1 Samuel 11:1–15 The Ammonites’ Covenant Condition

[Study Aired March 16, 2026]

Our study today is centered on the rescue of Jabesh-Gilead out of the hands of the Ammonites. It shows the extreme pressure that the city of Jabesh-Gilead was under as a result of the Ammonites. In their distress, the Lord touched the heart of Saul, their king, to come to their aid. The study also shows Saul’s tenderness toward those that oppose him. Saul leading the Israelites to overcome the Ammonites resulted in the public confirmation and recognition of his election as king of Israel.

The Ammonites Attacks Jabesh-Gilead

1Sa 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh-Gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 

The Ammonites are descendants of Ben-Ammi, the son of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and his younger daughter, making them kin to the Moabites. They are often in conflict with Israel, the Lord’s people and were located east of Jordan. The Ammonites therefore represent our flesh. It is important to also note that the name Nahash means serpent. Nahash was the king of the Ammonites when Saul was made king of Israel. Nahash, in this case, signifies the devil who empowers our flesh.

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

Jabesh of Gilead is a town on the eastern side of the Jordan River which is close to where the Ammonites resided. To understand why the Ammonites attacked the town of Jabesh-Gilead, we need to know why some of the tribes of Israel decided to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan instead of crossing over the Jordan to live in the promised land of Canaan.

The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh decided to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan because the land of Gilead and Jazer was ideal for their massive herds and livestock. They requested this fertile area instead of crossing into Canaan, promising Moses they would still help fight in the conquest. They eventually fought with the other tribes to secure the Promised Land before returning to their families and possessions on the eastern side.

Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

Num 32:5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. 

Num 32:16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:
Num 32:17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 
Num 32:18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.

When the cares of this world take preeminence in our walk with the Lord, as we see some of the tribes stayed on the east side of the Jordan demonstrate, it provides a foothold for our flesh, which is likened to the Ammonites, to constantly wrestle against us. Our flesh is always fighting against our walk with Christ. Because of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, the word of the Lord sown in our hearts and minds is choked, and therefore we become a prey for our flesh. 

This was the situation which the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead found themselves as Nahash, the Ammonite encamped against them.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

The men of Jabesh wanting to make a covenant with Nahash by serving him is the same as agreeing that no one can make war against the beast or our flesh and therefore deciding to submit to the whims and caprices of our flesh.

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

1Sa 11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. 

Here in verse 2, we are shown what it means to have a covenant with the devil who is represented here as Nahash, who empowers our flesh. When we  accept that we cannot win the war against our flesh, and therefore we must submit to him, we are thrusting out our right eyes and therefore become a reproach upon the house of the Lord’s elect (Israel).

A one-eyed person is considered to have a physical “blemish” or “defect” according to specific Old Testament laws regarding priesthood. The law prohibits a one-eyed or impaired priest from performing rituals at the altar.

Lev 21:18  For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 
Lev 21:19  or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 
Lev 21:20  or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 
Lev 21:21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

As shown in Leviticus 21:21, having one’s right eye removed means that one is not given to come near to offer the Lord’s offering or the bread of the Lord. This implies that spiritually, having one’s right eye removed indicates that we are not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Without knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, we cannot speak the Lord’s words, that is, offer the bread of the Lord. As a result, the word of the Lord becomes a parable to us.

Mat 13:10  Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 
Mat 13:11  And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 
Mat 13:12 For the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

In summary, verses 1 and 2 show us that if we succumb to the dictates of the flesh, we become unfit for the Lord’s service.

1Sa 11:3 And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.

The seven days’ respite spiritually implies the complete period of our walk with Christ, when we are going around the churches of this world trying to find solutions to our struggle with the deeds of the flesh.

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

1Sa 11:4  Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept. 
1Sa 11:5 And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. 
1Sa 11:6 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.

It does not appear that the people of Jabesh-Gilead knew anything of Saul’s appointment as king to the people of Israel, for the message was not directed to him but to the people. It therefore confirms that the city of Jabesh-Gilead represents the church system of this world or Babylon where our brothers and sisters are not aware that the Lord has a special people called His elect which are to reign over the kingdoms of this world when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

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 forever and ever.

The people of Gilead lifting up their voices to weep implies that they saw no hope of deliverance from the Ammonites or their flesh. This shows that the town in which Saul lived, Gibeah, also represents Babylon. It is in Babylon that we think the flesh cannot be overcome.

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

Saul living in Gibeah means that we must first be in Babylon before the Lord comes to call us out of Babylon.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

In verse 5, Saul looking after his father’s herd is to let us know that as the Lord’s elect, we start looking after our father’s business even while we are in the church system of this world or Babylon. The same thing happened to David. He was also looking after his father’s sheep before Samuel sent for him to be anointed king of Israel.

1Sa 16:11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

The tidings from the men of Jabesh is that they were looking for saviors to deliver them from the Ammonites. This implies that the church system and the people of this world are looking for the manifestation of the sons of God to come and deliver them from their bondage to corruption.

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

As we are aware, we, His elect, are the saviors of this world that the whole of creation is looking out for. In this case, it is Saul, who represents the sons of God or saviors of this world. 

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.

As shown in verse 6, it is when Saul heard the tidings brought by the men of Jabesh that the spirit of the Lord came upon him resulting in his anger being kindled greatly. It is when the Lord comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness that we are given this righteous anger to fight against our flesh. 

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

The Fight Against the Ammonites

1Sa 11:7  And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. 

In the Bible times, owning oxen or cattle signifies being physically rich, as shown in the following verse:

Gen 30:43  And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

Job 42:12  So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

Saul taking a yoke of oxen and cutting them in pieces and sending them throughout the coasts of Israel by messengers shows us that to be ready to engage our flesh in battle involves being spiritually rich. The fact that the oxen was cut into pieces, and sent throughout Israel means that it is through our knowledge of the meat of the Lord’s word that we rise up to engage our flesh.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
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.

The respondent to Saul’s call signifies the Lord’s elect. As shown in verse 7, we are shown some of the key characteristics of the Lord’s overcomers. The fear of the Lord is upon them, and they are all of one mind or one consent. The fear of the Lord means reverent awe, respect, and submission to God, and it is the foundation of true understanding.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

As the Lord’s elect, we must all have the same mind and the same judgment as admonished by the Lord.  

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

All these characteristics (the fear of the Lord and having the same mind) are prerequisite to waging war successfully with our flesh.

1Sa 11:8 And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

It is instructive to note that all the men who responded to Saul’s call met Saul at Bezek. The name Bezek means ‘lightning’ which signifies the Lord’s judgment. It indicates that all those who are called and chosen to wage war with their flesh are undergoing the Lord’s judgment. It is through judgment that our flesh is destroyed.

2Sa 22:15  And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.

Psa 144:6  Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

The number of Israelites who responded was three hundred thousand. The number of men of Judah who also responded to the call was thirty thousand. The number three hundred thousand (300,000) denotes all those who are ready to wage war against the flesh. The number thirty thousand of the men of Judah represents the Lord’s elect. This implies that it is only the Lord’s elect who can wage war and successfully defeat the flesh.

2Ch 17:14 And these are the numbers of them according to the house of their fathers: Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the chief, and with him mighty men of valour three hundred thousand.

2Ch 25:5  Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

2Sa 6:1 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

Jos 8:3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour and sent them away by night.

According to 2 Chronicles 25:5, these men of war are those who are able to handle spear and shield. The shield signifies our faith by which we are able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. The spear or the sword denotes the word of the Lord. What we are being told is that waging war successfully against our flesh is through knowing the word of the Lord and exercising our faith.

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

1Sa 11:9 And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, Tomorrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
1Sa 11:10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. 

The message to the men of Jabesh-Gilead sent by the men of war was that when the sun is hot the next day (tomorrow), help will come. What this implies is that when the morning star rises in our hearts and minds, that is the time that we receive help from the Lord to deal with our flesh. The word “tomorrow” signifies the time that the Lord has set to deal with a matter. What this means is that it is the Lord’s timing that counts. It is not what we plan.

Exo 9:5  And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.

The messengers made the men of Jabesh glad because help was on the way. In the same vein, we must be glad knowing that the Lord will come to our aid and win this war against our flesh.

Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

What we have to realize is that it was not the men of Jabesh who were going to fight against the Ammonites. It was the men of war that the Lord has prepared who are going to liberate the men of Jabesh. It is therefore the Lord who fights our battles for us. All we have to do is to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.

The men of Jabesh telling the Ammonites in verse 10 that the Ammonites should do to them whatever they like the next day is because of the promise of deliverance they have received. They were not fearful again because they know that the Israelites’ men of war will surely show up. It is the Lord’s word of deliverance which assures us that we are more than conquerors and takes fear out of our lives. The Lord will surely honor His promise of deliverance in our lives. He who has started a good work in us will see to its completion.

Psa 34:19  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 
Psa 34:20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. 

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

1Sa 11:11  And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

On the set time of the Lord, Saul put the men of war in three companies. As we are aware, the number three means the process of spiritual maturity through the Lord’s judgment. Saul putting the men of war in three companies means that our victory is through the process of spiritual maturity through the Lord’s judgment.

It was in the morning watch that the Israelites came and slew the Ammonites, until the heat of the day. This is to show us that overcoming the flesh is a process. It starts from the morning watch and ends at the heat of the day. The morning watch is when the Lord starts to rise in our hearts and minds. The heat of the day is when the sun is shining at its fullest. That means the time in our lives that our hearts and minds are fully illuminated by Christ or when we attain spiritual maturity such that we are not tossed by every wind of doctrine.

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

The victory of the Israelites was total, such that no two of the Ammonites could gather together. The Lord will ensure total victory for us such that our flesh is totally decimated.

1Sa 11:12  And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. 
1Sa 11:13 And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for today the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.

Our victory over the flesh is what establishes our rulership in an age to come, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. There are many who doubt our rulership as we see the people telling Samuel about putting to death all those who doubted Saul’s reign over them. As Saul said, we are not going to contribute to the spiritual death of anybody. Our focus is on how the Lord is working out our salvation. 

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

1Sa 11:14  Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. 
1Sa 11:15 And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. 

It was at Gilgal that the Israelites were circumcised when they entered the promised land. As we are aware, circumcision is the cutting away of the flesh, and therefore what it means for Samuel to gather the people at Gilgal for the renewal of the kingdom is that it is as we do away with our flesh through the Lord’s judgment that the kingdom of heaven is established in our hearts and minds. It is this process of the Lord’s judgment of our flesh which establishes our rulership status in an age to come, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. There shall be great rejoicing in that day.

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.

Indeed, when we all see Jesus in that day, we will sing and shout the victory. Amen!!

Jer 50:1-15 The Word the Lord Spake Against Babylon

[Study Aired September 18, 2022]

Jer 50:1  The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
Jer 50:2  Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
Jer 50:3  For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
Jer 50:4  In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
Jer 50:5  They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
Jer 50:6  My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
Jer 50:7  All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
Jer 50:8  Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
Jer 50:9  For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
Jer 50:10  And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
Jer 50:11  Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
Jer 50:12  Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Jer 50:13  Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Jer 50:14  Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
Jer 50:15  Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

After the Lord uses wicked men to judge and punish His people for their iniquity, He then judges those He used as His sword to punish His own first-fruit people. Babylon was the Lord’s instrument to punish His own self-righteous, iniquitous people, and our study today concerns the Lord’s judgment upon Babylon as the type of those He uses to judge and to punish us:

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

Jer 50:1  The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
Jer 50:2  Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

Just as Babylon came “out of the north” to deliver the Lord’s wrath upon His own people, the judgment of Babylon is also “out of the north:

Jer 50:3  For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
Eze 9:3  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, [The great harlot (Isa 1:21)] and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof [“The mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” (Rev 17:5)].

Just as Jeremiah and Baruch were protected and allowed to stay in Judah, God will always protect those who have His ‘mark’ in their foreheads. It is “upon the forehead” because that mark is “the mind of Christ”:

1Co 2:16  “Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can teach him?” However, we have the mind of Christ. (GWV)

Jer 50:4  In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
Jer 50:5  They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

‘Zion’ typifies the throne of Christ. It is Christ and His kingdom to whom we look of our salvation:

Act 4:10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Act 4:11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The reuniting of physical Israel and Judah and their return to the Lord is qualified as taking place “when your sisters Sodom… and Samaria… return to their former estate, then you and your daughters will return to your former estate”:

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

That is the qualified timing for the outward fulfillment of this prophecy:

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to [outward, physical] Israel, until the fulness of the [outward physical] Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all [outward] Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The salvation of physical Israel as a whole, has not and, will not take place in “this present time” (Rom 8:18). The salvation of physical Israel will take place only “when Sodom and her daughters return to their former estate”. In plain language it will not occur until the white throne judgment. The phrase “return to their former estate” means they will ‘return to having a relationship with Christ’.

Nevertheless, the reunification of Israel with Judah has a present application in the 144,000 who are being judged in “this present time”, in this physical life. These 144,000 are called “the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb”, and they are counted as twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel:

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Who are these 12,000 from each tribe of Israel who are sealed in their foreheads as “the servants of our God”? The answer is that they are “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These 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.
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Paul informs us that we are those “who first trusted in Christ”:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

It is we who are “sealed” in our fore heads who weep for the abominations being done in the Lord’s adulterous city where our Lord was crucified:

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

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.

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

“The firstfruits unto God” are not excluded from His judgments. The fact is that they are preeminent in His judgments as they are the first to endure His fiery judgments:

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

That is where we are here in Jeremiah. ‘Judgment has first begun at the house of God’:

Jer 50:6  My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

“Their shepherds have caused them to go astray… from mountain to hill”. Mount Zion is where the Lord will place His throne which He has “prepared for judgment”. He considers Mount Zion to be beautiful, and it is called “the city of the great king”:

Psa 9:7  But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

Psa 9:14  That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

Psa 48:2  Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

The Lord’s throne and His temple are “in heaven”:

Psa 11:4  The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

The Lord sits upon His throne:

Psa 47:8  God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

His throne is being prepared “in the heavens” and will rule this world:

Psa 103:19  The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

The salvation of Israel comes out of Mount Zion:

Psa 53:6  Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

King David tells us the redeemed are Zion and that the Lord dwells within His redeemed:

Psa 74:2  Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

The Lord will not dwell in a filthy temple in a defiled heaven. The heavens must first be purified by and through His fiery judgments:

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

It is of this purifying judgment of the Lord that we read:

Jer 50:7  All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
Jer 50:8  Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.

This is where John’s words get their inspiration in:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Few people in today’s urbanized society can understand the admonition to “be as the he goats before the flock”. People who have had sheep and goats know that sheep, even the male rams will follow where a he-goat leads. The Lord admonishes His people “Be as the he goats before the flocks”. Be leaders who want to “feed my sheep” as Christ three times admonished Peter:

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.

The Lord wants His people to be leaders who are willing to blaze the fiery trail of salvation. All His people who are given to remain faithful to the end in “this present time” will have been given the backbone to fear the Lord more than they fear being rejected by society, by their friends and even by their own families. The Lord’s people know that the religions of this world, and shepherds of those religions, are at this very moment leading the Lord’s people from His mountain to their own little hill, their own ‘kingdoms of this world’.

Jer 50:9  For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
Jer 50:10  And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
Jer 50:11  Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;

The destroyers of the Lord’s people make merchandise of them and become rich and “fat” at their expense. There can be no doubt that the shepherds of the Lord’s people are the ministers of Babylon because we are told right here in this chapter on the judgment of Babylon that it is the shepherds of the Lord’s people who have led them into “mystery Babylon the Great”:

Jer 50:6  My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

What this tells us is that Judah was in ‘Mystery Babylon’ before she was carried away by the armies of physical Babylon. This theme is carried over into the New Testament where Paul and John both lament what they knew was happening right before their eyes. This is what Paul told the elders of Ephesus just before he left Ephesus for Jerusalem where he was apprehended by the Jews:

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.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

The number ‘three’ always signifies that the process of judgment is under way.

John lived to see the apostate ‘Diotrephes’ become so preeminent that he could cast out of the church those John sent to the church:

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

The church of our Lord and the churches which had been raised up by the apostles had become the great harlot before the apostles had all died.

Notice what Paul says about “all they in Asia”:

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

“All they which are in Asia” are “the seven churches of Asia” to whom the book of Revelation is addressed:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Jer 50:12  Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

The religions of this world, which have been like the head of gold on the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, will go from such prominence to being “the hindermost of the nations” and despised of all men.

Jer 50:13  Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

‘In the fullness of times’ Babylon within us and Babylon in all men will be destroyed “because of the wrath of the Lord”. It is the seven last plagues which fill up the wrath of God at that time in our lives as Revelation 14-16 explains:

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, [“All men” (Rev 13:16)]
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

“All nations” (Rev 14:8) and “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” is all inclusive of all who are in Adam and Noah and have rebelled against the covenant with God which they are under. “Every man… each in his own order” will experience these “seven last plagues”, which will be used of the Lord to drag all men out of Babylon and unto Himself:

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: ‘drag’] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

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

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

The fall and destruction of the religions of this world will be the greatest ‘earthquake’ “since men were upon the earth”. You and I cannot imagine how the Lord will accomplish such a momentous event, but He will bring it to pass, and outward Babylon the Great, all the religions of this world, will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming, just as He destroyed ‘Babylon the Great’ within each of us:

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:

“Brightness of His coming” means that Christs power and preeminence will be undeniable throughout the whole world.

Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Luk 17:25  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

It is in the Lord’s power to make His powerful presence known world-wide just that fast, “as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven”.

Because God made a covenant “with [Noah] and his seed after [him]” Babylon signifies all religions and all their greedy holy men who make merchandise of the Lord’s flock while teaching doctrines which are in rebellion against the words of Christ:

Gen 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
Gen 9:6  Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Gen 9:7  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; [All mankind]

God is in covenant with all men, and this rebellion against Him and His covenant is “Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the World” which afflicts “all nations” (Rev 14:8).

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

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

If a man who claims to be speaking for Christ asks you for money for the message he is giving you, then you are dealing with a “grievous wolf [and] the voice of a stranger” (Act 20:29, Joh 10:5). This is what Christ tells us, and this is what those in whom He dwells will do:

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 10:8  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The greedy whore system is now being judged within all who are in Christ and the judgment of that great whore will also have a climatic, end of the age fulfillment:

Jer 50:14  Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.

Isaiah had prophesied of the fall of Babylon long before Babylon became a prominent city:

Isa 21:9  And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

Isa 47:1  Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

Isa 48:20  Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

Jeremiah admonishes us to “bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows” (Jer 50:14). Arrows signify doctrines, and archers signify teachers. Those who destroy Babylon will use her own words to condemn and destroy her because she uses the Lord’s words but does not obey the Lord’s words:

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

What “they say” is the very arrows (Jer 50:14) which the ten horns will use to ‘shoot at her for she hath sinned against the Lord’.

The Lord’s words are also called ‘fire’ in the mouths of His prophets:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The ten horns on the beast will also use the Lord’s words which the great harlot speaks hypocritically to “burn her with fire”:

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

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

The Lord instructs those who are sent to destroy Babylon to “bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD”. Those ‘arrows’ signify words, including the words of the Lord:

Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Psa 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
Psa 18:14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. [“The lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven” is the proclamation that: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ” (Rev 11:15)]

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

Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

The lightning, voices, thunderings, earthquakes, and great hail are one and all the words and voice of the Lord which will burn with fire the kingdom of the great whore:

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Zec 9:14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

In 1 Samuel we read:

1Sa 31:3  And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

Here is the definition of the Hebrew word ‘yarah’, translated as ‘archers’ in this verse and as “shooter” in 2 Samuel 11:24:

H3384
יָרָא    יָרָה
yârâh    yârâ’
yaw-raw’, yaw-raw’

A primitive root; properly to flow as water (that is, to rain); transitively to lay or throw (especially an arrow, that is, to shoot); figuratively to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach: –  (+ archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach (-er, -ing), through.

Total KJV occurrences: 83

‘Archer’ and ‘shooter’ are both proper translations of this word, but let’s take note of how this Hebrew word ‘yarah’ is by far most commonly translated:

H3384
ירא  /  ירה
yârâh  /  yârâ’
Total KJV Occurrences: 82
teach, 33
Exo_4:12, Exo_4:15, Exo_24:12, Exo_35:34, Lev_10:11, Lev_14:57, Deu_17:11, Deu_24:8, Deu_33:10, Jdg_13:8, 1Sa_12:23, 1Ki_8:36, 2Ki_17:27, Job_6:24, Job_8:10, Job_12:7-8 (2), Job_27:11, Job_34:32, Psa_25:8, Psa_25:12, Psa_27:11, Psa_32:8, Psa_45:4, Psa_86:11, Psa_119:33, Isa_2:3, Isa_28:9, Isa_28:26, Eze_44:23, Mic_3:11, Mic_4:2, Hab_2:19
shoot, 10
1Sa_20:20, 1Sa_20:36, 2Sa_11:20, 2Ki_13:17, 2Ki_19:32, 2Ch_26:15, Psa_11:2, Psa_64:4 (2), Psa_64:7
shot, 7
Exo_19:13, Num_21:30, 1Sa_20:36-37 (2), 2Sa_11:24, 2Ki_13:17, 2Ch_35:23
archers, 5
1Ch_10:3 (4), 2Ch_35:23
taught, 5 2Ki_17:28, 2Ch_6:27, Psa_119:102, Pro_4:4, Pro_4:11
cast, 4
Gen_31:51, Exo_15:4, Jos_18:6, Job_30:19
teachers, 3
Pro_5:13, Isa_30:20 (2)
teacheth, 3
Job_36:22, Pro_6:13, Isa_9:15
rain, 2
Hos_6:3, Hos_10:12
casteth, 1
Pro_26:18
direct, 1
Gen_46:28
inform, 1
Deu_17:10
instructed, 1
2Ki_12:2
laid, 1
Job_38:6
shooters, 1
2Sa_11:24
showed, 1
Exo_15:24-25 (2)
teacher, 1
Hab_2:18
teaching, 1
2Ch_15:3
watered, 1
Pro_11:25

‘Archers’ (five entries), ‘shooters’ (one entry), and almost all other entries carry the concept of teaching or instructing. That is what the Hebrew word ‘yarah’, translated as ‘archers’ only five times, actually signifies.

Jer 50:15  Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

“Round about” means from every direction, as Israel shouted while circling Jericho. “She hath given her hand” means that “her foundations have fallen”. It means she realizes her end is imminent. This is how the book of Revelation reveals this great world-wide harlot system will be destroyed:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:12  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

The very next chapter tells us what happens during this symbolic “one hour with the beast”:

Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Zechariah speaks of the Lord’s appearing in these words:

Zec 9:14  And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
Zec 9:15  The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.
Zec 9:16  And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
Zec 9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

Verse 14, speaking of “the Lord… going forth as lightning”, brings this verse of Luke 17 to mind again:

Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Here is the New Testament ‘condensed version’ of Zechariah 9:14-17:

Rev 18:20  Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

What a blessing it is to endure the coming of Christ to destroy the beast who supports the harlot which are both within us! What joy it is to “shout against [the great harlot]” and to witness “the vengeance of the Lord… upon her” within each of us.

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 77

“The judgments” Part H

April 17th, 2015

In the previous study, we covered the restriction the Lord placed on His people to not charge interest to a brother or sister when they were in need.

In today’s study, we are going to cover not keeping a security which is given as a promise to repay.

“Returning a pledge”

The verses in reference for today’s study are:

Exo 22:26  If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

Exo 22:27  For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

The first thing that is emphasized in these verses is that we are talking about our neighbor again and specifically his or her “raiment” and “covering”.

Since we are always looking for the spiritual significance of these types and shadows in our lives, it should jump off of the page that we are speaking about the “covering” of someone in the spiritual sense.

In contrast of someone “taking a loan” to help them with an issue as was discussed in the previous study, these verses deal with someone who is so desperate yet so poor that all they have to offer is the coat and/or clothing off of their back.

Truly, Jesus Christ is all we too have in the world today if indeed we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Rev 3:4  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

There is also an addendum to Exodus 22:26-27 which is found in Deuteronomy.

Deu 24:10  When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.

Deu 24:11  Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.

Deu 24:12  And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:

Deu 24:13  In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.

It’s interesting to note that a house and raiment are mentioned here. If someone has a physical house, then they are doing well and their covering is their house. If someone is seeing rough times, then the only raiment they have is the coat or cloak they can sleep in.

Is it possible in both situations that we could be talking about the same spiritual type when we compare one which is blessed with a lot (a house) with one who is blessed with a little (coat on their back)?

While we are poor now in this world, though some may have worldly riches, we will be given riches beyond measure when we get the fullness of the purchased possession.

What then is the spiritual example of this house we are speaking about in Deuteronomy?

2Co 5:1  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2Co 5:2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

2Co 5:3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

2Co 5:4  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

2Co 5:5  Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

2Co 5:6  Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

2Co 5:7  (For we walk by faith, not by sight

2Co 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

2Co 5:9  Wherefore WE LABOUR, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Notice, we are told in Exodus to “not let the sun go down” before we give back that which was pledged. We are also given the reason they need that pledge back, it is where they “sleep”, where they rest.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore FEAR, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being MIXED WITH FAITH in them that heard it.

Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, TO DAY, after so long a time; as it is said, TO DAY if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Putting this all together, we see that our neighbor who is in need, who is poor “in the world”, has only Jesus Christ to pledge, the same Jesus Christ who is used for their REST which happens to be the Faith that has been given to them.

It is TO DAY, not another day, which we must RECOGNIZE who our neighbor, brother, sister and mother are in Christ Jesus and be sure to return to THEM what was promised to US when the poor of the world gives Jesus Christ to us for safe keeping.

Didn’t Jesus Christ tell us He was taking notice of how we treated the hungry, the poor, the widow, and the fatherless?

Don’t Christians URN to be FEED, to be CLOTHED, to BE RICH, to have a HUSBAND, to see their FATHER, to be given FREEDOM and to no longer be a STRANGER but to arrive to their COUNTRY?

Jas 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

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.

“Faith with Works”

What then do we do with Exodus 22:26 and 27? How do we live it out daily?

Exo 22:26  If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

Exo 22:27  For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

The only thing Christians have in this world, spiritually speaking, is Jesus Christ the Word of God.

When a brother or sister “pledges” to you about anything, our Faith in Jesus working in them all things according to the Father’s will, should produce in us a like-mindedness, to want to return in kind, what we have received from Jesus in them.

The only thing we can give each other is Jesus Christ, the Word of God, which the Lord has given us all to share with one another.

We are not to wait until some future date to return that covering, that rest, that Faith back to the person who gave us what the Lord had given them.

In a practical sense, the law of Moses being read in Exodus was to be practiced literally, but we must be searching the Word of God while diligently seeking to find how this applies to us today otherwise we will have the mind of “all that is in the world …. of our father the devil” and not the mind of Christ which is a “right” mind.

In order to solidify what house we are seeking, and the mind of the husbandmen of said house, we do not have to look very far to see a very familiar story bearing out to us the spiritual Truth of having the proper covering and it being Jesus Christ who provides that covering.

Mar 5:1  And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

Mar 5:2  And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Mar 5:3  Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

This man did not dwell in a house.

Mar 5:4  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

Mar 5:5  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

Mar 5:6  But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

Mar 5:7  And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Mar 5:8  For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

Mar 5:9  And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Mar 5:10  And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

Those who have their country, do not seek a country. Those that have no country SEEK the PLACE where they are no FOREIGNERS.

Mar 5:11  Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

Mar 5:12  And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

Mar 5:13  And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

Mar 5:14  And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.

Mar 5:15  And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

This scenario is enough to make anyone who witnesses legion being cast out of someone, back into the sea of humanity where it belongs, to be sorely afraid.

To witness someone suddenly SEATED with Christ in the heavenlies, CLOTHED, and in his RIGHT MIND is truly miraculous and like lightning hitting the person in front of them.

Mat 28:1  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

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

Mat 28:3  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

Mat 28:4  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

Mat 28:5  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

Mat 28:6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Are we not angels of the Lord when we give to others what the Lord has given to us to give? We point to Jesus Christ.

When we do, we point away from “your Father the devil” and this is the result:

Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

We are seated with Him.

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat 24:28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

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

Indeed, the Lord has arrived and His work begins with us, being mixed with FAITH while we rest and are covered with his righteousness, within the heavens.

Amen, praise the Lord, even so Lord, COME QUICKLY!

“That Old Serpent”

Part 6

April 23, 2014

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

I am happy to say that the Lord has led me where I did not think I was going and that is into this part six of this series.

I was asked by several folks about a few of the more traditional names given to the old serpent called the devil and satan, and since I hadn’t covered these aspects of the old serpent in scripture, I thought it would be a fitting way to end the series as the Lord wills it.

“Lucifer”

To start off, we are going to dive into the fable of “Lucifer” referring to the old serpent and what Lucifer really means and references.

There are several great articles on Is, Was and Will Be that cover many aspects of Isaiah 14, so I encourage everyone to search for those and read them if you haven’t done so. I will also post a few links at the end of these notes for you to reference for later.

In this study today, I will attempt contrast the mind of Christ with the mind of the devil as it pertains to what the world teaches on the subject of Lucifer versus what scriptures teach.

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

Isa 14:12  HowH349 art thou fallenH5307 from heaven,H4480 H8064 O Lucifer,H1966 sonH1121 of the morning!H7837 how art thou cut downH1438 to the ground,H776 which didst weakenH2522 H5921 the nations!H1471

It may be surprising if you don’t already know this, but this Hebrew word, “heylel/hay lale,” is the only time it is mentioned in Hebrew.

H1966
hêylêl
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
lucifer, 1
Isa_14:12

Yes, that is correct. There is an ENTIRE doctrinal mindset and many doctrines that stream off of this one verse, which causes much confusion in the orthodox Christian mindset.

In order to propagate a certain false doctrinal mindset, this verse is coupled with some verses in Ezekiel and one verse in Luke in order to try and paint a picture of why the doctrine of Lucifer falling from heaven, i.e. satan falling from heaven as a fallen angel taking with him a third of the heavenly host, is all about.

However, we are going to see why this is just utter scriptural ‘none sense’ in a few minutes.

Let us look a little closer at H1966 and then at the context of where it is mentioned.

H1966
hêylêl
hay-lale’

From H1984 (in the sense of brightness); the morning star: – lucifer.

H1966
הילל
hêylêl

BDB Definition:

Lucifer = “light-bearer”

1) shining one, morning star, Lucifer
1a) of the king of Babylon and Satan (figuratively)

2) (TWOT) ‘Helel’ describing the king of Babylon

So, this word is from H1984 “in the sense of brightness” and is allotted the title of “the morning star” according to Strong’s Concordance, but this is a great example of being a Berean and searching and digging into the scripture to “see if these things be so”.

Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

The Hebrew number 1984, “haw-lal”, is very informative for us and it is a primitive root.

H1984
הלל
hâlal
haw-lal’

A primitive root; to be clear (originally of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show; to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively to celebrate; also to stultify: – (make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool (-ish, -ly), glory, give [light], be (make, feign self) mad (against), give in marriage, [sing, be worthy of] praise, rage, renowned, shine.

I am not going to go over all of these verses, but here are the references for your benefit.

H1984
hâlal
Total KJV Occurrences: 166

praise, 92
1Ch_23:4-5 (2), 1Ch_23:30, 1Ch_25:3, 1Ch_29:13, 2Ch_8:14, 2Ch_20:19, 2Ch_20:21, 2Ch_23:13, 2Ch_29:30, 2Ch_31:2, Ezr_3:10, Neh_12:24, Psa_22:22-23 (2), Psa_22:26, Psa_35:18, Psa_56:4, Psa_56:10 (2), Psa_63:5, Psa_69:30, Psa_69:34, Psa_74:21, Psa_102:18, Psa_104:35, Psa_105:45, Psa_106:1, Psa_106:48, Psa_107:32, Psa_109:30, Psa_113:1 (5), Psa_113:9, Psa_116:17-19 (3), Psa_117:1-2 (2), Psa_119:164, Psa_119:175, Psa_135:1 (3), Psa_135:3, Psa_135:21, Psa_145:2, Psa_146:1-2 (3), Psa_146:10, Psa_147:1, Psa_147:12, Psa_147:20, Psa_148:1-5 (9), Psa_148:7, Psa_148:13-14 (2), Psa_149:1, Psa_149:3, Psa_149:9, Psa_150:1-6 (13), Pro_27:2, Pro_28:4, Pro_31:31, Isa_62:9, Jer_20:13, Jer_31:7, Joe_2:26

praised, 19

Jdg_16:24, 2Sa_14:25, 2Sa_22:4, 1Ch_16:25, 1Ch_16:36, 1Ch_23:5, 2Ch_5:13, 2Ch_7:6, 2Ch_30:21, Ezr_3:11, Neh_5:13, Psa_18:3, Psa_48:1, Psa_96:4, Psa_145:3 (2), Pro_31:30, Son_6:9, Isa_64:11

glory, 12

1Ch_16:10, Psa_63:11, Psa_64:10, Psa_105:3, Psa_106:5, Isa_41:16, Isa_45:25, Jer_4:2, Jer_9:23-24 (4)

mad, 8

1Sa_21:13, Psa_102:8, Ecc_2:2, Ecc_7:7, Isa_44:25, Jer_25:16, Jer_50:38, Jer_51:7

boast, 6

1Ki_20:11, Psa_34:2, Psa_44:8, Psa_97:6-7 (2), Pro_27:1

praising, 4

2Ch_5:13, 2Ch_23:12, Ezr_3:11, Psa_84:4

boasteth, 3

Psa_10:3, Pro_25:14 (2)

commended, 2

Gen_12:14-15 (2), Pro_12:8

foolish, 2

Psa_5:5, Psa_73:3

fools, 2

Job_12:17, Psa_75:4

rage, 2

Jer_46:9, Nah_2:4

shined, 2

Job_29:3, Job_31:26

sing, 2

2Ch_23:13, 2Ch_29:30

boastest, 1

Psa_52:1

celebrate, 1

Isa_38:18

foolishly, 1

Psa_75:4

gloriest, 1

Jer_49:4 (2)

glorieth, 1

Jer_9:24

marriage, 1

Psa_78:63

praises, 1

2Ch_29:30

praiseth, 1

Pro_31:28

renowned, 1

Eze_26:17

shine, 1

Job_41:17-18 (2)

The BDB has this definition:

H1984

הלל
hâlal

BDB Definition:

1) to shine

1a) (Qal) to shine (figuratively of God’s favour)
1b) (Hiphil) to flash forth light

2) to praise, boast, be boastful

2a) (Qal)
2a1) to be boastful
2a2) boastful ones, boasters (participle)
2b) (Piel)
2b1) to praise
2b2) to boast, make a boast
2c) (Pual)
2c1) to be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended, be worthy of praise
2d) (Hithpael) to boast, glory, make one’s boast
2e) (Poel) to make a fool of, make into a fool
2f) (Hithpoel) to act madly, act like a madman

Part of Speech: verb
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root

Same Word by TWOT Number: 499, 500

In order to have the stage set, I wanted to list this out so that it could easily be researched with time.

What this all means is that the word “Lucifer” is simply an English word, but it does have roots in Hebrew.

We originally see this term translated to Latin from the Hebrew and then from Latin to English. Since we know that much of the New Testament is also translated from Greek, it is important to compare Greek and Hebrew because we see other places where “the morning star” is mentioned, which is the subject of Isaiah.

“The Morning Star”

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Here is the word “day star”:

G5459
phōsphoros

Total KJV Occurrences: 2
day, 1
2Pe_1:19
star, 1
2Pe_1:19

Interestingly, the Greek word translated here in 2Peter, phosphoros, is also only mentioned once. So, we must dig a little deeper to find out what we are to know about this person referred to as “Lucifer”.

Luke 10:18 is generally coupled with Isaiah to prove that Satan is Lucifer.

Luk 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

So, as you can see, Satan is mentioned as lightning falling from heaven. While lightning is bright, it is not the direct comparison we are looking for when referencing the “morning star”.

Yet, this is the very verse used to connect Lucifer with Satan. Well, let’s see if they are related at all in scriptural terms and not only in the doctrines and traditions of men.

There are two other places that the morning star is mentioned in scripture, and they are found in Rev 2:28 and Rev 22:16.

Rev 2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Rev 2:21  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
Rev 2:23  And I will kill her children with death; and ALL THE CHURCHES SHALL KNOW that I am he which searcheth the REINS AND HEARTS: and I will give unto every one of you according to YOUR WORKS.
Rev 2:24  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not THIS DOCTRINE, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
Rev 2:25  But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and KEEPETH MY WORKS unto the end, to him will I give power over THE NATIONS:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.
Rev 2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

If you spiritually hear everything we just read in context of the morning star being mentioned in Rev 2:28, you’ll notice fornication, IDOLS, DEEDS, WORKS, and adultery, all in relation to the HEART.

Then, we see that “this DOCTRINE” [keeping HIS WORKS unto the end, “this doctrine”] is connected with being given rule of the NATIONS and this is done by being given the MORNING STAR.

The morning star mentioned in Revelation 2:28 is found in the Greek as, “morning^G4407 star.^G792”:

G4407
prōinos
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
morning, 1
Rev_2:28

Meaning:

G4407
prōinos
pro-ee-nos’

From G4404; pertaining to the dawn, that is, matutinal: – morning.

Which comes from G4404, meaning:

G4404
prōi
pro-ee’

Adverb from G4253; at dawn; by implication the day break watch: – early (in the morning), (in the) morning.

Yet, that only covers one of the times the “morning star” is mentioned.

The other time is mentioned in Revelation 22:16.

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent MINE ANGEL to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Rev 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let HIM THAT HEARETH say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

“Blessed are they that do His commandments” because doing His commandments give us THE RIGHT to the tree of LIFE which is in like mind and in a similar vein to “having an altar” we are able to eat at, but an altar “they” are not “worthy” to eat at.

Who are “they”?

They are “dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters and whosoever LOVETH and MAKETH A LIE”.

The “bright and morning star” conveys a slightly different perspective on who and what the morning star is. Jesus says that He has sent HIS ANGEL to testify that He, Jesus, is the BRIGHT and MORNING STAR.

morning^G3720 star.^G792
G3720
orthrinos

Total KJV Occurrences: 1
morning, 1
Rev_22:16
G3720
orthrinos
or-thrin-os’

From G3722; relating to the dawn, that is, matutinal (as an epithet of Venus, especially brilliant in the early day): – morning.

G3722 leads into G3735.

G3722
orthros
or’-thros

From the same as G3735; dawn (as sun rise, rising of light); by extension morn: – early in the morning.

G3735
oros
or’-os

Probably a from an obsolete word ὄρω orō (to rise or “rear”; perhaps akin to G142; compare G3733); a mountain (as lifting itself above the plain): – hill, mount (-ain).

So collectively and taken all together, the bright and morning star relates to a RISING of the DAWN STAR, the “star” which happens at the BREAK of DAY. Jesus Christ is indeed given a name ABOVE all the other names in heaven.

“As Lightning Falls…”

Given all of that, let us look at the true context of Isaiah 14:12.

Isa 14:1  For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
Isa 14:2  And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
Isa 14:3  And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
Isa 14:4  That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

And:

Isa 14:5  The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Isa 14:6  He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 

And a few verses later:

Isa 14:9  Hell (H7585 – the pit, grave) from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:10  All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Isa 14:11  Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell (H7585), to the sides of the pit. 

Israel (Jews inwardly of the Spirit) will be set in their own land. They will be given rule over their former oppressors and in doing so the proverb of, “how hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased” will be spoken against the king of Babylon, the king of CONFUSION.

The king of Babylon, who ruled over the nations with anger and persecution, is sent to the grave and is named “Lucifer” or “LIGHT BEARER” which should be properly translated as ‘a person who is BOASTFUL’ as we read earlier.

Why is the king of Babylon called the “boast bearer?” “For thou hast said in thine HEART, I will ascend to heaven”.

I want to end this study with the careful consideration of “Satan as lightning falling from heaven”.

Luk 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 

Lightning is representative of God’s instant power and revealing as can be found in the following verses, among many others.

Dan 10:5  Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
Dan 10:6  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Mat 28:3  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

“Satan falling as lightning from heaven” reveals to us just how SWIFT the work of the Lord is in bringing down the idols of our hearts, “in the day of the Lord.”

This falling from heaven as a once “had-been archangel” has absolutely NO SCRIPTURAL basis concerning Satan, and that is why this statement is made right after “even the DEVILS are subject unto us THROUGH THY NAME”.

As we read, the true MORNING STAR tries the REINS and the HEART for the IDOLS which must come crashing down, and that is given to us in example and admonition with the king of Babylon who was a mere man who met the grave just as we all will and do. Satan, a spiritual being, doesn’t experience physical death as the “dust of the ground” does.

In the next study, we are going to continue to examine the examples of Isaiah 14 and how they compare to Ezekiel 28. For now, there has been much written on Is, Was and Will Be about this, so I encourage you to read the following articles as you are led of the Spirit to do so.

http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-kings-of-tyre-and-babylon/

http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/up-and-down-among-the-stones-of-fire/