The Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number 40

[Study Aired March 29, 2026]

In this study we will see that the number forty in its positive application signifies periods of trials and testing, purification, and preparation, always leading up to and producing a more mature and fruitful place of service. This period of being tried, whether for forty days or forty years precedes a new and much better beginning. This positive application of the number forty is first demonstrated in the forty days of rain which brought in the world wide flood:

Gen 7:4  For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

The old world was completely destroyed in the flood, and out of that death and total destruction a new world was born signified by the number eight.

2Pe 2:5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Noah also waited forty days after the tops of the mountains appeared before he sent out a raven:

Gen 8:5  And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
Gen 8:6  And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
Gen 8:7  And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

The number forty is the product of 5×8. Five signifies God’s chastening grace, through the faith of Jesus Christ, and eight signifies new beginnings or the new man. Therefore the number forty signifies the grace through faith, which is required to put our old man to death and to begin the birth of our new man, “Christ in [us] the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). Our “fiery trials” should be seen as the chastening hand of the Lord in our lives. The Lord’s chastening is the work of His grace with which He favors His elect and chosen disciples:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811: ‘paideuo’], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Paul also tells us that God’s grace chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’, Chastening] 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;

The number five signifies that work of grace through faith, and the number forty consists of  5X8=40. Grace through faith produces a new man who has endured forty days of afflicting his soul.

Lev 23:26  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:27  Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Lev 23:28  And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Lev 23:29  For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

The prophet Elijah spent forty days walking to Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai), where he was given to know that he was about to enter into a new stage of his life after fleeing for fear of Jezebel’s threat to take his life:

1Ki 19:8  And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
1Ki 19:9  And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1Ki 19:10  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1Ki 19:11  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
1Ki 19:12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
1Ki 19:13  And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1Ki 19:14  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1Ki 19:15  And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
1Ki 19:16  And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
1Ki 19:17  And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
1Ki 19:18  Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Again we see forty days of fasting preceding an epochal change in the life of Elijah as it was in the lives of Moses and the life of Christ.

The number forty eight times amplifies the significance of the number five. The number eight signifies a new beginning in which the flesh begins to be put off on the eighth day, and a new man begins to be formed on the eighth day. Expressed in another way the number forty is a five times amplification of the number eight. Since eight signifies new beginning or divine intervention, that concept is amplified five times signifying the function of grace through faith, which is the significance of the number five.

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/numbers_five/

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-spiritual-significance-of-numbers-the-number-eight/

The number forty therefore represents a time of trial which produces a spiritual transformation, where the old self begins to be stripped away and a new existence as a new man begins. Christ Himself began an entirely new life only after forty days of fasting and confronting the beast in the wilderness.

Mar 1:13  And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

As this story demonstrates, the number forty is associated with those times of adversity and spiritual combat. The worst ‘beast’ any of us will ever face is the ‘beast’ we look at in the mirror every morning. There is no worse enemy any of us will ever confront. Christ’s own flesh was the worst beast He ever faced yet, because He was given the spirit without measure, He never once succumbed to those fleshly desires. His subjection to a new and much better man is signified by the number forty. Christ spent forty days dying daily to the physical desires of His flesh, followed by a lifetime of dying daily to the pulls of the flesh of His old man.

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

On a national level Israel spent forty years waiting for the death of that generation which came out of Egypt. The carcasses of that unbelieving generation died in the wilderness typifying what must be done to our own old man:

1Co 10:5 But not in the majority of them does God delight, for they were strewn along in the wilderness.
1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CLV)

Heb 3:17  But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

In the stories of the forty days of rain which brought on the worldwide flood of Noah, and in the forty years of wandering in the wilderness until the generation which came up out of Egypt had died, and Christ fasting forty days while dealing with wild beasts in the wilderness, these stories all admonish us that the Lord is in the process of purifying us for His service as “saviors” of “the rest of the dead” who do not come up out of their graves in “the resurrection of life.”

Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [“The first resurrection]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920: ‘krisis’ judgment, “the great white throne judgment”].

Christ had to endure this time of forty days of afflicting His soul to prepare Him for the temptations of the adversary which He faced “afterward”.

Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Being hungry ‘after forty days’ is not telling us that Christ was not hungry from day one. If that is not true, then Christ was not “in all ways tempted as we are” (Heb 4:15). The point being made is that it was after the forty days of fasting that the tempter came to tempt our Lord. However, Christ was given His Father’s spirit without measure and rebuffed every temptation of the adversary:

Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Christ received of His Father an unlimited anointing. Christ was given “the fullness of the holy spirit”, which enabled Him to speak His Father’s Words perfectly and to do all His Father gave Him to do without any constraint.

Fasting forty days prepared Christ for the new life He would now live in His Father’s service during His ministry:

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

‘The will of [His] Father’ was revealed in all of the ‘…but I say unto thee’ changes of the law made by Christ in His new “law of the spirit of Christ”, which He revealed in His teachings in Matthew 5-7. This new way of life began to be taught by Christ only after He fasted for forty days.

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

“Resist not evil” is the exact opposite of “an eye for an eye…” Here is another ‘But I say unto thee… change in the  law’ of Moses:

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

“Love your enemies” is the exact opposite of “hate your enemy”. Truly Christ has brought in “the times of reformation”:

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

The law of Moses has indeed been changed to “the law of the spirit” (Rom 8:2). “The time of reformation” is now upon us, but it had to be preceded by Christ fasting forty days.

“The letter of the law… for the lawless” (2Co 3:6, 1Ti 1:9) which the Lord gave to Moses was also given to him only after Moses had fasted forty days:

1Ti 1:7  Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
1Ti 1:8  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Christ enjoyed another forty days which he spent with His disciples preparing them for their new life which they would experience after His resurrection:

Act 1:1  The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Act 1:2  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
Act 1:3  To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Such an incredible reformation from dying letter to living spirit had to be preceded by a forty-day fast. Even the “carnal commandments” of the law of Moses were given only after Moses had fasted for forty days.

Exo 34:28  And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Upon seeing the golden calf Aaron had made for the people, Moses broke the tables of stone on which the Lord had written the ten commandments, and Moses returned to the mount and fasted a second forty days:

Deu 9:9  When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
Deu 9:10  And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Deu 9:11  And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
Deu 9:12  And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

The second forty days are recorded in this same chapter:

Deu 9:18  And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

This was all done in preparation for entering into the promised land where all the mind of God was ideally to be put into practice in the lives of the Lord’s people. Moses fasting for forty days on Mount Sinai, and Christ spending forty days with His disciples after His resurrection were both in preparation for the new mission He had in store for His Israel.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Another observation we can make concerning this number forty is that whether it is the forty days of rain which brought on the flood of Noah or the forty days of fasting which Moses and Christ experienced, this number is used to separate two epochs of time in our lives. Those two times are the time we spend in the first natural realm and the time we begin to experience in the realm of the spirit:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Just as Abraham mourned over the loss of his own flesh, his first son, Ishmael, and just as King David mourned the death of King Saul, it is only natural and even Biblically proper that we mourn the loss of our own flesh, both through the forty days of those who are embalmed and the total of seventy days mourning of the loss of our old man, signified by the death of Israel in Egypt:

Gen 50:2  And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3  And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

2Sa 1:11  Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:
2Sa 1:12  And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
2Sa 1:13  And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.
2Sa 1:14  And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD’S anointed?
2Sa 1:15  And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
2Sa 1:16  And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD’S anointed.

One of the negative applications of the number forty is that King Saul’s reign was forty years:

Act 13:21  And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

Another entry which can be considered as a negative application is that Moses permitted a maximum of forty stripes for corporeal punishment:

Deu 25:2  And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
Deu 25:3  Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

While we want to overcome the fear displayed by the ten spies who gave the land a bad report, yet it is good to take the time, to ‘spy out’ what we are going up against before we go where the Lord is leading us. Moses sent spies to spy out the land for forty days, and Christ Himself teaches us to “count the cost” before we begin building a tower or go to war:

Luk 14:25  And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Luk 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Luk 14:29  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Luk 14:30  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Luk 14:31  Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luk 14:32  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
Luk 14:33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

The Lord is very honest and straightforward with us. If we put anything – wife, children, mother, father, or country – ahead of our love and devotion to Him, then we are not worthy to be His disciple. This admonition is telling us to be aware of this requirement before we commit to becoming a good soldier of Christ:

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Exactly how does a “good soldier of Jesus Christ do battle? Exactly what are his weapons of war?

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Those are the weapons of our warfare, and the minute we take up physical and natural weapons we have at that moment lost all the protection that Christ and His Word afford.

As ‘soldiers’ and ‘spies’ we are employed by the same king, and that king is Christ, who tells us to spy out the land for forty days and become aware of the strength of the enemy, but at the same time realize that even our greatest enemy, even the greatest giant in our land, our own ‘old man’, is nothing more than a tool with which the Lord is forming a new child within the womb of His church.

Num 13:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 13:2  Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe [twelve men] of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
Num 13:25  And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

It takes forty years of a life preparing us to be worthy of beginning to enter into our new life. During that forty years we are sustained on physical manna, protected from the heat of the Sun by a cloud by day, and given light by night by a pillar of fire. In other words, at this stage we “come behind in no gift [and yet we] are still carnal babes in Christ, typified by the church at  Corinth:

1Co 1:4  I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
1Co 1:5  That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
1Co 1:6  Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7  So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

That may sound like a real blessing, and indeed it is a blessing for an immature babe in Christ who must be given everything needed to stay alive. But when we have everything handed to us on a silver platter we are not yet capable of accepting the concept of dying with, and being crucified with Christ. At this earlier state of our spiritual development we are simply thankful to learn that Christ died for us:

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

The fact that Christ did die for the sins of a repentant world is what the holy spirit calls ‘the milk of the word’ and none of us can begin life eating strong meat. Paul makes us all aware of this spiritual fact in the very next chapter of 1^st Corinthians:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

The Lord has ordained that forty weeks followed by a short period of extreme pain are required for the normal birth of a healthy child. If indeed the invisible things of God are understood by the things that are made, the Lord is indeed demonstrating how His mind works to bring forth His firstfruit manchild with whom He will rule this world.

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

Christ tells us that “many are called but few are chosen” are the concluding words of the Lord’s parable of the wedding feast. That may sound disheartening to the natural man, but for those few who are chosen, nothing can come between them and their Lord:

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.

Those verses are the epochal transformation for which our forty years in the wilderness and our forty days of fasting are preparing us to inherit, and nothing will rob us of that inheritance nor separate us from our Savior. Our lives are of Him, through Him and to Him:

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

1 Samuel 7:1–17 Samuel Judges Israel

[Study Aired February 16, 2026]

Introduction

Our focus today will be centered on the ark of the covenant coming to Kirath-Jearim, Samuel judging Israel during this period, the gathering of the Lord’s people at Mizpeh and finally, the battle with the Philistines.

The Ark Comes to Kirath-Jearim

1Sa 7:1  And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. 

In the word of the Lord, a city represents the church of the firstborn or Jerusalem above or the church system of this world or Babylon, depending on the context. 

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 

Rev 17:18  And the woman [the church system of this world] which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

The name Kirath Jearim means city of forest. As shown in Isaiah 29:17, the fruitful field is regarded as a forest and therefore the city of forest (Kirathjearim) denotes the church of the Lord’s elect.

Isa 29:17  Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

The name Abinadab means ‘father of generosity.’ The ark being possessed by the men of Kirathjearim and bringing it to the house of Abinadab signifies our transition from Babylon to the church of the Lord’s elect where Christ comes with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to possess the hearts and minds of His elect, whose father is known for His generosity in favoring us.

If we are to have the Lord in our hearts and minds, then our hearts and minds need to be sanctified as shown by the sanctification of Eleazer, with the purpose of keeping the ark in verse 1. It is instructive to note that the name Eleazer means ‘helper.’ We know that the helper is the Holy spirit whom the Lord is sending to His elect for their sanctification.

1Pe 1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

In Exodus 19:14, being sanctified means washing our clothes which means becoming righteous through the washing or cleansing by the word of the Lord. This washing by the word is the Lord’s judgment or the fire of the Lord’s words which causes us to learn righteousness.

Exo 19:14  And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.

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. 

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

1Sa 7:2  And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

Some versions of the Bible make verse 2 much clearer. Examples of these versions are as follows:

1Sa 7:2  And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping. (BBE)

1Sa 7:2  A long time passed after the ark came to stay at Kiriath Jearim. For 20 years the entire nation of Israel mournfully sought the LORD. (GW)

It is when we come into the church of the firstborn or the Lord’s elect (Kirathjearim) that we mournfully seek after the Lord. We mourn because we are being judged in this age. We are just like the two witnesses of Revelation chapter 11, who are clothed in sackcloth.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

The ark abiding in Kirjathjearim for twenty years signifies the time during which the Lord enrolls us in His army as we war against our flesh.

Num 1:3  From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 

Num 1:26  Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

Samuel Judges Israel

1Sa 7:3  And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 
1Sa 7:4  Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. 

Samuel in this case represents our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 3, Samuel admonishing the house of Israel is the Lord speaking to His people, His elect. If we are to progress in our spiritual relationship with Christ, then we must do away with the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among us. These strange gods and Ashtaroth signify the idols of our hearts or the false doctrines which we hold dear in our hearts. When we come to the church of the firstborn from the church system of this world or Babylon, signified by the Lord dragging us just as the ark is brought to Kirathjearim, we come with a lot of idols of our heart which must be done away with. These idols of our hearts are the stumbling block of our iniquity.

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

In verse 3, we are told that if the Israelites do away with their strange idols and Ashtaroth, the Lord will deliver them out of the hand of the Philistines. This implies that our false doctrines empowers our flesh and that by doing away with these idols of our hearts, we are set free from the clutches of our flesh, denoted by the Philistines.

The children of Israel putting away Baalim and Ashtaroth and serving the Lord only is the Lord’s elect being given to know the truth of the Lord’s word which destroys the idols of our hearts. As we imbibe the truth of the Lord’s words, these false doctrines are done away. The truth of the Lord’s words is the hail that sweeps away the refuge of lies in our hearts and minds.

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

The Gathering of the Lord’s People

1Sa 7:5  And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD. 

As indicated, Samuel in this study represents the Lord. Mizpeh means ‘watch tower.’ This implies that the Lord is requiring us to become His watchmen.  

Isa 21:6  For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

Isa 52:8  Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

Isa 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

Eze 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

As shown in these verses, the role of a watchman is to hear the word of the Lord and to declare what the Lord is showing us. Samuel telling the people of Israel to gather at Mizpeh so that he prays for them means the Lord interceding on our behalf to make us His watchmen.

Heb 7:24  But this man [Jesus], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 

1Sa 7:6  And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. 

As the Lord’s watchmen, we are to draw water and pour it out before the Lord. To draw water means to be given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. To pour the water out before the Lord means to be judged by the Lord, as shown in the following verses:

Psa 22:14  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Psa 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 

Job 30:16  And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 
Job 30:17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. 

As we are aware, the spiritual significance of fasting is to loose the bonds of wickedness or to break the yoke of the flesh which comes about through the Lord’s judgment of our flesh. The Israelites fasting at Mizpeh therefore implies that we learn righteousness as we are judged by the Lord. All of this comes at the back of the fact that we know we have sinned against the Lord and therefore deserve His judgment.

Isa 58:6  “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Isa 58:7  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 
Isa 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

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

Samuel judging the people of Israel at Mizpah symbolizes the Lord governing or ruling and executing judgment over His people to make us His watchmen. It is therefore, we, His elect, whom the Lord is governing and executing His judgment for the purpose of destroying our flesh.

It is important to note that here at Mizpeh, all the Israelites were gathered together for the purpose of Samuel praying for them as they turn back to the Lord. This oneness is the unity that is required in our gathering as the Lord’s elect for Him to command His blessings.

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 
Psa 133:2  It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 
Psa 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. 

The Battle with the Philistines

1Sa 7:7  And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 
1Sa 7:8  And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 

Our engagement against our flesh is typified by the lords of the Philistines coming up against Israel. It is when we are making progress in our relationship with Christ, as the Lord makes us His watchmen (significance of Mizpeh), that this struggle against our flesh becomes intense. The children of Israel being afraid of the Philistines means that we are all afraid of our flesh because in our natural state, we have been defeated several times by our flesh, and we think we cannot make war against our flesh. In our desperation, we come to the Lord asking Him to save us from our own flesh. This is symbolized by the Israelites appealing to Samuel to pray to the Lord to save them out of the hand of the Philistines.

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

It is important to note that as our High Priest, the Lord is always interceding on our behalf in accordance with the oath He swore to our father Abraham that we shall be delivered from our enemies (flesh and the devil) so that we pass the rest of our lives in rest and quietness. 

Luk 1:70  As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 
Luk 1:71  That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
Luk 1:73  The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 
Luk 1:74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
Luk 1:75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

1Sa 7:9  And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him. 

Our Lord Jesus had been offered for a burnt offering to God for our sake and is praying for us His elect, and God the Father has heard Him because of His reverence.

Heb 5:6  as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” 
Heb 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

1Sa 7:10  And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. 

Through the mercies of the Lord, it is while we are offering ourselves as living sacrifices to the Lord that the pull of the flesh, signified by the Philistines drawing near to battle the Israelites, becomes intense. 

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

In the Bible, the phrase “the Lord thundered” implies the Lord’s judgment as shown in the following verse:

Psa 18:13  The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

The hail stones and the coals of fire in Psalm 18:13 above, are all part of the Lord’s instruments of judgment. Therefore, the thundering with a great thunder upon the Philistines indicates our victory over the flesh through the Lord’s judgment of our flesh (Philistines). Are you struggling with sin? Continue to cry to the Lord as the Israelites did, and He will come with His judgment to destroy the flesh so we can have victory over it. As we can see in verse 11 of the study, the Israelites had victory over the Philistines. This implies that the Lord who has started this work of destroying the enemy within us, will deliver victory to us.

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

1Sa 7:11  And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar.

Bethcar means ‘the house of the lamb’ which is Christ. Therefore, Bethcar is the church of the Lord’s elect or Jerusalem above which is free. The men of Israel pursuing and smiting them until they came to Bethcar means that our struggle with our flesh is completed in the house of the Lord. This is through what every joint supplies.

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

1Sa 7:12  Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. 
1Sa 7:13  So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 

Samuel taking a stone and calling the name of the place between Mizpeh and Shen, Ebenezer, is to let us know that the destruction of our flesh is done in stages and that at every stage of our walk with the Lord, we must acknowledge that it is the Lord who has helped us this far.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Here in 2 Corinthians 3:18, the Lord changing us into His image from glory to glory means that we are being changed from one stage to another, which is consistent with what Samuel said at Ebenezer as he laid a stone to symbolize how far the Lord had helped the people of Israel.

The defeated Philistines not able to come to the coasts of Israel anymore in verse 13 implies that as we journey with the Lord, we come to see certain areas of our lives in which the Lord has wrought complete victory for us over our flesh. In such cases, the flesh has been completely defeated and therefore cannot rise again. However, there are still areas of our lives which we are yet to overcome.

It is interesting to note that the Lord was against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. This is to assure us that as long as the Lord is with us, He will fight our battles for us as He will continue to destroy our flesh through His judgment.

Isa 42:13  The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

1Sa 7:14  And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

The restoration of the cities which the Philistines had taken is the Lord making us aware that our labor in the Lord shall not be in vain and that whatever we have lost in Him because we yielded to our flesh, shall be restored to us. Indeed, the Lord is the restorer of the broken down walls of our lives. He will not relent until He has brought us to our desired haven.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

These verses in Psalm 107 above describe how the Lord comes to us with His judgment to destroy our flesh with the purpose of bringing us to our desired destination of becoming His children abounding in His resources to complete the race marked out for us.

Joe 2:23  Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 
Joe 2:24  And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
Joe 2:25  And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 
Joe 2:26  And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
Joe 2:27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

It is important to note that at the end of verse 14, it is mentioned that there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. The Amorites also represent our flesh, just as the Philistines do. This statement that Israel was at peace with the Amorites is to make us aware that the destruction of our flesh is in phases. As we know from the word of the Lord, in the early part of Israel’s journey to occupy the land of Canaan, the Amorites were confronted and destroyed. That is why the Israelites were at peace with the Amorites. The flesh will always be with us but it is being rendered powerless by the Lord through His judgment. 

Jos 10:6  And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
Jos 10:7  So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.
Jos 10:8  And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Jos 10:9  Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
Jos 10:10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.

1Sa 7:15  And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
1Sa 7:16  And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. 
1Sa 7:17  And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD. 

As indicated earlier, Samuel judging Israel all the days of his life is the Lord ruling, governing and judging us throughout our lives as His elect. The moving of Samuel from Bethel to Gilgal, to Mizpeh and finally to Ramah every year shows us our spiritual progression in Christ. Bethel means ‘the house of God.’ We must leave Babylon and enter the house of God or the church of the first born as the Lord’s elect. Gilgal means ‘circle’ or ‘rolling.’ One of the significant events which happened to Israel in their walk with Christ is the mass circumcision of the men of Israel at Gilgal. This implies that through the Lord’s judgment, we overcome the flesh as we roll away our reproach when we lived like the people of the world.

Jos 5:2  At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
Jos 5:3  And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 
Jos 5:4  And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 

Jos 5:8  And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 
Jos 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

It is as the Lord judges us that we become His watchmen at Mizpeh which means ‘a watch tower.’ That is when we press for the heights of our calling or the high calling of God, symbolized by Samuel coming to Ramah, which means ‘heights.’

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

May we continue to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ even as we press for the high calling of the Lord. Amen!!

Rev 10:5-11, Part 4 – In The Days Of The Sounding Of The 7^th Angel

[Study Aired Oct 4, 2024]

We concluded our last study of these last 7 verses of Revelation 10 by posing two questions… What exactly is “the mystery of God” and whether “the seven last plagues” are an essential part of “the mystery of God” (Col 1:27).

Therefore I will ask again… What exactly is that mystery of God and does that ‘mystery’ entail that we all experience the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the kingdom of our old man? Applying “the dream is one” principle (Gen 41:25-26), we can know for sure that “the mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11), and “the mystery of God” (Rev 10:7) are one and the same mystery, and in Colossians one we are told exactly what that mystery is.

We are not left to speculate about this mystery. Here is that mystery which has been so long hidden, and which ‘mystery’, ever since the death and resurrection of Christ, is being finished “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when He shall begin to sound” in the lives of the Lord’s elect as He declared to His servants the prophets. Here is that great mystery. Here is the secret which has been hidden for so long.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Now let’s look at the verses which present the truth of this “mystery of God” to us, and as we look at these verses let’s notice just how similar to Ezekiel 2-3 are to Rev 10, which is presented as the necessary circumstances surrounding the revelation of this mystery.

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

We are “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if [we] continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard.” Why would we ever “be moved away from the hope of the gospel”? What does that good news, that gospel, entail? Is it a good news gospel of smooth things that will make us independently wealthy, free from many trials and free from the hated of all men in this life? No, that is not what would cause us to be removed from the hope of the gospel. The hope of the gospel entails believing and teaching that “it is through much tribulation” that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. The hope of the gospel requires and teaches that “no man can enter into the temple [of God in heaven] until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled” in his own life.

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.

As Ezekiel phrases this same message:

Eze 2:9  And when I looked, behold, an hand [was] sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein;
Eze 2:10  And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the holy spirit, tells us that “The hope of the gospel” entails “sufferings for you [the church], and fill[ing] up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:”

According to the Emphatic Diaglott, there is an article before the word ‘Christ’ or ‘Anointed.’

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in the sufferings on behalf of you, and I fill up the wants of the afflictions of the Anointed one in the flesh of me on behalf of the body of him, which is the congregation;  (EDT)

Rotherham agrees with the Emphatic Diaglott.

Col 1:24 Now, am I rejoicing in the sufferings on your behalf, and am filling up the things that lack of the tribulations of the Christ, in my flesh, in behalf of his body, which is the assembly, (REV)

“The tribulations of the Christ” are not yet filled up because the “lamentations, mourning, and woe, written within and without the little book” are not yet fulfilled, and the seven plagues of the seven angels are not yet fulfilled in “the Christ” which is the body of Christ, “which is the church”.

This book is called “the revelation of Jesus Christ”.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:

Here is the “Jesus Christ” in whom “the things which are written therein” are still being fulfilled:

Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Here is Col 1:24 in the King James Version.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Apparently Christ was dead serious when He made this assertion to Saul of Tarsus as he journeyed to Damascus to imprison the followers of Christ.

Act 22:8  And I [Saul of Tarsus] answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Christ was also dead serious when He made these assertions:

Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Those who “try the spirits to see whether they are of God” (1Jn 4:1) and actually speak those words of God and the words of Christ “line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little”, really are speaking the words of Christ, as He said they would.

Luk 10:16  He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

1Jn 4:6  We [those who are granted to “try the spirits” and “[to] not think above what is written” (1Co 4:6) are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

When we persecute our brothers who “try the spirits to see whether they are of God”, we are persecuting Jesus of Nazareth:

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

So “the mystery of God”, “Christ in us”, is finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. But it is not finished until the seven plagues of the seven angels is poured out in our lives, and that is all being done as we come out of Babylon. As the fuel of our idols is burned up, the pain of those words of fire is reduced till we become comfortable in those fiery words. But the story of King David, and the very fact that we “die daily” and we are being “crucified with Christ”, remind us that the body of this death is with us until indeed we are dead to this world.

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

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

The seventh angel was the last of the seven trumpet angels. Here is the one thing we know that begins to happen in the days of the last trumpet:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For all who can receive it, these things are all already being done in earnest “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” in the lives of all who have been sealed with the holy spirit of promise and who know no man after the flesh. “Seven” is not ‘seven’ at all, and what “the last trump” signifies is the “finishing of the mystery of God”, which ‘mystery’ is not finished until we draw our last breath while in these clay vessels. All the time from Adam’s last breath, until the second resurrection will seem like “the twinkling of an eye” to Adam and to all who are in Adam because the dead are not conscious of the passing of time. It is not a literal ‘seventh trumpet’. “The seventh trumpet” means ‘the beginning’ of the completion of the plan of God in the lives of His elect. The work of the seventh trumpet is not finished until we have drawn our  last physical breath.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be[gin to be] finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Th 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be [“changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”, and we shall be] caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air [the spirit, Eph 2:2 and Rev 9:2]: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

It is few indeed who can receive the doctrine of these verses:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are] [already] passed away; behold [aorist tense], all things are [already] becom[ing] new.
2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled [aorist tense] us [‘is reconciling us’] to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given [second aorist tense, ‘is giving] to us the ministry of reconciliation;

For those who can receive it, “This generation will not pass till all these things [including “the end” of the age, v 14] shall be fulfilled” (Mat 24:34), is fulfilled in these words:

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation [reading these words, v 15] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life [in “the earnest of the spirit”].
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also  [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

If we fail to “reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ”, then we will never understand how “the mystery of Christ is finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.” But if we do so reckon things to be true in “earnest of the spirit” (2Co 1:22 and 5:5), then we will know that the seven churches are one church, the seven seals are one seal, the seven trumpets are one trumpet, and the seven plagues are all one complete work of God upon the kingdom of the man of sin whose ‘kingdom’ is the dominion of the corruptible carnal minded beast within all of us.

2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

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

Summary

Our review at the beginning of this study is our summary of that of those verses. So we will summarize only what we have seen in verses 6-7, which were not covered in last week’s study. Here are those two verses

Rev 10:6  And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

We have seen in this study that the phrase “there should be time no longer”, is simply stating that there will be no longer a delay of the events which begin in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. Here is this same verse in the American Standard Version.

Rev 10:6  and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer: (ASV)

We have also seen in this study that whenever a message is repeated, it is repeated with slightly different symbols as a second witness to a single message. Pharaoh’s two dreams were one message showing Pharaoh what was to shortly come to pass. Both the book of Ezekiel 3 and the little book of Rev 10 are revealing the same message, and that message is that we will endure ‘lamentation, mourning, and woe’, and we will ‘prophesy and witness before many people’ in the days of the voice of the seventh trumpet. It is through the eating of this little book, in which are written “lamentations, mourning, and woe”, that the mystery of God will be finished in the days of the beginning of the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The ‘prophesying before many people’ is also revealed in this sixth trumpet, includes the ‘measuring of the temple’ and the symbolism and signification of the symbolic, death and resurrection of the two witnesses (1Co 15:31; Gal 2:20; Rom 12:1).

Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

Verse 11 concludes chapter 10 and the voice of the seventh trumpet has not yet been heard. The significance of this 7^th trump is so great that we are told “the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (Rev 10:7).

For reasons which we will discuss in a future study, the seven last plagues of the seventh trumpet are not poured out until chapter 16. The voice of the seventh trumpet, in which the mystery of God should be finished, begins to be heard in chapter 11 chapter, but the seven plagues of that trumpet are not poured out upon the earth until chapter 16. It may sound like this is a linear account of all these events in our lives, but we will come to see that the principle of “the dream is one” must be applied to understand the events of the sixth and seventh trumpets and why chapters 11-16 are all a part of the sixth and seventh trumpets.

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

Our next study, Lord willing, will be in chapter 11, which concerns the measuring of God’s temple and the death and resurrection of God’s two witnesses.  We are told that these events are the passing of the sixth trumpet which is also called the second woe.

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

The measuring of the temple, the testimony and death and resurrection of the two witnesses accompanied by a great earthquake, the falling of a tenth part of the city and the slaying of seven thousand are all a part of “the second woe” which is the 6^th trumpet judgment, as stated in the last 4 verses of chapter 11:

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Ezekiel 24:1-27  The Siege of Jerusalem and the Death of Ezekiel’s Wife

[Study Aired July 22, 2024]

Introduction

Today’s study focuses on the sins of the house of Israel which had necessitated the need for them to be judged by the Lord using the king of Babylon as His instrument of judgment by laying siege against Jerusalem. The house of Israel is Babylon or the physical churches of this world of which we were part of during a certain period of our journey with Christ. The study today therefore shows us our sins and the need for us to be judged in order to learn righteousness.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 

In addition, the study also highlights the death of Ezekiel’s wife and what it means to us today. These things were written for our admonition upon whom the “ends of the world are come.”

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. 
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 

The Judgment of the Lord is Here with Us

Eze 24:1  Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 24:2  Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day. 

The number nine symbolizes the judgment of the Lord, and the number 10 shows us the fulness or completeness of the flesh. The tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year therefore signifies that it is when the sins of our flesh have reached their fullness that we are given to experience the judgment of the Lord. In this case, the judgment of the inhabitants of Jerusalem was at hand because of their sins and the Lord was using the king of Babylon as His instrument of judgment. The completeness or the fullness of the flesh is another way of saying that our sins have reached the Heavens, and therefore judgment is at hand.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

As we can see in the verses above, it is when the sins of the harlot woman, representing Babylon or the physical churches of this world, have reached their fullness that her judgment shall begin. This judgment is in another age. However, today’s study is speaking to us of the Lord’s elect, whose judgment is at hand.

As indicated in verse 2, the Lord was using the king of Babylon as His instrument of judgment of His people. The king of Babylon is the smith the Lord has created that blows the coals in the fire to bring forth an instrument of His work. The king of Babylon is therefore the waster that comes to destroy and therefore represents the devil whom the Lord uses to give us an evil experience with the objective of bringing forth as an instrument of His work as we learn righteousness.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 
Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

These verses therefore highlight the role the devil plays in our salvation. As we know, during the thousand-year reign of the elect, the devil will literally be arrested by the Lord, and therefore he will not be available as a smith that blows in the fire. That is why no one shall be saved during the thousand-year reign.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The Lord Speaks to His Rebellious House in Parables

Eze 24:3  And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it: 
Eze 24:4  Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. 
Eze 24:5  Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
Eze 24:6  Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. 

It is instructive to note that the Lord directed Ezekiel to speak in a parable to the rebellious house of Israel. As we know from the word of the Lord, our Lord Jesus spoke in parables to the multitude, and when the disciples questioned Him about it, He said that He speaks in parables because it is not given to the multitude to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. In a similar vein, Ezekiel speaking to the rebellious house of Israel was to make them not understand the mysteries of the Kingdom. As a matter of fact, Ezekiel, and all the old testament prophets, were not even given to understand the Lord’s words. Ezekiel speaking in parables implies that when we rebelled against the Lord during our time in Babylon, we were not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. 

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. 

In verses 3 to 5, the Lord told Ezekiel to put a pot on the fire and pour water in it. After that he should cut meat into pieces with all the best pieces of the thigh and shoulder and fill the pot with the meatiest bones selected from the best sheep. Finally, he should pile wood under the pot to boil the mixture to ensure that the bones are well cooked. The question is, “What is the Lord telling us with this parable?” In verse 6, we are given to know that the pot, or the rusted pot, represents the city of Jerusalem with blood on its hands.

Eze 24:6  These words mean that Jerusalem is doomed! The city is filled with murderers and is like an old, rusty pot. The meat is taken out piece by piece, and no one cares what happens to it. (CEV)

Remember that we were part of Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children, that is, Babylon, with blood on our hands for hating the Lord and those He sent to us.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 

Both the meat and the bones represent our flesh, and the fire at the bottom of the pot symbolizes the fire of the word of the Lord which is the judgment of our flesh or old man because of the word we have received.

Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

2Sa 19:12  Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 

The bones being well cooked means that the judgment of our flesh, or our old man, is a thorough work of the Lord. It is insightful to note that in verse 6 we are told that Ezekiel should empty the pot piece by piece without choosing any particular piece. That is to say that all in Babylon shall be judged. However, we, the Lord’s elect who are the first to come out of Babylon, shall be judged first in this life. Our brothers and sisters shall be judged later in another age.

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

In verse 6, we are also told that the rust or the scum shall not go out of it. That is to say that in this age, the sins of Babylon shall not go away. From the Lord’s words, we know that it will only go away in the lake of fire. 

Our Sins that Necessitated the Lord’s Judgment

Eze 24:7  For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; 
Eze 24:8  That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. 
Eze 24:9  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great. 
Eze 24:10  Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. 
Eze 24:11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.  

Apart from the literal shedding of blood of righteous men sent to the churches, that is, the death of our Lord Jesus and many of His servants, the shedding of blood spiritually signifies making those who have started their journey with the Lord worse off or spiritually dead through false doctrines. In verses 7 and 8, the fact that the blood of the righteous is set upon the top of a rock and not poured on the ground to cover it implies that the putting to death of the Lord’s children through the great swelling words of man’s wisdom and tradition is obvious for everyone to see, even people of the world. We, as the Lord’s elect, are also guilty of shedding blood since we were part of the church system, that is Babylon at a certain stage of our walk with Christ. 

Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.  

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

As a result of our hands stained with the blood of the saints, the Lord comes with His judgment to deliver us. Verses 9 to 11 show us the Lord’s judgment which is designed to purge us from the shedding of blood during our time in Jerusalem, or the churches of this world, as we learn righteousness. 

Isa 59:3  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 
Isa 59:4  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 

Isa 59:7  Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 
Isa 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Isa 4:4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 

We can see from these verses in Isaiah that the Lord shall surely intervene in our circumstances to cleanse us from the blood on our hands and from all kinds of evil through the judgment of our old man. In Ezekiel 24:11, the Lord is assuring us that His judgment shall result in our filthiness melted and the rust of it shall be consumed. That is to say that the judgment of the Lord shall destroy our old man or the man of sin in our lives.

Eze 24:12  She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. 
Eze 24:13  In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. 
Eze 24:14  I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.  

As indicated, it is through the lies or false doctrines that we become murderers and as a result become worse off. In verse 13, the Lord is telling us that on our own, we cannot purge ourselves of our lewdness. It is only through the Lord’s fury or His judgment that we can accomplish that. In other words, we cannot on our own walk in righteousness. The Lord has to come into our lives with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to judge us in order to live righteously. In verse 14, the Lord is assuring us that He will surely make us righteous through His judgment. Isaiah 59:16-17 makes it clear to us that there is no man or intercessor to help us. That means that no man can help us or himself to become righteous. It is the Lord’s zeal for His Father’s house alone that assures us that He who has started a good work in us shall surely bring it to completion. 

Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 
Isa 59:17  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. 
Isa 59:18  According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 
Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 

Psa 69:9  For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Are you worried that you may not attain the standards of the Lord in view of your apparent weaknesses or sins? This is not the time to gloat over what we cannot do by ourselves. Our Lord Jesus Christ’s zeal to bring to perfection the Christ in us is consuming Him. Let’s turn our attention from ourselves and look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!!

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

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Zec 4:7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

The Death of Ezekiel’s Wife

Eze 24:15  Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 24:16  Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. 
Eze 24:17  Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. 
Eze 24:18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. 

Following from the earlier verses where we saw that the Lord is ready to unleash His fury on our old man because of our sins, the verses here show us the benefits of the Lord’s judgment. These verses use the symbol of the death of Ezekiel’s wife to show us what the Lord is doing in our lives presently. We can look at Ezekiel’s wife as representing the bride of Christ or the church which has gone astray, as Ezekiel here signifies Christ. This bride of Christ is the physical churches of this world or Babylon. Although we have physically left Babylon, we still retain the doctrines of Babylon within our hearts and minds which prevent us from knowing Christ. Thus, there is the need for Babylon within us to be taken away, just as Ezekiel’s wife had to die. In Revelation 14, we are told that our judgment includes the destruction of Babylon within us. This Babylon is the harlot woman who in this case represents Ezekiel’s wife.

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. 

Babylon within us must be destroyed, and outwardly, we must leave Babylon.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The wife of Ezekiel in this case can be likened to the prophet Hosea’s wife who was a harlot, whom Hosea was instructed by the Lord to marry. All these women signify Babylon within us and without. 

Hos 1:2  When the LORD first spoke to Hosea, the LORD told him, “Marry a prostitute and have children with that prostitute. The people in this land have acted like prostitutes and abandoned the LORD.” 
Hos 1:3 So Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and had a son.

It is instructive to note that in verse 16, the Lord told Ezekiel concerning his wife that He was going to take away the desire of his eyes with a stroke. In this perspective, the wife of Ezekiel therefore represents the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life which the Lord is gradually destroying in our lives. 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Outwardly, the Lord will destroy Babylon in the fullness of time with a stroke just like what happened to Ezekiel’s wife in verse 18, who was alive in the morning, and by the evening, she was gone. 

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 

It is also informative to note that the Lord required Ezekiel not to mourn or cry for the death of his wife (verses 16 and 17). The death of a wife is one of the most painful experiences in life. However, the fact that the Lord asked Ezekiel not to mourn is to let us know that although the death of Babylon in our lives is a painful experience, we are not to mourn during this evil experience of our judgment because of the joy that is set before us. We are to look to Jesus, who despised the evil experience He was destined to go through, in view of the joy He was going to possess.

Ecc 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and to investigate by wisdom concerning all which is done under the heavens. It is an evil task God has given to the sons of men, to be afflicted by it. (LITV)

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. 

Eze 24:19  And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

The people asking Ezekiel regarding the death of his wife and the fact that he was not allowed to mourn shows us that it is impossible for those who have not been given eyes to see and ears to hear to understand the mysteries concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. We were like these people at a certain stage of our walk until the Lord came to cause us to understand His words. 

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

Eze 24:20  Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 24:21  Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword. 
Eze 24:22  And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. 
Eze 24:23  And your tires [turban, bonnet] shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another. 
Eze 24:24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD. 

Here in these verses, the Lord is showing us that our deplorable state in the churches of this world is all part of His agenda. In verse 21, He informed the house of Israel representing Babylon that He will profane His sanctuary or holy place which is our hearts and minds. This He does with the man of sin sitting in our temple claiming himself to be God. Our sons and daughters falling by the sword means we shall be polluted with false doctrines (the negative application of sword). 

2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: 

The Lord also told the house of Israel in verses 22 to 24 that they should imitate Ezekiel in the sense that they should not mourn or weep when He destroys Jerusalem, their sanctuary which was the desire of their eyes and the excellency of their strength. As indicated earlier, this Jerusalem represents Babylon within us which shall be destroyed by the Lord through His judgment. Later, in an age to come, the Lord will deal with Babylon outwardly. These verses confirm to us that Ezekiel’s wife is Babylon within us. Just like Ezekiel, we are required not to mourn the destruction of Babylon within us since their destruction is our salvation.

This brings to mind our Lord Jesus Christ during His time here on earth when He was followed by many who were wailing and lamenting Him as He was led to the cross. He turned around and told them not to weep for Him. As He is, so are we. We are not to wail or pity ourselves for the evil experience we are enduring!! This is because it is a blessing to be judged in this life!! 

Luk 23:26  And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 
Luk 23:27  And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 
Luk 23:28  But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 
Luk 23:29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

In Luke 23:29, the barren who are blessed are the Lord’s elect who are going through the Lord’s judgment in this life.

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. 
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 

Eze 24:25  Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters, 
Eze 24:26  That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears? 
Eze 24:27 In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 

A simpler rendition of these verses are as follows:

Eze 24:25  “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, 
Eze 24:26  on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. 
Eze 24:27 On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So, you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.” (ESV)

These verses reveal the end result of the Lord’s judgment. As indicated in verse 25, our stronghold shall be destroyed. This stronghold is our old man, and his death destroys the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes and the pride of life. What we need to know is that the Lord’s judgment is not a one day event, but a process that takes a lifetime. In verse 26, we are shown that it is while we are going through the Lord’s judgment that a fugitive will come to us to report to us the good news about the kingdom of Heaven. The fugitive here who comes to us on that day refers to the Lord’s elect who comes to us in the name of the Lord. The Lord’s elect are fugitives because we have run away from our captivity in Babylon. It is the coming of this fugitive in our lives which signals the coming of Christ into our lives.

Luk 13:35  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 
Psa 137:3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 

The coming of the fugitive into our lives signals the beginning of the time that we are given to know and speak the mysteries of the kingdom and not remain silent (verse 27). 

In summary, this is what Paul said concerning what we are going through now as the Lord’s elect:

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. 

May the Lord’s Name be Praised for His wonderful work in us!! Amen!!

Lam 5:1-22 Part 5, He Knows Our Frailty For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust (Psa 103:14)

[Study Aired September 9, 2023]

This final part of the Book of Lamentations rigidly complies with its namesake ~ Lamentations. It finishes on the same afflicted and morbid note for the hopeless results from the works of the flesh. However, the Bride of Christ brightly sees Lamentations’ tedious cheerlessness as her former state that the world’s churches routinely see as ~ lamentations –  only relevant to Old Israel.

The Lord’s people daily endure tedious trials that never seem to abate. Yet, if we could indulge some levity and fun, Walter Brennan’s “Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don’t It” lyrics sound like our former selves and Babylon, only seeing the hopelessness of Lamentations and upon the proven hopelessness of our own strength, moved to do nothing! Quite the opposite of the Shulamite’s vitality. 

I like Brennan’s dry style when he breaks his lyricism by classically snapping back to a dreary reality in the last sentence of most verses. Here is one sample of the ten in the accompanying link.

“My shoes untied but I don’t care
I ain’t a-figurin’ on goin’ nowhere
For I’d have to wash and comb my hair
And that’s just wasted effort.”

https://www.songlyrics.com/walter-brennan/life-gets-tee-jus-don-t-it-lyrics/

Pro 26:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. 
Pro 26:14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. 
Pro 26:15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. 

Brennan’s “Life gets tee-jus, don’t it” parody is juxtaposed against the jarring, impassioned reality of Christ’s last words on the cross and similarly reflects the Saint’s feeling of hopelessness while knowing that the trials are temporary.

Mar 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [Phonetic: el-o-ee’ lam-ah’ sab-akh-than-ee’]

Of course, the Lord’s singularly true Church knows He hasn’t forsaken them, and Babylon lives uncertainly.

Isa 54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

Since this last chapter of Lamentations theme is consistently weeping and moaning, we will launch right in without restating the entire chapter. In the individual’s private study, understanding and reflecting upon each verse’s wording seems relatively easy with E-sword. A babe in Christ will have almost no difficulty corresponding scriptures and musing spiritually.

Lam 5:1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach [scorn; taunt; shame].

We ask, “What is come upon us?” Ultimately, it is the flesh. The flesh is alienated from the spirit; the two cannot remain “one” without the spirit overwhelming the flesh’s corruption and its reproach. Even so-called clean flesh simply burns up in the presence of God, most dramatically in this present time and experienced by the Bride of Christ. It is our former self, the Great Whore we were, who conspicuously yet unwittingly had her ominous title stamped in invisible ink on her forehead. She most eminently holds the term “reproach” for her uninformed widowhood while claiming to be married to ‘the Christ.’

Jer 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a harlot’s forehead, you refused to be ashamed.

A harlot’s forehead projects the outward haughtiness of the mind within; the old temple slated for destruction. The forehead identifies the entire ensemble of a harlot by our unconscious seeing her peripheral nuances of conceit in her eyes and facial expressions; hence, the forehead potently identifies her entire persona.

Rev 18:6 Reward her [the whore/harlot within] as she has rewarded you, and double to her double, according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix double to her. 
Rev 18:7 As much as she has glorified herself and has lived in luxury, so much torment and sorrow give her. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow; and I do not see mourning at all. 
Rev 18:8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine. And she will be consumed with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

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

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [all humanity alive at that time], to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them [the beginning of the Eighth Day, the Resurrection to Judgment].
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [interchangeably the Whore], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [Aionian – for that brief age; age lasting].

Lam 5:2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 

The Bride of Christ learned that she doesn’t want a physical inheritance; as she walks away without a glance back, she gladly hands over her decaying, lusted vanity of vanities to her libertine sisters in Babylon to indulge.

The Bride must be diligent in not being like brother Esau and her degenerate sisters who, for a flirtation of lust for a season, forgot her Lord’s gift.

Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 
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;

We will likely become bitter for all the Lamentations we endure seemingly endlessly while the Lord apparently doesn’t hear our cries ~ just like Christ on the cross.

Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

A morsel of meat is some heresy or lawless act we hold dear or even a relatively innocuous thing that insidiously controls us.

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

Of course, for the Bride of Christ, all sins can be repented, preferably acknowledged quickly. Only trampling underfoot, as did Esau figuratively for the holy spirit, results in a more dramatic repentance in the Resurrection to Judgement.

Lam 5:3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. 

Outwardly, Yes! ~ And don’t we know it?! All spouses, parents, brothers, sisters and friends have abandoned us, symbolically coming after us with swords and staves of doctrinal falsehoods. We drank the same water with them, paid tithes and got ‘blessed’ by Satan. Yet, most happily, the Lord’s flock have abandoned them who remain unwittingly as Babylon like unsuspecting widows.

Mar 14:48 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? 
Mar 14:49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.
Mar 14:50 And they all forsook him, and fled.

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

Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Lam 5:4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. 
Lam 5:5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. 
Lam 5:6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 
Lam 5:7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. 
Lam 5:8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
Lam 5:9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

With Artificial Intelligence rapidly approaching, even now in our homes, it will no doubt become more a curse than a blessing, and we will be identified as enemies of the State and its wilderness of filth. As such, ‘buying’ the word of God will become impossible unless we diligently focus on becoming wise virgins with sufficient oil.

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.

Lam 5:10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. 

Whenever I read the word “black”, I “look upon” the Shulamite, the Bride of Christ, for her immutable blackness of understanding on the part of Solomon, typifying a blind and starved world remaining insensible beneath the dark overcast hiding the Lord’s word.

Lam 5:11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 

Yes, the Babylonian churches are ravished by other women, in lockstep with males missing their privy members and injured in their stones (Deu 23:1), gelded pastors incapable of delivering the seed of truth. Individually, we must be watchful for the woman within attempting to rule over our Husband, Christ.

Lam 5:12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. 

Of course, Jesus was the most eminent “prince” hung up by his hands while the eunuchs taught in the congregations.

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. 

2Ki 2:23 And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 
2Ki 2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Lam 5:13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. 

That scripture is reminiscent of Sampson grinding and children of Canaanites stuffed into bull idols and baked alive in their metal bellies, not to mention the corresponding children of Israel falling under the ‘wood’ and yoke of Old Covenant doctrines that would, in this life, burn with the hay and stubble.

Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Of course, and for us, causing our children to go through the fire is forcing the Lord’s word upon them or any unbelieving spouse. Its dual interpretation happens when we or Babylon teach false doctrine.

Deu 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 
Deu 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

The prefix ‘necro’ is close to the humiliating label necrophiliac, a rapist, fetishist, nymphomaniac, killer, and masochist. One of three Hebrew terminologies is H4191 – 1. to die, kill, have one executed, dead [mentioned 132 times] a. (Qal) 1. to die 2. to die (as penalty), be put to death 3. to die, perish (of a nation) 4. to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct. From those expressions, we see by putting our children or any babe through the fire, we kill them by cutting off their ears and blinding them through false doctrine for premature death.

Lam 5:14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. 
Lam 5:15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. 
Lam 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! 
Lam 5:17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. 
Lam 5:18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. 
Lam 5:19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. 
Lam 5:20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? 
Lam 5:21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
Lam 5:22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.

On that ‘happy’ note, the Book of Lamentations finishes, but not for the Lord’s people. Every dire outcome decreed upon our old man we know has a positive and literal everlasting spiritual blessing for the new heavenly Jerusalem within. We remember our Husband’s “song of songs” penned by Solomon and are inflamed by His spirit and He for us.

The Lord’s Elect has utterly rejected her former self by her Husband’s strength. His wrath for her reproach He has turned her mourning into dancing.

Psa 30:10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. 
Psa 30:11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 
Psa 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

This concludes this short series of the Book of Lamentations.

Zec 12:1-14  “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel”

[Study Aired August 17, 2023]

In chapter 11 of Zacharias, we learn of the effect God’s word has on the nations during the symbolic period of time known as the thousand-year reign (Rev 20:6, Rev 12:5). The word of God is not contemptible to the masses at the beginning of this reign (Rev 11:15) because anon with joy the word will be received (Mat 13:20-22). In time, however, “the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.“

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

As time goes on, the judgment with a rod of iron will produce the results God intended it to have all along; results that are explained in this twelfth chapter of Zacharias and all of Malachi 1:1-14. It will be a time of plenty for the flesh: plenty of watering and planting of the word, plenty of physical healing, along with the needs of society being met plentifully, as Christ demonstrated when His ministry began on the earth.

The ministry of our Lord on earth as a man parallels the elect’s rule and reign under Christ during the thousand-year reign, the natural revealing the spiritual (1Jn 4:17, 1Co 15:46, Rom 1:20). Christ healed all the sick that were brought to him, and fed the masses and met the needs of people as those needs arose and were brought to His attention. However, Christ never converted a single soul, and neither will God’s elect during their reign, to teach the world that the increase of all that watering and planting can only come from God and at an appointed time that has been ordained according to the counsel of His own will (1Co 3:6, Eph 1:11).

The beginning of miracles which Jesus did in Cana of Galilee [another need met by Christ (Joh 2:11)] declared the end from the beginning and was the reason Christ said “Woman, [Mary, a type of elect church] what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” That the new wine is better than the present wine at the wedding of Cana represents the thousand-year reign of the saints “when men have well drunk.” The new wine represents the time when the saints are ministering and judging the world in the great white throne judgment with the better wine. A most glorious part of our relationship with Christ, a blessed and joyous experience will be in giving the word, the better wine, the cup that Christ longed to drink with us today and does, to the rest of the world in the lake of fire which will produce converted children for the Groom and Bride of Christ (Luk 22:15, Act 20:35, Gal 4:27). 

Joh 2:11  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. 

The six earthen vessels in this story in John 2:1-11 represent the witness of the process of judgment that must come upon all mankind in the great white throne judgment (witness 2 x process of judgment 3 = on all mankind = 6). God’s elect have this treasure in earthen vessels today and are being sanctified by God’s word [wine] today (Joh 17:17, 2Co 4:7), and will fill the world with that better wine in the lake of fire. The first wine at the wedding of Cana represents the thousand-year reign when the saints will shower the world with both physical and spiritual abundance, symbolized by the first wine given at the wedding that ran out – “the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine.” In like manner, there will be a famine of the word toward the end of the thousand-year reign in the sense that the hunger and ‘anon with joy’ spirit will dissipate until the second resurrection, which is when the better wine will be given to all of humanity. 

Joh 2:1  And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 
Joh 2:2  And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 
Joh 2:3  And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 
Joh 2:4  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
Joh 2:5  His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
Joh 2:6  And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Joh 2:7  Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 
Joh 2:8  And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 
Joh 2:9  When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 
Joh 2:10  And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 
Joh 2:11  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. [His disciples believed because of the sign but did not yet understand the spiritual significance of this first miracle.] 

Keeping all of this in mind, it becomes clear that the number 1000 in the expression ‘thousand-year reign’ symbolizes for us the inability for the world to hear the word of the Lord with spiritual eyes that see and ears that hear (Jer 22:29). “O earth (10), earth (10), earth (10), hear the word of the Lord” if multiplied, adds up to the complete one thousand years, and it is at the end of the thousand-year reign when the contempt of mankind will become very evident as a result of the familiarity of their relationship with Christ and his saints without the accompanying spirit of God which makes that relationship grow into one becoming a disciple indeed (Rom 8:9, Joh 8:31). The “inhabitants of Jerusalem”, to which humanity is likened in this study, will rebel against our Lord and His Christ’s rulership being overtaken by Satan who will be loosed for a season (Rev 11:15, Rev 20:7-9).

It will be akin to that moment when Christ said, “Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?” For which of all the works done during the reign of the saints does the world (Gog and Magog) come up against the camp of the saints (Joh 10:32)?  This whole scenario with mankind coming up against the camp of the saints reveals the man of perdition within, a man typified by Judas who was also sent a spirit which caused him to betray Christ and come up against Him (Joh 13:27). 

The “burden of the word of the LORD to Israel” brings with it, in time, a contemptible spirit as mentioned in Malachi 1:1 and 1:7.

Mal 1:1  The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 

Mal 1:7  Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 

Here are the verses for this study:

Zec 12:1  The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 
Zec 12:2  Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 
Zec 12:3  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 
Zec 12:4  In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 
Zec 12:5  And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. 
Zec 12:6  In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 
Zec 12:7  The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 
Zec 12:8  In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. 
Zec 12:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 
Zec 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 
Zec 12:11  In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 
Zec 12:12  And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 
Zec 12:13  The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 
Zec 12:14  All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

Zec 12:1  The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 

“The burden of the word of the LORD” for the world, represented by Israel, is juxtaposed against what God’s word does within us, in our heavens and in the earthen vessels which we are, which is used by God to bring His workmanship unto perfection. It is He who “stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” This “burden” has become a joyful burden we can bear through Christ today, and if we are granted to endure until the end, we and all the elect will be used to bring forth the manifold knowledge of Christ that will then become “the burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD.“

These physical events Christ has created, stretching “forth the heavens” and laying the “foundation of the earth” (Rom 1:20), represent what Christ will do within every man in his appointed time in order to conform “the spirit of man within him” to become a new creation by the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ (Rom 12:1-2, Eph 2:10).

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

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Zec 12:2  Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:3  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

God is making the body of Christ, Jerusalem above the mother of us all, “a cup of trembling unto all the people round about [that are] in siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.“ Jerusalem becoming a “cup of trembling” is the burden of the word of the LORD or “Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people.” Jerusalem as a cup of trembling is talking about the elect in the first resurrection, “the people round about” represent the world which doesn’t recognize the ‘man of perdition’ on their hearts (2Th 2:3, Rev 2:13). “Israel” (verse 1) and “the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (verse 5) include the religious world and their corrupt spiritual influence on the earth (Rev 11:8, Rev 18:2-3, Isa 1:4-6).

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

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

The world will be “cut in pieces” as a result of burdening themselves with the stone of stumbling Christ and his bride will be during the thousand-year reign, which is something that is going to happen via the sharper-than-any-two-edged-sword of God going forth from the elect (Heb 4:12). Even if all the earth comes up against the body of Christ, “though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it“, God’s judgments will prevail even from the start of the thousand-year reign until the end (Mic 4:3).

Mic 4:3  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Zec 12:4  In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
Zec 12:5  And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

“In that day” means the day the saints rule with a rod of iron and the world is shown their blindness. God will take away the power of influence the churches of the world have (“every horse“) by showing them their blindness, to which “I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness” refers (Rev 14:16-20). 

Rev 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Rev 14:16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 
Rev 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18  And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 
Rev 14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 
Rev 14:20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

That “astonishment” being talked about is connected to the amazement the world will feel when they come to sober up spiritually and understand this verse, “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration”^{G2295 wonder} (Rev 14:8, Rev 17:6).

Rev 14:8  And another, a second, angel followed, saying, Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, which of the wine of the fury of her fornication has made all nations drink. 

Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 

The world will begin to wake up to where God’s power resides, “And the governors of Judah [the elect] shall say in their heart: The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.” The world will serve the same God the elect serve, and the elect overcoming the giants of the land that are accompanying the worlds yet defiled land [wood, hay and stubble], will reveal the strength of the elect’s relationship with God to the world.

Zec 12:6  In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

“In that day will I make the governors of Judah [God’s elect] like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf” is another example of men learning righteousness because God’s judgments are in the earth burning up the wood, hay and stubble “like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf” (Jer 5:14). 

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

Zec 12:7  The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

God’s elect are represented by “the tents of Judah” who are saved first (Rom 2:10) and the world is represented by “the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem [who] do not magnify themselves against Judah.”

Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first [“the tents of Judah“], and also to the Gentile: 

Zec 12:8  In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
Zec 12:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 

When we understand that the man of perdition who must be destroyed  is represented by “all the nations that come against Jerusalem“, and that the world, represented by “the inhabitants of Jerusalem“, are precious to God and beloved (Rom 11:28), these verses open up for us (Zec 12:8). This destruction of the nations has an inward application for the body of Christ today who are being judged (1Pe 4:17) and the outward dispensational view of the man of perdition’s destruction is being shown in these verses (Zec 12:8-9).

They [the world] are feeble without the spirit of God within them, “shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God“,  with the elect before them “as the angel of the LORD before them” who will guide them and teach the world the truth of God only to later see the nations “come against Jerusalem” (Isa 26:9).

The world really is, as are God’s elect, sheep for the slaughter (Rom 8:36), and this verse, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” is referring to the time of Gog and Magog when an end of all physical flesh will come (Rev 20:8). That natural event of the destruction of the nations by fire is a shadow of the spiritual baptism of fire that will take place in the lake of fire when all the world is raised in the second resurrection. It is the judgment of all the nations of the world to which God has called the elect (1Co 6:3).

1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Zec 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

These next few verses (Zec 12:10-14) demonstrate the progression of God’s plan, to which we just saw God referring at the event of Gog and Magog in the previous verse “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zec 12:9) resulting in the next great event which will be the great white throne judgment when all the books of humanity are opened (Rev 20:11-12).

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

These following verses (Zec 12:10-14) help us understand how God is going to judge “the inhabitants of Jerusalem” by pouring out “the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn“, meaning God will lead all of humanity to repentance and an understanding (Rom 2:4) of what flesh was and how the spirit of man apart from God’s spirit within does not produce the blessed relationship of knowing God and Christ (Joh 17:3). It is the gift of “the spirit of grace and of supplications” which starts that process in all the world that will be judged at that time (Eph 2:8-9).

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Zec 12:11  In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

Historically there are several interesting connections to look at regarding “the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon“, specifically in regard to the death of pagan kings and the idolatrous worship of deities. In the book of Joshua we learn of all these kings who were killed in this area of Palestine, “all the kings thirty and one” (Jos 12:1-24).

In this verse, Jerusalem represents Jerusalem below, all the world that are being judged, all Israel who are going to be saved through that judgment (Rom 11:26), through the mercy that will have already been shown to the saviors who come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21).

The mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be as the mourning of Hadadrimmon^{H1910 H1908} in the valley of Megiddon^{H4023 H1413} because the idols of man’s hearts will be exposed through God’s judgment (Rev 17:9-12).

Rev 17:9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 
Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition [2Th 2:8].
Rev 17:12  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

Inwardly this judgment begins at the house of God with the elect (1Pe 4:17). The names Hadadrimmon^{H1910 H1908} and Megiddon^{H4023 H1413} also establish the pagan origins of this location, and most importantly what its spiritual significance is for God’s elect today.

H1910
Hadadrimmon
hădadrimmôn had-ad-rim-mone’

From H1908 and H7417; Hadad Rimmon, a place in Palestine: – Hadad-rimmon.

H1908
hădad
had-ad’

Probably of foreign origin (compare H111); Hadad, the name of an idol, and of several kings of Edom: – Hadad.

H4023
Megiddon
megiddôn    megiddô
meg-id-done’, meg-id-do’

From H1413; rendezvous; Megiddon or Megiddo, a place in Palestine: – Megiddo, Megiddon.

H1413
gâdad
gaw-dad’

A primitive root (compare H1461); to crowd; also to gash (as if by pressing into): – assemble (selves by troops), gather (selves together, self in troops), cut selves

Zec 12:12  And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 
Zec 12:13  The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 
Zec 12:14  All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

The land that mourns represents all of humanity [the whole represented by the four family groups named], “All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart”:

the family of the house of David (beloved/loving) apart, and their wives apart;
the family of the house of Nathan (giver/given) apart, and their wives apart;
the family of the house of Levi (joined/attached) apart, and their wives apart;
the family of Shimei (my listeners/renowned/famous) apart, and their wives apart;

“All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart^H905 [apart, alone, by self]” These names we’re looking at are connected to the world, and to the court, and give us great hope of how ‘as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1Co 15:22). 

David H1732 beloved/loving
youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel

Nathan H5416 giver/given

a son of David by Bathsheba
the eminent prophet in the time of David and Solomon
a man of Zobah, father of one of David’s mighty warriors
father of Azariah who was over the officers of Solomon
son of Attai and father of Zabad of the tribe of Judah
brother of Joel of the tribe of Judah
one of the head men who returned from Babylon with Ezra
a man with a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
head of a family of Israel who shall mourn when they look on him whom they pierce

Levi H3878 “joined to”/attached
the third son of Jacob by Leah and progenitor of tribe of Levites

Shimei H8097 Patronymic from H8096; Shimei or Shimhi or Shimi or Shimea = renowned/famous
a Benjamite, son of Gera of the house of Saul in the time of David
a Benjamite, son of Elah and commissariat officer in the time of Solomon
the Ramathite in charge of the vineyards of David
son of Gershon and grandson of Levi
a Levite, son of Jeduthun and chief of the 10th division of singers in the time of David
a Levite of the sons of heman who took part in the purification of the temple in the time of king hezekiah of Judah
a Levite, brother of Cononiah in charge of receiving the tithes and offerings in the reign of king hezekiah of Judah
a Levite who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
a Judaite, son of Pedaiah and brother of Zerubbabel
a Simeonite, son of Zacchur
a Reubenite, son of Gog and father of Micah
one of the sons of Hashum who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
one of the sons of Bani who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
a Benjamite, son of Kish, father of Jair, and grandfather of Mordecai in the time of Esther
a Levite, son of Jahath, grandson of Gershon, and great grandson of Levi
Benjamite, father of Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath. Spelled ‘Shimhi’

The world will be feeling very alone, very bad, and very apart in this moment when they have been separated for judgment, as God has intended for all the world to feel like Joseph’s brothers felt when they came to see the one they pierced. It will take as much time as it needs to take for the world to understand these words of Joseph in Genesis 45:5, which will always be true for all of God’s creation that must experience, “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel”, judging each man, in his appointed time and bringing us all into the realization of His great unending love toward each of us (Joh 3:16, 1Co 15:28). 

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.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
Psa 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

One of the main reasons we “Bless The Lord” or give thanks to the Lord is because of His mercy and love that endure for ever, and we’ve come to see that whenever God does talk about mercy upon his people, it is very much connected with redemption that comes about through the grace and faith which He extends to us in this age. Ephesians 2:4-5 precede the scripture that talks about our being raised in heavenly places in where we read of His “rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us”, mind of our Father. That concept of God’s mercy and love is brought out very brightly in this section of our Psalm study this evening.

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 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

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)

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

In this part of our Psalm 103 study, we will look at how God’s goodness, God’s mercy, is shown unto His elect as we examine the reason why God is showing such great mercy to us, and come to see the same conclusion that is written throughout God’s word, that being he will have mercy upon all and start by showing that great favor toward his people first, as his kind of first fruits (Jas 1:18) who will in the ages to come “shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” to the rest of world.

Rom 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Rom 11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
Rom 11:4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? 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.

The Lord is showing us clearly that we ought to “Bless The Lord” because we have been blessed to see clearly that His mercy, His love, is demonstrated by His grace and faith working in our lives (Rom 8:28 all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose [a purpose of grace and faith]) so that we may be received together as a healthy body that can come up on mount Zion in the first resurrection (in earnest today in this regard), and extend that grace and faith in the same way in which we have received it as described in the earlier verse mentioned “shew[ing] the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

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

So what does it mean to show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus? The answer to that is found in this Psalm and throughout God’s word, and found also in the word “grace“, a word that is not understood by the religious world which is not being judged in this age, and so easily turns “the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” of (Jud 1:4).

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

To better explain how we ought to “Bless The Lord” for the grace and faith that work together in the lives of those with whom he is working with in this age, please read this article from Mike Vinson that demonstrates what the difference is between ‘what grace is’ verses ‘what grace does’; and demonstrates how critical it is that we understand that point as sons being received today of our Lord through that grace which chastens us (Heb 12:6).

Here are two excerpts from this article:

The Difference Between What Grace Is and What Grace Does

Excerpt 1:

Yes, the word ‘grace’ is the same in all of the scriptures you reference. ‘Grace’ is God’s loving favor toward’s those He loves. That is what grace does; it teaches and disciplines through chastening. “Grace…chastens us to forsake ungodliness and to live godly lives in this present age”:

Here are the scriptures which say this:…


Excerpt 2:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [Greek: paideuo – chastens, teaches], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 

Tit 2:12  Teaching [Greek: paideuo – chastens, teaches] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Does the word ‘grace’ mean chasten? No, it does not. The Greek word for ‘grace’ is ‘charis‘. Here is Strong’s definition of this Greek word:

charis – khar’-ece

From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy)….

I pray we can see in this Psalm tonight that God intends to bring much judgment upon His people, “like a mighty stream”, as it says in Amos 5:24, and that this much judgment and tribulation is tempered with His mercy and love and favor from start to finish (Eph 5:25). That favor^G5463 is not to be turned into a liberty to serve our flesh, turning God’s favor into an occasion to have a lascivious spirit that God will allow to come into our midst from time to time, to try and test the body of Christ. If He is working with us in this age, His favor will be shown through the chastening grace that will abound in our lives until we learn the lessons that we need to learn, which is to wash the inside of the cup, day by day and to avoid the little leaven that can leaven the whole lump. We examine ourselves first and foremost, and then we can stand guard together as watchmen against any and all leaven that is always at the door and needs to be ruled over.

Amo 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Gal 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

1Co 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

1Co 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

That judgment which causes us to cease from sinning is the judgment which we must not despise and must expect to receive as sons and daughters. We are blessed to learn of His mercy through that judgment that rules over those chastening moments in each of our lives, through which we must endure, by his power and might working within us, that is how we keep sin at the door so to speak, and we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices because God has devised a means for us, through the blood of Christ, to overcome the devil at the door of our hearts.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1Pe 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

Pro 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

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

Zec 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

It is the LORD who executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), so the oppressed represents all the sins of the world that are within me that oppress me. If Christ is not ruling over those nations within me, then the sin which is at the door can take root in the lives of His children except “The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment“.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Man can be very precise in the execution of things in the law, and all of that precision is a shadow of the greater and more exact precision of God’s dealings with His children as we are dragged unto Christ, who is the end of the law. He brings us to see our need to repent and change our ways which are exposed and made bright by the law for the lawless, and when we are dragged to Christ by our Father, we begin to see the true bread of life in Christ who brings us to the point where we “Murmur not among yourselves” (Rom 5:20).

Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

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?
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 him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Psa 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

God made known in type and shadow through Moses and the children of Israel how intent He was on exacting righteousness and judgment for the nation of Israel who were oppressed by the Egyptians. That deliverance typifies our own deliverance today as sons and daughters of God who are being saved by His mighty hand.

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:

These many verses in the old covenant (listed below) speak of the mighty hand of God that typify our own coming out of Egypt by His spirit. Those many types and shadows were written down for our sakes to keep us somber and taking heed the rest of our lives, so that when we get to that point by the grace and faith of God that we are standing in the Lord, we don’t take that standing for granted and end up finishing what began in the spirit with the flesh (Eph 6:13, Gal 3:3). That is the state in which we are blessed to endure as God’s children in this age (Mat 24:13), the blue working against the scarlet flesh bruising us with purple heels that are being burnished to the glory and honour of our great God (Gal 5:17, Rev 1:15).

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

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.

Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

(And here are the verses mentioned above that speak of the mighty hand of God that typify our own coming out of Egypt by his spirit:)
Exo_3:8 Exo_3:10 Exo_7:4 Exo_7:5 Exo_12:17 Exo_12:51 Exo_13:9 Exo_13:14 Exo_13:16 Exo_16:32 Exo_18:1 Exo_20:2 Exo_29:46 Exo_32:7 Exo_32:11 Lev_11:45 Lev_19:36 Lev_22:33 Lev_23:43 Lev_25:38 Lev_25:42
Lev_25:55 Lev_26:13 Lev_26:45 Num_14:13 Num_15:41 Num_20:16 Num_23:22 Num_24:8 Deu_4:20 Deu_4:37 Deu_5:6 Deu_5:15 Deu_6:12 Deu_6:21 Deu_7:8 Deu_7:19 Deu_8:14 Deu_9:26 Deu_13:5 Deu_13:10 Deu_16:1 Deu_20:1 Deu_26:8 Deu_29:25 Jos_24:5 Jos_24:17 Jdg_2:1 Jdg_2:12 Jdg_6:8 1Sa_8:8 1Sa_10:18
1Sa_12:6 1Sa_12:8 2Sa_7:6 1Ki_8:16 1Ki_8:21 1Ki_8:51 1Ki_8:53 1Ki_9:9 2Ki_17:7 2Ki_17:36 Psa_81:10 Psa_105:37 Psa_136:11 Jer_2:6 Jer_7:22 Jer_11:4 Jer_11:7 Jer_31:32 Jer_32:21 Jer_34:13 Dan_9:15
Amo_2:10 Amo_3:1 Amo_9:7 Mic_6:4 Gen_46:4 Exo_6:6 Exo_6:7 Exo_32:12 Hos_11:1 Mat_2:15 Deu_1:27
Jer_16:14 Jer_16:15 Jer_23:7-8

Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

I am so grateful that we serve a LORD who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy“, but we know that does not mean that He won’t execute righteousness and judgment speedily in the life of His people as stated in verse six of our study.

Ecc 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

God will be merciful and gracious in the midst of the fiery trials and judgment which He executes, is what we are being told, and that mercy will rule over the much needed judgment upon our first man Adam who is being delivered and saved through that process of judgment.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

Verse nine is saying the same thing as verse eight, “He will not always chide^H7378” reminds us that there is a culmination in all that God does with the sons of men, and He will exact what He wants from the clay which He is fashioning into the likeness of His son (Jer 18:4). He will not always chide with us^H7378 “properly to toss, that is, grapple; mostly figuratively to wrangle, that is, hold a controversy” and that brings us to this symbolic verse in the old covenant which is also saying the same thing. While it is today, we are to fight a good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12) and know that God loves us, but He does not love our old man, and He is constantly against that part of us that must be brought into subjection to our hope of glory within Jesus Christ (Col 1:27) if we are going to go unto perfection on the third day.

Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Psa 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

H7378
רוּב ריבo
rı̂yb rûb
reeb, roob
A primitive root; properly to toss, that is, grapple; mostly figuratively to wrangle, that is, hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend: – adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, X ever, X lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, X thoroughly.

Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” does not mean that God is not dealing with the marred vessel in His hand and making it anew as we’re told in Jeremiah that he is doing (Jer 18:4). What we are being told once again is that in the process of that judgment and dealing with our sins and iniquities, God is gracious and righteous and merciful to apply equal measures and weights to every circumstance in our lives, as He drags us unto the Lord leading us unto repentance.

Psa 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
Psa 116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Lev 19:36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Verse 11 reveals the heart of those who are being worked with as they are dragged to Christ. Our liberty is found through the cleansing experience that would never begin to happen if we were not given contrite and broken hearts which are not hardened against the Lord but “that fear him”. That fear is a holy fear which moves us in the right direction of liberty, not a negative cowardly fear which drives us back into the world as typified by Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:9-10. At this stage in Adam’s life, not having God’s holy spirit within him, he does not know how to deal with the nakedness of his flesh which was purposed for all in Adam to have to wrestle with, each man in his appointed time.

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

Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
Ecc 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
Ecc 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is that high-above-the-earth relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ which is leading us to eternal life through His words of eternal life which are sanctifying us, and this is why we “Bless The Lord” because of this incredible honour to have our names written in heaven far above the earth where we are raised in heavenly places where God is working out all the details in our life which will lead us unto perfection on the third day. In that we should rejoice, and again I say rejoice.

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

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

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

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

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

Next week, God willing, we will look at Part 3 of our study entitled “Bless The Lord” covering verses 12 to 18 where we will look again at the incredible mercy of God upon His people whom He is sanctifying in this age with His word, removing our transgressions from us, and showing great pity toward His people whom He has given hearts that are being prepared to drink the cup of His judgment in this age as His kind of first fruits (Mat 20:22).

Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

(Key verses: Genesis 50:4-13)

The theme of death concludes the book of Genesis as we read about the deaths of two of its more prominent characters, namely Jacob and Joseph. First, we read about the death of Jacob after he lived for seventeen years in Egypt:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

In our previous discussions on this theme of death, we touched on how we all are first “gathered unto [our] people” in spiritual death via the first Adam before we will be “gathered unto [God’s] people” in Jesus Christ by dying to that old man Adam in us (Gen 2:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:20; 1Co 15:22-31). It is indeed through death that God ordained that His children will eventually “find” spiritual life through Jesus Christ:

Mat 10:38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

1Co 15:31 I [the apostle Paul and all “in Christ”] protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

In the process of dying with Christ to this earthy life, we are given the rulership “on the earth” and a spiritual seat in the heaven (1Co 6:2-3; Heb 2:8; Rev 1:17; Rev 20:4-6):

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Eph 2:6 (GW) God has brought us back to life together with Christ Jesus and has given us a position in heaven with him.

Death has many facets, and one of these is mourning, which brings other aspects to the fore, as we read how Joseph and those in Egypt mourned the death of Jacob:

Gen 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

We understand that mourning is a vital part of the healing process which God instituted, and few can understand why the “house of mourning” plays such an important part in God’s salvation plan:

Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

It is of great comfort to know why “the house of mourning” is better and why the beloved in Christ “lay [this] to [their] heart”:

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The “much tribulation” is part and parcel of our qualification to enter and be seated with Jesus Christ:

Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
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.

Mourning links to the recognising and acknowledging of our spiritual poverty in flesh which the proud in heart cannot receive, even as these words of Jesus make no sense to those who seek the house of mirth:

Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

We can only mourn when we are aware that our old man hates Jesus Christ and how our old ways of thinking oppose the doctrine of Christ. We indeed murder Christ and those who come in His name as we naturally hate the truth and those who associate with truth:

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Mat 23:35 That upon you [we as part of the evil and perverted generation of flesh] may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Mat 26:27 And he [Jesus] took the cup [symbolising His blood that was shed], and gave thanks, and gave it to them [His disciples], saying, Drink ye all of it.

The voice of mirth shall be taken from all at the appointed time and reveal flesh for what it really is:

Jer 25:10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Preparations for the burial of Jacob

Another aspect of death is that it requires a burial, and in this earthly ritual, we also learn so many spiritual lessons (Rom 1:20). The scriptures are silent on burials from the first death which happened on the earth, namely that of Abel, who was slain by his own brother, Cain (Gen 4:8). No mention is made how the bodies of dead humans were discarded early on in the book of Genesis. It was only when Sarah died that the first mention of burials is recorded in the scriptures (Gen 23:1-2):

Gen 23:19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
Gen 23:20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

Although many other burials are mentioned only briefly in the book of Genesis after this burial of Sarah, more details are given here relating to the preparations for the burial of Jacob (Gen 25:9; Gen 35:8; Gen 35:16-20; Gen 35:27-29). It is even in these that we also learn how to discern and follow the narrow way. There is indeed a difference in how the world handles death and mourning:

1Th 4:13 But I [Paul] would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

With the death of Jacob in Egypt, it is the first time we read about the embalming of a corpse in the scriptures – it actually took forty days within this extended time of mourning of seventy days!

Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

In its negative application, embalming typifies the preservation of the flesh, and this is how the world also wants to remain attached to their dead. The positive application of this embalming process and the preparation for burial is seen in how we treat the body of Christ, the church, in their own time of dying to self (Pro 19:17; Mat 25:35-40; Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:3-8; Php 2:4; Heb 13:16; Jas 1:27; Jas 2:14-17):

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

The physical body of Christ, His church, needs to always be prepared for burial as we indeed bear each other’s burdens fulfilling the spiritual law of Christ (Mat 27:57-59; Joh 19:39-40):

Mat 26:12 For in that she [Mary with her alabaster box with ointment] hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Mat 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

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.

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.

Isa 58:7 Is it [the fast God has chosen] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Egyptian Excessiveness

Egypt is known in the scriptures for its extravagant excessiveness and worldly wisdom which supplies the “flesh pots” that our natural man always yearns for, which is then taken to its maturity in its negative application during our time in spiritual Babylon (Gen 12:10; Gen 41:57; Isa 31:1; Jer 46:20a; Act 7:22; Rev 18:9; Rev 18:11-13):

Exo 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them [Moses and Aaron], Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

The world and its spirit are typified by Egypt – all “the doings of the land of Egypt” is what God warned Israel about:

Lev 18:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 18:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
Lev 18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do….

The narrow way is the life of moderation (Pro 30:8-9; Php 4:11-13):

Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Egypt also points to the idolising of flesh:

Eze 20:7 Then said I [God] unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Eze 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

We know that the flesh and the spirit of God are “contrary one to another”, and two cannot walk together except they agree (Amo 3:1-3; Rom 8:5-7; Gal 5:17). The mature in Christ make a clear difference between “the unclean and the clean”, which is why “the doings of the land of Egypt” must be taken from us:

Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Lev 11:46 This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:
Lev 11:47 To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

The celebrations and the emphasizing of flesh is how the world stays focused on the old man, and this includes elaborate celebrations of earthy things. It all starts with the celebration of birthdays, and in a sense the celebration of birthdays embalms or memorialises the old man! It is therefore not strange that the first time the celebration of birthdays is mentioned in scripture, it is connected to the Pharaoh in Egypt:

Gen 40:20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
Gen 40:21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
Gen 40:22 But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Joseph is a type of the new man, and it is indeed in the celebration and memorialising of the old man that the new man is left out and even forgotten:

Gen 40:23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

It is with this background that the time of mourning and the preparations of the burial of Jacob should be understood. The preparation for Jacob’s funeral is also the first time in the scriptures where such a long period of preparation for a burial is seen. Although God’s elect indeed goes through intensive trials and tribulations, God always cares for them. God does not pay so much time and attention to flesh, which is a big stumbling block for many:

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

Although Jesus’ death on the cross took a few hours, crucifixion was a very agonising experience and great in intensity, in terms of pain and suffering. His burial was also done without much ado:

Joh 19:38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Joh 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Joh 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Joh 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

Throughout the New Testament not much is written about preparations and the funeral itself. Besides the burial of Jesus, the burials of only Lazarus (Joh 11:44), Ananias (Act 5:6) and Dorcas (Act 9:37) are briefly mentioned. The way the world does things is indeed different from the way God’s children do things. The world cannot let go of this old man, and even in death it wants to preserve flesh as they believe God cannot even create a new body in the resurrection, which is 100% different from the one which was buried (1Co 15:35-50):

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.

Permission to bury Jacob in Canaan

The apostle Paul gives us direction how to behave when we are guests in another’s company:

1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

As children of God we are indeed strangers and pilgrims in this world, and we need to be respectful and in subjection to those God also appoints to be in rulership, unless they demand of us to disobey the doctrine of Christ:

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Joseph and his family were living with the Pharaoh’s permission in Egypt, who helped them in the time of famine and even gave them a very fertile area in Egypt, namely Goshen. It is with all this in mind that we should understand why Joseph respected and subjected himself and his family to the traditions of Egypt. Although he was second in command in Egypt under the Pharaoh, Joseph humbled himself and did not even approach the Pharaoh directly for permission to bury his father in Canaan:

Gen 50:4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
Gen 50:5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
Gen 50:6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

All the servants of Pharaoh and the elders of his house and that of Egypt accompanied Joseph and his family to the burial site in Canaan. It was indeed a funeral of note:

Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

It is also interesting to note that they entered Canaan from the east side via the river Jordan where Joseph again called a period of seven days for mourning:

Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

The threshingfloor of flesh

The idea of a threshingfloor indeed helps us to see the dying daily process of the old man which includes the baptism in the fire of God to bring forth the new man in Christ:

Mat 3:11 I [John “the baptist”] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

There are many references to threshing in the scriptures where the concept of separation is highlighted (Isa 28:23-28). It is within our time in spiritual Babylon that God’s judgment will start to bring us “out of her, my people” when the time of the harvest has come in our lives when the tares and wheat are separated (Mat 13:24-30; Rev 18:4):

Jer 51:33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

The temple of the Lord in us is built on the basis of the sacrifice of a life on the altar, as also seen when King David bought the threshingfloor from Araunah:

2Sa 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
2Sa 24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

This altar or table of God is only reserved for the elect of God in this age, as they know it takes the removal of our old man for the new man to be established in God’s temple:

Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

As Uzza was killed by God at the threshingfloor of Chidon for putting forth his hand to the ark, so we realize, like king David, that it is not our works or our ideas that will bring the ark of God into His temple, but the work of Christ in us:

1Ch 13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
1Ch 13:10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

It is the Canaanites and the Egyptians in us that will indeed have grievous and excessive mourning as they mourn having no hope:

Gen 50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.

Jacob’s own sons carried him into the land of Canaan to bury him there:

Gen 50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

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

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

We As His Disciples
Ecc 6:1-6
Ecc 7:1-9
Keep Them in This World
Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh Being Sown Our Physical Death?

(Key verses: Genesis 50:1-3)

God is the only Creator of all things, including the evil and the darkness:

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil [Hebrew: ra]: I the LORD do all these things.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil [Hebrew: ra].

Even the wicked were made by Him for Him:

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

The belief that evil and death are not God’s creations is given to satisfy the idols of the unbelieving carnal heart which holds on to false doctrines such as the so-called fall of man and that God’s creatures can come up with evil on their own through their fabled “free” will. The scriptures are clear that man was never a perfect sinless creature, and there is only one free will, which belongs to the Father, who works “all things” 100% after His counsel (Gen 1:2; Gen 2:7; Gen 2:25; Psa 51:5; Ecc 6:10; Isa 63:17; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20):

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

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

Since the scriptures declare God to be the only Creator of all things, including the darkness and evil, it is hard for many to understand how these works of God can also be classified under the words “very good” and “perfect”:

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

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

God’s perfect plan for the first Adam is one of the best hidden mysteries in scripture, and few can see how darkness, evil, and even death, can be part of that “very good” plan. God is indeed not busy with a restoration plan, but with His original perfect plan. For those who are given the faith to grasp the truth in God’s word, it is clear that God is in the process of making the Adam in His spiritual image through Jesus Christ. God appointed Jesus Christ to be the Saviour (making whole/Completer/Finisher/ Perfector) of all who were made in the first Adam before the creation (Heb 12:2):

1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

It was not an afterthought or an emergency rescue plan of God that Jesus would come in flesh to be the Saviour of the world. It was part of the perfect plan of the Father that the first Adam would first live an earthy life in bondage to darkness and death, and through this evil experience learn obedience to eventually receive perfection (Joh 1:1-14; 1Jn 2:16; 1Co 15:45-50):

Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

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

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

God purposely established death to be an important part of our spiritual development to which most are still blinded:

Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

God is achieving this death and blindness through the spirit of the world in each person created in flesh, which is totally the opposite to the spirit of God:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The earthy man was created a “wretched man” who lives with death, and this acknowledgement is vital to our salvation and peace:

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25a I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…

In our last discussion we touched on this theme of death as it is used to conclude the book of beginnings, namely Genesis. God indeed declares the end from the beginning, and in this sense we know that death is part of God’s “very good” counsel:

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

Death gathers us to our people

The Hebrew word for death is “mûth”, and of all the books of the Old Testament it is in the book of Genesis where this word appears second most – 78 times following behind the book of Numbers with 81 times. Genesis ends by detailing the deaths and burials of two of its most important characters, Jacob and Joseph. First we read that Jacob was “gathered unto his people” in death:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

We also discussed how these details about Jacob’s death helps us to understand how we are all born spiritually dead within this marred physical existence and are gathered to the first Adam in that sense (Gen 2:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:20; 1Co 15:22a).

We also are gathered to Christ and His people through death, which makes death yet again such an important aspect in the salvation process. Dying daily (with Christ) to this physical Adam with all his attachments in us and putting the flesh under our feet is how God ordained that we can find Jesus Christ and also be gathered to Him and His people (Mat 16:24; Luk 12:50; Act 2:38; Act 8:16; Rom 6:1-4; Rom 13:11-14; Gal 3:27):

Mat 10:38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

We discussed that we, like Jacob, also “gather up [our] feet” to rule with Christ to “put all enemies under [our] feet” (Heb 2:8; Rev 1:17):

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.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We also touched on the truth that all physically dead people “are perished” having no knowledge or remembrance of anything:

Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee [God]: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psa 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

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

Even those believers who have died already are still “asleep in Christ” and “are perished”:

1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

It is only at the coming resurrection, the first resurrection, that God’s elect will also finally receive the fulfillment of being “gathered unto [God’s] people” when the fullness of God’s spirit and immortality is given (Rev 20:4-6):

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Another aspect of death is seen after the death of Jacob in Egypt:

“Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.”

Gen 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

Death is a devastating reality, but God in His mercy has devised means through which He works to give us victory over everything in this life, even death. One of the things God designed to help us handle the death of a loved one is the aspect of mourning. Throughout the scriptures we see how this is portrayed, and we also see different facets of mourning (Gen 23:1-2; Gen 37:34-35; Exo 33:4; Num 20:29; Deu 34:8; 2Sa 1:11-12; Job 1:20-21; Isa 22:12; Eze 27:30-32; Mat 2:18; Act 8:2). Mourning is a vital part of the healing process which God instituted after death or when other heart-breaking events occur in our lives. Just as the book of Genesis is full of death, it is also filled with mourning in various applications. For example, when Adam and Eve discovered their physical naked condition and that God’s sentence of death will be fulfilled in them, they initially thought they could hide from God and His judgments:

Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

It was King David who also confirmed this natural desire in us to hide or escape when our natural man is confronted with his earthy condition through pain and death:

Psa 55:4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Psa 55:5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
Psa 55:6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Psa 55:7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
Psa 55:8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

Mourning expresses our natural inability to confront our old man and all the evil associated with it. It is through God’s judgment, His “terrors” to the flesh, that God actually brings His life, truth and righteousness to us (Job 31:23; Isa 10:33; Isa 26:9; Jer 32:21; 2Co 5:11):

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

For the natural man it is impossible to understand and to accept that God’s perfect works include His judgment. All things are from God, and our flesh wants to avoid God and His judgment because it cannot see the road to true happiness and joy. Flesh believes it deserves blissful pleasures, glamorous entertainment and constant thrills as if that is not also a gift from God which He gives freely to them who can give Him glory in all things (Ecc 6:2). Mourning and weeping is something the flesh wants to avoid at all cost. Jesus sounded the warning for all to hear:

Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

It is also the wisdom of God through Solomon who wrote these words when he also was in mourning over a wasted life:

Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

Jesus came to earth to show us the way to life, because even Jesus was not unknown with sorrow and grief when He walked in His earthy house of flesh:

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Recognising and acknowledging our spiritual poverty in flesh

The words of Jesus concerning the blessedness of mourning confuse the natural mind:

Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Mourning associates with the initial shocking revelation that the flesh is a temporary creation and needs a spiritual conversion when our old man is replaced by the new man in Christ. This conversion is initiated when we are shocked, and we mourn when we find out that our spiritual Bridegroom is not in the bride chamber when we follow “Christ after the flesh” (Act 2:16-20; Act 9:1-9; 2Co 5:16):

Mat 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

We mourn because we discover we are guilty of the blood of all the prophets and even the blood of Jesus:

Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.

The revelation of Jesus through His spirit starts with this unveiling of our old man and the complete understanding of our flesh with its earthly connections and deadly convictions and beliefs (2Th 2:1-4). As we did not choose our physical condition, we also do not choose this conversion process, but the Father in His love drags us to see the Christ, and that road goes through much tribulation and groaning (Joh 6:44; Joh 15:16; Act 14:22; 1Pe 4:12; Rev 15:6-8):

Psa 31:9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
Psa 31:10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

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.

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

“Godly sorrow” versus “the sorrow of the world”

There is a type of mourning that is not acceptable to God:

Deu 14:1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

When we have a lack of spiritual insight, we also have no idea of the estate of the sons of man or what death entails (Ecc 3:18; Rom 8:5-8). We will also not know how to mourn properly for one’s dead. Job, who suffered the death of his ten children together with all his physical riches, could not see the stumbling block of self-righteousness and death in his own heart. He did not know how to mourn properly as he was contending with God and wanted to disannul God’s judgment which actually, in the end, revealed this sad state of his heart to him (Job 40:1-8). Those who know the doctrine of Christ, also know that it takes a long time of contending with God to finally reach the point where we learn how to lay our hand upon our mouths. Then we learn that “the end of a thing [is better] than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit” (Ecc 7:8-9):

Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Pro 14:16 A wise man feareth [God], and departeth from evil [his dead old man]: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

There is a difference between how the world mourns and how the child of God mourns as we also see in the way the Egyptians mourned the death of Jacob. First, we see the need for embalmment of a corpse:

Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

In its negative application, embalmment is a type of preservation of the flesh, and this is how the world also remains attached to their dead. Even some disciples of Jesus prepared Jesus’ body after His death for burial (Mat 27:57-59; Joh 19:39-40). Naturally we cannot let go of the fleshly shadows and the images of the world. Although the carnal mind also has limited spiritual insight, having a heaven or mind which can make abstractions, even making “fire [to] come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men”, the carnal mind cannot move to the level of applying the spiritual things in themselves (Luk 21:17-19; Rev 1:1-3; Rev 13:13-14):

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The time period for embalmment of Jacob’s corpse in Egypt lasted for forty days, which again shows our natural attachment to flesh – the number four, which indicates the whole, combines with the number ten which signifies the “perfection” of flesh or our faith in our own works (Eze 1:5; Mat 7:22-23; Rev 7:1; Deu 4:13). It is also said that the Egyptians mourned the death of Jacob for seventy days:

Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

Joseph later called for a seven-day period of official mourning for Jacob’s families when they reached the borders of Canaan. This difference in the number of days is very insightful, as the world’s mourning shows so much more pain and affliction because of their blindness:

Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

The positive application of this embalming process and the preparation for burial is seen in how we treat the body of Christ, the church, in their time of dying to self (Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:3-8):

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

It is indeed the “meek in heart” which are “poor in spirit” that will mourn truthfully as they hunger after righteousness:

Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The sorrow of the world indeed “worketh death” but Godly sorrow brings about a change in our hearts and in our actions:

2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

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

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:
Live While We Are Dying
Rev 14:13-20
Ecc 7:1-9 “The Day of Death”
Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh Being Sown Our Physical Death?
The Meaning of The Power of Death