “because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days” (Joh 4:23-24, Joh 17:3).

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

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

The building of that house represents the start of the church on Pentecost, and it is at this point, when the holy spirit was sent (Act 2:4), that those who are blessed to be dragged to that temple, which is Christ’s body (Joh 6:44), come to see and understand the worthlessness of what “the people sacrifice in high places” (Php 3:8-9).

Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

1Ki 3:3  And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

This verse is an early indication of the double-mindedness of Solomon which was later going to manifest and become very apparent in his life. Yes, “Solomon loved the LORD” even “walking in the statutes of David his father“, however he “sacrificed and burnt incense in high places” which as we know is a shadow of not worshipping God in spirit and in truth. People can have the best of intentions, and they do, but unless the Lord builds the house and permits that relationship with Him and his Son to continue (Joh 17:3,  Joh 8:31), there will be no worshipping God in spirit and truth, which is what is being typified in the life of Solomon (Heb 6:1-3, Joh 4:23).

Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

It’s easy to love the Lord isn’t it? “Solomon loved the LORD” tells us just that. He appreciated the great God that his father David served. However, Solomon and all of us, do not initially love those who are right in front of our faces even while we conveniently say how much we love God (1Jn 4:20, Mat 5:47).

On the other hand, Christ is teaching us to love our neighbour as ourselves, and to look beyond the wretchedness of man’s flesh (Rom 7:24). Their flesh is our flesh, and we ought to love them as much as Christ loved us from the cross (Luk 23:34). How that can be accomplished is only by the miracle of pentecost as His love is now shed abroad in our hearts making a way to love (Joh 14:15, 1Jn 5:3) where there seem to be no way initially (Rom 5:5, Isa 43:16).

We can be “walking in the statutes of David his father“, knowing all sorts of mysteries, but still be found in a condition where we only “sacrificed and burnt incense in high places“, meaning there was no love being shed abroad in our hearts which makes it possible for us to be a living sacrifice with the knowledge that God had given us (Rom 5:5, 1Co 13:2).

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

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1Co 13:2  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1Ki 3:4  And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

It is at “Gibeon^H1391” which means ‘hill city’ that king Solomon came to sacrifice. He sacrificed at “the great high place” and yet we know that these sacrifices are connected to a fleshly relationship of works that do not know God in spirit and truth reflected in the numbers “a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar” (10x10x10) (Psa 50:10, 1Sa 15:22)

Psa 50:10  For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? (Joh 14:15, 1Jn 5:3) Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Mars hill is another place of sacrifice and worship that comes to mind when we think of how we sacrifice to the “UNKNOWN GOD” in our flesh, unable to worship in spirit and truth being yet in ignorance, not knowing God (Act 17:23). Paul was sent to declare our God who was being ignorantly worshiped, representing what happens to each of us in Babylon until and only if we are dragged to the body of Christ and given to clearly see and hear the truth for the first time through the church (Rom 10:14, Eph 3:10). Like these “men of Athens”, we don’t just immediately give up our many idols on Mars hill and start worshipping “THE UNKNOWN GOD”. That relationship takes time, a lifetime of overcoming that results in the gift of eternal life from our Father through Christ as we come to know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Joh 17:3).

Act 17:23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Rom 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

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

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

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at how God is forming within His people a humble and contrite heart (Isa 66:2) by appearing to us in the midst of our dream in Christ, a dream that is one (Gen 41:32), so we can be shown “great mercy” and “great kindness” that enables us to do the right thing in this life, which is to worship God in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23), all being typified by Solomon’s humble request to know how to walk in and out and among so great a people of (1Ki 3:6-9).

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Gen 41:32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

1Ki 3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
1Ki 3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
1Ki 3:8  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
1Ki 3:9  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

Heb 10:35-39, Part 5 – “For yet a Little While, and He That Shall Come will Come, and Will Not Tarry”

[Study Aired February 4, 2021]

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

There are no chapter breaks, as we know, in the book of Hebrews, and I’ve included the first three verses of chapter eleven to just look at and consider, seeing they explain an integral part of how it is possible that “we are not of them who draw back unto perdition“as a result of the faith that God grants us and that Christ prays will not fail.

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Knowing and believing we are Jesus Christ whom the world is persecuting (Act 26:15, Psa 2:1-4, Act 4:26-28) is the most confident statement we can make in our flesh in which we have no confidence (Php 3:3), which will result in a “great recompence of reward” for those who esteem “the reproach of Christ [“who we are”] greater riches than the treasures in Egypt”. It takes God-given faith which “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” in order to overcome in this life through an ongoing work of faith within us that causes us to believe and “understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” within us, through Christ who we look to as the author and finisher of that faith (Heb 12:1-3).

Act 26:15  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done [Eph 1:11, Luk 20:14, ‘how the inheritance is obtained’ (1Pe 4:1, 2Ti 2:12-13)]

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit [Joh 4:24], and rejoice in Christ Jesus [Php 4:4], and have no confidence in the flesh.

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

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

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

[“Again I say, Rejoice” as we patiently possess our souls in Christ in whom we have obtained an inheritance (Luk 21:19, Eph 1:11).]

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

We endure together as the body of Christ in seeing Him who is invisible, our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) who is doing a spiritual work that is building up the temple, which we are in this generation that shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled (Heb 11:26-27, 1Co 3:16-18, Psa 127:1, Mat 24:34).

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

That faith chapter discussed earlier is a rich exposé of those faith-filled events which were written for our sakes that typify what God can and will do within His people (2Co 4:15), and it was recorded to give us the utmost confidence in how God will save us to the uttermost who “come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25) who are His spiritual workmanship that will not be taken out of Christ’s hand (Eph 2:10, Joh 10:28, Joh 18:9). Their prophesy of old was not for them but for us and was written to admonish us and persuade us that nothing can separate us from the love of God “which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (1Pe 1:12-14, Rom 8:38-39).

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into [Heb 11:1-40].
1Pe 1:13  Wherefore [‘because of what we just read‘] gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

[“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” right now he will come, as well as tomorrow and the next day if we are cleaving to Christ and resisting the devil. The devil flees from those who were called to be more than conquerors through Christ who we cleave to so we can endure all things through him (Jas 4:7, Rom 8:37-39, Php 4:13).]

1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance [Rom 12:2-3]:

“Through faith we understand that the worlds [G165] were framed by the word of God”  is speaking of each age [G165 aiōn], in every individual who has ever lived. Each life is a book or age that has been purposed by God and “framed by the word of God” for our sakes today (2Co 4:15) and ultimately for all the world in time, which will result in God being all in all (1Co 15:28). The natural creation was created and made marred in the hand of the potter (Jer 18:4) or framed by God for His purpose. Romans show us what the natural marred creation does without the mind of Christ which leads to perdition (Rom 1:20-25). We all start off there given over to a reprobate mind, because we “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” but now we are “not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” if we are that generation that God is judging first in this age and cleansing of all those things mentioned in (Rom 1:29-32) so that we might be the first to trust in Christ “to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:12).

G165 aiōn  ahee-ohn’

From the same as G104; properly an age; by extension perpetuity (also past); by implication the world; specifically (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future): – age, course, eternal, (for) ever (-more), [n-]ever, (beginning of the, while the) world (began, without end). Compare G5550.

If God is working with us in this age, then that work of faith which is unfolding in our heavens (Eph 2:8-10) is giving us victory (1Jn 5:4) over that man of perdition within us who is being destroyed by the brightness of His coming (2Th 2:8), so “we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

It is “by grace are ye saved through faith” which is the gift of God He gives to His elect who are being saved first through a process which requires that we  must possess our souls patiently (Luk 21:19) “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise“. We come together often to remind each other of the value of that patience and faith of the saints that is formed by filling up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ and demonstrated with fruit that our Father patiently produces within us as our husbandman who gives that increase and (Jas 5:7-8, 1Co 3:6-7) who “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. God’s elect are sharing in that experience to this end: “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:6-8)

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

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh [“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry“].

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 

Confidence in the Lord is something that is accomplished by putting off the flesh, and God has provided the means for us to do this through putting on Jesus Christ (Rom 13:12-14).

Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

A newborn child is circumcised on the eighth day according to Jewish custom (Lev 12:3), and we know the eighth day symbolizes the new man, Jesus Christ in us as our hope of glory (Col 1:27). This circumcision of the flesh reminds us we have to go through something in order to bring us to stop trusting in our flesh (2Co 1:8-9, 1Co 7:19), and go forward trusting God with all our hearts (Pro 3:5-7). “The eighth, and is of the seven” that goes “into perdition” (Rev 17:11) is described for “the Israel of God” who we are (Gal 6:16) in these terms as a type and shadow representation of how we can put off the flesh as the manchild that God “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Lev 12:2-3, Eph 2:6).

Lev 12:3  And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

2Co 1:8  For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead [Eph 2:6]:

1Co 7:19  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Lev 12:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman [“Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26)] have conceived seed, and born a man child [Gal 3:16, Rev 12:5]: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
Lev 12:3  And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Therefore in order to “cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward“,  we must “cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” by going “boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16) as we overcome “the sin which doth so easily beset us” by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2).

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

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 

How important is this patience that we need and why is it “after ye have done the will of God” and not before this is discussed as something that is needed in order that “ye might receive the promise“?

The answer to those questions is found in knowing what is required in order to have “the patience and faith of the saints” manifested in our lives along with the understanding that we must die daily and endure unto the end fulfilling God’s will (Luk 22:42) in order to be saved that “ye might receive the promise” (1Co 15:31, Mat 24:13), the promise of being found in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Rev 20:6) not having my own righteousness but Christ’s alone (Php 3:9), who gives us the power to say “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

[The 144 thousand who represent the elect are cleansed (Rev 14:1-11) by the wrath of God (Rev 14:10) that produces the patience and faith of the saints (Rev 14:12-13, Mat 24:1-51)]

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God [1Co 7:19], and the faith of Jesus [1Jn 5:4].
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours;  and their works do follow them.

[Our works that “do follow them” is the “the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” that we are pressing toward (Php 3:14) and we need to patiently possess our souls (Luk 21:19) right now, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2Co 10:5) that “ye might receive the promise“.]

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

1Co 7:19  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 

In the flesh God knows “yet a little while” does not seem like a little while at all, especially when you are going through a severe trial (1Co 10:13, Heb 12:11, Heb 5:14); but it is that experience that we go through that God uses to try and perfect the faith he gives us (1Pe 1:7) which is so precious to Him because that trial causes us to cease from sinning (1Pe 4:1-2) and brings us to that point where we will experience these words: “and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry“. He is our safe haven and the one who raised the storm and delivered us through it “to the praise of His glory”.

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.

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:

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

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Christ is glorified in us through our obedience which is learned by the things that we suffer (Heb 5:8, 1Jn 4:17), so that God’s will is accomplished in our lives, which becomes an abundant life through Christ (Joh 10:10) where we eventually can say “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church”, and “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”, and speaking of Moses of whom it was written for our sakes: “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward“. This is why the trial of our faith is so precious to God, and He knows how to motivate us to have “respect unto the recompence of the reward” which for God’s elect is “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” which is to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection (1Pe 1:7-8, Eph 1:12, Psa 107:28-30, Mar 4:38-40, Rev 20:6).

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.

God’s elect are granted in this life to be “believing” (1Pe 1:8), and it is because of that belief we can be partakers with the suffering of Christ and do the work of God which is to believe in this communion (1Co 10:16) that we have with our head Jesus Christ and His body, believing “on him whom he hath sent” (Joh 6:28-29). Now we “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” because “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” and we are now being sent to spiritually heal others as Christ has done for us (Joh 20:21, Psa 107:20, Mar 16:15, Mat 10:6).

1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

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?
1Co 10:17  For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

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

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw backG5288, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

We are not free moral agents who just decide to draw back independently of God causing that, and if we don’t “draw back”^G5288 that will be a work of God as well which was made possible by Christ praying for us so that our faith fails not as He did for Peter who represents who the elect are. Peter is us (Luk 22:32)!

G5288
hupostellō hoop-os-tel’-lo
From G5259 and G4724; to withhold under (out of sight), that is, (reflexively) to cower or shrink, (figuratively) to conceal (reserve): – draw (keep) back, shun, withdraw.

God wanted to deeply impress this point of showing us that it is Christ in us who does not “draw back”^G5288 or deny himself (2Ti 2:13). So the contrast is drawn with Peter who, while yet carnal and thinking that he would never “draw back”^G5288, drew back and left Christ ‘high and dry’ as they say, because he did not have God’s spirit within him to give him the strength to do the right thing. Well, we are Peter, and but for the grace of God, which number is represented by adding the two times the cock crowed and the three times Peter denied Christ, we would all do the very same thing except for the grace and faith of Christ (Mat 26:34-35).

2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mat 26:35  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. 

We all have to deny Christ a symbolic three times in our flesh, but each time we see how hypocritical our flesh is by God simply hardening our hearts and causing us to err (Isa 63:17, Rom 7:19), brings us closer to him through those experiences as we’re led to repentance (Rom 2:4) and learn of His forbearance and longsuffering spirit. We will fall a complete seven times in this life (Pro 24:16), but God’s elect “are not of them who draw back^G5289 unto perdition“. The word “draw back” in this verse is slightly different than our last verse and means “to shrink back” but also “apostasy”.

G5289
hupostolē hoop-os-tol-ay’
From G5288; shrinkage (timidity), that is, (by implication) apostasy: – draw back.

Christ was not concerned about Judas’ apostasy that cost Christ’s life and simply told Judas “that thou doest, do quickly” after “Satan entered into him”. On the other hand, Peter’s initial drawing back or denying Christ was the event that God used to bring him to weep bitter tears (Luk 22:61). Christ prayed for Peter that when he was converted that he should strengthen the brethren with that gift of God’s spirit within him (Luk 22:32). No such prayer was made for Judas who represents the man of perdition within us who must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming which will happen for Judas in the lake of fire (Joh 17:12).

We are not of them “who draw back unto perdition” as Judas was, but of them “that believe to the saving of the soul“. The reason this is possible is because of the gift of the grace through faith that is given to us represented by the witness of the cock crowing twice and the three times denying Christ that Peter did in his flesh, which reminds us that it is through much tribulation that we will enter into the kingdom of God (Act 14:22) through the ‘process of spiritual completion’ which is what three represents (Eph 2:8).

It is “to the saving of the soul” that reminds us that it is those who endure until the end that will be saved because of the grace through faith that God gives His elect in order to believe these words: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Mat 24:13, Heb 10:37).

Download Discussion

Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 63:15-19 Why Have You Made us to Err From Your Ways?

[Study Aired August 9, 2020]

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

In our last study of verses 6-14 of this chapter, Isaiah is led by the Lord to remind us of God’s great mercies towards us as His people:

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

At the same time, he is inspired to remind us that we have indeed rebelled against the Lord:

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

A mere one verse reminds us of our desire to return to Egypt, as a sow to her wallow in the mire and as a dog to his vomit. In that one verse He tells us that when He hardens our hearts and makes us to err, He becomes our enemy. It is all His work after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Then the Lord goes right back to reminding us of His great mercies toward us and of all the great works He performs on our behalf and how He always brings us “up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock”. He reminds us of all He has done for us by having us remember what He has done within us and in our midst, and He even asks “Where is He that brought them up out of the sea… that led them by the right hand of Moses… that divided the Red Sea” (Psa 136:13), a type of resurrection from the dead.

Isa 63:11  Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the [Red] sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
Isa 63:12  That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

The Lord concludes with these words concerning Himself:

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

Those words are a short summary of how the Lord is working with all of mankind. We begin our walk with the Lord as “carnal… babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4). As babies He literally takes us by the hand, and with so much patience, He leads us into maturity. However, maturity takes many long years, and we are one and all prodigal sons along that path and during that journey. It is the Lord who gives us “an experience of evil” to humble us, and then He delivers us from our own humiliation which He has caused us to experience because of the corruptible earthy composition with which He has at first made us to be, and through which He makes us to err from His ways and hardens our hearts from His fear.

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

The life of every man is a work of the Lord, “Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil” within each of us. It is all a work of His love and His patient mercy towards all His creatures.

That was the message of our last study, and our study today continues with that same theme of what the Lord is doing to “drag” us to Himself.

Isaiah is led to speak for us all when He asks the Lord:

Isa 63:15  Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?

When Isaiah pleads for us “…where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?” he is expressing our own sense of being forsaken and forgotten by the Lord while He puts us through our own ‘experience of evil’ to humble us. The book of Job, according to the Jewish scholars, and it is agreed by most scholars, was written before Moses existed. Therefore, it would have been familiar to both kings David and his son Solomon, who tells us that it is the Lord who has given us “an experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13). So when Isaiah asks, “Where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?”… The Lord does indeed restrain His strength and His mercy toward us while He is causing us to rebel against Himself. In fact, He actually becomes our enemy, while He is in the process of dragging us to Himself. We will not just naturally seek Him, and we certainly do not just naturally appreciate the pain which our sins bring upon us. It requires ‘suffering for a season’ to bring us to ourselves.

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

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.

The story of Job is also our story. “Suffering for a while” is what is essential to bring us to see the self-righteous second beast we all are in our own time (Rev 13:11). In time we come to know the Lord face to face, and at that point we are all forced to face our own “vile” self-righteousness and admit that in our self-righteousness we have been found guilty of “contending with… reproving… disannulling His judgment, and condemning” God Himself, all for the purpose of maintaining our own supposed integrity and to make ourselves righteous.

This is who we are:

Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

If we are the Lord’s faithful elect, this is how He is working with us in “this present time” (Rom 8:18):

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

When the Lord finally does show us just how vile and self-righteous we are and when He gives us “place of repentance”, then He again comforts us and rewards us for what “His hand [and] His workmanship” have accomplished within us:

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

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.

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

So, Isaiah reminds us who we are as the Lord’s accepted anointed who are given “place of repentance [in] this present time” (Rom 8:18).

Isa 63:16  Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

Both Abraham and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, are long dead, and “the dead know not anything”:

Ecc 9:4  For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ecc 9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6  Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

The great men of God of old who have died in faith did not receive the promises and are manifestly incapable of helping themselves, much less you and me. Abraham and Israel are both dead, but Christ is not dead and is “the firstfruits of them that slept” and is seated ‘at His Father’s right hand ruling in the kingdoms of men’ at this very moment.

Mar 12:36  For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

The Lord wants us to know that He has not lost control over His creatures and that, quite to the contrary, “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men”, and the kings of the earth and the rulers and the people are all “do[ing] whatsoever [His] hand and [His] counsel determined before to be done” (Act 4:23-28).

Here is what the scriptures teach on this subject:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Mat 28:16  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
Mat 28:17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Act 4:23  And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
Act 4:24  And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
Act 4:25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises [Enoch in verse 5: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, verses 8-9], but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

In the very next chapter, Isaiah reminds the Lord that He is indeed our Father:

Isa 64:5  Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isa 64:7  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
Isa 64:8  But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Isa 64:9  Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

Christ Himself acknowledged that the Jews were indeed the physical descendants of Abraham:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

However, a mere two verses later, He denies that the Jews are Abraham’s spiritual children:

Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Then the prophet Isaiah puts into very plain words a Truth which has been made clear throughout scripture and from the beginning, but is neither seen nor heard by our rebellious, carnal-minded “first man, Adam”. Mankind has been denying this truth from “the first man Adam” until today:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

The commentaries physically see with their eyes what is being said in this verse, but they cannot perceive what the Lord is revealing concerning His sovereign hand in the affairs of mankind.

Here typically is what John Gill’s Commentary is saying about this verse of scripture. This commentary typifies all the rest of the Babylonian commentaries who simply cannot accept the Truth of all scripture which teaches clearly:

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

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

Notice the double tongue within us all which admits to what these words say while at the same time denying that it really is God who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11):

“O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?…. These are the words, not of wicked men among the Jews, charging all their errors, hardness of heart, and wickedness they were guilty of, upon the Lord, as if he was the author and occasion of them, and led them into them; but of the truly godly, lamenting and confessing their wandering from the ways, commands, and ordinances of God, the hardness of their hearts; their want of devotion and affection for God; and their neglect of his worship; not blaming him for these things, or complaining of him as having done anything amiss or wrong; but expostulating with him, and wondering at it, that he, who was their loving and tender Father, that he should suffer them to err from his ways, and to wander from his worship, by withholding his grace and withdrawing his presence from them; by leaving them to the corruptions and hardness of their hearts; by chastising them sorely, and suffering the enemy to afflict them in such a severe manner as laid them under temptation to desert the worship of God, and cast off the fear of him. The Jews (f) interpret this of their being hardened from the fear of God, and made to err from his ways by seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and their own long captivity, troubles, and distresses:” (End Quote – John Gill’s Commentary)

John Gill, who wrote one of the better commentaries, admits, “These are the words, not of wicked men among the Jews, charging all their errors, hardness of heart, and wickedness they were guilty of, upon the Lord, as if he was the author and occasion of them, and led them into them; but of the truly godly…” (End Quote). There you have it! Mr. Gill admits that the words, “O Lord, why have you made us to err from your ways, and hardened our heart from you fear?… are the words, not of wicked men among the Jews, charging all their errors, hardness of heart, and wickedness they were guilty of, upon the Lord, as if he was the author and occasion of them, and led them into them; but of the truly godly…”

Then in the very same breath and with the same pen and tongue, he goes on to place the responsibility for this ‘hardened heart’ and being ‘made to err from [the Lord’s] ways’ upon the “hardness of their heart” and letting us know that “The Jews(f) interpret this of their being hardened from the fear of God, and made to err from His ways by seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and their own long captivity, troubles, and distresses:” (End Quote) It is not adding to Mr. Gill’s words at all to quote what he had just said, “Not blaming him [the Lord] for these things, or complaining of him as having done anything amiss or wrong.” In other words, Mr. Gill, the Jews, and all of us when we first come to the Lord, place all the responsibility for our sins upon our own shoulders and not on the shoulders of our Creator who first made us of “flesh and blood… corruption” (1Co 15:50).

Notice how Mr. Gill changes the word “made” to the word “suffer” while reasoning around what the Lord just told him:

“…but expostulating with him, and wondering at it, that he, who was their loving and tender Father, that he should suffer them to err from his ways,” (End Quote)

Mr. Gill is typical of each of us before the Lord opens our eyes and ears to His words. We all, by nature, want to think that obedience and disobedience is our decision to make, and that God has nothing to do with our so-called ‘free will’. At the same time we self-righteously declare our faith in a God who is sovereign. It is a double-minded, double-tongued doctrine to which we all just naturally ascribe as “carnal babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4). But it cannot be both ways. Either the Lord makes us to err from His ways and He hardens our hearts from His fear, or we do all that. Either He is responsible for all that we do, good and evil, or we are. Who will we believe? Will we believe “that which is written”- ‘You Lord, made us to err from your ways… (Isa 63:17), you made the wicked for the day of evil… (Pro 16:4), [and] You create evil (Isa 45:7)’, or will we believe Mr. Gill and all the Christian scholars and Jewish scribes, and take the responsibility for all this evil in our lives and in this world upon our own shoulders and contend with the Lord and contend with ‘that which is written’ (1Co 4:6)? Whatever we decide on this question, it certainly will not be a decision we will be making free from the influence of our own Creator, because this is what the scriptures teach, and this is the unfailing Truth:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

When the Lord does give us “place of repentance”, then we will have “Return[ed]… the tribes of [His] inheritance… for [our] sakes”.

Isa 63:18  The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

Our “possession” of the kingdom of God in “this present time” is but “a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes away”, and we hold this “possession… [in] this present time” only as “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of he purchased possession…” Indeed, “our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary”, as we are plainly told they are given to do:

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

“The holy city” which is “given unto the Gentiles [to] tread under foot” is the same city “where also our Lord was crucified” and that is where we, with Him “lie dead in [its] street”:

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

If we fail to see that the Lord’s ‘great city’ is within us, then we will place the blame for His crucifixion on the Jews, or on evil sinners, or anyone but ourselves, and the words of Revelation 11 will have no edifying effect upon us. The truth is that all the conflicts found throughout scripture, regardless of the numbers involved, are really nothing more or less that the pre-ordained conflict which the Lord is working within us between “the first man Adam [and] the last Adam”:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Therefore whenever we read of plural pronouns and plural nouns, we will glean nothing from what is being said if we do not apply all those plural nouns and pronouns within ourselves singularly, and apply what is being said in every case to the outward first man Adam, which is each of us, and the inward last Adam, who is Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col 1:27). That is the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but is now made manifest to His saints:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which [riches of the glory of this mystery] is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Let’s apply this principle to our last verse in this 63^rd chapter of Isaiah:

Isa 63:19  We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

For this verse to have any personal application for me, I must read it like this… ‘Christ in me is your dwelling place. You never ruled over my old man because he is never called ‘Christ in you’. The Lord, from Genesis 1:1 never once, for one moment ever intended that corruptible flesh and blood inherit the kingdom of God.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

If flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and if indeed we were “called in Christ before the world began”, then flesh and blood was never intended to inherit the kingdom of God:

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

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

Our “first man, Adam” was “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin [and was] made to be taken and destroyed.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

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;

If indeed the Lord is our Father in this present time, then we are His children and the sheep of His pasture, and we know His voice and we will flee for the voice of a stranger:

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

That is our study for today, and I hope it is clearer than ever that whether we err from the Lord’s ways or we fear to do so, both are His decision, and that decision was made “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9, Tit 1:2).

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 64:1  Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
Isa 64:2  As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
Isa 64:3  When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
Isa 64:4  For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Isa 64:5  Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Audio Links

Discussion Links

The Virtuous Body of Christ - Part 12 Discussion

1 file(s) 44.46 MB

Download

“The virtuous body of Christ” - Part 12

May 22, 2016

with Steven Crook

In our study today, we find ourselves approaching the end of this chapter about the virtuous woman of chapter 31.

In our previous study, we saw that our husband is well known in the gates of the city when he sits among the elders, and being that He is the Husband of all of us, we can all take joy in knowing that we are all His wife and workmanship in Him and therefore are also “known in the gates”.

It is fitting that this is the twelfth study in this series because we are going to soon learn that when this virtuous body of Christ and virtuous woman speaks, she speaks on the foundation of wisdom.

Wisdom

Pro 31:26  She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
Pro 31:27  She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Looking at the first part of our first verse, we notice that our virtuous woman opens her mouth in wisdom. So a wise person would ask them self, “Where do I gain wisdom from?”

I would say that the virtuous wife gains her wisdom from her Husband ESPECIALLY when we are understanding this as a spiritual statement primarily. There is the wisdom of this world and there is wisdom which comes from above.

Mat 13:53  And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
Mat 13:54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Mat 13:55  Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Mat 13:56  And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
Mat 13:57  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Mat 13:58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Notice that wisdom and mighty works are connected together.
Joh 5:34  But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
Joh 5:35  He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
Joh 5:36  But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Jesus came doing the works of the Father but He Himself said that we would do even greater works!

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:11  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Now that we see that works and wisdom go hand and foot together, and that the works and wisdom are from God the Father even in Jesus’ case, what does wisdom look like in our lives as we live out these words of Jesus and “do the greater works”?

First off, we must understand what these “greater works” are so that we can understand where wisdom comes in place because as a virtuous wife to our Husband, we must have it already in our minds before we can “speak wisdom”.

What then does it mean, scripturally, to be “greater” than the thing being spoken about. It is what it sounds like but let’s use some scripture to solidify this concept in our minds.

G3187
meizōn
mide'-zone
Irregular comparative of G3173; larger (literally or figuratively, specifically in age): - elder, greater (-est), more.
Total KJV occurrences: 45

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Mar 4:31  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
Mar 4:32  But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

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

Jas 3:1  My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

2Pe 2:10  But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
2Pe 2:11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

It is clear from these scriptures that indeed “greater” indicates something that is more or larger than the thing being compared.

The reason I have taken the time to include things that are “greater” with this discussion on wisdom is because without the comparison of “greater” we would not be able to comprehend why the wisdom from above is MUCH greater than the wisdom of men.

Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Jas 3:18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

When we, as the virtuous body of Christ, act, say, or do ANYTHING, it should be that we are pulling from the wisdom of scripture and all of those examples and admonitions that have gone before us.

Our good conversation, or the way we live should all be done with meek wisdom.

Pro 4:5  Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:6  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Pro 4:7  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Pro 4:8  Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
Pro 4:9  She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

Law of kindness

Pro 31:26  She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Pro 31:26  She openethH6605 her mouthH6310 with wisdom;H2451 and inH5921 her tongueH3956 is the lawH8451 of kindness.H2617

Hebrew 2617 is better translated mercy and will help this verse come alive for us.

H2617
chêsêd
Total KJV Occurrences: 249
mercy, 137
Gen_19:19, Gen_24:27, Gen_39:21, Exo_15:13, Exo_34:6-7 (2), Num_14:18-19 (2), Deu_5:10, Deu_7:9, Deu_7:12, Jdg_1:24, 2Sa_7:15, 2Sa_15:20, 2Sa_22:51, 1Ki_3:6, 1Ki_8:23, 1Ch_16:34, 1Ch_16:41, 1Ch_17:13, 2Ch_1:8, 2Ch_6:13-14 (2), 2Ch_7:3, 2Ch_7:6, 2Ch_20:21, Ezr_3:11, Ezr_7:28, Ezr_9:9, Neh_1:5, Neh_9:32, Neh_13:22, Job_37:13, Psa_5:7, Psa_13:5, Psa_18:50, Psa_21:7, Psa_25:6-7 (2), Psa_25:10, Psa_31:7, Psa_32:10, Psa_33:18, Psa_33:22, Psa_36:5, Psa_52:8, Psa_57:3, Psa_59:10 (2), Psa_59:16-17 (2), Psa_61:7, Psa_62:12, Psa_66:20, Psa_69:13, Psa_77:8, Psa_85:7, Psa_85:10, Psa_86:5, Psa_86:13, Psa_86:15, Psa_89:2, Psa_89:14, Psa_89:24, Psa_89:28, Psa_90:14, Psa_94:18, Psa_98:3, Psa_100:5, Psa_101:1, Psa_103:8, Psa_103:11, Psa_103:17, Psa_107:1 (2), Psa_108:4, Psa_109:12, Psa_109:16, Psa_109:21, Psa_109:26, Psa_118:1-4 (5), Psa_118:29, Psa_119:64, Psa_119:124, Psa_130:7, Ps 136 (26), Psa_138:8, Psa_143:12, Psa_145:8, Psa_147:11, Pro_3:3, Pro_14:22, Pro_16:6, Pro_20:28 (2), Pro_21:21, Isa_16:5, Jer_33:11, Dan_9:4, Hos_4:1, Hos_6:6, Hos_10:12, Hos_12:6, Mic_6:8 (2), Mic_7:18, Mic_7:20, Zec_7:9
kindness, 40
Gen_20:13, Gen_21:23, Gen_24:12, Gen_40:14 (2), Jos_2:12 (2), Jdg_8:35, Rth_2:20, Rth_3:10, 1Sa_15:6, 1Sa_20:14-15 (2), 2Sa_2:5-6 (2), 2Sa_3:8, 2Sa_9:1, 2Sa_9:3, 2Sa_9:7, 2Sa_10:2 (2), 2Sa_16:17, 1Ki_2:7, 1Ki_3:6, 1Ch_19:2 (2), 2Ch_24:22, Neh_9:17, Est_2:9, Psa_31:21, Psa_117:2, Psa_119:76, Psa_141:5, Pro_19:22, Pro_31:26, Isa_54:8, Isa_54:10, Jer_2:2, Joe_2:13, Jon_4:2

There are more words translated into English from this Hebrew word, but these are the two prominent ones. The majority of the time this word is translated as “mercy”.

Psa 86:13  For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Hos 6:5  Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.
Hos 6:6  For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

So, mercy is a law and Jesus said as much.
Mat 23:22  And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
Mat 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

We are told to keep the maw of mercy and that is what the virtuous woman is all about. However, we must also mix mercy with wisdom and not always error on the side of mercy if we aren’t using wisdom to know when to show mercy.

Again, James tells us this.

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

Pro 8:11  For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
Pro 8:12  I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

Given all that we have mentioned about wisdom, how does the virtuous woman who opens her mouth with wisdom and speaks with her tongue loving mercy, apply this to her own life and way of living?

Well, she probably looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness according to Proverbs 31:27.

Pro 31:27  She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

What does it mean to look well to the ways of her household? A mother and wife naturally will be concerned with the wellness and well-being of those in the household.

New Testament examples of looking well to the ways of the household can be found in 1 Tim and Titus 2.

1Ti 5:11  But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
1Ti 5:12  Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
1Ti 5:13  And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
1Ti 5:14  I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
1Ti 5:15  For some are already turned aside after Satan.

Tit 2:3  The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
Tit 2:4  That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5  To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Now, if these things apply to physical women, how much more do they apply to all the household of God who are the body of Christ, the church of the living God?

Additionally, if we accumulate everything that this virtuous woman has done and achieved we will notice that we are again being told that she is one who looks after her home well. Didn’t we already know this about this woman, that she rises early to tend to the needs of her household and those within it?

In other words, we need to REMEMBER our first love.

Mar 12:30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Keeping wisdom and mercy within our hearts and minds at all times is what we need to do.

This spiritual concept is exactly what not eating the bread of idleness is all about. Eating of “that bread” is feeding the old serpent.

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Ecc 10:16  Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Ecc 10:17  Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Ecc 10:18  By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.

Eze 16:46  And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Eze 16:47  Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
Eze 16:48  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Eze 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Eze 16:50  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

The lesson to be pulled from this is that as we become more successful and as we age within the mindset of taking care of the things daily that need to be taken care of, we must continue to do these things as we did from the start.

We must always be diligent to remember that until it is the end, we have NOT overcome in FULL. We must get to the end so that we can claim that we have overcome until the end.

Looking well to the household of God includes many things but here is a good place to start.

Pro 27:23  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

If that is all not clear enough, I want to show you now who you are you your Husband and what He expects from His wife that speaks His wisdom and has mercy on her lips.

Pro 31:27  She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Pro 31:27  She looketh wellH6822 to the waysH1979 of her household,H1004 and eatethH398 notH3808 the breadH3899 of idleness.H6104

I think you will recognize she who looketh well because she is none other than the watchmen that we have talked so much about.

H6822
tsâphâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 38
watchman, 14
2Sa_18:24-27 (5), 2Ki_9:17-18 (2), 2Ki_9:20, Isa_21:6, Eze_3:17, Eze_33:2, Hos_9:6-8 (3)
watch, 5
Gen_31:49, 2Sa_13:34, Isa_21:5, Hab_2:1 (2)
watchmen, 5
1Sa_14:16, Isa_52:8, Isa_56:10, Jer_6:17, Mic_7:4
look, 2
Psa_5:3, Mic_7:7
looketh, 2
Pro_31:27, Son_7:4
watching, 2
1Sa_4:13, Lam_4:17
behold, 1
Psa_66:7
beholding, 1
Pro_15:3
espy, 1
Jer_48:19
waited, 1
Job_15:22
watched, 1
Lam_4:17
watcheth, 1
Psa_37:32
watchman’s, 1
Eze_33:6
well, 1
Pro_31:27

Yes, the spiritual connotation of this virtuous body of Christ, is that we are the acacia wood OVERLAID with gold in the household of God so that we can be among His tabernacle, be His tabernacle, from which His love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance can be made manifest to the world we are sent out into.

H1979
hălı̂ykâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
goings, 2
Psa_68:24 (2)
ways, 2
Pro_31:27, Hab_3:6
companies, 1
Job_6:19
walk, 1
Nah_2:5

Nah 2:5  He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk H1979; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.

The same word used as “ways” in Proverbs 21:27 is used as “walk” in the verse above. Let us all be watchmen over one another as we care for one another as we go through this life striving to run towards the only Way, Truth and Life that matters in the end.