“Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things” Part 2

(Pro 23:17-35)

[Study Aired January 1, 2026]

The last verse of last week’s study with Proverbs 23 (Pro 23:16) is the title for this 2-part study, which reads, “Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things”. The preceding verses (Pro 23:1-15) explain the only way we can come to be a people who bring God’s reins to rejoice as a result of our speaking right things.

God’s deliverance from the drunken stupor that Babylon has the whole world under spoken of in (Rev 18:3) can only come about by drinking “the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” spoken of in (Rev 16:19). I was grateful to be reading these studies from Mike that helped me see the deeper meaning behind many of the verses in this 23rd chapter of proverbs.

The links are here:

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-181-4-babylon-the-great-is-fallen/

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-185-9-god-has-remembered-her-iniquities-part-1/

It is because of God’s deliverance, his mercy toward his children via His judgments [seals, trumpets, and vials], that these things can be so, and that mercy is expressed with those verses we looked at last week (especially Pro 23:13-16), reminding us that the sword shall not depart from the house (2Sa 12:10) of those who are being redeemed in this life (Psa 107:2, Isa 51:11).

This second part of Proverbs 23 has a very similar message and warning to not partake of the delicacies (Rev 18:3) or deceitful meat of Babylon (Pro 20:17). In the first study, the focus was more so on the food which represents the false doctrines of Babylon, and now in this section there is a warning about becoming drunken on the wine of Babylon. Whatever physical effects of gluttony, either food or drink, in both cases we are being warned to put a knife to our throat (Pro 23:2-3), meaning the word of God, and beseech God that we die to these lusts which separate us from the will of God being fulfilled in our lives (Gal 2:20, Tit 2:12-13).

Tit 2:12  TeachingG3811 (Heb 12:6) us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;(Mat 19:27-28)

Pro 23:17  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
Pro 23:18  For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

This is our hope and prayer for each other that we have no envy of this dying world (Rom 13:11-14, Eph 5:29-30) and that we continually move forward as Christ did, moving with fear (Noah a type of Christ and His Christ Heb 11:7) and who was heard in that he feared God (Heb 5:7).

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Christ’s example and Christ in us is what motivates us and gives us the vision we need to believe that “surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off”. When our sights are set on the author and finisher of our faith, we will be given vision so that we do not perish and our “expectation” will remain bright, with our eyes set on the joy set before us (Heb 12:1-4, Rom 12:1, Pro 29:18, Act 7:56, Joh 17:3, Joh 20:21, Joh 3:17).

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Heb 10:36, Luk 21:19, Mat 5:37)
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Pro 23:19  Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Pro 23:20  Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Pro 23:21  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

If God will grant us to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44), it will take us away from the spiritual “winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh”. If God is working with us in this age, He will bring us to see that we are ‘the man’ who initially is a spiritual “drunkard and the glutton” who has “come to poverty”, which is all symbolized with the prodigal son (Luk 15:13-16) whose spiritual condition is like that of a drunkard and glutton, spending all that he has on riotous living, but does comes to see that he has no righteousness of himself and defines himself for what we all truly are without Christ in our lives: “drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags” (Luk 15:17). Such a realization does not come without the plagues of God being poured out upon us, which is what the story of the prodigal son reminds us (Rev 15:8).

Luk 15:13  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country [Babylonian captivity], and there wasted his substance with riotous living. [“For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty”]
Luk 15:14  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. [Isa 3:1]
Luk 15:15  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.[Isa 3:1]

Pro 23:22  Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise^H936 not thy mother when she is old^H2204.

The previous verses (Pro 23:19-21) spoke of what we become with the poverty that comes with not hearkening to our Father (“Hear thou, my son”), and this verse 22 speaks of the means we have been given to not stray from that righteous path (Psa 37:23-27).

Psa 37:23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Psa 37:24  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Psa 37:25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Psa 37:26  He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Psa 37:27  Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.

God’s elect are begotten of our Father in heaven (Joh 3:3) and we are told to not despise our mother when she is old, “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old”, which is speaking of the one true church, that we have been grafted into, by the grace of God (Eph 2:8, Rom 11:17-20). Abraham’s wife Sarah, and Elisabeth, John the baptist’s mother, are a witness we have been given to understanding a little more fully what this verse is telling us (Gen 18:11-14, Luk 1:7-25).

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

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:[We are born again for this purpose of dying daily so we can see the kingdom of God within by God’s grace (Luk 17:10, Php 2:12-13)]

Gen 18:11  Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Gen 18:12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Gen 18:13  And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Gen 18:14  Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Luk 1:5  There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luk 1:6  And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Luk 1:7  And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
…Luk 1:13  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luk 1:14  And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Luk 1:16  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
…Luk 1:24  And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
Luk 1:25  Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

despise H936 bûz booz  A primitive root; to disrespect: – contemn, despise, X utterly.

old H2204 zâqên  zaw-kane’  A primitive root; to be old: – aged man, be (wax) old (man).

Sarah and Elisabeth, as a type of the elect, are promised “a son”, and that God will “take away [our] reproach”. In other words, those who endure to the end to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, will be the wife of Christ and mother of the nations (Gen 17:16, Rev 11:15). Our reproach in this age will be taken away (1Ti 4:10).

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Pro 23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

The investment, “buy the truth” is our whole life, as a living sacrifice in Christ (Rom 12:1, Col 1:27) that holds fast to the words of life, and “sells it not” for its immeasurable value (1Th 5:21, Pro 7:1-5).

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Pro 7:1  My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
Pro 7:2  Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
Pro 7:3  Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
Pro 7:4  Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
Pro 7:5  That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

Christ is our wisdom (1Co 1:30-31), and the one who instructs us and gives us understanding so that we can overcome and endure to the end, not leaning unto our own understanding (Pro 3:5-7).

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

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

Pro 23:24  The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
Pro 23:25  Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

Our Father in heaven “shall greatly rejoice” in the sons and daughters that he has begotten through Christ and it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom of God in this age (Luk 12:32). Our “father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice” is also speaking of our mother Jerusalem above, the church of the living God, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26). We rejoice in knowing that we are called to bear each other’s burdens (Col 1:24) as disciples of Christ (Gal 6:2).

Pro 23:26  My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Pro 23:27  For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
Pro 23:28  She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
Pro 23:29  Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Pro 23:30  They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Pro 23:31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Pro 23:32  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

The only way we can avoid all that is written here in (Pro 23:27-32) is to be blessed in this life to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) and given a broken and contrite heart from God (Isa 66:2) that will be able to fulfill this command, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways”. This is the narrow way God’s elect are called unto and able to obtain through Christ who is our hope of glory within (Col 1:27).

The serpent does initially bite us, and we are stung by the adder, but if we are His children we will overcome the wicked one (1Co 15:55-57, Rom 7:24-25, Num 21:8, Joh 3:14, 1Jn 2:13).

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:
1Co 15:57  but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 7:24  Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

The chastening which every son must receive in this life if we are going to overcome (Php 1:29) is what makes it possible for us to cease from sinning (Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:1-2), and in so doing we are no longer seduced by Babylon, the world, and all that is in it, typified by “a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit”. Sin and the lies of Babylon are at the door of our hearts that want to rule over us. Here again Babylon is likened unto a harlot, “She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men”(Mat 24:12).

Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

The signs, or the corrupt fruit of the tree of one who is a servant to sin (Joh 8:34), or the lying doctrines of Babylon, is expressed in this manner, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?”. The wine of Babylon in other words, does not cheer the heart, but rather brings woe or distress, with the condemning myriad of lies that initially darken the sun in our heavens (Rev 9:2, Rev 9:12)

Rev 9:2  And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Rev 9:12  One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

It brings sorrow, contention [striving, controversy, debate] because of the lies that do not bring healing but leave us with gaping “wounds” and “redness of eyes” that have not been anointed with the true ointment of God’s words (Rev 3:18).

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.

God’s word on the other hand brings liberty and reveals that there is no condemnation in Christ, because it is the true bread and the true wine (Rom 8:1, Rom 8:33, Joh 6:55, Joh 6:32)

Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

It is “They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine” who think by their labouring long at the wine, at the word of God that we initially can only wrap around the idols of our heart, that we will obtain the righteousness of Christ.

Mixed wine is wine that is watered down with no faith (Heb 4:2), and that’s what we do when we apply our carnal interpretation of what God’s word is saying by wrapping his word around the idol of our hearts (Eze 14:4, 2Pe 2:19). Unbeknownst to ourselves we are joined unto a harlot at that point (1Co 6:16), and in agreement with her false proclamations of liberty.

2Pe 2:19  promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage.

1Co 6:15  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

Pro 23:33  Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

Our ability to discern matters correctly when we partake of too much wine or mixed wine, is being directly correlated with what will happen to us spiritually if our attention is drawn away from the body of Christ and onto one of the harlot churches of this deceived and spiritually drunk world, “Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things”. Christ therefore admonishes us in these verses (Mat 24:42-51):

Mat 24:42  Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Mat 24:45  Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
Mat 24:48  But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth; (Heb 10:36, Luk 21:19)
Mat 24:49  and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; (Heb 12:15-16)
Mat 24:50  the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, [our expectation (Pro 23:17-18) should be to know that “he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb 10:37)]
Mat 24:51  and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

The likelihood of maturing in the Lord by going back into the world, or back into Babylon, which is what Demas, Crescens, Titus, Phygellus and Hermogenes did (2Ti 4:10, 2Ti 1:15) is impossible (Isa 3:1). All of these heretical actions of Demas, Crescens, Titus, Phygellus and Hermogenes reveal that they were not of us (1Jn 2:19, 2Pe 2:21, Heb 10:28-29), and they were sacrificed to admonish us to remain vigilant and sober against our adversary who we can overcome through the faith of Christ (1Pe 5:8-9, Luk 22:31-32).

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

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:(1Jn 5:4) and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. [Christ was telling Simon trials are coming that would have destroyed him spiritually, the main trial being his denial of Christ, but as God’s elect he would be preserved through that denial and on Pentecost receive the holy spirit, “when thou art converted”, that would then make it possible for him to “strengthen thy brethren”]

Pro 23:34  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
Pro 23:35  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

These verses show us the problem is a hardened heart that manifests because of the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13-14), which causes us to lie “down in the midst of the sea” or “upon the top of a mast”, the sea being the world we are to come out of, and the mast representing the puffed up and elevated carnal mind (that is still in the sea) that cannot inherit the kingdom of God. With such a perverse spirit within us, we can be judged all day, “They have stricken me”, and still not see that we are blind, and wretched and miserable and poor, “I was not sick” (Rev 3:18). We can be beaten with many stripes in this life and not grow spiritually from that experience, “they have beaten me, and I felt it not”, and then we awake in the second resurrection, “I will seek it yet again”, by telling the Lord ‘haven’t I done many wonderful works’, not knowing that I am yet deceived and being found with my own righteousnesses right in front of Christ (Mat 7:22, Php 3:9).

Heb 3:13  but exhort one another day by day, (Heb 10:25) so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin:
Heb 3:14  for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end: (Php 3:3)

Proverb 23 ends off with the sorry state we will find ourselves in if God does not convict us in this age to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts as He leads us unto repentance, via the chastening and scourging that must be fully accomplished in this age if we are to be received as sons of God (Tit 2:12-13, Rom 2:4, Heb 12:6).

All the verses we’ve looked at today are written to admonish us to be sober and diligent (1Co 10:11, 1Pe 5:6-8) with our life in Christ, and to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, as if it depended on us, knowing that it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13).

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

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.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

If that is in fact what God is doing in our lives, then we are very special to Him because of the life Christ in us (Mat 22:14, 1Pe 2:9, Luk 12:32, Rom 11:5, Mat 10:31, Psa 27:4), who is our hope of glory who makes it possible for us to be received in this age, and able to speak right things, therefore God “shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things”(Pro 23:16, Heb 6:9).

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

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

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

Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him [Elias]? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Mat 10:31  Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Psa 27:4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

AMEN!

Rev 22:11-15 Without are the Evil, Part 2

 [Study Aired August 15, 2025]

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
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.

We concluded our last study quoting the verse where Christ Himself informed us that His flesh was not better than our own corruptible flesh. He even included Himself when He said:

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Was Christ perfected in the flesh? Was He “good” while in a body of flesh? Perhaps His standards are just higher than the standards of those who deny these words of our Lord, and who teach that Christ’s flesh was perfected, and His flesh was good.

What is “flesh”? Flesh, even the flesh of Christ according to scripture, is “corruption”:

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

Christ’s flesh did not see corruption because it was not the same as ours, the same as “the children.” Christ’s flesh did not see corruption simply because He was raised from the dead before His flesh had time to “see corruption.” He was raised up in a spiritual body which could become flesh if needed, as a testimony to His disciples that He had indeed been resurrected from among the dead.

Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

“A spirit hath not flesh” does not say a spirit cannot materialize into flesh. A spirit definitely can and does, at times, materialize into flesh, as Christ does here in Luke 24:39, solely because of their lack of faith. Nevertheless all resurrected bodies are not natural flesh bodies. Rather, all resurrected bodies are “spiritual bodies”.

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Who does “inherit the kingdom of God” mean? Here is our Lord’s answer to that question.”

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

I was recently asked if the gospel of Christ has become “a matter of does and don’ts”. While we are free from the law of Moses, we have now become the slaves of Christ and of His law.

Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

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

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants [Greek: douloō,  bondservants, slaves] of righteousness.

“Do the will of My Father”, and ‘Do not call me Lord if you are not doing what I say.’ Is there anything we are not to do, according to the gospel of Christ?

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

1Ti 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

“Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts… not given to wine… no striker… not greedy of filthy lucre, etc. It appears that we are expected to do what our Lord says to do, and we are also expected not to do the things He says not to do.

Does this accord with this revelation of Jesus Christ and those who are “the bride the Lamb’s wife”, this city of God, the New Jerusalem? Yes, it just happens to accord perfectly, and it is a matter of life and death:

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.

It appears that “doing His commandments” is required before anyone will “have right to the tree of life, and… enter in through the gates into the city.” What are those gates? They are the very same thing that stand before God in His tabernacle and in His temple. Here is another way of signifying the gates to that city:

Exo 26:32 And thou shalt hang it [the veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies] upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

Even the door to the holy place is lined with these ‘pillars’, and the priests could not get into the tabernacle or into the temple without going through these “pillars.”

Exo 26:37 And thou shalt make for the hanging [of the door of the tabernacle] five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

So there are nine pillars; five at the door of the tabernacle and four at the door of the holy of holies, through which all men who enter that city must pass to get to the Father and to sit with Him on His throne.

Now notice carefully what is promised to those who overcome this flesh while they are still in it in “this present time” (Rom 8:18):

Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Where are these “pillars in the temple of my God?” They are in “the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem.” There “is no temple therein” simply because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” The fact that the ‘pillars’ of the tabernacle were the doors of it, signifies the same thing signified by the ‘gates’ of the New Jerusalem’:

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

Rev 21:12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

So the city itself, having God and the Lamb in it, is the temple, and the nine pillars which once signified judgment are now replaced with a more mature symbol of the process being accomplished in God’s elect. That more mature symbol is the twelve foundational ‘gates’ through which all who enter into the presence of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb must come. Let’s read it again.

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.

The nine pillars through which all men are judged and come into the presence of God have been replaced with twelve gates, and it is “through the gates” that all men must enter “into the city” in which we find “the Lord God Almighty … the Lamb… the river of life… the tree of life, and all of those who have been found worthy to eat of that tree of life, and drink of the waters of the river of life.” Those who have “the name of God [have] the name of the city of… God… New Jerusalem, written upon him.”

Thus, this ‘city’ cannot signify anyone who is cast into the lake of fire.

What is the simple truth concerning all who do not yet know Christ, and who do not believe that entering into that city is somehow connected to “doing His commandments” in this present time? Here is what the scriptures think of all flesh, who without Christ, will not be “raised a spiritual body” at the time of that “blessed and holy… first resurrection.” Here is what Our Lord thinks of all who have not yet come to know Him and His Father.

Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

There are no “gray areas” with Christ and His Father. Whatever is not Truth is a lie. What so few in this age are seldom given to understand is that our sins are not our sins, but rather even our sins are the work of God in deceiving us and keeping us in darkness until we “in our own order” and in our own appointed time are dragged to our Lord. What this means is that the law of Moses is but a “shadow of good things to come” and is of itself neither “grace [nor] Truth.” These are not easy things to point out, but they must be pointed out if we are to understand what will be the fate of all the billions of humanity who will come before Christ.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Christ makes this clear when He reveals that when He told Moses that the manna was “bread from heaven”, in reality the manna was simply a type and a shadow of the true bread from heaven.

Exo 16:4  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Joh 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the [True] bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Had the Lord told Moses that the manna Israel ate in the wilderness was “bread from heaven?” The answer is, yes, the Lord had told Moses that the manna was “bread from heaven.” Just as the entire law itself was in reality nothing more than a type and shadow of the true “law of Christ”, so this “bread from heaven” called “manna” was also nothing more than a type and a shadow of the true bread from heaven, just as “the first man Adam was the figure of Him that was to come.” Just as the entire history and economy of ancient Israel was all done and was all recorded “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” that physical manna was but a shadow of the True Bread from heaven:

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

Exo 16:4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Whenever it is pointed out that God Himself has deceived the prophets of His own people, and that it was He who caused Joseph’s brothers to sell Joseph into Egypt for the purpose of saving the whole world, and whenever it is pointed out that the scriptures say God make wicked men for the day of evil in the lives of us all when we are all wicked men; when it is pointed out that God caused us to err from His ways and hardened our hearts from His fear, then our old man will first, by God’s own design, reject that Truth and think of ourselves as the defenders of God’s honor, even as we disobey Christ and His Father and turn against and persecute those who show us these Truths.

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

“You sold me into Egypt… don’t be angry with yourselves that you sold me here… it was not you but God that sent me here.” That is simply more that the natural man is given to receive. How did ‘I am the true bread from heaven’ go over with the Jews?

Joh 6:41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
Joh 6:42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

If you are not granted to believe God, then you need to get another religion. Christ tells us He is the true “bread from heaven”. Either we are granted the faith to believe that and the holy remain holy and the filthy remain filthy, or we are not given that faith.

Joh 6:43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [Greek: helkuō,  drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Being “taught of God” is done through the “body of Christ which is the church”.

Act 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Act 8:31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Act 8:32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
Act 8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
Act 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
Act 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

To “All men… in the heavens, is made known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.” All who are not granted to understand these “deep things of the spirit”, are outside the gates of this “city of our God… the bride, the Lamb’s wife”, and until they are brought to know Christ and His Father they will not become part of “the family of God.”

Eph 3:14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

While this may sound like rather harsh language concerning the great men of God of the Old Testament, like Joseph’s brothers, their Old Testament mindset is of the Lord and not of themselves. The law was until John, but grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ, and all the men of God of the Old Testament will simply have to be taught and brought to see and understand that truth before they will be granted to become a part of the family of God. In the end ‘death will be destroyed’ and at that point there will be no more “dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, or anyone who loves and makes a lie”.

1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Nevertheless, this 15^th verse reveals that the Lord’s elect are indeed “blessed and holy” because they, and they alone, are “the bride, the Lamb’s wife, the New Jerusalem, the mother of all living.”

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

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Gen 3:20  And Adam [the figure of Christ] called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living [Gal 4:26].

Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

While “the children” and their head are of the same family, “the children” will never be the head of the family:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

This 15^th verse demonstrates that this is also true of “the mother of all living”. She is of the same family as all the billions who will come up out of the lake of fire, but her children are not “the mother of all living” as she is. They are the children of the Lamb and His wife, but they are not “the bride the Lamb’s wife”. The only people who enter in through the gates of that city are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, those who are “the bride the Lamb’s wife.”

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

In our next study we will, Lord willing, consider the last six verses of this revelation of Jesus Christ within us. Here are those last six verses:

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.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

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Isa 66:20-24 As the New Heavens and the New Earth, so Shall Your Seed and Your Name Remain

[Study Aired November 8, 2020]

Isa 66:20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
Isa 66:21  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

The first question we must ask is who are the ‘they’ of verse 20? Verse 19, as well as verse 21, makes very clear to whom the ‘they’ of verse 20 refers:

Isa 66:19  And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

“Those that escape” are those who “come out of Babylon” (Rev 18:4). “Those that escape” are us, the Lord’s “very elect”, if we are granted to “endure to the end”.

Isa 66:20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
Isa 66:21  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

Here is the “offering… in a clean vessel [which we] bring… into the house of the Lord”:

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

“Your seed, and your name” is speaking of the seed of Christ and His Christ being of the same mind and knowing “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”

Isa 61:9  And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

This is what Christ has to say about what He is doing through us:

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

The process of being “sanctified” is the process of being judged in this present time. This is accomplished only “through the Truth”. All the lies of all the religions of this world do not make a single Truth. The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water had been taken away from us at that point in our experience. It is then that the eagles in our heavens will be nourished by the flesh of the carcasses of all the dead bodies of all the beastly self-righteous false doctrines that have been occupying the Lord’s throne in our hearts and minds for so long. It is at this point these words will come alive to us:

Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Christ said the same thing in these words:

Luk 17:33  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Luk 17:34  I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
Luk 17:35  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luk 17:36  Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luk 17:37  And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

It is our new man who is “left”, and it is our old man who is “taken” and whose carcass is devoured by our new man, who is typified by an eagle around the throne of God:

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

We are living in “the times of reformation”. The phrase, “From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me…” in terms employed in the “times of reformation” (Heb 9:10) is simply saying that from month to month and from week to week all flesh will come to worship before Christ and His Christ, just as carnal Israel did for so many years under the law.

Heb 9:9  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

As the Lord’s elect, we will be given to rule the nations with a rod of iron for a thousand years. Just as Israel was not given to return to Egypt, and  was instead told they would go as captives into Babylon, so it will be during the thousand years.

Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.

In that period of our rulership, the world will not go back to the “days, months, times, and years” of this Babylonian system which presently rules over the kings of the earth. Instead, the whole earth during the thousand-year reign will be just like Israel in the wilderness and just like Christ’s own apostles who, though they were with Him for three and a half years, were not converted and “broke the sabbath”. Christ ruled unconverted Israel, and He ruled His own unconverted apostles with a rod of iron.

Before we look at how Christ ruled Israel and His own disciples with a rod of iron, let’s first establish the fact that He came as a reformer, and that He demonstrated that office by refusing to keep the days, months, times, and years of the law of Moses.

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

Babylon teaches that Christ never broke the law of Moses, that He kept it perfectly, so we do not have to do so. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Every “…but I say unto you” in Matthew 5-6 breaks the law of Moses, and John tells us plainly that Christ “had broken the sabbath”:

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Now let’s look at how Christ dealt with unconverted Israel while they were under the law of Moses.

When Israel disobeyed Christ in the wilderness, He sent fire among them at one time, and serpents among them at another time, and He caused them to be destroyed by their adversaries:

Num 16:35  And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Num 14:45  Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

When the Lord’s disciples withstood Him concerning His impending death and resurrection, He ruled them with a rod of iron in this manner:

Mar 8:33  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

The Lord “looked on His disciples” because He knew Peter was speaking for them all. None of them saw the need for this man’s death. They all wanted to be kings under Him here and now. That was the first question they asked Him after His resurrection:

Act 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

That is how societies will be governed during the thousand years. They will not be converted, but they will be subjugated to the Lord’s elect until the thousand years are expired (Rev 20:7). That is the very meaning of “a rod of iron”:

Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

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 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Spiritually and inwardly it is “Christ in [us] (Col 1:27)… in earthen vessels” (2Co 4:7) which will “go forth and look upon the carcases of the men”, the false doctrines within us who would not come up to worship before the Lord. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels [and] we are His flesh and His bones” who now witness of Him against our old man and against this present evil world:

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

It is our own flesh which is being burned up with unquenchable fire which is signified as “Babylon is fallen” [and that destructive process of coming out of Babylon is called] “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus.”

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 [“all”men (Rev 13:16)] worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
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 14:11  And the smoke of their torment [the torment of the Lord’s elect first] ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name [“…all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” – (Rev 13:16)].
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

We are this “New Heaven”, we are this “New Earth”, and we are the “New Jerusalem… above, the mother of us all”, and it is through our mercy that all men of all time will be shown mercy in the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death.

Isa 27:13  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet [“the last trump” – (1Th 4:17 and Rev 11:15)] shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Isa 52:1  Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Joe 3:17  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Zec 2:12  And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.

Zec 8:3  Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

In Christ we are this ‘city, adorned as a bride for her husband’. That is our crown and our hope and our reward if we are granted to be faithful to the end:

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Isa 62:1  For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Isa 62:2  And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Isa 62:3  Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Isa 62:4  Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Isa 62:5  For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

“So shall your sons marry you” is not incest. The point being made is that our spiritual offspring will “be of the same mind” which is the key to a successful marriage.

Peter repeats this promise of “a crown of glory”:

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

This “crown of glory” is also called “a crown of life” which is given only to those who are granted to have a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”:

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried [Greek: G1384, dokimos, ‘approved’], he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Those who “reign” are given “a crown of glory… a crown of life” and will rule the nations with a rod of iron for a thousand years:

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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.

We have very much in common with those who are cast into the lake of fire. “Those things which [we] shall suffer” are the same things suffered by those in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death. Notice just how much we have in common with those we will be judging:

We are all, both the “blessed” and the “cursed”, “saved by [the Lord’s chastening] grace”:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [Greek:  paideuō, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Both groups endure the same fiery words of the Lord’s wrath upon our old man:

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

Both the elect and the “cursed” are tormented with fire:

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

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

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Just what is all of this?

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

Both the blessed and the cursed experience excruciating pain:

Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Revelation 15 tells us:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

This is the fifth vial:

Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

Both the 144,000, who are called “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb”, as well as the “great multitude which no man can number… come up through great tribulation and wash their robes white in the blood of 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 [the first to be judge and] 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 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb

What we do not share with those who are cast into the lake of fire is our “crown of life” and ruling with Christ over the kingdoms of this world for “a thousand years. These promises are given only to those who have a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”:

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

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.

It appears that these words of our Lord are true:

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

The words “live by” do not mean to duplicate every word of God. Rather, those words mean to believe and do and teach others the truths of the Words of God. Believing is “the works of God”:

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

If the Lord tells me “His mercy endures forever” and I teach otherwise, then I am neither “believing” nor “living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. For example, the 136^th Psalm tells us 26 times that “His mercy endures for ever”:

Psa 136:1  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:2  O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:3  O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:4  To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:5  To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:6  To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:7  To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:8  The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:9  The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:10  To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:11  And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:12  With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:13  To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:14  And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:15  But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:16  To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:17  To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:18  And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:19  Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:20  And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:21  And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:22  Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:23  Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
Psa 136:24  And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:25  Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 136:26  O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Now if I take it upon myself to deny that 26 times repeated doctrine and I tell the world that ‘His mercy endures only during this life’, then I am not ‘living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’. Rather, I am twisting His words to accommodate an idol of my heart (Eze 14:1-9).

In the exact same manner, if the Lord twice tells us:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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

If I take it upon myself, in spite of that twice-repeated promise, to tell you that ‘everyone will experience the purifying flames of the second death’, I am neither believing nor living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Instead, I am twisting the words which have proceeded out of His mouth, and I have made them say the exact opposite of what they really teach. I have twisted His Words to accommodate an idol of my heart (Eze 14:1-9).

What we do not have in common with those who are cast into the lake of fire, as we just read, is that we are not hurt of the second death, and the second death has no power over us:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

If we are in the first resurrection, which resurrection Christ calls “the resurrection of life” (Mat 5:27-29), we will hear these words:

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:

Those cast into the lake of fire will never hear those words. Instead they will hear these words which we, Lord willing, will never hear:

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

The Lord only knows whose names are in the book of life from the foundation of this world. If our names are in the book of life, then we which have the firstfruits of the spirit will still “groan and travail in pain together” with those whose names are not in the Lamb’s book of life:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
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.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

If our names have been predestined to be in the book of life and in the first resurrection, then nothing we or anyone else can do will thwart the will of the Lord:

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is our study for today concluding this very encouraging and hopeful prophecy of Isaiah. If the Lord wills, we will begin our studies in the prophecy of Jeremiah, who is known as “the weeping prophet” partly because of his authorship of The Book of Lamentations, ‘the book of weeping’, which follows Jeremiah in scripture.

While the theme of Isaiah has been the Lord’s faithfulness in spite of our weaknesses, the theme of Jeremiah is also the Lord’s faithfulness. However, in Jeremiah we will see in much greater depth and detail just how the Lord’s faithfulness stays with us while all of the powers of Babylon are attempting to destroy us. Isaiah’s assurances of the Lord’s faithfulness are therefore needed to see us through the trials of our faith which are a theme throughout this prophecy of Jeremiah.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:6 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

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Hosea – Oldie but a Goodie

In the first chapter of Hosea we learned some very valuable insights into the mind of the Lord about His relationship to His body, His church. Though this book is written about a historical and physical people, as with the rest of scripture, there is much more to be cultured from this chapter spiritually.

As we saw from the very beginning of chapter one, God mentions a split in His people from those that claim to be His people but who are not. As a representation of this truth, the Lord tells Hosea to take on a wife that is much like His adulterous wife Israel.

We see that with the marriage of Hosea and Gomer, there are definite plans from God to be worked out in Hosea’s life as an admonition to us, His true body. Hosea has children which are named specifically to show us, among other things, that God has sown a plan for those who call Him Jehovah but only pay Him lip service in their servitude.

Though there are only 11 verses in chapter one, they are very succinct and powerful in showing us  what this plan that the Lord has sown will result in and we can see the consummation in the last verse of chapter one:

Hos 1:11  Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

However, it is amazing that as the bible stories progress throughout the scripture, we continually see a progression in the details and the awesomeness of how the Lord reveals Himself to us. That is exactly where we are going to be picking up in Hosea chapter two. Lord willing, we will be given eyes to see that chapter 2 is simply a more in- depth working of this plan of the Lord in your and my life as we walk this walk with the Lord.

Truly, the best stories are those which once you hear them you could swear you have heard them before even though it is the first time you have ever heard them. That is what is so miraculous and awe- inspiring about the scripture as I learn anew what the Lord has hidden within the letters He has mandated to be pinned down. With that, we will start the study on chapter 2.

Plead With Your Mother

Hos 2:1  Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

Hos 2:2  Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

In verse 1 we see that we are to tell our brethren, “Ammi” and our sisters, “Ruhamah”.  Immediately upon reading this verse I noticed that my brothers and sisters are mentioned together and the most prominent example that jumped out to me is when Christ mentions who His brother, sister and mother are in the gospels.

In fact, in verse 2 we see that we are going to be addressing our mother as well.

Mat 12:46  While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

Mat 12:47  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

Mat 12:48  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

This is also mentioned in Mark as well, but Matthew says it clearly enough to be able to see that there is something profound we are being given at the start of Hosea chapter 2 that we need to keep at the vanguard of our minds.

He that does the Will of the Father are Christ’s brothers, sisters and mothers and taking this spiritual principal and applying it to Hosea chapter 2 will open up the entire chapter.

We are to tell our brothers, “people” and our sisters “mercy”.  We are to plead with our mother to put her adulteries out of her sight and from between her breasts. In not so many words, we are telling our brothers, sisters and mother “you are my people” as we deliver the plan of God to them, but these brothers, sisters and mother are NOT those who simply say they are because they call the Lord, Lord.

We are to plead with our brothers, sisters and mother to put away the false doctrines from out of their midst’s and to take Christ’s truths and applying it here means by doing so we are doing the will of the Father but equally important we are being made aware of who TRULY are our brothers, sisters and mother.

It is notable that we are told to plead twice because when the Lord is working with our brother, sister and mother He will make it very apparent that this is the case and very apparent when it is not.

If you think I am reaching with what I am told is my own interpretation let the Lord speak for Himself with the next few verses.

Playing the Harlot

Hos 2:3  Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

Hos 2:4  And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

Hos 2:5  For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

We are to plead with our mother to depart from her whoredom lest the Lord make her naked, make her a wilderness, dry land and slay her with thirst. What example could we possibly be reading about here? It is none other than you and me and anyone else who the Lord is working with, that’s who.

Remember, this is a spiritual message that we are given admonishment about.  Doesn’t this sound like that story we are hearing for the first time that seems so familiar? That is because this is another reflective ray of light bouncing off of the same spiritual mind that is given to those who the Lord’s working with. Breaking down these verses is like telling the same story over and over but it is a story that never gets old. It is contained right here in this minor prophet’s book and has been for many, many generations.

In verse 3 we are told that this mother of ours, which ironically we use to be as the harlot church/ body, is naked and made a dry wilderness that is slain with thirst. Not only that, but we are told in verse 4 that anything that comes out of this harlot wilderness wife will not be shown mercy. I ponder who and what that could be?

Naked:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Wilderness:

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Dry Land:

Gen 1:9  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Gen 1:10  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Slain with Thirst:           

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

Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Joh 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Isn’t it painfully obvious who is being talked about here? Is it this harlot wife that I am sure glad not to be a part of? I am sure glad I have Jesus! Isn’t it tearfully and painfully numbing knowing that this whore of a wife is YOU and ME?

Who were the very first naked people ever? Adam and Eve. Where were they sent? “Into the wilderness” from the garden. Whose does Adam and Eve from Adam represent? The earth which happens to to be made very clear in Genesis from the very creation of the world and the water being separated so that the dry land could appear. We have seen and heard this story, have we not?

So I implore you, WHO is it that is TAKEN AWAY. If you have any doubt that the churches of the world have a little truth in them, then let Hosea admonish you again that the WHOLE STAY OF BREAD and WATER is TAKEN AWAY.
Still think Christ is in the church as the Christ Christendom says He is? Still think they don’t have another Jesus as we all once had? Let’s see if the Holy Spirit inspired any more admonition through Hosea for us.

Discovering Our Lewdness

Hos 2:5  For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

Hos 2:6  Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.

Hos 2:7  And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.

Hos 2:8  For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.

Hos 2:9  Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
Hos 2:10  And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

G oing back to chapter 1 we were told that the subject of that chapter was Israel and we saw Israel being contrasted with Judah.  In verse 1:7 we see that the Lord says He will have mercy upon the house of Judah contrasted with verse 1:6 where the Lord says He would not have mercy upon the house of Israel. This was so much the point that Hosea and Gomers son was named Loammi, meaning not my people.

In verse one of chapter two, we are told to tell our brother, “ammi” which is obviously conveying the thought of these brothers being the people of the Lord. So, it is undoubtedly clear that there are two contrasting people who both call the Lord, Lord. However, one is the true people of the Lord and the other is not. We also see the truth that both call the Lord, Lord with the naming of another of Hosea and Gomer’s children being named Jehu…and Jehu literally means Jehovah is He.

In verse 4 of chapter 1 we see this:

Hos 1:4  And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

So, keeping this all in mind when we approach Hos 2 verses 5-10, we should have a very clear focus on who it is we are talking about. As with all biblical stories we can literally see the old man versus the new being played out. We can see that we were once Israel who will be shown no mercy and we will also be of the house f Judah who will receive mercy. We will be of the house of Jehu and we will also be of the house of Jezreel at our appointed times.

In verses 5-10 we see a very interesting dilemma being played out in the mother harlot as she hops from her to husband to her many lovers. She thinks the things that she is given are from her lovers, the bread, water, wool, flax, oil and drink, but we see clearly in verse 8 that it was the Lord who was providing these things all the time.

Isn’t it so true that we go after our own lovers in the form of false doctrines and the things that are so contrary to the Lord while we are living under the roof of another so- to- speak? Ironically, while we are there we are nourished with bread and water, covered with wool and flax, and given power through doctrine, oil and wine.

The Lord is actually working against us the entire time by SUPPLYING the things we need so that He later can take it all away including our lovers who we give the credit to. Look at this harlot wife.

She is giving credit to her lovers for the things her husband has provided and while she goes about her ways to go after her lovers she is being worked against behind the scenes by her true husband and she doesn’t even know it. Her paths are hedged with thorns, there is a wall that is separating her from her lovers as she seeks them and it gets to a point where she finally says to hell with this and decides it is better to be with her husband than be in this condition.

It sounds like she really despises her husband doesn’t it? Oh how she loathes her husband while it has been Him all along who has been taking care of her while she had other lovers. I think she is about to have another thing coming though if she thinks she is just going to simply go back to her husband.

Hos 2:9  Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
Hos 2:10  And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.

Hos 2:11  I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

Hos 2:12  And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

Hos 2:13  And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.

This sounds an awful lot like the Lord loves days, times weeks and years doesn’t it? It sounds like He enjoys the things His wife did while she was participating in whoredom with her lovers? Obviously, I am speaking very foolishly. These are all the things that HER LOVERS have given her, not the Lord, right? She has done WHOREDOMS with them, and the Lord is clear that He will DESTROY them as even His wife says these things are REWARDS that her lovers have given her. Her husband is going to tear them all down and utterly destroy them and that is exactly why Paul states:

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

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

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Aren’t the things we just mentioned in Hosea partaking of days, months, times and years? Wait a minute Steven, it is God who gave His whore wife Israel these feasts, and Sabbaths and moons the mirth that comes with it, isn’t He? YES, but why? We were just told right here in Hosea and we will be told further. It is solely so that HE can DESTROY THEM when we didn’t know our husband, the things that keep us in BONDAGE.

We just read that it is the husband who is in actuality supplying the needs to the harlot wife, and it is also the husband who has given His wife, THROUGH HER LOVERS the things which He will vanquish.

But why go through all that trouble? Why does the Lord go through these great LENGTHS to simply only destroy everything He has been doing? It is because He has an unfathomable LOVE for His wife, His body.

He is willing to suffer the lovers being given credit for taking care of His wife, as the church gives another Jesus credit for being Him. He is willing to suffer the lovers being given credit for all these things because he knows the plan, the Jezreel, what He is sowing and He has given us a glimpse as He always does in the rest of this chapter.

A Door of Hope

Hos 2:14  Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

Hos 2:15  And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

Hos 2:16  And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

Hos 2:17  For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

Notice, it is in the wilderness that the Lord will bring His wife. Does this sound like a familiar story? He will give His wife vineyards from the wilderness, and the valley of trouble for a door of HOPE, and this wilderness will be as in the day when she came up out of Egypt? How in the world is this related at all to Israel coming up out of Egypt? It is immeasurably linked. It is linked because it is a direct relationship between Israel coming up out of Egypt as to the true people of God, the true bride, coming from the harlot wife.

As a result His wife will call her Husband thus, her man, and will not only call Him master, as was the relationship a lot of the time between man and wife in the OT.

It is truly amazing just how much our Husband loves us. After all things we have done, we will be given the love for Him back that He has for us. It reminds me of where Christ tells His disciples that they are not merely His servants but His friends. We, as the wife of our Husband, will call Him “our man, our husband – Ishi” instead of master or “Baali”.

          class=”bibleverse”> Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Joh 15:15   Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

It is at this point in our walk, where we have been made privy to what God sows, His plan, that we are truly able to be faithful to our Husband. Ironically, it is nothing that we have done to make it happen either. It comes about simply due to the love that God has for us.

Hos 2:18  And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
Hos 2:19  And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Hos 2:20  I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

It is all the Lord and His works that sets us free from the dominion of the things that are within us. It is the Lord who will make a covenant FOR US with the beasts, fowls and creeping things of the ground WITHIN us that will allow us to lie down safely and not longer be dominated servants of those beasts, fowls and creeping things.

The Lord will espouse us to Himself and Himself only and it is He who will give us the ability to be faithful to Him. It is just as Christ said earlier to His disciples in Joh 15:

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

            Joh 15:17  These things I command you, that ye love one another.

“Ye are my friends if YOU DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU” and because of this LOVE we are called friends. Doesn’t being ordained sound a lot like being made sanctified, set aside, ESPOUSED to Christ our Husband? It is by this LOVE we have been shown for NO reason of our own, that we are also to show this love, this mercy to others – our brothers, sisters and mothers.

Listen to this miraculous plan:

Hos 2:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

Hos 2:22  And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. 

Hos 2:23  And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

Where is Christ sitting? In Heaven. Who are we to Christ? His body. We represent Christ and we are the light to the world. We shall be linked to heaven through Christ and His Mind. We will be given bread, and wine and oil…Christ, his doctrine and with POWER…the Holy spirit of God and we SHALL HEAR JEZREEL…. What God sows…in other words, God’s plan. Isn’t that what we have been hearing during this entire study?

What is this miraculous plan again Steven?

Here it is in Hosea:

Hos 2:23  And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

And here it is in the NT:

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

1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief.

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Hi there again, Mike,

It is late here, brother (11 p. m.), and I cannot sleep at the moment, so I have decided to email you and ask for your wise input on a subject if I may.

It is regarding what our attitudes should be toward our natural family. By “natural family”, I do not mean my wife and my children whom I love and cherish every waking day. I mean my natural born siblings, uncles, aunts and grandparents, etc.

I had a big falling out with my brother several years ago now regarding him insulting my wife and then not making amends for it. It’s a long story, so I won’t go into details, but needless to say, the fact that I put my wife before my brother and set firm boundaries has soured the relationship between not only him and me but my other siblings and extended family as well. “Blood is thicker than water” is the line that has been thrown at me from left, right and center, and as the years have passed, I have honestly come to think that my siblings and extended family really are not “family” at all, and I really do not care for them one way or the other. We no longer speak to each other, and recently I saw my brother up here in a restaurant (he must have been up here on holidays as he lives in another state). When I saw him, I simply shrugged my shoulders and kept on walking.

My mother passed away when I was young, and my father is both a pedophile and a violent man, and I ran away from home when I was 14. I have not seen him since, nor do I intend on seeing him again or re-establish contact with him. I forgive him, but at the same time, wisdom dictates to me that my own family’s safety is more important that dredging up the demons of the past where he is concerned.

My father’s parents are quite honestly the most “evil” people I have ever met, my father’s mother especially, and likewise, I have not laid eyes on them for over 18 years.

My mother’s parents were obviously shattered at losing their daughter and have never gotten over it. Instead they have become very bitter people and have barely said a kind word to me since I hit my late teen years. They were invited to my wedding, but declined the invitation and have never shown an interest in our relationship.

I say all of this in an effort to try to be as honest as I can with you, Mike. However my question is: do you think I am being hard-hearted in that I feel I have no connection whatsoever with my natural “blood” relatives? Should I make an effort with them, or do I “let sleeping dogs lie”? I realize it may be hard for you to give specific answers here, but if any scriptures come to mind I would appreciate the input. I honestly feel more connection to yourself (even though we have never physically met) and others of the same Christ-like mind than I ever have with my own “flesh and blood”.

Thank you for reading, Mike. I look forward to your input. Will try and get some sleep now; work tomorrow!

B____

Wow! B____,

What a story! Thank you for sharing it with me.

I am from a broken home, and my very orthodox father taught my four brothers and sister and me to hate our mother, but he always loved all of us, and my grandparents on both sides were exemplary pillars of the community, as far as I have ever heard.

My mother had an adulterous affair with the minister of the Pentecostal church we attended, and when I was in the third grade, my parents divorced. My father was the first man in the history of the state of Ohio to get full custody of his children. Sadly for him, he honestly believed that Rom 7:1 forbade him from ever getting married as long as my mother was alive. So he never remarried, and he had six children to raise.

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of [her] husband.
Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Dad knew nothing of “the sum of thy word”, and the Lord simply never let him see this verse, even though we read through the entire Bible systematically.

1Co 7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
1Co 7:15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

I will not bore you with the details, but he placed us separately in the homes of his brothers, and my brother just older than me and I ended up with Dad’s sister and her husband. I was ten at that time. The worst thing I ever experienced was my aunt’s husband picking me up by my head and throwing me across the room when his son and I got into an argument.

So you can understand that my brothers and I were never reared together from the third grade on, and I was never very close to any of them for that reason. But we have always been very civil with each other, and I cannot imagine not even speaking to any of them even though most of them have made it clear that they think I am a heretic and at times would not speak to me.

I have a half-sister and a half-brother who are children of the Pentecostal minister with my mother after they married. I never met this half-brother until I graduated from college, but my mother eventually moved to the Atlanta area, and I got to know him. He was always in and out of trouble/jail, and my mother always bailed him out. It took many long painful years for all of us who attempted to help this brother to learn that helping him amounted to nothing less than enabling him to continue his cocaine habit.

I struggled with that because we are to love our enemies (Mat 5:44, Luk 6:27). But my spiritual struggles with false brothers and the fact that we are told to “mark that person and have no company with him” have helped me to understand that there is a time to “have no company” with both physical and spiritual brothers.

My story doesn’t begin to compare to yours, but I just wanted you to know that I, too, have had my struggles with my family. I also will not discuss the scriptures at all with my own older daughter and her husband or my older sons, simply because they all are adamantly opposed to what I see in scripture.

Like you, I am much closer to you than I am to any of my brothers, other than Lonnie, who is also a believer. Here is why that is so.

Mar 3:33  And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Mar 3:34  And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mar 3:35  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

“Blood is thicker than water” is not a biblical phrase, but it is a biblical principle when the blood is Christ’s blood and the water is the waters on which the great whore sits. But Christ also did not neglect to prepare for the care of His mother after His death. It seems He was the one who bore the responsibility for her care as on the cross he told John this:

Joh 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Joh 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own [home].

You are right! It is hard to be specific about your personal relations with individuals in your family who I know nothing about, but I can show you what the scriptures say, and as far as your wife is concerned, the scriptures say this:

Mat 19:4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,
Mat 19:5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Mat 19:6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Your wife should be to you what the church is to Christ. You were absolutely right to place her above the relationships of your physical family.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

Your wife is the most important person to you in the world next to God Himself. You two should be more important to each other than even your own parents. Your spouse should, in scriptural terms, come before any of your children. It is a sad commentary on how far we are from God that children have become the center of the family, and that many adults live their lives, not to please their mates or their heavenly Father, but to serve and please their own children. This action just reinforces the child’s natural, carnal nature to be totally self-serving and inconsiderate.

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

We are to be careful that no “root of bitterness” spring up in our hearts and minds toward anyone.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

The word “many” tells us that most people do fall prey to this temptation to become bitter. But we are at the same time to “look well to the flock, [family] over which the Lord has made us overseers.

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
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.

“All the counsel of God” includes both, “look diligently… lest any root of bitterness spring up,” and it is also “take heed to yourselves and the flock…”

If your father is a known pedophile, then you do not want your children to ever, under any circumstances, to be alone with him for as much as a second. It might be okay for them to meet him under your own supervision, but it would be nothing less than gross negligence to let him spend one minute alone with any of your children if he is indeed a pedophile.

There is a time and place for not seeking out the company of those who seek to destroy us and our Lord.

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
2Th 3:15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish [him] as a brother.

My own daughter and son-in-law and my older sons are not my enemies, but I will do the admonishing, and if that is not acceptable to them, then we will “have no company.”

I hope I have said something which will edify you in some way and give you some guidance and comfort of mind in how you should relate to your physical siblings and your parents and uncles and aunts and cousins. We are to love all men. But that love never comes between us and obeying our heavenly Father.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

God bless you and your wife as you seek to know His mind in all things.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike