[Study Aired April 13, 2023]

2Ki 23:1  And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:2  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
2Ki 23:3  And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
2Ki 23:4  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. 
2Ki 23:5  And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 
2Ki 23:6  And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. 
2Ki 23:7  And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
2Ki 23:8  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. 
2Ki 23:9  Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

In this section of the book of Kings, we will learn how corrupt Judah had become as a nation, and to what extent king Josiah, who is a type of Christ, was going to go to destroy all the idolatry and wicked practices that had become ingrained into their culture over the years.

For God’s elect this story typifies for us the order and progressive nature of judgment which is upon the body of Christ today (Luk 13:32). God is preparing the bride of our Lord through a process that is not going to be superficial but fiery in its nature (1Pe 4:12) so that the mind of Christ can be forged in each of His children, who will have their robes washed in the blood of the lamb first, before the rest of mankind (Rev 12:10-11, Heb 6:3, Jas 4:15). Another way to see this story is the judgment that God’s elect will bring upon the world after they have been judged and made ready in this life (Oba 1:21, 1Pe 4:17)

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death [Mat 16:25].
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them [Rev 19:7]. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Josiah typifies Christ, who in type and shadow is demonstrating to all of Judah what God wants all the world to hear: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” They will hear what the king has to say, and even conform to the changes that are brought about, but in the end the heart of the nation turns again to its idolatrous ways and another series of evil kings will follow after the reign of king Josiah [1Co 8:6, Eph 3:9, Php 3:9, 1Pe 1:5].

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ [“The Lord our God is one Lord“], by whom are all things, and we by him.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God [Joh 14:20], who created all things by Jesus 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:

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time [Rev 20:6].

It is when we hear the voice of the true Shepherd that we tear down the idols and wickedness within our own lives, typified by the actions king Josiah took upon the nation of Israel. His actions typify how “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.” When Josiah follows through and is zealous for the Lord to clean the land of all of its idolatrous ways, he typifies for those who have God’s spirit what Christ is able to do within His people. We learn from the actions of this King that when we “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,” the result of those actions is that the second commandment (Mar 12:31) will be fulfilled as well because of the wholeheartedness being expressed in keeping God’s commands which demonstrates our love toward Him and our neighbor (1Jn 5:2, 1Jn 4:20, Mat 5:44).

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.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

2Ki 23:1  And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:2  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
2Ki 23:3  And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. 

These first three verses are a shadow of the time when Christ will come back to this earth during the thousand-year reign (Rev 20:4-5), gathering the elect from the four corners of the world (Mat 24:31, Rev 11:15) typified by this statement, “And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.“

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

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

Josiah will go “into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great:” and he will  “read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.” Seeing these scriptures fulfilled in Christ’s time, found in Luke 4:21, did not change the hearts of the people any more than it did during this period with Josiah or during the thousand-year reign of the saints. No matter what measures are enforced to make “all the words of the book of the covenant” evident, without God’s power working in our lives, we will always come short and be found only with our own righteousness that can hear the word of God but not keep it in our hearts (Php 3:9). God always requires a witness to be given to the flesh that cannot fulfill His will without the power of God’s holy spirit as was the case with Peter (Mat 26:34). All of mankind will be shown in their appointed time and order that we can only read and hear the sayings of the prophecy (Rev 20:8), as opposed to God’s elect who will witness to the world that through Christ, who enters into our spiritual house, our temple (1Co 3:16), we can do all three – read, hear, and keep the sayings of the prophecy, which is to keep His commandments as we witness our love and discipleship to one another through Christ (Rev 1:3, 1Jn 5:2, Joh 13:35, Col 1:27-29).

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

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

When Christ returns the second time to this earth and is seen of all mankind, He will, like Josiah, stand by a pillar (Gal 2:9) which represents the elect bride of Christ. “And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.”

Gal 2:9  And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 

What will be required of the world is obedience and the keeping of God’s laws, and that law and order will be established, as typified with Josiah at this time in history. People will in turn learn of God’s righteousness we are being told because His judgments are in the earth (Isa 26:9). However, conversion is a miracle reserved for all of humanity in the lake of fire where those words and the witness of Christ will finally bring about the long-awaited later harvest that had its time of sowing seed during the thousand-year reign (Ecc 11:1, Isa 55:10-11, Jas 5:7-11).

Ecc 11:1  Cast thy bread upon the waters: [the bread is the word of God that has been cast upon humanity – (Php 1:15-19)] for thou shalt find it after many days.

Isa 55:10  For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: (1Co 3:6) 
Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

[…and has been doing just that from the foundation of the world – bringing the results that God wants to further His plan of salvation]

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 
Jas 5:9  Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. 
Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure (Rev 19:7). Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

2Ki 23:4  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

The cleansing process for the world begins with having God’s judgments in the earth (Isa 26:9, Jer 22:29) so that men can learn what is true righteousness before God. 

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

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

Knowing what is right and being able to carry out a life of obedience are two different things. Regardless, there is always order in the house of God when Christ is present, and that order is being typified with this statement of events that were unfolding with Judah at this time: “and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.” These were the commands king Josiah made of Hilkiah the high priest and represents the elect ruling over all the kingdoms of this world, including the religious kingdoms that are filled with idolatry and lies. We go outside the camp with Christ today (Heb 13:13-15) in order to have every idle word and action in our own lives burned up (Mat 12:36, 2Co 10:5-6), and if we are blessed to endure that process in this life, then we will begin the same process with the rest of the world, symbolized by this statement: “and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.“

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

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

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

2Ki 23:5  And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 

What Josiah put down at this time typifies for God’s elect what will be put down when they rule a thousand years under Christ. The basest of religious priests, “the idolatrous priests“, will be put down, and there will be an end to days, months, times and years, which days are connected to the celestials: “to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.“

The “idolatrous priests” represent the leaders of the churches of Babylon today and remind us that God can take the weak and base things of the world whom He ordained (Dan 4:17), and typify God’s elect (1Co 1:27) and have them [God’s elect, the weak of the world] become the true leaders of this world who will do away with all of these wicked practices that are in the earth until this day.

2Ki 23:6  And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

Even the memory of the bones that carried out our former conversation in the earth (Eph 2:2) are witnessed against by taking “the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.” These actions of which we read in Malachi 4:1 are giving us the same message of how nothing of our past is to be kept, in order to become a new creation (2Co 5:17-18).

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

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

H842 The Grove ‘ăshêrâh    ‘ăshêyrâh ash-ay-raw’, ash-ay-raw’

From H833; happy; asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess [of love]; also an image of the same: – grove. Compare H6253.

H6939 Kidron qidrôn kid-rone’  From H6937; dusky place; Kidron, a brook near Jerusalem: – Kidron.

H6937 qâdar kaw-dar’A primitive root; to be ashy, that is, dark colored; by implication to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments): – be black (-ish), be (make) dark (-en), X heavily, (cause to) mourn.

2Ki 23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

This verse (2Ki 23:7) typifies the defilement of God’s word via the churches of Babylon whose Laodicean spirit (Rev 3:14) rules over the laity with a control that is likened unto the perversion of sodomy in (2Ki 23:7). The sodomites’ houses are “by the house of the LORD” which symbolizes the closeness of this perversion and the effect and hold it has on the churches of Babylon “where the women [churches] wove hangings for the grove.” ‘Weaving’ in this case is the negative example of its use and symbolizes the intricate pattern of lies that is hung upon the grove^H842 that is connected to a Phoenician goddess who symbolizes Mystery Babylon who is a spiritual whore in God’s eyes.

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;

[Rev 3:14 and unto the angel of the church of the (people’s rights) write; these things saith the (truth) the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of god; (PNBkjv)]

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

2Ki 23:8  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. 

King Josiah’s actions symbolize for us today how we should feel about our former conversation in the churches of this world, who had promised us liberty but were not able to provide it having been bound to lies, false doctrine, and false worship (2Pe 2:19). We repent of being connected to those “weak and beggarly elements” (Gal 4:9) that had control over our heavens for so long. King Josiah’s actions demonstrate for us the zealous spirit we now have to cleanse the temple of God (Joh 2:15) from “Geba to Beersheba”, which is a distance of about 192 km (119 miles) [according to www.rome2rio.com/s/Beersheba/Geva] and “which were the northern and southern boundaries of the land of Judah” according to John Gill’s commentary]

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Breaking “down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city” is also symbolic language that tells us Christ and the elect will take away the power from the rulers of this world which power is “on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city” as opposed to being the power of God that is on His right hand where the elect will rule as kings and priests under our Lord as fishers of men (Joh 21:6).

Joh 21:6  And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

2Ki 23:9  Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 

The priests were not converted at this time is what we are being told in this verse, but continued on in their traditions, not seeing the need to come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem which symbolizes the place where we lay down our life for Christ as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Eating unleavened bread is just a show of our own righteousness and not a heart that is changed and displaying the fruits of sincerity and truth that unleavened bread represents (Amo 4:6-7, 1Co 5:8).

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

As mentioned at the start of the study there is a progressive nature to God’s judgment that is upon the body of Christ, and we will continue next week, Lord willing, to look at that order with the second part of this chapter which covers (2Ki 23:10-18).

(Key verse: Genesis 49:27)

Benjamin is the last son of Jacob whom he addressed before his death in Egypt:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

The theme of the last days encompasses so many aspects in the lives of God’s elect, as these sons of Jacob and their offspring also enlighten some of these aspects for us:

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

What these sons of Israel encountered after the death of Jacob typify the lives of God’s elect who are indeed caused by God to listen and hear His voice. The elect of God can see that these words of Jacob are all part of the whole prophecy and revelation of Jesus Christ and His works in them:

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

Benjamin: his birth and the meaning of his name

Benjamin was Jacob’s last born son and was born from his favorite wife, Rachel, and the only son who was born in Canaan – the rest were all born in Padanaram back in Mesopotamia (Gen 28:5-7; Gen 31:18). Benjamin was actually born while they were still journeying after Jacob, and his family left that area to live in Canaan:

Gen 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Gen 35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Gen 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul [Hebrew: nephesh – life] was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni [meaning son of my sorrow]: but his father called him Benjamin [son at my right hand].
Gen 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

These two sides of Benjamin, through the two names from his mother and father, also help us to see how this son of Jacob and his offspring, not only reveal the good in God’s creation (represented by those on His right hand), but also the evil or those things which bring sorrow, as appointed by God (Gen 48:13-20; Job 2:10; Psa 16:11; Isa 45:7; Mat 25:31-34; Mat 26:64). We also see this division within the symbols found in Jacob’s final words to his youngest son, Benjamin:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin [Hebrew: ṭâraph = tear in pieces] as a wolf: in the morning [Hebrew: bôqer = dawn] he shall devour the prey, and at night [Hebrew: ereb = dusk] he shall divide [Hebrew: châlaq = to be smooth/bring division] the spoil.

Here we see the symbol of a wolf and its distinctive activities in the morning and in the evening, with specific references to a prey and a spoil.

Benjamin: the symbol of a wolf

A wolf is part of the beastly kingdom, even as that animal kingdom reflects or typifies our natural state:

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

Man was created on the sixth day with all the other “beasts of the earth”, and as such this is how God wants us to see the natural “estate of the sons of men”:

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

All physical things reflect and typify the works of God in us, if we can “read” that and “hear” from the spirit of God how to then compare the spiritual with spiritual to apply or “keep” the words from God’s mouth (Mat 4:4; Rev 1:3):

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:

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

The natural man cannot apply God’s Word within himself because he is obsessed with the outward appearance of things which God uses to blind him:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is one of the biggest miracles from God as He blinds the eyes of those He does not want to see where His spiritual kingdom is at this stage and how He is working all things according to His perfect plan for this creation (Ecc 1:13; Luk 17:20-21; Joh 9:39-41; Eph 1:11):

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

Just as the words of God are used to both close and open eyes and ears, so there are always a negative and positive application in all these symbols in the scriptures through which this perfect plan of God is beautifully put together (Exo 14:19-20). These two distinctive ways of applications, in the final analysis, also highlight this truth of the two Adams and how God uses them:

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.

Benjamin is compared to a wolf by Jacob, and the Hebrew word for wolf is “zeêb”, and this word also relates to the color yellow, according to Dr. James Strong:

H2061: zeêb – From an unused root meaning to be yellow; a wolf: – wolf.

The Hebrew word for “yellow” is tsâhôb, and here is where this word first appears in the scriptures:

Lev 13:30 Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow [tsâhôb] thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

This is the condition of the first Adam as the wolf negatively relates to our unclean land, referring to our flesh or our spiritual leprosy. This wolf preys on sheep, which is a type of God’s flock (Joh 10:1-16). This is where the activities of this evil wolf are focused, as God also revealed to the prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 22:23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 22:24 Son of man, say unto her [the physical city of Jerusalem – the type of the spiritual harlot (Isa 1:10-23; Gal 4:25; Rev 17:1-18)], Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
Eze 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
Eze 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Eze 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Eze 22:28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
Eze 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

Spiritual wolves are “in the midst [of God’s flock and] are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to receive dishonest gain” – they cause divisions and do not divide properly between the clean and unclean. (Rom 16:17; 1Co 3:1-4; Gal 5:19-21; Tit 3:10). These wolves use spiritual deceptions with a flattering tongue which cause God’s flock to follow them because “…at night [they] shall divide [Hebrew: châlaq]” and bring intensive pain (Psa 55:21; Pro 20:19; Isa 30:9-10):

Pro 29:5 A man that flattereth [Hebrew: châlaq = to be smooth/bring division] his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening [Greek: harpax = extortion] wolves.

However, Jesus, the good Shepherd, sees no problem sending His sheep among the wolves to get the necessary spiritual experience, and to see how He provides for us as we keep watching and applying His words through wisdom (Luk 16:8):

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

It indeed takes time and patience to see through the sheep facade of these Babylonian wolves as their true fruits will eventually appear (Luk 21:19):

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

If these wolves are only out there, then our own eyes are still blinded to our own deceitful false prophet and his words in us. As the first Adam was made a corrupt creature from the Potter’s hand, so we are all first a ravening evening wolf driven by the spirit of the world in us (Jer 18:4; Hab 1:5-11; Rom 7:13-24; Rom 8:5-8; Rom 8:20):

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
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.

This is the spirit of the Pharisee in us who is a hypocrite pointing also at the shortcomings and mistakes of other to satisfy our lust for recognition of our outward display of good works (Mat 7:21-23):

Luk 11:39 And the Lord said unto him [a certain Pharisee who was upset that Jesus did not wash before dinner], Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

It is this ravening spirit in us that drives us to believe we are spiritually mature long before the beam is removed from our own eye and the fruit of the spirit of God is produced (Mat 7:1-5; Gal 5:22-23):

1Co 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
1Co 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
1Co 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

We should “take heed…unto [our]selves” and see the wolf in our own camp before we can be in a position to be our brother’s keeper and not his killer, of which Cain is such a tragic example (Gen 4:1-9):

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Of all these warnings, we also take note of the violence in the life of the tribe of Benjamin.

The tribe of Benjamin: the violent and merciless arrogance of the flesh

When the tribes of Israel settled in Canaan, the Benjamites occupied territory in the south of the land. They also did that of which all the other tribes were guilty – they did not drive out the Canaanites, even the spiritual wolves, from among themselves:

Jdg 1:21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

The evil wolves within the hearts of the tribe of Benjamin caused them to even be an adversary to their own brothers in Israel. They indeed brought sorrow to Israel. For example, we read in the book of Judges how this tribe was not given to hospitality and was very arrogant and violent in nature. In one instance mentioned in Judges, we read one of the goriest and most horrific stories recorded in the Bible, for our admonition. This story played out in a certain Benjamite city, namely Gibeah, when a “certain Levite”, his concubine, their servant and two asses came to this city one evening:

Jdg 19:14 And they [this unnamed Levite and his family] passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
Jdg 19:15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

An old man, who was not a Benjamite, but from the tribe of Ephraim, who only sojourned in Gibeah, took this family to his dwelling there and gave them lodging and food for that evening (Jdg 19:16-21). However, this very showing of hospitality and decency brought this ravening wolf spirit into the hearts of certain men in the tribe of Benjamin to demand of this old man to hand over this Levite to them for sexual purposes:

Jdg 19:22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

The Levite then eventually gave his concubine to them, and these Benjamites raped her, and in the process she died (Jdg 19:22-28). This Levite then divided the dead body of his concubine into twelve pieces and sent them to all the tribes of Israel with a note to explain what happened. The other tribes then united against the tribe of Benjamin and demanded that those men who were guilty be delivered to them. The Benjamites protected the guilty men and even went into battle against the other tribes. In the process, nearly all the males in the tribe of Benjamin were killed, except for six hundred men who fled and eventually found mercy:

Jdg 20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
Jdg 20:48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

All the tribes of Israel promised not to give their daughters to these Benjamites because they witnessed the “wolf in the evening” character of all these Benjamite men (Jdg 21:7; Jer 5:6). Neverthless, one city did not join in the battles against the tribe of Benjamin, and from them women were taken to wife with these six hundred men of Benjamin:

Jdg 21:8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

This is how the tribe of Benjamin was saved to play important roles in the future life of the nation of Israel. One such role was that they produced the first king of Israel, namely Saul, who ruled Israel for forty years (Act 13:21):

1Sa 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
1Sa 9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Very interestingly, Saul came from the very city where this concubine of the Levite was killed, namely Gibeah. Gibeah is actually also called “Gibeah of Saul” in the scriptures:

1Sa 15:34 ….and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

With all his “goodly” physical attributes Saul eventually also displayed the same spirit of the earthy wolf as those men in the tribe of Benjamin. Saul’s rulership was meant to only be for a limited time period to also reveal to us the limited rulership of the fleshly Adam in us. Saul was set up by God to be a fierce and merciless adversary to the true King typified by David. David could only reign after the death of Saul, and it is only after we have been judged for our role in all evil that we can rule in the true temple of God:

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

The tribe of Benjamin: The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him

The wolf indeed also has a positive application, and we see it in the blessing of Jacob and Moses:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Deu 33:12 And of Benjamin he [Moses] said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

The tribe of Benjamin produced a few leaders in Israel among whom was a judge called Ehud, whom God used to free Israel from the rule of the Moabites when Ehud, who was left-handed, used a dagger to kill the fat king of the Moabites, Eglon, who typifies the lusts and pride of our natural man from whom we are being released.

Jdg 3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
Jdg 3:15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

The tribe of Benjamin in general is known as the tribe who had skillful left-handed warriors who could sling stones without missing their target (Jdg 20:16). Here the left hand is also used as a positive application for God’s use as all things, even the evil, are God’s instruments to bring forth His desires. God uses all for His purpose and will bring all the wicked in the first Adam to be righteous in Christ (Gen 50:20; Pro 16:4; 1Co 15:22-28):

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

When the kingdom of Israel was divided after the death of Solomon, it was this tribe of Benjamin who remained faithful to the tribe of Judah in the south of Canaan, and to the city and temple to which God chose to put His Name. This all typifies spiritual Zion, the city of God who is “Jerusalem which is above” – Christ and His elect (Psa 46:4-5; Mat 5:14; Gal 4:26; Rev 21:1-7):

Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come.

Psa 78:68 But [God] chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
Psa 78:69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

Two other Benjamites, Mordecai and Esther, were used by God to save the whole Jewish nation and bring freedom from the Babylonian and Persian rule:

Est 2:5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
Est 2:6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
Est 2:7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

In the New Testament scriptures, we see another example of how God used this tribe of Benjamin. The apostle Paul also declares that he was in physical terms from this tribe which he counted as a loss for his spiritual connection in Christ (Rom 11:1). This spiritual conversion to deem flesh as nothing is also seen in the name change from the old Benjamite name of “Saul” to “Paul” (meaning “little”):

Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Spiritually this tribe of Benjamin indeed typifies those who are sealed to be the spiritual Israel of God, knowing that they are the wolves who shall completely devour and destroy the prey of flesh in the evening to eat His bread in the morning – the resurrection from death (Exo 12:10; Exo 16:12; Psa 50:22; Hos 6:1). Because the elect are the witnesses of all the works of Christ in them, they are also the wolves who shall divide the spiritual “spoil” among all in Adam. In the process, they will be used by God to eventually bring spiritual harmony to all humanity through their Head, Jesus Christ (Isa 65:23-25; Oba 1:21; Eph 1:10; 1Co 15:28):

Rev 7:8…..Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together…

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[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

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

What Exactly is A Soul?
The Spiritual Significance of Being Right or Left Handed
Animals in Scripture – Wolves
Colors in Scripture – Yellow
Animals in Scripture – The Four Beasts in The Middle and Around The Throne

Hi,

What is the spiritual significance of being left or right-handed or ambidextrous? In Judges Chapter 3 it is mentioned that Ehud was left-handed. What was so important that God told us which hand Ehud used? Are there any more people in the Scriptures who are said to favor a particular hand (other than God himself and Ehud)?

R____

Hi R____,

Thank you for your question concerning the spiritual meaning of being right or left-handed.

We generally associate being on the left hand in a negative sense because of what our Lord told us about the sheep and the goats:

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

But in keeping with the character of the Cloud which is Christ, and which saved Israel from the armies of Egypt when Israel was camped by the Red Sea, I hope to demonstrate for you that even the concept of being left handed also has a positive application in the Word of God.

I knew that the tribe of Benjamin was known for the number of men in that tribe who were left-handed, because of this story, which I have always used to demonstrate the most basic meaning of the word ‘sin’:

Jdg 20:15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
Jdg 20:16 Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. [Hebrew: chetah – to sin]

Here is the blessing, such as it was, which Jacob pronounced upon Benjamin just before Jacob died:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Benjamin is described as a wolf whose entire day is spent seeking and devouring his prey. The story about the 700 left-handed men who were so accurate with a sling is the story of the tribe of Benjamin being very nearly wiped out by the other eleven tribes because of the heinous crime the Benjamite men of Gibeah had committed against the concubine of a fellow Israelite of the tribe of Levi who lived in the tribe of Ephraim.

This all suggests to us that the tribe of Benjamin was given to being violent and merciless in character. Some of the more prominent Benjamites mentioned in scripture are Ehud, King Saul, and his very capable warrior son Johathan.

The spiritual significance for us in this violent, ravenous, left-handed, wolf tribe, is that as the Israel of God, we are a violent, left-handed, ravenous beast capable of doing the same heinous works which the men of Gibeah did. But we are also capable of using that same zeal to destroy our fat old man when he dominates us and oppresses us and causes us to act like the beast like men of Gibeah.

That is what Jacob told Benjamin he would come to see of himself “in the latter days”, and that is what we, as that part of the Israel of God, must come to see is within us.

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

I hope this helps you to see both the positive and the negative spiritual application and spiritual significance of being left-handed.

What I did not realize was that Ehud was also of the tribe of Benjamin:

Jdg 3:15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

Your brother in the Christ,

Mike

Video Links

Job 23:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 23:2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Job 23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

Job 23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Job 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

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

Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

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

Job 23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

Job 23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Introduction

Eliphaz has just finished his third and final attempt to convince a man he had come to comfort inhis trial, that he is ‘a sinner above all men’.

In his final attempt to do so, he pulled out all the stops and made completely unfounded accusations against the character of the man he called his ‘friend’. Job was his honored ‘friend’ only while Job was prosperous.

What a commentary of the experience of our Lord Himself. He was quite popular as long as the free fish and bread kept coming, and as long as He continued to “heal their sick”.

Mat 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

Mat 14:15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

Mat 14:16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

Mat 14:17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

Mat 14:18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

Mat 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

Mat 14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelvebaskets full.

When Christ told the multitudes that there would be no more free meals, and when He told them that “The flesh profits nothing”, many of His disciples “went back and walked no more with Him”.

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

When the multitudes came to realize that following Christ was not a physically prosperous endeavor, they left Him in droves. In the same manner, Job was very popular while he had something physical to offer his friends. But when Job became destitute, and was “stricken of God” he was no longer worthy of the “inward friend” status he had before his trial. It was Job’s judgment by God, which separated him from his so- called friends. This is all a treatise on what we all do to our Lord while we are those in Babylon who want only the gifts and the things of the letter and of the flesh. We don’t want to hear of judgment or dying to the flesh at this part of our walk. Yet like those Jews who believed on Christ and at the same time wanted Him dead, these are very religious friends who considered Job’s judgment to be proof of a life of hidden sins, sins which Eliphaz now feels are so certain that he can name them.

Job 22:5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

Job 22:6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Job 22:7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

Job 22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

Job 22:9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 22:10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

There was not one word from one witness on record to back up any of these false accusations. When Eliphaz’s friend’s fortunes turned sour and his friend lost all his earthly possessions, and even all his children all in the matter of just a few hours, Eliphaz, as the Old Testament type of our own self- righteous Babylonian Pharisee, concluded that if God Himself was obviously displeased with Job, then it must be because Job was much more a sinner than himself. This is how we all naturally think of our brothers and sisters when we see them under severe trials.

This is so true that we have this New Testament example of Christ’s own disciples to show us that we all just naturally think in the same pattern of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar:

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Just like Job’s accusers, Christ’s disciples thought that the most obvious thing in the world was that this man, or his parents, was a sinner above all men to be born blind.

Christ warns us against this inevitable human reaction at seeing tragedy befall our brothers:

Luk 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Luk 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

We all do this, and in doing so, all the things that happened to Job are just a type of what we have done to Christ and to His Christ:

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

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

When we look down upon our brother who is being judged, we are doing that to Christ Himself as He was stricken by God:

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

While Eliphaz is the Old Testament type of who we are as our brother’s self- righteous accusers, Job is the Old Testament type of who we are as God’s elect who are the first to be judged for our own self- righteousness. The more Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar accuse Job, the more certain and convinced Job becomes of his own righteousness.

As the Old Testament type of us, in defending Himself against the accusations of his accusers, Job is also contending with and condemning his Creator (Job 40:1-8):

Job 23:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 23:2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

“My complaint [ is] bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.” Job is saying that his complaint and his groaning are less that the pain which the wrath that God is pouring out upon him warrants. In other words, Job actually thinks that his complaint is not equal to the affliction he is suffering at God’s hand.

The fact is that the Hebrew word translated ‘bitterness’ appears in the Old Testament 23 times, and in every instance but this one it is translated in the King James as rebellious, rebellion and once as rebels.

H4805

mer y

Total KJV Occurrences: 23

rebellious, 17

Isa_30:9, Eze_3:5-9 (6), Eze_3:26-27 (2), Eze_12:2-3 (3), Eze_12:9, Eze_12:25, Eze_17:12, Eze_24:3, Eze_44:6

rebellion, 4

Deu_31:27, 1Sa_15:23, Neh_9:17, Pro_17:11

bitter, 1

Job_23:2

rebels, 1

Num_17:10

Many of the various translations have caught this. Here is how Rotherham’s translates this verse:

(Rotherham) Even to- day, is my complaint rebellion? His hand, is heavier than my groaning.

This is obviously a much better translation in the light of the fact that Job complains repeatedly of how God is dealing with him. For example:

Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

Job 34:6 Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.

The fact is that the word translated ‘stroke’ is the Hebrew word ‘yad’, which appears in the Old Testament 1536 times. Of those appearances, 1088 times it is translated as ‘hand’, and another 275 times it is translated in the plural ‘hands’, for a total of 1363 times. The only time it is ever translated as ‘stroke’ is here in this verse.

H3027

ya d

Total KJV Occurrences: 1536

hand, 1088

hands, 275

That Job is complaining of God’s chastening wrath is clear from this verse where we see the only other place where this word ‘stroke’ appears in the book of Job. However this is time the word ‘stroke’ is translated from an entirely different Hebrew word, and in this case the English word ‘stroke’ is more appropriate for describing God’s chastening wrath upon Job’s self- righteousness. In this instance the speaker is Elihu who is speaking for God Himself and makes this revealing statement concerning God’s wrath upon Job:

Job 36:18 Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.

Here is the Hebrew word translated ‘stroke’ in this verse:

H5607

se pheq s epheq

say’- fek, seh’- fek

From H5606; chastisement; also satiety: – stroke, sufficiency.

Moses and King David reveal that God’s wrath can and indeed does destroy our old man.

Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

Psa 78:38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Job has no doubt that he is suffering God’s wrath. He just cannot understand why.

Job 19:11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.

There are those who know God and His Son. They know exactly where God and Christ dwell. On the other hand, there are those who do not know God and His Son, and they do not know where They are. But even those who do know God and His Son and who know where they are, did not at first know Him or where He is. We all start out just as Job:

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

We have no idea who or what we are dealing with when we have such thoughts, and we all have just such thoughts when we come “to [ our] wits end” (Psa 107: 27). Here is a verse that gives us an idea “of Him with whom we have to do”:

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

Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Not knowing where God is does not keep Job, the type of us, from ‘filling his mouth with arguments and ordering his cause before God’.

Job 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Job 23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

Job 23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Oh, yes, we will indeed “know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.” Here are just a few of those “Living… powerful… sharp… piercing” words:

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?

Job 40:9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

The answer to Job’s question is, yes, God does indeed “plead against” our old man “with His great power”. But as that old man is weakened and destroyed, God does strengthen our new man. Job knows nothing of an “old man” who needs to die, nor does he know anything about a “new man” who must be strengthened and increased within us all:

Joh 3:30 He must increase [ the new heavenly man], but I [ the old earthly man] must decrease.

Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

But Job and all of the Old Testament prophets knew nothing of the spiritual salvation that was to be given to us. Here is an incredible statement inspired by the holy spirit through the pen of the apostle Peter. These verses reveal just how cut off from God we are before we are “given… eyes that see and ears that hear”:

1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

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.

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore 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;

So Job’s entire trial and all his suffering and the rewards he reaped following his great trial did not minister to himself or to his friends, “but unto us”. It will in time minister to them, “every man in his order”, but their order is to simply “testify beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow”. In the meantime, it is revealed to them that “not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister”. So Job tells us of the frustration we all feel when we do not know God or His Son, and we have no idea where they are:

Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Job 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

This is exactly what Christ reveals God does to all of us while we think we know God, and while we think we believe on Christ, but we do not even hear what he says, much less do what He says. This is exactly what Christ reveals He is doing at this very moment to the masses who are to this day coming to him, calling Him ‘Lord, Lord’ but not able to hear His words and do His Father’s expressed will:

Mat 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

These are not words about others. These are words which describe you and me for many long years. We hear but we hear not, we see, but we perceive not, until we are given by our heavenly Father eyes to see and ears to hear.

“On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him”. What takes place on God’s left hand? Here is what we are told:

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

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

Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Only because we have been steeped in the lies of Babylon does this all sound so final for these poor “goats on his left hand”. The scriptures reveal that we are all first on God’s left hand as goats, and we all “go away into aionian punishment” and “suffer loss” in “the fire” before we are transformed into “the sheep” who enter into the city and drink freely of the water of life.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

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

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

It is true that the goats do not reign with Christ during the thousand years, and it is true that the goats are not called overcomers of the wicked one. But even the goats are, “in [ their] own order” (1Co 15:23), redeemed and given the white robes which are “made white in the blood of the lamb” (Rev 7:9-17).

So it is on God’s left hand that all of this work is done. Here it all is in the prophet Micah:

Mic 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Mic 4:9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

Mic 4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

“… Go even to Babylon; there shalt you be delivered”. It is in Babylon that we find all these goats. It is “on His left hand” that He does all this work. ” On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:”

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

God knows our ways because He had every day of that ‘way’ written in His book, before any of those days came to be.

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

Before any of our predestined days came to be, God had already written into “His book” all the trials of those days. Job’s trials “happened to him and they are written” as the Old Testament type and shadow of the trials which “when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”. Gold is purified by fire as the type of how every vestige of rebellion against His ways is to be burnt out of us as His firstfruit harvest.

Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job’s opinion of himself is as a spotless lamb of God who has feared God and has put God’s words above his need for physical nourishment. He has not the least hint of the insidious sin of self- righteousness and how it robs God of His sovereignty. Job actually believes that he has “kept… God’s ways” in every way possible. At the same time he knows that a sovereign God is working everything after the counsel of His own will, including the trials he is enduring which seem so unjust to a man as righteous as he is.

So he confesses:

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

“What His soul desires, even that He does” has us to know for certain that if God “will [ is to] have all men to be saved and to come a knowledge of the Truth… even that He [ will do]”.

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us- ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Here are two other versions of 1Ti 2:4 which present the concept of salvation for all in Adam as a vain wish on God’s part:

(ASV) who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.

(BBE) Whose desire is that all men may have salvation and come to the knowledge of what is true.

The second book of Chronicles agrees with the rest of scripture:

2Ch 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

2Ch 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

God’s will is not dependent upon the will of mankind. “What His soul desires, even that he does”, makes it clear that God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will and that our salvation is not of him that wills but of God who shows mercy.

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

“His own will”, not ours, is how God is working “all things” – not just some things. He repeats this truth in Rom 9:

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.

Job may be confused about why God is doing what He is doing in his life, but he has absolutely no doubt that it is God who is doing it:

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

Do we dare to doubt that Job is a type of us, and that it is God who “performs the thing that is appointed for me… [ and that] it is not of him that wills but of God that shows mercy”? How can we doubt that our own afflictions are also “appointed [ for us, and is being] performed” by God?

Job 23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

Job 23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Job knows that his trouble is all the work of God in his life. “When [ he] considers [ this he] is afraid of [ God]”. “God makes my heart soft” is not to be understood as Job having a repentant and pliant heart. The Hebrew words for “heart soft” is “rakak labe”, the same phrase rendered “fainthearted” in this verse in Isaiah.

Isa 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted [ Hebrew, rakak labab] for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Job is nowhere near repentance. He is just getting started at ‘ordering his cause before God and filling his mouth with arguments’.

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

“For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me” should be translated ‘God make my heart faint, and the Almighty troubles me’.

“Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has he covered the darkness from my face”, is just a repetition of Job’s complaint that God had not let him die.

Job 3:11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Job may want this trial to be over, but he is not yet at his “wits’ end”, and until that appointed time he will, as the type of each of us, continue to reprove, contend with and condemn his Creator.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will continue to hear how Job compares his own righteousness to some evil publican, who is apparently so inferior to Job that he must be “a sinner above all men’. Job cannot understand God’s ways in dealing with him, and he wants God to know exactly how he feels about that.

Here is Job’s continued complaint:

Job 24:1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

Job 24:2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

Job 24:3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

Job 24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

Job 24:5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

Job 24:6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

Job 24:7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

Job 24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

Job 24:9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

Job 24:10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

Job 24:11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

Job 24:12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

Job 24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.