The Spiritual Significance of Numbers – Eight Signifies New Beginnings, The New Man

[Study Aired January 30, 2026]

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

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

“Another vessel” is ‘a new vessel of clay’, “the new man” in the true “image of Him that created him.”

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man [“another vessel”, (Jer 18:4)], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

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.

It is “the eighth… beast” which “goeth into perdition.” It is only through his perdition, his destruction, his death, the death of the eighth beast, that he becomes “the image of Him that created him.” “The first man Adam” was never “in the image of God” as the King James Version reads:

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

As we will see in this study, that verse reveals that God is in the process of creating mankind “after the image of Him that created him” (Col 3:10). God is in the process of creating “the new man”, and it is only that “new man” who is “in the image of Him that created him.”

The name ‘Seth’ is defined as “in the stead of.”

Gen 4:25  And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
Gen 4:26  And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Abel signifies our slain Savior whose ‘blood cries out from the ground.’

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
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 [H413: ‘el’, against] thee shall be his desire, and [in the end] thou shalt rule over him.

This Hebrew word ‘H413, el’, translated as ‘unto’ here in Genesis 4:7 is the same word translated ‘unto’ and ‘to’ in this verse of the previous chapter where the Lord is pronouncing judgment against the serpent and Adam and Eve. This verse is His judgment against Eve.

Gen 3:16  Unto [H413: against] the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [H413: against] thy husband, and [in the end] he shall rule over thee.

Eve’s curse was not that she would want to please her husband. That would be a blessing. Her curse was to oppose and be against her husband. That is indeed a curse. Sin’s desire was not to please God through Cain. That would be a blessing.  Cain’s curse was to be led by “the law of sin in [his] members warring against the law of his mind” (Rom 7:23):

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The very next verse following Genesis 4:7 gives us the proper translation of this Hebrew word ‘el’ in the context of the three verses we are considering… Gen 3:16; Gen 4:7 and this verse:

Gen 4:8  And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against [H413: ‘el’, against] Abel his brother, and slew him.

The reason Cain slew Abel was the same reason the Jews slew Christ, and that was the very same reason Joseph’s brother wanted to kill him before Reuben and Judah talked them into putting Joseph in a pit, signifying his death, before selling Him into Egypt. Here is that reason in all three cases, Cain, Joseph and Christ:

Gen 37:2  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7  For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. [His doctrines]
Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Gen 37:11  And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Joseph was “the son of [Jacob’s… Israel’s] old age” just as we, too, are “called the sons of God” here in “the end of the world, the end of the ages.”

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.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

They “hated him and could not speak peaceably to him” (Gen 37:4).  His brothers “hated him for his words” (Gen 37:8) “His brethren envied him” (Gen 37:11).

Why did they hate him? They hated him because his father loved him more that he loved his other ten sons. They hated him because the Lord had shown him that he would rule over his ten brothers. They also hated him because he “brought unto his father their evil report” (Gen 37:2):

Gen 37:2  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah [Dan and Naphtali], and with the sons of Zilpah [Gad and Asher], his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

All of this is mirrored in how Israel received their Savior. They hated Him because His Father loved Him more that He loved the Jews who hated Christ:

Joh 10:17  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Their physical ‘brother’ and fellow Israelite brought to His Father their evil report:

Mat 21:12  And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Mat 21:13  And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

The chief priests, the scribes and the Pharisees “envied” Christ because of the multitudes which were flocking after Him and being healed by Christ and His Father:

Mat 27:17  Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
Mat 27:18  For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

Mar 15:9  But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:10  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

Joh 11:41  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Joh 11:42  And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 11:43  And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Joh 11:44  And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Joh 11:45  Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
Joh 11:46  But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
Joh 11:47  Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
Joh 11:48  If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

Christ’s own nation, His brothers, were definitely jealous of Him, just as Joseph’s brothers had said ‘will this man rule over us?’

Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

This is the spirit of “[their] father the devil]” (Joh 8:44) which Christ referred to in His parable of the ten servants and the ten pounds:

Luk 19:12  He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13  And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Luk 19:14  But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

The Jews hated Christ because Christ considered them to be of another Father and not of His Father:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot  hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Eight signifies Christ as both the first and the last Adam:

Gen 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of [the first man] Adam, which was the son of God.

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.

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Physical circumcision signified the beginning of putting off of the sins of the flesh:

Gen 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Gen 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Eight, in its negative application, signifies the end of our time in service to our flesh:

Jdg 3:8 Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.
Jdg 3:9 And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD [after eight years of slavery], the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, [even] Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.

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.

King David, a type of Christ, was the eighth son of Jesse:

1Sa 17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

1Sa 17:14 (a) And David was the youngest: [the eighth]

King David’s “chief …captain” slew eight hundred man “at one time”:

2Sa 23:8 These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

Eight signifies a giving spirit:

Ecc 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
Ecc 11:2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

It is through the Number eight we approach the temple:

Eze 40:31 And the arches thereof [of the south side of the temple] were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps.

Eze 40:34 And the arches thereof [of the east side of the temple] were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.

Eze 40:37 And the posts thereof [of the north gate] were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.

Here is the spiritual antitype of these eight steps up to the temple:

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.

There were eight tables for offering the sacrifices, four on each side of the temple. There were four on the north side, and there were four on the south side:

Eze 40:39  And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.
Eze 40:40  And at the side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables.
Eze 40:41  Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices.

The firstborn of our herds and of our flocks were to be given to the Lord on the eighth day:

Exo 22:29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
Exo 22:30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

The burnt offering and the sin offerings for the days of the consecration of the priests and for the sins of the people were to be offered on the eighth day, after seven days of consecration of the priests:

Lev 8:33 And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.
Lev 8:34 As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you.
Lev 8:35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.
Lev 8:36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

Lev 9:1 And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel;
Lev 9:2 And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer [them] before the LORD.

Lev 9:7 And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.

Circumcision, signifying the putting off of the flesh, took place on the eighth day:

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

“Circumcision… of the heart, in the spirit” takes place only in our spiritual eighth day, the day we begin to be transformed into a new man:

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man [on the spiritual eighth day], which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

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

Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image [not of the first Adam, but after the image] of him that created him:
Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

The Eighth Man in Micah is Christ “whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting.”

Mic 5:1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Mic 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Mic 5:4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
Mic 5:5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him [the Assyrian] seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
Mic 5:6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria [Babylon] with the sword [of the Word of God], and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian [Babylon – “the land of Nimrod], when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

The ”eight principal men” of this 5^th chapter of Micah are the “Christ [of] our Lord.”

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

Christ comes to us only “when [the Assyrian] shall tread in our palaces (Mic 5:5). Therefore, the new man or “eight principal men” come to deliver us only after we have begun to be judged and are beginning to be purified and consecrated.

The New Testament

John the Baptist and Christ were both circumcised on the eighth day, signifying the fact that He does not come to deliver us until our seven days of being judged and consecrated in these vessels of clay:

Luk 1:59  And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
Luk 1:60  And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

Luk 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Christ appeared to His disciples after His resurrection – “after eight days.”

Joh 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: [then] came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Deliverance came to Aeneas, and he began a new life after eight years of being bedridden:

Act 9:33 And there he [Peter] found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

There were eight people on the ark, and Noah is called “the eighth person.”

1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

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;

Paul was circumcised the eighth day “an Hebrew of Hebrews.”

Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

It is expedient that we understand that the eighth man cannot appear until after seven days of the judging and purifying and consecrating of our old man. That is the meaning of this verse:

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.

Now that we know that the number eight signifies the new man and new beginnings let’s take note of where the word ‘new’ appears in the New Testament:

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 11:25 After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.

2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ,  he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. [Circumcised in spirit on the spiritual eighth day]

Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man [the “consecrated man” – Lev 8:33 – and then offer a sin offering], which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: [It was Christ who created them male and female, but they were not yet “after the image of Him that created him” while yet in “vessels of clay”]

Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

1Jn 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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

Conclusion:

Eight is the number of the new man, the overcomer who is, “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20) offers himself as a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1), and fills up in his body what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church” (Col 1:24).

Rev 7:4-8 – Part 1B, Who are the 144,000

[Study Aired June 9, 2024]

The multitudes who are “not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God’ are even now being deprived of gleaning any spiritual knowledge from outward words, outward physical healing and outward physical miracles. Even Christ’s miracles, like turning water into wine and feeding the multitudes, or even the physical raising from the dead which Christ performed on more than one occasion, are nothing more than a history lesson to those from whom is taken even what little spiritual understanding they once had. Such “carnal… babes” (1Co 3:1-4) can’t even discern that “he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly.” We have all first lived for many years in our outward natural state without the benefit of spiritual eyes and spiritual ears, and for most of “the multitudes” who come to Christ, that outward understanding is the way this entire life will be lived. “I will bless them that bless you, and I will curse them that curse you” will always apply to outward Jews and outward circumcision.

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Christ and Paul were both so called ‘replacement theologians’ who both taught that ‘neither at Jerusalem nor at Samaria would anyone worship God because God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and in Truth’:

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Paul taught the same so-called ‘replacement theology’ with these words:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Failure to understand and believe these words of Christ is why we see such humbling displays of spiritual blindness in theatrical religious productions such as the popular “Left Behind” series in which dramatic physical devastations and physical plagues upon the planet, and even physical fire coming out of the mouths of the two physical witnesses of Revelation 11, were portrayed. Truly “Even that [understanding] he hath shall be taken away from him.”

Luk 19:26  For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not [much spiritual understanding], even [what little] that he hath shall be taken away from him.
Luk 19:27  But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Luke 19:26  is just another way of saying “the flesh profits nothing.” Understanding God’s Words physically, profits nothing. That is the doctrine of Christ concerning how few are given spiritual understanding of the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” That is how few will ever really understand who these 144,000 firstfruit virgins are who follow Christ wherever He goes.

Whose are the Words of this Book?

Who happens to be the person who is “opening His mouth in parables” to give us this revelation of Jesus Christ? There is no need to speculate. This is:

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:

There it is. This revelation is “the revelation of Jesus Christ… signified by His angel unto His servant John.” That being so; Christ being the author of this book, then this book, too, must be a book of signs and symbols, because:

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

We will not at this point explain all the symbolism involved in the revelation of Jesus Christ, but here is a rather extreme example of how this book is written, and how it must be understood. That includes these “144,000 of all the tribes of Israel.” Just look at the symbolism of these verses in chapter 17.

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.
Rev 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
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.

“The mind that has wisdom” is being told how to see and understand this mystery, this secret… “I will tell you the mystery…” To “the mind that has wisdom” these verses are perfectly clear. “The mind that has wisdom” understands clearly what all the symbols are which are involved when it reads that “the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits… and there are seven kings.”  Here we have a parable within a parable, and the mind that has wisdom can see clearly what is being said because “the time has come” that Christ is no longer speaking in a parable to those who are now “being shown plainly of the Father” the spiritual significance of each of these symbols. He is now “speaking to us [all] plainly,” if we have been granted “eyes that see and ears that hear… the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.”

Joh 16:25  These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. [“I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns” (Rev 17:7)].

When would “the time come” for Christ to show His disciples “plainly of the Father?” Was that to happen only after the resurrection? If so, then which resurrection? Apparently Christ was speaking of His physical resurrection and after the coming of the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost.  Spiritually He was speaking of the downpayment, “earnest of the spirit” form of being resurrected in Christ, because these are Christ’s own words:

Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Christ’s yet unconverted disciples still could not comprehend how they “had seen Him” and said the same thing then that all of Christ’s yet unconverted disciples say to this very day.

Joh 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

You and I have never seen the physical Christ, any more than Philip and the eleven other apostles had physically “seen the Father.” Until this very day, for most professing Christians, the ability to spiritually see the True Christ of scripture and to “hear His voice” is “not given.” Otherwise, any carnal mind could understand what ‘seven mountains’ are, and there would be no need in scripture for phrases like “whoso reads let him understand…let him that hath wisdom count…” and “here is the mind that hath wisdom…”

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Look at this verse in Matthew 13.

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

Those who are given to understand the parables of Christ understand the symbolism of each parable, and they understand that each parable means what it means and not what it says. If a parable meant what it said, then it would not be a ‘parable.’

To determine who the 144,000 “of all the tribes of Israel” are, we must remember what physical Israel itself symbolizes in scripture. Nevertheless the natural man within us all will still ask, if this is a spiritual group, then why is each individual tribe mentioned? In answer to that question, it is instructive to know that the spiritual significance of the number 12 is ‘foundational’ and ‘foundations.’

Ishmael had twelve princes as the foundation of all the nations which spring from him:

Gen 25:16  These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, also had twelve sons who became 12 foundational tribes of the physical nation of Israel:

Gen 49:28  All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

Why are “all the tribes of Israel” mentioned individually?

The reason why each tribe is mentioned individually is the same reason for any parable. It is designed to hide the true spiritual identity of these symbolic 144,000 “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” (Rev 14:4). The mention of each tribe keeps the carnal mind focused on the physical 12 tribes of Israel. It is very instructive to notice that while the tribe of Dan is not listed in Revelation 7, The tribe of Manasseh is listed, but the far more populous tribe of Ephraim is not mentioned and is replaced with the phrase “the tribe of Joseph.” The message has nothing to do with the names of the tribes as much as the fact that ‘the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb’ come out of every nation and tongue of mankind and are the very foundation upon which the entire family of God is built.

Could it possibly be that the fact that the tribes are listed individually means that the real Jew has to be descended ‘outwardly’ from Abraham before he can be one of these “12,000 firstfruits from all the [outward] tribes of Israel?” How irresistibly tempting it is for the natural man to revert to such reasoning. How quickly we all tend to forget that Paul has just told us that “they which are the [outward] children of the flesh, these are NOT the children of God, but the children of promise are counted for the seed?:

Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Has not Ephesians 2:11-14 answered this question once and for all? Does not Ephesians 2 explain to us that being of Israel, and being of the entire commonwealth of all the 12 tribes of Israel, is now all a matter of spiritually being “in Christ?” Does not Ephesians 2, to this very day, explain to us that the true spiritual “commonwealth of Israel” now consists of both Jews and Gentiles who are “both… in Christ?” Does not Ephesians 2 tell us that Gentiles “in Christ” are no longer Gentiles? Let’s read those verses again, and if ever you tend to forget this, then go back and read them again.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

“Who hath made both one…” The word ‘both’ refers to those who “were in times past Gentiles,” and “that which is called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands.” The word ‘both’ refers to “the commonwealth of Israel” and “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.” What is God doing with these two groups according to the pen of the spirit here?

Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

God is not making ‘of twain two new men.’ He is “making of twain ONE new man.” So much for the false ‘two administrations’ doctrine which is based upon a misunderstanding of the events of Acts 15 and the fact that all the events of Acts 15-Acts 21 were “the time of reformation”, during which the Jewish Christians were indeed temporarily retained under the law of Moses while the Gentiles were not.

Christ’s life in the flesh demonstrated for us that the days, months, times and years of Judaism, the priesthood of Judaism, the animal sacrifices of Judaism and the letter of the laws of Judaism, were all a wall of enmity which is now “abolished in His flesh” and in the example He has left for us to follow. Now we Gentiles are no longer Gentiles but part of the very commonwealth of the twelve tribes of Israel, and those who are “called circumcision” are now no more than Gentiles if they are not “in Christ Jesus.”

Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off [Gentiles], and to them that were nigh [Jews].
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners [From the commonwealth of Israel], but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Now Biblically, in Christ the Gentiles who are “His inheritance” (Eph 1:18) are a part of the 12-tribe commonwealth of Israel. Ephesians 2 means what it states when Paul says “that at one time [in the PAST] we WERE Gentiles in the flesh, who are CALLED uncircumcision by that which is CALLED the circumcision IN THE FLESH made by hands.” (Eph 2:11). “He IS NOT A JEW which is one outwardly” (Rom 2:28-29), cannot be twisted to mean that ‘outward Jews are now God’s physical chosen people’, as the whole world wants us to believe. That is a lie because the holy spirit clarifies and qualifies that statement in Romans 2:28-29 to mean that “He is making of twain one new man…” (Eph 2:15). This is The Truth and let “every man be a liar” (Rom 3:4):

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Rom 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

The Lord is not making twain of twain. He has but “one body.” He is not “divided” into a Jewish body and a Gentile body. Yes, it is true, as Acts 15 demonstrates, that for decades after the day of Pentecost, the Jewish Christians continued to observe the law of Moses. Here is the reason they did that, and as you read these words realize that the Lord spoke these words to His apostles on the very night He was apprehended to be crucified:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Christ’s “one body” will not call “circumcision in the flesh, made by hands” a spiritual Jew nor a spiritual Israelite. Rather, His ‘one body’ will always declare the Truth, which is… “he is NOT a Jew which is one outwardly, and circumcision is [now spiritually only] of the heart, in the spirit.” Paul repeats this same doctrine when writing to the Philippians:

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

Who is ‘the true circumcision?’ Who is ‘the true Jew?’ Who are ‘the true children of God?’ Who is ‘the commonwealth of Israel?’ There can be no doubt. According to the scriptures, they are only those “which worship God in spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Let’s look at the verses of scripture which demonstrate who these 144,000… Virgins…are which follow the Lamb… being firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb (Rev 14:4).

As we pointed out at the beginning of this study, the 144,000 are mentioned once again in the book of Revelation in chapter 14. Here we read:

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

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

Surely the Gentiles converts are never called virgins, are they? The answer to that question just happens to be, “Yes.” They are called virgins in 2 Corinthians 11.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

John tells us of this 144,000 “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth…” Do Gentiles in Christ follow Christ wherever He goes? Yes, Gentile converts are followers of Christ “wherever He goes.”

1Co 11:1  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am [a follower] of Christ.

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after[Christ], if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

1Th 1:6  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

1Th 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:

Finally, it is said of these 144,000 “of all the tribes of the children of Israel,” [that] “these were redeemed from among men being the FIRSTFRUITS unto God and to the Lamb” (Rev 14:4). Yes, once again Paul tells us that Gentile Roman converts of Christ, “ourselves also… have the firstfruits of the Spirit.”

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.

There is but one “firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb”. There are not Roman, Gentile ‘firstfruits’ and a separate Jewish ‘firstfruit.’ The naming of the twelve thousand from each tribe is simply symbolic of the foundational function of these ‘blessed and holy… firstfruits’ (Rev 20:6).

James, who was well aware of these truths, despite what Martin Luther or any of our modern purveyors of that false ‘two administrations’ doctrine might say, tells us this:

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

James was one of the apostles who heard Peter say these words:

Act 15:5  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them [the Gentiles] to keep the law of Moses.
Act 15:6  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
Act 15:7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Act 15:11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, EVEN AS THEY.

In spite of all men’s doctrines to the contrary, Peter was brought to believe that “we [Jews] shall be saved even as they [the Gentiles].” So when James addressed his epistle “to the twelve tribes scattered aboad”, James knew what he meant by that, whether we know that Christ “has made of twain, one new man” or not.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Those in Christ, are until this very day “scattered abroad.” Nevertheless, all who are “in Christ” are still to this very day “the commonwealth of Israel.”

Summary

Let’s review what we have seen in the scriptures today.

1) As always we reminded ourselves that these words are not words which man’s wisdom teaches, but they are words which the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

2) We saw a few of the many verses which demonstrate who it is who now, in Christ, constitutes a true Biblical ‘Jew’.

3) We saw the scriptures which show us who is now considered by God to be the true circumcised Israelite, and we saw that Paul considered himself, as a physical Benjamite, to be a spiritual Jew and a spiritual Israelite, and that he considered his physical heritage from Abraham to be nothing more than dung.

4) We saw that the listing of the names of the 12 tribes serves to draw the attention of the carnal mind to the carnal, physical nation of Israel and away from the fact that being “in Abraham” and bring in “the commonwealth of Israel” are no longer a matter of physical pedigree, but ‘Israel’ is now a spiritual commonwealth consisting of both physical Jews and Gentiles who are “in Christ.”

5) We saw that Romans 9:8 and Ephesians 2 reveal in great detail that the only requirement for being “counted for the seed of Abraham” is that we must simply be “in Christ Jesus.”

6) We considered whether the first two verses of Romans 3 contradict the last two verses of Romans 2, and we saw that Paul was simply explaining in the first two verses of Romans 3 that the advantages of being a circumcised spiritual Jew are the only advantages that matter. Both being circumcised and being Jewish are now “of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter.”

7) We saw that Paul’s doctrine concerning the transfer of all of the blessings of physical Israel to a new spiritual “Israel of God” is in complete accord with Christ’s own doctrine, as He Himself revealed it to the Samaritan woman at the well.

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the [spiritual] Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

8) We saw that it is through Christ’s symbolic spiritual words that “even [what] they have” is taken away from them” refers to those who are “not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.”

9) Finally, we took note that “without a parable” Christ never spoke to the multitudes, and we applied that verse to this present study concerning who these 144,000 firstfruit virgins are who follow Christ wherever He goes.

There is much more we need to discuss concerning these firstfruit, virgin 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. We need to know why they are enumerated as they are with 12,000 being from each tribe. We need to consider why the tribes of Dan and Ephraim are not even mentioned. We also need to know which of the promises made to Abraham apply to these spiritual 144,000, of all the tribes of Israel, and finally we need to know exactly when the scriptures actually teach that all of physical Israel will be saved. Lord willing, we will cover all of those questions and more, in our next study.

The Book of Hosea – Part 8, Hos 8:1-14

[Study Aired June 1, 2024]

The Bible is a highly detailed book chronicling fleshy man, the epitome of God’s creation and His spiritual recreation. God, the Father, the “I Am”, is the paragon of purity in everything. His plan is to replicate Himself. In doing so, the order of headship and His sovereignty are designed to be repeatedly challenged by mankind in wave after wave of crushing humiliation for him to come to the point of utter submission to Christ, his head, and the Father’s crowning supremacy over all.

Integral with the chronology of mankind is the identity of two men, beginning with the carnal Adam and the evolving new creation of the spiritual Adam termed the “new man.” That ‘new Adam’ is the recreated consummate image of God. 

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness [meaning flesh likeness lacking the vital spiritual]: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created man [“the sum of His word” – is creating man] in his own image, in the image of God created [is creating as an ongoing process for one of the two resurrections] he him; male and female created he them.

Mankind’s passage to becoming God and his individualised experience of a mighty spiritual “earthquake” in his time and order of conversion is subsequently experienced in a cascade of tumultuous fiery trials. Yet, just like the large ‘stumbling block’ rock, Christ is in the middle of the stream of mankind, that initial ‘rock’s’ wave is massive and rebounds in decreasing amplitude as the water continues downstream. Such is the pictorial of mankind’s turbulent course to becoming peacefully one with God.

Following is a very broad scriptural summary of this introduction.

Isa 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Exo 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 

Isa 43:11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 

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

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Intrinsic with two men representing mankind are two women representing two sequentially espoused covenants. A woman represents a church or a number of churches. A church is where the inception of the holy spirit begins and develops in the laity. Entirely in keeping with the plan of God in creating Himself with mankind, the first corruptible fleshy pattern is designed to decay and dustily blow away and is represented by the first espoused woman, Israel, to Elohim, meaning Christ of the Old Covenant. The new wife of Christ has nothing spiritually to do with the first woman, only with her historical residual indecency slowly ‘cascading’ out of her in the increasingly peaceful waters of the Lord’s spirit.

However, in the meantime, that ‘new woman’ is known as Christ’s Bride. As is the natural proclivity of those with eyes to see, a beautiful couple in courtship and marriage has all eyes on the Bride, who, most imminently, has her similarly single-eyed focus on her Husband.

Jer 31:20  Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. 
Jer 31:21  Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. 
Jer 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath [is creating] created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
Jer 31:23  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.

Since a woman represents a church espoused to her Lord, her inherent inability to submit to her espousal agreement, the Old Covenant, lies in lockstep with the Covenant’s designed “fault” of her not having the holy spirit that would have empowered her submission. She is in vowed espousal Covenant agreement, and thus Israel encompasses Christ, the “man”, to his glory. Since the Temple in Jerusalem is central geographically to all Israel, she encompasses her Lord and King, and he covers her in order of headship under Christ.

1Co 11:7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
1Co 11:8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
1Co 11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 
1Co 11:10  For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.

Her inbuilt fleshy ‘fault’ in not having the holy spirit and wavering submission to her Husband results in her reaping a whirlwind, a seemingly endless tempest of trials. The Bride she is to become in the ‘second woman’ historically knows from where she has come and, with the holy spirit, is able, by her Lord’s strength and faith, is symbolically carried aloft in an Ezekiel-like fiery chariot, impervious to its heat and terrible smoke of her former burning.

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 
Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 
Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Gen 50:19  And Joseph [speaking to his fearful brothers, the embryonic Israel] said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? [Nonetheless, Joseph profoundly represents God to eventually save all of mankind] 
Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

Since the cross, the second woman, the Bride of Christ, has been comforted by her Lord’s spirit, which she now hears and sees for an increasingly easier passage through the stormy and fiery trials. In the meantime, Israel, except somewhat paradoxically for much later Job, laboriously suffers fiery trials that are frustratingly impossible for the flesh to avoid. Hosea 8:1-14 continues with her “cascade” of trials that we seemingly endlessly mirror spiritually.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

Hos 8:1  Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

I have a great passion for raptors of any kind. Any ‘hawker’ or ‘falconer’ knows that he can train, not without risk, his particular raptor to attack prey he’s not accustomed to taking in the wild. It is common in Eurasian countries to train Stepp and Golden Eagles to hunt wolves and larger deer than usual. Even in Australia, our Wedge-tailed Eagle can take down kangaroos by cunningly, with two birds, administering successive blows to the ‘roo’s’ head, rendering it bloody and senseless. Such is Satan ‘trained’ by God specifically as a murderer from the beginning by God to be “an eagle, an “unclean fowl”, against the house of the Lord”.

Job 26:13  By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 
Job 26:14  Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? 

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away [like an eagle] that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

An eagle doesn’t take a ‘dicky-bird’ like pecking at spiritually sown seed; he bodily steals away the entire animal! So it was with Israel, whom the Lord subsequently took captive, and later, Judah, the entire Beast. If we, too, don’t hear the Lord’s trumpet, even a murmuration (massive wheeling flock) of invasive starling-like evil spirits voraciously descend to eat every exposed spiritual seed by a figurative ‘death by a million “terrible and dreadful” cuts.’

Hab 1:6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. 
Hab 1:7  They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity [self-elevation] shall proceed of themselves.
Hab 1:8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

For the past two-thousand years, the joints of Christ’s scattered Bride have been similarly taken away bodily by an eagle to be protected from succumbing to the multiple evil fowl attacks and endure, with growing joy, her chastisements.

Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Just as the Great Whore is made unwittingly “bald” by her haughty disdain for her Lord’s headship, Israel metaphorically, physically, and decreasingly we spiritually, can be plucked bald of Christ’s covering before he picks the flesh from our bones as we cry uselessly to God.

Mic 1:16  Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Hos 8:2  Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.
Hos 8:3  Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. 

As Israel typifies, when our barns are bulging and life is rich and well-fed, we easily forget our past with the subconsciousness that Christ is pleased with our lives. We blithely dance off to dissipate our lives in wine, women, and song, only to prodigally return with cap in hand to our incredibly patient and gracious Father (Luk 15:11-32).

Hos 8:4  They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

Of course, the most outstanding “king” is the Beast within, sitting on God’s throne, having stolen the Lord’s gold and silver and claimed the holy wealth of his word as his own spiritual righteousness.

Hag 2:8  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isa 60:17  For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. 

2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 
2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way [Hosea 8:4 “… that they may be cut off”].
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed [you and me “in his time”], whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Hos 8:5  Thy calf [H5695/H5696], O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?

Calf H5695/H5696 – 1. Round and reminiscent previously, we saw in Jer 31:21: Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.

Jer 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath [is creating] created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

Similarly, the woman encompassing another Jesus is us when we surround the golden calf of our idols.

Another signification is the future woman who now is encompassing mankind and enigmatically “black” to understanding, is the Shulamite, the Bride of Christ. She is the antiphrasis of a harlot in the following verses, even as an eagle in the air to positively pluck bald the “adulterous woman” her Babylonian brothers and sisters feigned innocence prior to and in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Pro 30:19  The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. 
Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Hos 8:6  For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria [Israel in the north] shall be broken in pieces. 
Hos 8:7  For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

If anyone has experienced a powerful thermal urbanely called a “dust devil” or whirlwind while on foot, he would have marvelled at its buffeting strength. We can well imagine trying to sow seed as the ancients did by hand and how the seed would be violently carried aloft and scattered uselessly far and wide. Such are we when we speak great swelling words of carnal intelligence devoid of spiritual understanding carried away to land on stranger’s ears equally dull of hearing. 

Hos 8:8  Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. 

The contrasting vessel the Gentiles will most fearfully come to know is Christ’s Wife in whom He finds immense pleasure. She was in her flesh the weaker vessel who is given to grow into a stunningly beautiful woman of equal righteousness as her Husband. She is the chosen heavenly vessel administering to the Tabernacle.

1Pe 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Heb 9:21  Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 

Hos 8:9  For they [Israel] are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

A wild Ass is a Donkey not as powerful as a Mule, which is a male Donkey crossed with a female horse. So, Israel is depicted as many scattered and untamed Donkeys bucking and contending with his capture and forcibly made to carry the burdens of his former “lovers”, the Assyrians. 

Hos 8:10  Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. 

Outwardly today, our Babylonian brothers and sisters, having built a tower of intellectual and religious wisdom, are fattened for the coming slaughter of the Beast turning against the Great Whore. Her coming tribulations and woes are soon coming without the peace of wisdom and understanding of God’s word, and she will find the hour a most harrowing experience. Our individualised chastisements are thankfully understood, and even though grievous for a while, we find joy in their conclusion, knowing that they bring forth Christ’s gold.

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Hos 8:11  Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
Hos 8:12  I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
Hos 8:13  They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. 

Jer 16:13  Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour. 

Isa 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 
Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! 

Hos 8:14  For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

Multiple ‘fenced cities’ are our fading obstinate belief in our own righteousness. Heedlessly for the world destined to be ruled with the rod of iron, and upon Satan’s release from prison, fire will likewise descend upon Gog’s and Magog’s cities and her palaces utterly devoured upon them, contesting the camp of the Saints of God.

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, 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. 
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, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls. 

However, in the meantime, perilous times are increasing day by day. We, the “weaker vessel” (1Pe 3:7) to our Husband, will not permit suffering beyond our endurance as He continues to strengthen our single-eyed focus on Him. Though we could physically decease, not one hair of His covering of the glory He is giving us will perish if we continue to the end in the paradoxical joyful endurance of chastisement (Heb 12:7, Jas 5:11, Mat 24:13).

Even though some in the world could be shocked literally to death at Christ’s outward coming, and notably maybe those who tasted but scorned the heavenly gift, His spiritual  “brightness” will be minimal since that time is reserved for the Lake of Fire that burns with a fierce brightness. The Father is hastening that day to the point that Christ’s outward coming will surprise even His Bride.

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

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 

In the meantime, Christ’s Christs wait patiently for that glorious hour.

Book of Obadiah – Oba 1:10 For Violence to your Brother…You Have Been Cut Off

[Study Aired February 7, 2024]

Oba 1:10  For slaughter, for violence to thy brother Jacob, Cover thee doth shame, And thou hast been cut off—to the age.

Oba 1:10  For slaughter^{H4480 H6993} For thy violence^{H4480 H2555} against thy brother^H251 Jacob^H3290 shame^H955 shall cover^{H3680 (H8762 Piel)} thee, and thou shalt be cut off^{H3772 (H8738 Niphal)} for ever.^H5769

H4480 – Min, from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than, some of, after (of time), from…even to, both…and, either…or, too much for, through, because, from H4482, Mane, musical chord, a stringed instrument from an unused root to apportion

H6993 – Kehtel, slaughter, from a primitive root H6991, Kawtal, to slay, kill (Used three times in OT)

H4480 – see above

H2555 – Khawmawse, violence, wrong, cruelty, injustice, from a primitive root H2554, Khawmas, to wrong, do violence to, treat violently, do wrongly, be treated violently

H251 – Awkh, brother, half-brother (same father), relative, kinship, same tribe, each to the other (reciprocal relationship), of resemblance, a primitive word

H3290 – Ya`aqob, Jacob = heel holder or supplanter, from a primitive root H6117, Awkab, to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow/attack at the heel, assail insidiously, overreach, to hold back

H955 – Buwshah, shame, (Used 4 times in OT) participle passive of a primitive root H954, Boosh, to pale, be ashamed, be disappointed, delayed, confounded, confusion, become dry, delay, be long

H3680 – Kawsaw, (Piel) to cover, conceal, clothe, cover over, spread over, overwhelm, a primitive root

H3772 – Karath, (Niphal) to be cut off/down, be chewed, fail, a primitive root

H5769 – Olam, long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world, long time, always, continuous existence, perpetual, indefinite or unending future, eternity, from a primitive root H5956, Alam, to conceal, hide, be hidden, be concealed, be secret, dissembler, hide oneself

Here is the literal translation of Obadiah 1:10 with the root words included:

Oba 1:10 Because of slaughter and the treating violently (we do to our) brother Jacob, (our old man will be) supplanted, shame (become dry) covers (our old man and it will be) cut down perpetually (continually).

The old man in us is, by design, created to be a “very good” adversary to the New Man. “Very good” is in the sense of being very effective at carrying out its purpose. It is an appropriate tool for the job at hand. In the same way God comments on all the beasts of the earth of His creation (including the serpent), saying it was “good” [H2896: ṭôb, appropriate]

Gen 1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Gen 1:25  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good (appropriate).

The old man is a very good (appropriate) adversary. However, we reap what we sow, and all actions have consequences. It is because of the violence against the new man, the old man is being covered in shame as it is being cut down. Ultimately, the old man in us “shall come to nought.” There are a few Hebrew words translated as shame

1. H955 boo-shaw’ feminine of H954, shame
2. H954 boosh meaning to be pale, become dry
3. H1322 bo’-sheth from H954 shame (the feeling and the condition, as well as its cause); by implication (specifically) an idol.

• a drying up of a land. 
• When a wetland dries up the fish and vegetation die and begin to stink from the rotting matter. 
• Something that gives off a bad odor or is loathsome. [Hebrew and Aramaic]: stink, abhor, abomination, loathsome, stinking, savour, displeased.

Shame is used in the context of being clothed or covered and also translated as confused

Psa 89:44  Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.
Psa 89:45  The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame [H955]

Job 8:22  They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame [H1322]; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought

Psa 71:1  In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion [H954]

The passage in Ezekiel about the Valley of the dry bones uses the Hebrew word H3002 yaw-bashe’ to describe the bones as dry. It comes from the root word H3001 yaw-bashe’ meaning ashamed, confused and confounded. 

Eze 37:1  The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
Eze 37:2  And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry [H3002].

These bones are dry, and we know Christ referred to living people as ‘dead’ when He said, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Mat 8:22). Spiritually speaking, our bones are very dry if we are not clothed with Christ. If we do not have Christ, the quickening spirit, to cover our bones, we do not have true life

Eze 37:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

It is only when we are given the breath (spirit) of Christ to cover our bones that we are given life. This life covers our dry bones as we hear the word. We “hear” in the full sense of the word, because we hear and understand.

Eze 37:4  Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
Eze 37:5  Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath [wind/spirit/make of quick understanding] to enter into you, and ye shall live:

It is Christ alone who gives us life, even though we were slain, His covering is life.

Eze 37:6  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 37:7  So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
Eze 37:8  And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them

Here is how flesh and blood is described in the New Testament. Spiritually speaking, flesh is not flesh; flesh is “meat”, and blood is not blood; blood is “drink.” Meat and drink are how we are transformed from the old corruptible state (having dry bones) to the nourished New man.

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Christ lives by the father; meaning Christ is in the Father and obedient to the words of His father having come to do not His will but the will of His Father. We can say the same. We are in Christ and He is in us because we are obedient to His words. We are filling up behind of the afflictions of Christ in our bodies as Christ increases in us. Our new sinew and flesh covering us is the New man dwelling in us. Christ dwells in us the same way drinking water dwells in us (physically) and gives us nourishment and life.

Eze 37:9  Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live

Eze 37:14  And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

While the old man will be clothed with shame, the new man is clothed with white raiment. Being clothed with Christ means He is putting His spirit in us.

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

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

In Revelation we see the contrast of the old man (whatsoever worketh abomination) and the new man (they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life).

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

In Zimbabwe, I remember growing up in a very warm and welcoming Church. The people were very genuine, loving and kind. During Sunday church I remember clearly singing the worship song with the lyrics, “Is your name written in the lamb’s book of life?” Most Christians, if you asked, would say yes, they want their name written there, and their name is written there because they have welcomed Jesus Christ into their heart. In their hearts they have the assurance of their salvation. However, the mystery of our salvation, and how this happens, is revealed in scriptures. We know it to be a process; a process in which we are more of a bystander than author. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is the author of our salvation (Heb 2:10) and author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2). This process of salvation which Christ is orchestrating is described using the Greek word [G341] renewed:

Rom 11:25  For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery—that ye may not be wise in your own conceits—that hardness in part to Israel hath happened till the fulness of the nations may come in;
Rom 11:26  and so all Israel shall be saved, according as it hath been written, ‘There shall come forth out of Sion he who is delivering, and he shall turn away impiety [wickedness] from Jacob,
Rom 11:27  and this to them is the covenant from Me, when I may take away their sins.’
Rom 11:28  As regards, indeed, the good tidings, they are enemies on your account; and as regards the choice—beloved on account of the fathers;
Rom 11:29  for unrepented of are the gifts and the calling of God;
Rom 11:30  for as ye also once did not believe in God, and now did find kindness by the unbelief of these:
Rom 11:31  so also these now did not believe, that in your kindness they also may find kindness;
Rom 11:32  for God did shut up together the whole to unbelief, that to the whole He might do kindness.
Rom 11:33  O depth of riches, and wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
Rom 11:34  for who did know the mind of the Lord? or who did become His counsellor?
Rom 11:35  or who did first give to Him, and it shall be given back to him again?
Rom 11:36  because of Him, and through Him, and to Him are the all things; to Him is the glory—to the ages. Amen.

Rom 12:1  I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice—living, sanctified, acceptable to God—your intelligent service;
Rom 12:2  and be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing [G342] of your mind, for your proving what is the will of God—the good, and acceptable, and perfect.

The word “renewing” appears twice in the New Testament (Rom 12:2, Tit 3:5). Renewing is the Greek word G342 [an-ak-ah’ee-no-sis] derived from G341; renovation: – renewing.

Tit 3:5  (not by works that are in righteousness that we did but according to His kindness,) He did save us, through a bathing of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Spirit.

It is derived from G341 [an-ak-ahee-no’-o] meaning:

• to cause to grow up, new, to make new
• new strength and vigour is given to one, to invigorate
• to be changed into a new kind of life as opposed to the former corrupt state

G341 also appears twice in the New Testament

2Co 4:16  wherefore, we faint not, but if also our outward man doth decay, yet the inward is renewed day by day.

Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, having put off the old man with his practices,
Col 3:10  and having put on the new, which is renewed in regard to knowledge, after the image of Him who did create him

The process of our salvation is Jacob supplanting Esau within us. It is us putting on the new, and putting off the old man with his practices. This is what we are instructed to lay hold of: “to lay hold on the hope set before us.”

Heb 6:18  that through two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, a strong comfort we may have who did flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us,
Heb 6:19  which we have, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and entering into that within the vail,
Heb 6:20  whither a forerunner for us did enter—Jesus, after the order of Melchisedek chief priest having become—to the age.

Conclusion and Spiritual Principle

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture at all is becoming its own explanation

We see that our valley-of-dry-bones experience is Spiritual. It is our coming out of Babylon and putting on Christ which renews and invigorates our dry bones, transforming us into the New Man.

[Study Aired December 24, 2022]

[Ironically] And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? Gen 3:9

A young couple in love constantly think about each other and, when apart, rehearse the most arousing moments together in their minds. They lust for more sensual occasions and look for any excuse to be together. It is precisely what the Bride does today with her Lord. She doesn’t have to be told to remember to meet with her brothers and sisters since she is the iconic Shulamite spiritually aroused for her beloved as she “sees the day approaching”.  She seeks any excuse to sustain that arousal and magnify it for her wedding day, yet, not breach her wall, the hedge, and veil of her spiritual virginity until He pleases. After all, she is the Bride of Christ and has learned to rule her lusts and have them work for her righteous joy, not impatiently to serve the flesh.

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Just as Adam and Eve were born into the earthly Paradise, the Garden of Eden, the Lord is coming to the spiritual Paradise with unity in spirit of the Father now in the Bride, the image of the heavenly.

The Lord, in the first verse of this study, is coming into His garden, His wife, His Sister, and His Spouse ~ in spirit, they all are one and the same.

Son 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

Son 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 
Son 5:3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 
Son 5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 
Son 5:5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 
Son 5:6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
Son 5:7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
Son 5:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 
Son 5:9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? 

The Study:

Son 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

In the past six thousand years, it is only recently that relatively wealthy nations have been given by God to attain higher standards of living and access to hygiene. For most of this time, society was agrarian-based, where beautiful perfumes and spices effectively redirected one’s mind from the ever-present odour of animal dung, urine and its host’s unique scent.

Myrrh, frankincense, spikenard and the various aromas of spices were expensive and not easily acquired. Since the mode of transport was by hoofed beasts along well-dunged paths and roadways, the dust mixed with these wastes boiled up from the hooves and covered everything with its pungency. This, mixed with human sweat, was the characteristic smell of all travellers, and those perfumes mentioned above brilliantly masked the earthy. Men’s and women’s natural body odours in those times were no doubt more easily tolerated than in today’s sterile environment.

In the Old Covenant and the Laws of Moses, the God-given human sweat and subsequent washings and applications of frankincense, spikenard, myrrh, and incense burning all depicted the vast difference between our Lord’s spiritual cleanliness and the self-righteousness of our works. They depicted our tortuous trials and progressions from the natural to the spiritual. Christ, in this first verse, has already been proven worthy by His Father, and the Bride now is gloriously ‘tortured’ with joyful anticipation for his hand to unbolt her door.

… I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

As we all are well accustomed, wine in moderation physically and spiritually is a joy to man and God, as portrayed in,

Num 15:7 And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Ecc 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.

Like the Bride’s mind, the Groom’s mind is on her, and he rarely thinks of anything other than his beautiful wife-to-be. His pre-wedding celebrations with his friends and drinking wine almost merge with breakfast (possibly fermented milk or curd), and as such, time is lost with these jubilations before travelling to be with his beloved. Neither did he have time to separate his honey from the honeycomb, so he ate it whole (for strength 1Sa 4:27).

For the Bride of Christ, her Lord is about to break his ‘breakfast’ that literally was for him, but for a short time. 

Rom 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: ~ the Bride of Christ.
Rom 9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

In the God realm, that timeframe is very short, from Christ’s death on the cross to his wedding feast; he thus mixed his wine with his milk.

He drank milk and wine on earth in Palestine; thus, he symbolically mixed his wine, his spirit and his strong word with the weaker vessel, his Bride (milk), inclusive for the world and the beginning of the New Covenant. The Bride is the youngest, the “less” whom her elder sisters serve. She remembers being unskilful in her Lord’s (milk of the) word; now, she is blessed by being changed in spirit by her “better”, Christ. (Heb 5:12-13)

Heb 7:7 And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater. (BSB)

Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Son 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
Son 5:3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

The Bride is washed, clean and sleepy. Sleep is often difficult for lovers as they think of little else but each other. However, the Shulamite has her lamp trimmed and filled with oil and is ready for the sound of horse’s hooves. With her heart pounding, she recognises the voice of the Shepherd.

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Our Lord has finished His work for the first fruits of the First Fruit in Him, and his short work in creating the Bride is barely finished; he has the odours of a traveller now mixed with the mist of the night condensed on his head and clothing. Upon the Bride opening the door to him, their first impulse would be an impassioned embrace and kisses; he is naturally somewhat abashed that his “undefiled” Bride is washed and elegantly perfumed, whereas his mist-laden hair and beard smell more of work on a threshing floor; a man wielding a sword against the wicked, even a potter working smelly clay. Incidentally, most women admire a working man dressed in his occupation’s attire, as his presentation says a lot about his honour and diligence in work that substantially makes him desirable (1Ti 5:8). Those mentioned physical labour’s scents, among the many not stated, all represent our Lord’s spiritual scent from His labours after having almost finished making the Bride whole. He and His Bride are about to enter their rest on the Seventh Day, the One Thousand Year reign, and she will be made equal with God under Him.

Jesus, upon having healed a man of his infirmity by the pool of Bethesda, says,

Joh 5:15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. 
Joh 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. 
Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

The derivative of “Dew”, (H2929), is H2926, mentioned only once in scripture,

– Original: טלל
– Transliteration: Talal
– Phonetic: taw-lal’
– Definition: 
(Piel) to cover with a roof, cover over, roof 
– Origin: a primitive root
– TWOT entry: 808
– Part(s) of speech: Verb 
– Strong’s: A primitive root; properly to strew over that is (by implication) to cover in or plate (with beams): – cover. 

Total KJV Occurrences: 1 
covered, 1
Neh_3:15

Upon Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the rebuilding represents the Bride’s former self, old Jerusalem, with the following verse’s many rich symbols to be teased at the Saint’s pleasure in Nehemiah 3.

Neh 3:15 But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered^[H2926] it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah [shee-lo’-akh – fountain] by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David. 

The Bride in the Song of Solomon frequently refers to herself as a “garden”; her purity is ‘locked’, and she is a walled city with a drinking fountain, a pool of pure water covered by her Lord from spiritual contamination.

If we have lifted a well’s cover, we first note that condensation collects on its underside, distilled drops from the previous night. Solomon’s dewy head and beard are his wife’s covering of the pure pool of the Lord’s word within her as she receives his kisses that are better than wine.

…  I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 

Our gentile brother and sister Christians see that we are a peculiar people. We know that our Lord has washed our walk and made us holy; the Bride is undefiled and holy, though in the Song of Solomon the couple express the poetic earthy. The Shulamite imagines her beloved coming to her with the odours of travel, not realising (in her time and order) that her Groom was made pure two thousand years ago.

Son 5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole^[H2356] of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

A “hole of the door” is simply an entrance through a wall or into a cave. Ezekiel, in his visions of the abominations of Israel, in like manner spoke of a doorway as a “hole in the wall”.

Eze 8:7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole ^[H2356] in the wall. 
Eze 8:8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

H2356 – Transliteration: Chowr
– Phonetic: khore
– Definition: 
hole, cave 
– Origin: the same as H2352
– Strong’s: the same as H2352; a cavity socket den: – cave hole.

In her heightened state of anticipation for her Lord’s coming, the Bride lives with great hope and expectation; it is natural in the flesh to sometimes doubt that he would choose her above the other daughters of Jerusalem. As she waits patiently, she seems to stare at the door and imagines that her Lord came out of the dark misty night to her door and just as quickly departed. A deep dread embittered her emotions. Myrrh’s negative origin means “bitter”^(H4843).

Interestingly, the name Smyrna equates with bitterness and is one of the seven churches in the creation process of the single Church within the Bride of Christ. In her carnal state in the Song of Solomon, she has moments of doubt and dreads the thought of the second death, yet her spiritual side, ironically, is dripping with myrrh’s exotic perfume synonymous with Christ, the spiritual Jew.

Original: Σμύρνα
– Transliteration: Smurna
– Phonetic: smoor’-nah
– Definition: Smyrna = myrrh
an Ionian city of Asia Minor, on the Aegean Sea, 40 miles (65 km) north of Ephesus 
– Origin: the same as G4666
– TDNT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Location 
– Strong’s: the same as G4666; Smyrna a place in Asia Minor: – Smyrna.
Definition: 1. myrrh, a bitter gum and costly perfume which exudes from a certain tree or shrub in Arabia and Ethiopia, or is obtained by incisions made in the bark: as an antiseptic it was used for embalming.

Rev 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 
Rev 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 
Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 
Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Son 5:5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 
Son 5:6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

For the Elect of God, the Shulamite’s intensely romantic fantasies are with them when they have jubilantly enjoyed the taste of Christ, the heavenly gift, and sometimes doubts about their calling momentarily cross their imaginations. The sweet-smelling myrrh of Christ’s word and her following His commandments are the spiritual works of her hands dripping because of the overflowing abundance of his word. With her hands wet with myrrh, He has given her sole right to unlock that which is locked.

Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 
Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

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.

The Lord guarantees His Elect trials following their opening of the door to Him, and it seems after many years and weariness in their ninth hour, they feel abandoned as Christ experienced on the cross. King David often despaired for the Lord’s seeming withdrawal, most strikingly in all of Psalms 22.

Psa 22:1 To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Mat 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? [G4518 – Phonetic: sab-akh-than-ee’– Definition: 1. thou hast forsaken me] that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

The seeming abandonment of us by our Lord exercises our faith muscles. From experience, our increasing God-given maturity by the shrewdness of Christ keeps our eyes on Him even in the depths of despair in the temporary prison of our trials.

Pro 1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 
Pro 1:21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 
Pro 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? [as opposed to His shrewd designs working in us] and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 
Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 
Pro 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 
Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 
Pro 1:27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Pro 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 
Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 
Pro 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 
Pro 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 
Pro 1:33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. 

The entire process of creating the New Adam, the Bride of Christ, is rich with a turbulent birthing, yet, a known end keeps her focused on her Lord.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jer 29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

The Shulamite knows that her Lord will answer since she implicitly believes His word for the expected end. The drama continues to amplify her anticipatory arousal for her husband.

Son 5:7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

The Bride is fully aware that she is one of the “watchmen” continually looking for enemies within. She was wounded by her brothers and sisters, her other watchmen of the New Jerusalem, for the love they expressed during her many failings of nakedness in their presence. Her Lord’s word had wounded her, for seventy times seven times, she was forgiven. The veil of her flesh is about to be fully removed before entering into spiritually consummative unveiled holiness in her Lord.

Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints [the Bride] which slept arose.

Not long ago, the Bride’s Lord went before her in the like manner with his mother, Mary, asking the gardener where he was laid.

Son 5:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 
Son 5:9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

The Elect of God doesn’t need their Babylonian sisters, the daughters of Jerusalem, to tell them where Christ is or that they are lovesick for him. The spirit of the occasion is similar to Joseph indiscreetly rubbing his ten brother’s nose’s in his God-given sovereignty.

The camp of Israel, our Babylonian Christian brothers and sisters, are given no regard for the first and holy resurrection; they gleefully parrot that they are all saved anyway, so what’s the big deal?

Jer 4:22 For my people [the camp of Israel] is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish [foolish] children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Joh 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
Joh 15:23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
Joh 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Joh 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Joh 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 
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: 

The irony is that in the beginning, it was the Lord searching for Adam, and now at the end, it is the Bride in a lovesick search for her Lord ~ tongue-in-cheek, on both occasions, each knew where the other was.

Every husband delights in an engaging and enthusiastic wife, his fruitful ‘garden’.

Son 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 

… and we do!

[Study Aired December 1, 2022]

2Ki 13:1  In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
2Ki 13:2  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
2Ki 13:3  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
2Ki 13:4  And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 
2Ki 13:5  (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. 
2Ki 13:6  Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)
2Ki 13:7  Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing. 
2Ki 13:8  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 
2Ki 13:9  And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 13:10  In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 
2Ki 13:11  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein. 
2Ki 13:12  And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 
2Ki 13:13  And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The opening verse of this study sets the prophetic stage for the events God is going to cause in Israel. We understand that the bible does not mean what it says, rather it means what it means. So these numbers mentioned — Joash’s years ruling in Judah [23] when Jehoahaz began to reign Israel, reigning Israel for seventeen years [17] — add up to [40] signifying trials that were forthcoming for the nation of Israel who were going to be delivered into the hand of Hazael and Benhadad the son of Hazael, “all their days” for following “the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat“.

Then in the latter verses we are examining tonight, we are introduced to “Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz [who began] to reign over Israel in Samaria, sixteen years”[16] “in the thirty and seventh year of Jehoash the king of Judah” [37]. Here in 2 Kings 13:10, we see the numbers adding up to [37+16=53], a number that shows what God’s trials represent, both in this life, and what they add up to in the end [5 represents grace through faith and 3 being the process of judgment, and they work together so the new man can be formed, represented by the number 8  (5+3)].

In both kings’ lives (Jehoahaz king of Israel, and later his son Jehoash), we are shown how they “departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein” [2Ki 13:2, 2Ki 13:11].

The law working in our members trying to separate us from the one body of Christ is “the law of commandments contained in ordinances” that was also in Christ’s flesh, and the only way to abolish this law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9) in our sinful flesh is to have Christ rule over it within us (Php 2:12-13), “for to make in himself (Eph 5:30) of twain one new man (Rom 12:1, Rom 12:5), so making peace” (Eph 2:13-15).

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, 

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself [Eph 5:30] of twain one new man, so making peace; [Christ gives us the ability to live by the spirit of the law and pass from death to life (2Co 3:5-6, 1Jn 3:14, Rom 5:5, Rom 8:28, 1Jn 4:20, Col 1:27, 1Jn 5:2)]

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

That reconciliation process, twain becoming one, is the ongoing miracle which is happening in the lives of those who are being granted to die daily (1Co 15:31) and overcome and rule over this gentile flesh which has a natural enmity against the spirit of God (Gal 5:17-18, Rom 7:19-23). If we are granted that new spirit of Christ to rule over us and teach us how to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this life (Tit 2:11-12), we will be able to endure whatever tribulation we must go through in this life for our strengthening in the Lord (Pro 3:3-4, Act 14:22, Mar 10:30-31).

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. [Rom 7:19-21]
Gal 5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. [Rom 8:14]

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. [Isa 45:7, Jas 4:12]
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

In this study, we will look at how God used the nation of Syria to chasten Israel as a shadow of God’s chastening grace upon the body of Christ, who are inwardly spiritual Jews (Rom 2:28-29), and called “the Israel of God” (1Co 10:11, Gal 6:16, Gal 4:26). God’s elect are going through a redemptive process now in Christ shown in type and shadow throughout God’s word in the old covenant. The wars and rumors of wars throughout the ages witness to us how God is “bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members“, but then we cry out, if we are His children, and He delivers us by sanctifying us with the truth (Eph 5:24-26, Joh 17:17-19, Gal 3:13, Rev 14:4).

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 
Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. [Joh 8:31-32]

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: [the tree represents the cursed flesh we are in that cannot inherit the kingdom of God except through Christ (Mar 8:24, 1Co 15:50)]

2Ki 13:1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

As previously mentioned, these timelines of kings and their sons, no matter how the numbers are established in the physical details documented, are for the elect’s sake to show us God’s sovereignty which causes every single detail according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11), and reveals signified events that are hidden from the world but are given to those who now have eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of their meaning (Mat 13:16, 1Pe 1:12).

It is God’s will and good pleasure to give the body of Christ the kingdom of God today (Luk 12:32), which we possess now in earnest within us (Eph 1:14, Luk 17:20), and so with these things in mind we rejoice and thank God for all that confirmation He has laid up throughout history to reassure us of our royal priesthood and high calling in Christ, which relationship causes us to become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense as our lives become more established, strengthened and settled in Christ (1Pe 2:8-9, 1Pe 5:10, Mat 16:18).

1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 
1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 

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

In the letter which kills (2Co 3:6), people would look at these thoughts I’m expressing and say, “No, this is just a history lesson and a timeline”, which we know is true, but it is also the signified word of God (Rev 1:1) and revelation of His plan and purpose being revealed today to very few.

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

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:

These numbers therefore, which we went over in the introduction [23 + 17 = 40], set the prophetic stage for the events God is going to cause in the nation of Israel in this section of kings, and they are admonitions for the “Israel of God” (Gal 6:16) telling us to put all idols of our hearts out of our life, “the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat“, which God will accomplish through Christ, if we are being received of Him today (Heb 12:6).

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

2Ki 13:2  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
2Ki 13:3  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days. 
2Ki 13:4  And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.

The pattern being shown to us with the life of King Jehoahaz of Israel identifies how we must go into Babylon to come out of her. We naturally do what is “evil in the sight of the LORD“, and following the “sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat” is what we all do until we don’t, as we are seduced to partake of the false worship within Babylon which is centered around days, months, times and years (Gal 4:9-11) which is what this idol worship that was established in Samaria by “Jeroboam the son of Nebat” is a type and shadow of 1 Kings 12:25-27.

1Ki 12:25  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
1Ki 12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 
1Ki 12:27  If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28  Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 
1Ki 12:29  And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 
1Ki 12:30  And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
1Ki 12:31  And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 
1Ki 12:32  And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 
1Ki 12:33  So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 
Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 
Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 
Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

It’s true that the true worshippers were typified as worshiping in Jerusalem, which is what the woman at the well would have understood Christ to mean when He said “salvation is of the Jews” not understanding the spiritual message yet. So Jerusalem below is a type of Jerusalem above in the positive (Joh 4:19-21).

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

“The hour cometh” is the hope-filled promise Christ could prophesy to this woman who represents an unconverted church, of which Christ says,  “ye worship ye know not what“.

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Keeping days, months, times and years is not worshiping God “in spirit and in truth“, and so we’re admonished to “take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise” of (Deu 12:30).

‘Jeroboam the son of Nebat’ was used by God to fulfill the prophecies of judgment spoken against Solomon’s kingdom that was full of idolatry (1Ki 11:9-13) by separating Judah and Israel into two kingdoms. Likewise, the idolatrous ways of king Jehoahaz of Israel had its roots in the “sins of Jeroboam” and is the reason why the nation of Israel eventually went into Assyrian exile (Amo 1:1, Amo 7:8-11).

Amo 1:1  The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake (see 2Ki 15:1-2 – two generations after this story we are reading tonight).

Amo 7:8  And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 
Amo 7:9  And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 
Amo 7:10  Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. 
Amo 7:11  For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land (2Ki 17:6).

When God’s anger is kindled against us it is for good reason, and being delivered “into the hand of Hazael king of Syria” and “into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days” expresses two (2) people (Hazael and his son Benhadad) to witness to the fact that this is what is going to happen to us at the hand of God. Yet the hope-filled end of this chastisement is brought about by Jehoahaz who “besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them” (1Co 5:5). In short, these verses are telling us that God will use whatever means necessary to humble His people to bring us to our wits’ end in order that we may be received by God with a humble and contrite heart (Heb 12:6).

1Ki 11:9  And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
1Ki 11:10  And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. 
1Ki 11:11  Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 
1Ki 11:12  Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
1Ki 11:13  Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen. 

2Ki 13:5  (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. 
2Ki 13:6  Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)

Whoever that physical savior was, he represents Christ because Christ is the only one who can deliver us (Joh 8:36) “from under the hand of the Syrians“, meaning sin will not have dominion over us. Whether that remains the case “all our days” is also predestined by God, but at this point in the story we are told, “and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime“, which is a parable telling us that the Israelites were sojourners dwelling in their tents^{H168 = nomad’s tent, and thus symbolic of wilderness life, transience; dwelling, home, habitation –} see BDB as before, a symbol for us that this life is but a breath (temporary dwelling), and we are given rest (Eze 21:17, Act 9:31) in order to endure through this wilderness which represents our sinful flesh, to be presented to God a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1, Rev 14:13).

Eze 21:17  I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it. 

Act 9:31  Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. 

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. 

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 

The persistence of sin is shown in these words, “Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria).” These words admonish us that there is no ‘ten-second sinner’s prayer’ in our dying daily experience of evil that we carry with us until our last breath, enduring unto the end to be saved by Christ (1Jn 1:8, Mat 24:13). God is after our hearts and makes manifest our disobedience, iniquity and vanity by these stories of old in order to turn our hearts to Him through chastening grace, trials and tribulations (Job 7:3, Psa 4:2, Jer 18:15, Psa 94:11-13, Deu 16:21-22, Eze 11:18-21).

Jer 18:15  Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; 

Psa 4:2  O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasingH3577 = a lie, untruth, falsehood, deceptive thing? Selah. 

Job 7:3  So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. 

Deu 16:21  Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee. [As noted in the introduction, the tree represents the cursed flesh we are in that cannot inherit the kingdom of God except through Christ (Gal 3:13)].
Deu 16:22  Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.

Psa 94:11  The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. 
Psa 94:12  Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; 
Psa 94:13  That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. 

Eze 11:18  And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. 
Eze 11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Eze 11:20  That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Eze 11:21  But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

2Ki 13:7  Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

God can take away our so-called ‘power’ (symbolized here by the diminished horsemen, chariots and footmen) and will “recompense their way upon their own heads”. In this story He uses ‘the king of Syria’ to do this (2Ki 13:7), but we must remember that He makes His strength perfect through weakness, so the numbers we read of here in verse 7 that are spoken of as “few” represent our weak and corrupt flesh which has nothing to offer God. Only through Christ is there a means to an expected end, that end being overcoming our sinful nature through Christ Who is our hope of obedience or glory within (Isa 35:3, 2Co 12:9, Jer 29:11, Psa 91:7, Col 1:27).

Isa 35:3  Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 

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:

Positively speaking, leaving a broken and humbled people of God “fifty horsemen” and “ten chariots” and “ten thousand footmen” is more than enough resources to get the complete [7] job done [50+10+10=70]. In this sense, we see the power of God at work, effortlessly crushing our enemies within and without, “and had made them like the dust by threshing” (Jos 23:10, Isa 30:17).

The mention of “the dust by threshing” is also connected to repentance where our strength in this life is found at the threshing floor where we confess our faults, our iniquities, being ground to powder (Mal 4:1, Jer 51:33), which is how we find renewed strength and zeal in our relationship with our Father and Christ and His body (2Co 7:11), after we have been cleansed and made whole in Him through the putting off of our flesh represented by these battles of Jehoahaz.

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

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.

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. 

2Ki 13:8  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 
2Ki 13:9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead. 

We are being told by these last words about Jehoahaz that his life bare record in type and shadow that he was operating in his flesh, in “his might“. He was buried in “Samaria” which means ‘watch mountain’ and has its origins in the word ‘watch station’. Christ commands us to watch and pray that we don’t fall into temptation, and He is the watchman in our lives who makes it possible for us to overcome the pride-filled mountains that have to be leveled in our lives (Pro 16:18, Php 2:3). What we are primarily watching for as watchmen of God is that we don’t enter into temptation (1Co 11:31-32, Heb 12:6), and we have the best of intentions to not let that be the case, but as we see with this king Jehoahaz and so many before him and after him, the spirit can be willing but the flesh is weak, and so we are commanded to stir up that spirit by watching and praying (Mat 26:41)

Pro 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 

Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. [The flesh is weak so we must continue to watch and pray we can have the strength we need through Christ to stand in the day of our adversity, the times we are chastened and scourged of the Lord who brings us to himself. We pray and hold each other up to that end that we may endure until the end through Christ and His Christ (Pro 24:10, Php 4:13)]

2Ki 13:10  In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 
2Ki 13:11  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.
2Ki 13:12  And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
2Ki 13:13  And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

To reiterate, Joash (or Jehoash) the son of Ahaziah king of Judah, was in his 37th year of reigning at this time that Jehoash (or Joash) the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria and reigned for 16 years (2Ki 13:10). Those numbers add up to [53], a number that shows what God’s trials represent in this life, and what they add up to in the end. Grace through faith [5] and the process of judgment [3] work together so the new man can be formed, represented by the number 8 = (5+3)].

In both fathers’ lives (Jehoahaz of Israel, and Ahaziah of Judah) we are shown how they “departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein“, and how there could be no turning of “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” in type and shadow, until Elisha is introduced into the story in the later verses which we will look at next week, Lord willing.

Judah and Israel being separated is truly akin to the head and the body being separated of Christ, if we consider that Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5), and that the church, the sons of God, is considered the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). Only the Lion of the tribe of Judah can heal this great gulf between all mankind and their Creator (Luk 16:26), and it will be accomplished by Christ and His Christ, typified by Elijah and Elisha (Mal 4:5-6, Luk 1:16-17), Elisha being the one looked at in these verses to come (2Ki 13:14-25).

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: (Eph 2:13-15) so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: [Elijah a type of Christ]
Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 

Luk 1:16  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 
Luk 1:17  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 

Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 

Mat 11:13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Mat 11:14  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Mat 11:15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

[John comes in the spirit of Elijah who typifies Christ, and Christ’s Christ comes in the spirit of Elisha with a double portion of that spirit to accomplish spiritual healing in the earth, a witness of how Christ’s body would do greater works than what Christ was purposed to do when He was in His flesh, and all unfolding to the glory of God as Christ in us, our hope of glory, turns “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers“. ]

Exo 23:20-33 By Little and Little I will Drive them out from Before Thee

[Study Aired September 19, 2022]

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 
Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 
Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
Exo 23:23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 
Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 
Exo 23:26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Exo 23:27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 
Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

This section of Exodus chapter 23 deals with the Lord’s provision to make us His people overcomers of the flesh. The Lord’s resources available to us to become overcomers are spelled out clearly in His words as follows:

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The whole essence of our walk with Christ is that we end up being presented blameless before God. This takes a whole lifetime. Sometimes, when we focus on ourselves, we see how frail we are and our inability to live according to the standards of the Lord. The effect of this is that we become discouraged. We are therefore admonished to focus on the goal and not on the hiccups in-between. Our Lord also went through what we are going through and has become the best example of one who persevered in spite of all the odds against Him to win the prize.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

We are therefore admonished to encourage ourselves in the Lord, just like David did when his whole world had been turned upside down.

1Sa 30:6  And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

Are you in distress, sickness, burdened with sin or facing any obstacle that you think is insurmountable? Then do as David did – encourage yourself in the Lord. To encourage ourselves in the Lord means that we do not know how things will end, but we are confident of this, that what He starts, He is able to bring to completion.

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.

Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart and know that the Lord is here to let you know that He cares and has provided all you need to make it to the finish line!! May His name be praised!! Let’s now explore His available provision to make us His overcomers as we go through His words as follows:

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 

The Angel here is our Lord Jesus Christ who led the people of Israel to the promised Land.

Amo 2:10  Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 
Amo 2:11  And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD. 

Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 
Deu 1:31  And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

We know that Jesus Christ is the word of God. It is His words which keep us in the way and are able to bring us to the place He has prepared as stated in verse 20.

Act 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

This verse is another way of saying the following:

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

In the Bible, there are several examples of those who provoked or refused to obey our Lord’s voice and therefore, suffered the consequences of their actions. These are all written for our admonition upon whom “the ends of the world are come”.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
2Pe 2:4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
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; 
2Pe 2:6  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 

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

Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

This verse assures us that our protection lies in being obedient to the Lord. Our disobedience breaks the hedge the Lord has put around us giving way for the devil (serpent) to have us as a meal (bite us). We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Ecc 10:8  He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Isa 1:19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isa 1:20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 

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

Exo 23:23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

As we have indicated, the angel that shall go before the Israelites is Christ our Lord, who is the word. The Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites and the Canaanites represent the flesh or the beast within. It is the fire of His words which destroys or cuts off the enemy of our land which is our bodies. The fire of the word is the tribulation and the persecution which arises because of the word we have received, and it is these that destroy the flesh or the old man.

Mat 13:21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

The gods that are being referred to are the gods of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and the Canaanites which represent the flesh. The gods of the flesh represent the deeds of the flesh to which we bow down. They are summed up as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We are admonished to overcome these deeds of the flesh.

1Jn 2:15  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

This verse is to show us that the Lord is not only interested in us serving Him. He is also interested in every aspect of our lives to ensure that we have all that it takes in this life to serve Him faithfully. Physically, the Lord will take care of what we eat and drink as we serve Him. There will always be bread on the table as we serve the Lord in truth and in spirit. This is all to ensure that we do not behave like people of the world whose focus in this life is what to eat and drink and being clothed.

Mat 6:25  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 
Mat 6:26  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 
Mat 6:27  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 
Mat 6:28  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
Mat 6:29  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Mat 6:31  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 
Mat 6:32  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 
Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 
Mat 6:34  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Spiritually, what this verse is saying is that as we serve the Lord in truth and in spirit, He will enlighten our understanding regarding His word which is represented by bread and water.

Isa 1:19  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
Isa 1:20  but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Eating the good of the land is being given the privilege to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Another privilege we have been given by the Lord as we serve Him, as seen in verse 25, is that He will take sickness away from our midst. Spiritually, sickness refers to sin as shown in the following verses:

Isa 1:4  Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.
Isa 1:5  Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 

Jer 6:7  As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.
Jer 6:8  Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I turn from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.”

So, the Lord taking away our sickness means He will cause us to have victory over sin. Physically, the Lord takes away our sickness by healing us from our diseases.

Exo 23:26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

The Lord’s elect will not cast their young. This means that the birth of the new man after the image of Christ within us shall not be aborted. That is to say that the Lord will complete what He starts within 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:

Being barren means being unfruitful. Again, the Lord assures us that we shall be fruitful, although in this life it may seem that we are being unfruitful, in the fullness of time, we shall not be barren.

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.

In verse 26, we are also told that the Lord will fulfill the number of our days. This means that what has been written in His book concerning us shall be fulfilled. Again, we are being encouraged by the Lord that what He starts, He will finish!!

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Exo 23:27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 

The birth of the new man within us makes the old man within us afraid knowing that a time will come when he will be overcome completely. This is demonstrated clearly by the story of David (represents the new man) when he spared the life of Saul (representing the old man) when he saw Saul in a cave sleeping. Saul’s admission that David will surely be king is to let us know that the new man will surely usurp the old man.

1Sa 24:16  And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 
1Sa 24:17  And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 
1Sa 24:18  And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 
1Sa 24:19  For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 
1Sa 24:20  And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 
1Sa 24:21  Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 
1Sa 24:22  And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Our victory over the flesh is not a one-time victory. It is a process that takes a lifetime. Here in verse 29, we are being given a reason why our defeat of the old man or the flesh is a process that takes time. This verse is another way of saying the following:

Mat 12:43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

In verse 30, we are told that the Lord wants us to increase as He drives out the old man. That is the only way that the beasts of the field will not multiply within us. The increase here refers to the growth of the new man who is after the image of Christ. As the old man continues to die, the new man also continues to grow within us.

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.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

Another reason why the death of our old man is a process is given in the Book of Judges as follows:

Jdg 3:1  Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 
Jdg 3:2  Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;
Jdg 3:3  Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath.

Here in the Book of Judges, we are told that the reason that the Lord did not drive away all the enemies in the land was to teach the children of Israel how to war. In God’s wisdom, He leaves some of the nations in our land to train us how to war against the flesh. This war against the flesh is about how to overcome our carnal nature.  In the early stages of our walk with Christ when we are carnal, we are easily overcome by the flesh, and God uses this to teach us that this war against the flesh is not our fight but His. He teaches us to war by causing us to fail so that we can learn to depend on Him to overcome on our behalf. This happens only after we have gone through several cycles of defeat so that we come to acknowledge that we are the worst of sinners and that He alone can defeat the enemies on our behalf. When we have learned this lesson of knowing that we are the worst sinners and that we cannot help ourselves, except the Lord does it for us, then we have learned how to war.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Psa 18:31  For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
Psa 18:32  It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 
Psa 18:33  He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 
Psa 18:34  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Verse 34 says, “He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.” We all know that a bow of steel cannot be broken by our arms. That is to show us that this war against the flesh is like breaking a bow of steel.  Only God can accomplish it for us so that no flesh can glory in His presence!! That is why the righteous must fall seven times to know that the battle is the Lord’s and that is what this cycle of defeat by Israel is all about. Falling seven times means a complete domination by the flesh.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

This verse tells us the thoroughness of the Lord’s work within us. Nothing of the enemy must remain within our members.

Rom 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 
Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 
Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 
Rom 6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 
Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Any sin that is not dealt with can disqualify us from the reward. That is why we are admonished to purge out the old leaven of sin from our members.

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.

Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

These verses continue to admonish us to get rid of all that belongs to the flesh within us. If we fail to do that, we shall end up being dominated by the flesh as we serve the god of this world. As we have indicated, this is not the work of man. We have to depend on the Lord entirely to do this work for us. If we allow our old man to dominate us, we will be ensnared to serve another Jesus.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

May the Lord continue to do His work in us as we die daily to the old man!! Amen!!

1Ki 11:26-43  “Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee”

[Study Aired March 24, 2022]

1Ki 11:26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. 
1Ki 11:27  And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. 
1Ki 11:28  And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. 
1Ki 11:29  And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field: 
1Ki 11:30  And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: 
1Ki 11:31  And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: 
1Ki 11:32  (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel) 
1Ki 11:33  Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. 
1Ki 11:34  Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: 
1Ki 11:35  But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes. 
1Ki 11:36  And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. 
1Ki 11:37  And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. 
1Ki 11:38  And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. 
1Ki 11:39  And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. 
1Ki 11:40  Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 
1Ki 11:41  And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 
1Ki 11:42  And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 
1Ki 11:43  And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. 

The word of God is a word of addition, meaning God’s plan has never gone backward but always moved forward in the prescribed manner God ordained from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:11). When God takes away and separates and divides something, it is still adding to our understanding as the body of Christ of how the marred vessel in the Potter’s hand is being made anew (Jer 18:4, Rom 7:20-21, Jas 4:12). Such is the case with the type and shadow events of the nation of Israel that were recorded for the elect (1Co 10:11) to show us how God brought about the circumstances of that culture and those kingdoms and kings and peoples associated with them for our sakes (2Co 4:15).

The dividing of the nation of Israel was to teach His elect children eternal principles that are being added in our heavens as we “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen” (2Pe 3:18).  That grace, as we discussed last week, is the central part of the elect’s life that are at this present time “a remnant according to the election of grace” with whom God is working through the faith of Christ as our heavens are sanctified by God’s word (Joh 17:17), and made anew via an altar that the world cannot partake of at this time (Heb 13:10).

We access this altar through Christ through whom we are accepted (Eph 1:6), and the divided kingdoms of our old man are being destroyed and made anew through Him as twain becomes one (Eph 2:14). All of that destruction and renewing process and all the things outside ourselves is adding to our understanding of how “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Rom 11:5, Rom 8:28). All things therefore are working according to the counsel of His own will, and the one caveat for God’s elect as opposed to the world around us is this: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).

God does what he wants with the marred clay vessel (Rom 9:21) and has been fulfilling His will through Christ, the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, of that process of addition of recognizing that all things are ‘yes’ in him (2Co 1:20) and leading to the salvation of all of His creation (1Co 15:22, 1Jn 2:2, 1Ti 4:10) that live and move and have their being in Christ (Act 17:28). Beginning at Pentecost, there was a remnant that would begin to understand that all things are ours, “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1Co 3:22-23). The realization of who we are in Christ as one body was preceded by ‘the man of perdition’ being revealed within us (2Th 2:3) which brought us to see that the kingdoms of our world within, represented by Israel, needed to fall away and be divided and brought into captivity before God would begin to deliver us from that bondage and create a new creature, a new Israel of God which has one head and one body that operate in harmony (Gal 6:16, Eph 4:4, 1Co 12:12).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 

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

In this study we will look at the earth-shattering event of seeing the nation of Israel become divided, and look at how it is possible that God rending “the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon…and will give ten tribes to [Jeroboam]”, can be seen as a positive event for the body of Christ who are called out of darkness and into the glorious light of the true gospel of Jesus Christ (1Pe 2:9-11). These types and shadow events are for our sakes, and they do point to a hope-filled message of overcoming, through the suffering of this life, through the captivity that we’re brought into by the same Creator who caused these events and will deliver us out of them in His perfect timing.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 
1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 

1Ki 11:26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. 

1Ki 11:27  And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. 

In the previous verses we looked at how the nation of Israel got into this mess in the first place through Solomon who did not “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” going after “many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites”, all symbolic actions of our time in Babylon out of which we are now called (2Co 6:17). Jeroboam was the instrument in God’s hand that was used to rend the kingdom from Solomon, bringing upon him what he was meant to reap for all those years of going after strange women and their gods and pagan practices (Gal 6:7-9).

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 
Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

His hand was lifted up “against the king” specifically because Solomon “built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father” which obviously did not play into Jeroboam’s industrious life that would have benefitted from those breaches. We’re not told exactly why this upset Jeroboam so much, but we can speculate that it had to do with commerce and how that would have been restricted with other nations around them due to these city walls being repaired. Jeroboam was very ambitious, and God used him to come up against Solomon who had no idea how this once servant of his was going to be used to seek an occasion against the kingdom of Israel, which at that point consisted of the northern and southern tribes. Jeroboam was the sword in God’s hand who was going to be used to tear the nation of Israel apart (Psa 17:14). Jeroboam was no better than Solomon, and perhaps worse than Solomon at the end of the story, but this did not prevent God from using this man to accomplish His will for Israel.

Psa 17:13 Arise, O I was, I am, I will be, go before his face and bow him down! Deliver my soul from the wicked, by Your sword, 

God is not a respecter of persons, and Solomon’s forty-year reign was coming to a close, and the stage was being set for the captivity of both the soon-to-be-divided northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. Jeroboam whose name means “the people will contend” was “the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon‘s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman“. These names tell us something about the foundation of Jeroboam’s life which made him the ideal candidate, not only to bring about the rending of the kingdom of Israel out of Solomon’s hand, but also see him becoming the new king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The people were going to contend and Jeroboam was going to be the principal character who would behold and uphold that contention and become the beneficiary of the fruitfulness of that division of the nation of Israel. It would be brought about from a man who would prove to be a leprous, self-righteous hypocrite who was just seeking advantage in his life, exactly as God had intended him to do for the destruction of the nation of Israel which was going to be severely punished for its idolatrous ways that started with Solomon and became even more magnified with Jeroboam.

1Ki 11:26 and (the people will contend) the son of (beheld), an (fruitfulness) of (the adversary rules, great peace‘s) servant, whose mother’s name was (leprous), a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. (PNB-kjv) 

1Ki 11:28  And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. 

This recognition from Solomon of Jeroboam being “a mighty man of valour” who was just starting off as a “young man” was something with which Solomon obviously could identify in himself with all of his many wonderful works he had accomplished in the earth throughout his life. So, it was not surprising that in his senior years he would be looking for a protegé like Jeroboam to rule “over all the charge of the house of Joseph“. What he didn’t know was he was hiring the fox to take care of the chicken house so to speak, and this was all of the Lord to eventually bring about the end of Solomon’s kingdom that was prophesied to be divided and conquered. This is a prophecy written for God’s elect (1Co 10:11) that tells us what has to happen to the man of perdition within us, represented by Solomon. Yet in the midst of these horrific events there was always the glimmer of hope being prophesied for God’s people stated this way via these words that typify those who would be granted to be the first fruits of God’s creation: “But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel” (1Ki 11:32).

1Ki 11:29  And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field: 
1Ki 11:30  And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: 
1Ki 11:31  And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: 
1Ki 11:32  (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel) 

That “new garment” on Jeroboam represents the whole nation of Israel, or all the world in type and shadow. To make this point clear, we’re told Jeroboam is going away from Jerusalem when “the prophet Ahijah^H281 the Shilonite^H7888 found him in the way” and “they two were alone in the field” which represents the world (Mat 13:38). So, the two of them are about to witness something together that was ordained of God via “the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite” in order to show all mankind in time who the true ‘worshippers’ of ‘Shiloh’ were.  This unfolding event was for the good of all of mankind in time. This prophecy represents how all the world represented by Solomon’s kingdom must be rent into two major parts, one being Judah and the other being Israel. These two parts which symbolize Oholah and Oholibah within us must be divided and each brought into captivity in order to be judged by God for all of our spiritual infidelity in this life. The lost twelve tribes of Israel which we go after is the predestinated first fruit remnant who know they are sick and lost and in need of a physician (Mar 2:17). They are fished out of the midst of all the world, and so the gospel is preached to all of God’s creation, all of Israel, but He only drags and converts those who are predestined to be saved in this age (Col 1:28-29, Joh 6:44, Mat 15:24, Mat 4:19). The garment being rent is just another way of saying the vessel of clay that was made in the hand of the potter was marred, but the twain are going to become new and will be one new cloth just as the vessel of clay will be made anew as well, each man in his order (Jer 18:4).

Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

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. 

Mat 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.  

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The twelve nations represent the foundational strength of mankind that must be broken by God’s judgments upon it, so God gives the fleshly ten kingdoms to Jeroboam [Oholah], represented by the divided garment and the other part that represents our religious man of sin, or [Oholibah] is also divided and judged and if not “for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel” there could have been no salvation possible. Salvation is of the spiritual Jews is what Christ told the woman in Samaria who was inquiring of who the true worshippers were, and this dividing of Solomon’s kingdom is symbolic of what must happen to each of us who are being judged in this life (1Pe 4:17). It is through that judgment upon Israel and Judah within us that twain can become one (Eph 2:14, Mar 10:8) and that can only be accomplished through Christ who is symbolized by king David  “for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel“. The new garments we are given after the first one is ripped into twelve pieces is represented by the garment for which the soldiers cast lots and that was not torn apart showing us that Christ is not divided (Mat 27:35, Joh 19:23-24).

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

Mat 27:35  And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

Joh 19:23  Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 
Joh 19:24  They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. 

H170
אָהֳלָהּ    אָהֳלָה
‘ohŏlâh    ‘ohŏlâhh
o-hol-aw’, o-hol-aw’
The first form is in form a feminine of H168, but is in fact for the second form; from H168; her tent (that is, idolatrous sanctuary); Oholah, a symbolic name for Samaria: – Aholah.

H172
אָהֳלִיבָהּ    אָהֳלִיבָה
‘ohŏlı̂ybâh    ‘ohŏlı̂ybâhh
o”-hol-ee-baw’, o”-hol-e-baw’
(As with H170 the first form is in form a feminine of H168, but is in fact for the second form); from H168; my tent (is) in her; Oholibah, a symbolic name for Judah: – Aholibah.

1Ki 11:33  Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. 
1Ki 11:34  Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: 
1Ki 11:35  But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes. 
1Ki 11:36  And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

There is a beautiful redundancy in God’s word which reassures us that when God promises something from the foundation of the world we can be sure that those promises are going to stand that are being shown “unto the heirs of promise” (Heb 6:17-20). It takes only the “one tribe” that is given of God for the world to have the light of Christ in it, and of course that light is Christ in us, our hope of glory (Col 1:27) symbolized by these words: “that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.” It is that light of Christ within us that exposes all the false doctrines within us, all the false worship of “Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon.“

Heb 6:17  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 
Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 
Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 
Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

1Ki 11:37  And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. 
1Ki 11:38  And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. 
1Ki 11:39  And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. 

The handwriting is on the wall for our flesh when God says “And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did“, the lesson being that without the second part being fulfilled within us, “as David my servant did“, there is no way to build the sure house. Rather it is because of this certain failure of Jeroboam and the soon-to-be-taken-into-captivity nation of Israel that God finishes off by saying what He says because He knows what Jeroboam is going to do: “I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.“

It sounds so promising when God says, “I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.” The only problem with this is that “all that thy soul” naturally “desireth” is not of God but of the world which is what would be borne out in time in the life of Jeroboam (1Jn 2:15-17).

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 for ever. 

1Ki 11:40  Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 

Because of these prophecies of “the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite“, Solomon “sought therefore to kill Jeroboam“. Because of this desire of Solomon to kill him, Jeroboam “fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.” It takes the death of the man of sin, represented by Solomon, for us to come out of Egypt which typifies Babylon where we spend time with “Shishak king of Egypt” who represents the devil.

1Ki 11:41  And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 
1Ki 11:42  And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 

Solomon “reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel…forty years” just as David reigned for forty years, and the question is asked, “The acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?” This question is to remind us that Solomon’s wisdom represents the wisdom of man that is not the power of God and cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 2:4-5). On the other hand, David also reigned for forty years and his life symbolizes the book of life written in the life of God’s elect (Rev 20:12).

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. 

Solomon’s knowledge is written in a book called “the acts of Solomon” which was a book that witnessed to the many wonderful works of Solomon in his flesh (1Co 2:4-5).  As Christ increases and we decrease, we in turn no longer know each other after the flesh, or Christ after the flesh, but rather we see that new creation revealed by the fruits of the spirit and the old works as having passed (2Co 5:17). The blessing that is ours is to be many members and one body that is made up of all these different books that are in Christ, who is the book of life (Rev 20:12). The new creation or new book is formed through a lifetime of much tribulation (Act 14:22) as we endure until the end through Christ (Mat 24:13, Php 4:13) being saved now day by day, moment by moment, by grace through faith “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

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. 

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 passed away; behold, all things are become new. 
2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

1Ki 11:43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

This last verse reminds us that the dead must bury the dead and sleep with their fathers (Luk 9:60). Solomon was buried “in the city of David his father“, Jerusalem below, which is in the earth.

Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

God’s elect’s rest is a spiritual rest that is now in Christ whose death we are baptized into as we are raised in heavenly places, namely Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Rom 6:1-3, Gal 4:26).

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?

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

The fruit of Solomon’s loins is going to be a divisive self-serving king who will live to see the nation of Israel divided. “Rehoboam” will reign in Solomon’s stead and will live to see the prophecy fulfilled of how God will “rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee” [Jeroboam].

Solomon, like all of us, must reap what he sows, and upon his death the chance for a new start and a new king, who was not going to be an idolatrous one, arose. However, just like the house that was swept and cleansed with Solomon’s departure, seven spirits worse came back into the house of God by the name of “Rehoboam^H7346.

Mat 12:43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

These things were truly written for our sake upon whom the end of the world has come (1Co 10:11). There is much more tribulation to come for the nation of Israel with a king who will rule with no less rigor than the Pharaoh during Moses’ time (1Ki 12:11, Exo 5:7). All of this is leading to the captivity of the soon-to-be-divided nation, and yet with all these tragic events, we know that God has already declared in type and shadow the vessel of honor in the life of king David, who typifies Christ who will redeem all of mankind in time.

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. 

1Ki 12:11  And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 

Exo 5:7  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 

Dan 4:1-18  The Most High Rules in the Kingdom of Men

[Study Aired November 29, 2021]

Dan 4:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 
Dan 4:2  I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 
Dan 4:3  How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. 
Dan 4:4  I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 
Dan 4:5  I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 
Dan 4:6  Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 
Dan 4:7  Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 
Dan 4:8  But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, 
Dan 4:9  O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. 
Dan 4:10  Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 
Dan 4:11  The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 
Dan 4:12  The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 
Dan 4:13  I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 
Dan 4:14  He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 
Dan 4:15  Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 
Dan 4:16  Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 
Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. 
Dan 4:18  This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. 

Last week’s study of Daniel chapter 3 focused on who we are and how, through our fiery trials represented by the furnace, those called and chosen are not given to worshiping the image created by Nebuchadnezzar which represents our old man or the beast within.

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

Today’s study is about a dream Nebuchadnezzar had and what this dream spiritually signifies. This dream shows us who we are as a beast and the need for us to go through judgment to learn righteousness.

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

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.

Dan 4:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 

This verse shows us that what we are going to read in this chapter is addressed to all the people of the world, that is, all humanity. We must understand that what Nebuchadnezzar was going to unveil in the dream he had affects all humanity. However, as we are aware, it is only the elect who can understand the implication of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream on their lives. This is because it is not given to all humanity to understand the word of God in this age except those elected by God who are privileged to do so.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 

Dan 4:2  I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 
Dan 4:3  How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. 

As we shall see later, the signs and wonders God has wrought in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, of which he was telling the whole world, relates to the revelation of who he was and how the Lord dealt with him. Our Lord showing us who we are and coming to deal with our old man is the wonderful work that is spoken of by Nebuchadnezzar in these verses. The Psalmist also talks about this wonderful work of the Lord as follows:

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 
Psa 107:32  Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

The details of this wondrous work of the Lord are as follows:

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. 
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!

This wonderful work of the Lord starts with us going down to the sea and doing business in great waters. Going down to the sea and doing business in great waters means being ruled by the flesh and conforming to the standards of this world. This gives the Lord the occasion to come and judge us by raising a storm which causes us to come to our wits’ end. In our desperation, we cry to our Lord to deliver us just like Paul cried:

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

Our Lord comes in to calm the storm and bring us to our safe haven. That is to say that through this experience, we learn righteousness and become the sons of God. That is the wonderful work of the Lord or the signs and wonders of His work that Nebuchadnezzar is bringing to our attention so we can praise the Lord!!

Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. 

The rest of Daniel chapter 4 deals with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which unveils who we are as we go through Babylon and the steps the Lord takes to deliver us.

Dan 4:4  I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 
Dan 4:5  I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 

We thought we were at rest and basking in our own self-righteousness in Babylon just like Nebuchadnezzar, when Christ came into our lives and ‘all hell broke loose’. As we are aware, our Lord Jesus coming into our lives is not for peace but a sword. That is exactly what happened to Nebuchadnezzar.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 

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.

Dan 4:6  Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 
Dan 4:7  Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 

The wise men of Babylon are the magicians, astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers. These men represent the leaders of the various religious organizations of the world whose delicacies have made rich the merchants of the earth (the church leaders) and have caused all the people of the world to drink of the wine of their fornication.

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.

These wise men are not given to know the truth and therefore do not have the mind of Christ. As a result, they cannot interpret the dream of Nebuchadnezzar which is given to those whose eyes are being opened and their ears hearing what the spirit of the Lord is saying.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

This is what the Lord says of these scribes and Pharisees of today who represents the wise men of Babylon:

Mat 23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.  
Mat 23:14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 
Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Dan 4:8  But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,
Dan 4:9  O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

In verse 8, the last person to come before the king to attempt interpreting the dream was Daniel. Daniel represents the elect and, as indicated, the wise men who came earlier stand for Babylon. As we know, the flesh always comes first before the spirit. We had to be in Babylon first before we were given to worship God in 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.

We, the elect, are the ones who are given to know the mind of Christ just like Daniel and therefore, we can interpret the dream of the king or the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is a parable that those who have not been given the mind of Christ cannot understand or interpret.

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 13:16  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.

As we continue in Him, the secret things of the Lord will be made known to us.

Luk 8:17  For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

Jer 33:2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 
Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Dan 4:10  Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 
Dan 4:11  The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 

According to the word of God, a tree represents man. A good tree therefore signifies the elect, and a bad tree stands for all humanity who are not given to know Christ in this life.

Mar 8:24  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

Psa 37:35  I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Psa 52:8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

All humanity, including the elect, starts as bad trees. Those predestined to become the sons of God in this life, however, are transformed to become good trees later in life. The characteristics of the tree in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream qualifies it as a bad tree as described in verse 10 and 11. In verse 10, it is stated that the height was great. Also in verse 11, it is shown that the height of the tree reaches heaven.

Eze 31:3  Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds. 

Eze 31:10  “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, 

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

What we are being told is that the height of the tree here symbolizes the pride of man. We become proud because we think we control our own destiny and that it is through our effort that we have become righteous. This is the self-righteousness, which is iniquity, spoken of by Ezekiel.

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Verse 11 also states that the tree grew and became strong. As we age in life without Christ, the old man within us also becomes more entrenched in wickedness and therefore we end up being worse off than when we started.

2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Again, in verse 11, it is stated that the tree was visible in all parts of the world. This visibility of the tree refers to the worshiping of the beast by all humanity, which is becoming more and more obvious as we see the increase in wickedness in all humanity as we go from bad to worse.

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? 

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Dan 4:12  The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

We must remember that this dream is about Nebuchadnezzar who represents who we were when we were in Babylon. This verse compares to the following scripture:

Mat 13:31  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 
Mat 13:32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Matthew chapter 13 verses 31 and 32 can be interpreted to mean that we all take the grain of mustard seed which is the word of God and turn it into images of men or false doctrines which strengthens the devil’s (fowls of the heaven) influence or hold on us as it empowers the old man or the beast within.

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

That is what happens to us in Babylon. We become worse off than when we started. Daniel 4:12 talks about our deplorable state in Babylon.

Dan 4:13  I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 

According to Strong, the word ‘watcher’ means an angel or a messenger. So, the holy one and the watcher represent our Lord Jesus and His Christ. It is the Lord Jesus, the Chief messenger, who came to announce to us that we, His elect, must be judged for our sins. In other words, we must be cut down as a tree. We, as His Christ, are also carrying the same message that to learn righteousness, one must be cut down or judged.

1Pe 4:17  For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Dan 4:14  He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 

In our marred state in Babylon, our Lord comes into our lives to judge us. This judgment is signified by the hewing down of the tree, the cutting off of its branches, the shaking of its leaves and the scattering of its fruit. We are the tree that is being cut down.

Eze 17:24  And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

The end result of cutting down this tree is that the beasts get away from it. This is another way of saying that the beast or the old man within us is put to death. The fowls getting away from the tree branches is to let us know that we are no longer under the dictates of the devil. In other words, the devil is no longer our father.

Mat 3:10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 

Joh 8:44  You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

It is when this cutting down of us as trees is accomplished that we learn righteousness.  We can therefore live righteously because the beast within us is dying, and the devil is no longer our father.

Isa 26:8  In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. 
Isa 26:9  My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

The import of this dream Nebuchadnezzar had is the same as Ezekiel’s prophecy to Pharoah, king of Egypt.

Eze 31:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 31:2  Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? 
Eze 31:3  Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. 
Eze 31:4  The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. 
Eze 31:5  Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. 
Eze 31:6  All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. 
Eze 31:7  Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 
Eze 31:8  The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. 
Eze 31:9  I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. 
Eze 31:10  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 
Eze 31:11  I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
Eze 31:12  And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
Eze 31:13  Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:

We can see that it is our pride that causes us to be cut down. While in Nebuchadnezzar’s case, we were not told who was going to do the cutting down, in this case, Ezekiel said that judgment would be meted out by strangers and the terrible of the nations. This is referring to one of the four sore judgments of the Lord – the noisome beast. The end result is that it leads to the destruction of the old man.

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? 

Dan 4:15  Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 

On a positive note, the tree stump that is left is the elect. When we are judged (cut down) by the Lord, we are not destroyed completely. It is our old man or the beast within that is destroyed, and we are left as a tree stump to grow again at the scent of water which is the word of God. In verse 15, being wet with the dew of heaven means receiving the word of God.

Job 14:7  “For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. 
Job 14:8  Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, 
Job 14:9  yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. (ESV)

Isa 6:11  Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, 
Isa 6:12  and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 
Isa 6:13  And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump. (ESV)

The tree stump being bound with iron and brass means that we are dragged by the Lord to Himself. In verse 15, it is also mentioned that the stump must be left in the tender grass of the field so that it will be wet by the dew of heaven. This is to suggest that our Lord will plant us in the church of the first born or the New Jerusalem so that we can be beneficiaries of what every joint supplies, which is the word of God. Remember that grass of the field positively represents the elect.

Zec 10:1  Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

The last statement of verse 15 is that the tree stump’s portion should be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. This signifies that we, as our Lord’s elect, are being sent as sheep in the midst of wolves. In other words, we shall suffer persecution and be hated by all men.

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 

Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

The physical implication of verse 15 was that Nebuchadnezzar would not be destroyed totally but would become like the beast of the fields so that he would appreciate the fact that he is a beast just like all of us. The next verse explains this point.

Dan 4:16  Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

The period for Nebuchadnezzar to come to the realization that he is a beast was seven years, which signifies the complete period of time that we come to realize during our time in Babylon that we are beasts. Coming to know that we are beasts is the beginning of the process of the Lord to make us His sons.

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

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

According to Strong, the word “watchers” here means holy angels. The watchers and the holy ones are all the same. They represent the elect. This whole issue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is to bring to our attention the fact that our Lord is at the center of all that takes place in our lives, both good and evil. The Lord giving the kingdom to whomsoever he will means that we play no part in our salvation. As a matter of fact, it is God who has chosen us before the foundations of the world. We did not choose ourselves.

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

The Lord setting the kingdom up being ruled over by the basest of men means that He chooses the stupid things of this world to confound the wise and the prudent to the effect that no flesh shall glory in His presence.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Dan 4:18  This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

As we have said earlier, it is those who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear who have the mind of Christ and are therefore given to know the interpretation of the mysteries concerning the kingdom of Heaven which is signified by Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

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 13:16  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.

[Study Aired November 11, 2021]

1Ki 7:1  But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. 
1Ki 7:2  He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
1Ki 7:3  And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.
1Ki 7:4  And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.
1Ki 7:5  And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.
1Ki 7:6  And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.
1Ki 7:7  Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
1Ki 7:8  And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.
1Ki 7:9  All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.
1Ki 7:10  And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
1Ki 7:11  And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.
1Ki 7:12  And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.

Our title in this section of Kings is the key to unlocking why we are even looking at all this precise workmanship that is taking place with Solomon’s “building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house“.

We all start off building our own house not knowing the significance of all our experiences which we experience in Christ where we live and move and have our being (Act 17:28) until a process of judgment comes upon us that brings us to look back and start to interpret those experiences for what they were meant to teach us today as a member of the body of Christ (1Pe 4:17). What those thirteen years of building Solomon’s house represent is our years of rebellion in our flesh when we measure things by our own strength and not by the power of God (Mat 22:29, 1Co 1:18, 1Co 1:24).

1Co 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Joseph was seventeen when sold in slavery and then came to power under Pharaoh when he was thirty years old, which is a thirteen year period (Gen 37:2 [17 years old], Gen 41:46 [30 years old]). Joseph experienced these thirteen signified years so that at “thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt” he was ready to stand before Pharaoh, which is symbolic language meaning we take unto us “the whole armour of God [typified by Pharaoh in the positive sense when we are able to stand before God], that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” by overcoming the devil [typified by Pharaoh in the negative sense when we are able to overcome the devil] because we are now standing in the temple of God with “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” that makes it possible for us to overcome and be more than conquerors through Christ (Gen 41:46, Eph 6:13).

Solomon preparing his house for thirteen years (1Ki 7:1) is a shadow of Joseph’s thirteen years of preparation that made him ready to overcome, spiritually, in type and shadow. Solomon’s house is a type and shadow prophesy of what must occur in each of the elect’s lives in order to be made ready as a member of Christ’s body to bring forth much fruit that has been ordained for us from the foundation of the world (Joh 15:16-17). The rebellious life in the flesh must be lived out first and made manifest to us, in order that our life in Christ becomes possible in this present age (Gal 1:4, Rom 8:18-21).

The thirteen years building the house and the thirteen years of Joseph’s journey which brought him before Pharoah can also be understood by saying the eighth is of the seven, when we consider that seven in this case is negative and represents the thirteen years of rebellion we were in when we built our own house in Babylon by doing our own works without acknowledging the Lord as doing the work of building the temple (Psa 127:1, Amo 6:13, Rev 17:11).

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Amo 6:13  Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

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.

1Ki 7:1  But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

Solomon “finished all his house” is another prophesy that was not for his sake but for ours (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11) to remind us that what God has started in us through Christ is going to be finished (Php 1:6).

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:

A quick comparison of the dimensions of Solomon’s Temple versus the Palace shows us the difference, in type and shadow, between our own religious works versus the work of Christ in us that builds the temple which we are.

Solomon’s Temple versus the Palace

1Ki 7:2  He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, (Rev 3:12) with cedar beams upon the  pillars (Rev 3:12).

This verse is saying the same thing as the first verse if we know that trees are symbolic of ‘men’, “the forest of Lebanon” in God’s word (Mar 8:24). What these trees or men are built upon is now described for us in a manner that reveals what is needed to happen to God’s elect in order to understand the length, the breadth and the height of Christ Who is being formed within our new heavens as the new man is created and made fit for the master’s use (2Ti 2:21). It is the whole body of Christ “upon four rows of cedar pillars”  that the world, symbolized by “cedar beams“, will find their rest “upon the pillars“.

Mar 8:24  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

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

These numbers described in 1Kings 7:2 signify the spiritual purging process we must go through in order to have “Christ who is being formed within our new heavens and new man being created and made fit for the masters use.” The hundred cubits length represents the time in our carnal flesh [10] which is where God is witnessing [2] to the world His workmanship that we are (10X10) that is going onto perfection through Christ on the third day through the true witness who makes this possible (Rev 3:14, Heb 9:23).

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

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Perfection won’t come about without the grace of God that chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust, which grace [5X10] must be administered via a process of judgement that is represented by the thirty cubits: “the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits“. The height being ‘thirty’ tells us that God knows our lofty hearts have to be brought down and crushed in this life in order to become as the lamb of God. If we suffer we will rule with Him and will be saviours who take away the sins of the world with Christ (Joh 1:29, 1Jn 4:17, Oba 1:21).

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

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

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.

The “four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars” reminds us that God’s plan has been laid out so that it will take all the pillars [4 rows] of God’s church to accomplish this feat of being God’s foundational government, and the world symbolized by the “cedar beams” will rest upon the “cedar pillars” showing us that God’s elect are part of that foundational build which represents Christ in us upon whom the world will rest as we rest today on “the head of the corner” – Christ (1Pe 2:7, Mat 16:18).

1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

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

1Ki 7:3  And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

Judgment is the one event that is common to all men, and so the “forty five pillars” represent the judgment [4+5=9] that God’s elect, who will be the foundation of God’s government [the four rows mentioned earlier], will administer with a rod of iron during the thousand-year reign and in the great white throne judgment having been judged already (1Pe 4:17, Rev 2:27, Rev 19:15, Rev 20:6).

There are “fifteen in a row” of the beams that rest upon the “forty five” pillars that represent the elect. What this tells us is that those beams which represent all of mankind who are “covered with cedar” must rest upon the elect in order to be judged (Heb 4:11). Consequently, 45 divided by 15=3 showing the process of that judgment. Also it is mankind [6×10] that must be judged, represented by the 4 rows of 15 beams [4X15=60] that sit upon the 45 pillars.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

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

It is noteworthy that ‘cedar’ is first mentioned in the bible as part of the levitical practices of purification that, spiritually speaking, we are living now, dying daily today, and that the rest of the world will also experience in the lake of fire process, “to teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy” (Lev 14:57).

• The law of the leper in the day of his cleansing

Lev 14:4   Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
Lev 14:5  And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
Lev 14:6  As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
Lev 14:7  And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.

• The law for all manner of plague of leprosy

Lev 14:48  And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
Lev 14:49  And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
Lev 14:50  And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water:
Lev 14:51  And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
Lev 14:52  And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:
Lev 14:53  But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.

1Ki 7:4 And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks.

Again “three rows” of windows, and “light was against light in three ranks“, is telling us the same message of the sanctification process (Joh 17:17) we go through as Christ increases as we decrease, which is one that takes time as we learn to possess our souls patiently, going from glory to glory (2Co 3:18). As the body of Christ we do all things decently and in order as the word of God which is light (Joh 1:9, Mat 5:14) is rightly divided and received in our hearts which are prepared and made ready through judgment that is required in order to put off our flesh (Rom 8:13).

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

Notice the difference in the manner that the windows are described between the temple and the palace, showing us that “narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.”

1Ki 7:4  And there were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks [palace].

1Ki 6:4  And for the house he made windows of narrow lights [temple].

(GNB)  1Ki 6:4  The walls of the Temple had openings in them, narrower on the outside than on the inside.

(CEV)  1Ki 6:4  The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14   Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life [“narrower on the outside”], and few there be that find it.

It is “wide on the inside” because when God grants us eyes to see and ears to hear, then we begin to see how unsearchable are His ways and past finding out (Rom 11:33). In the negative sense of something being broad, broad is the path that leads to destruction, “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Mat 7:13).

1Ki 7:5  And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against light in three ranks.

Regarding the shape of the windows being “square, with the windows” and “light was against light inthree ranks“, we are being told that it takes all four sides of the body of Christ to bring “light was against light in three ranks” (every joint supplies Eph 4:16). The light represents the judgment that comes into our world when the light of Christ enters into our heavens or into our temple (Joh 2:15) and as the light of the world bound to the altar, we are enabled to ‘drive them all out’ (Exo 27:1, Mat 5:14).

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

Exo 27:1  And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

1Ki 7:6  And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.

It’s easy to identify these numbers in the house for what they represent to the body of Christ today: “a porch of pillars (Rev 3:12) the length thereof was fifty cubits (grace = Eph 2:8), and the breadth thereof thirty cubits (Tit 2:12, Luk 13:32).” The house of God must reflect these measurements in order for the costly stones to be laid down that we are going to read about later. This building of Solomon’s house has spiritual lessons for us that speak of things that are not as though they were. Solomon is like the rich young ruler of (Mar 10:20-21) building his own spiritual house with diligence, that took thirteen years representing his own works, his own rebellion.

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

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Mar 10:20  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth [Php 3:9].
Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
Mar 10:22  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

The “porch was before them: and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them” witnesses to the fact that we labour where others have already gone before us (Joh 4:38), and it is upon the prophets and apostles that we mature and grow into one healthy body with Christ who is “the head stone of the corner” (Psa 118:22).

Joh 4:38  I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

Psa 118:22  The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

1Ki 7:7  Then he made a porch^H197 for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

The porch “for the throne where he might judge” is a type of the thrones of judgement where the elect will judge all the nations (Mat 19:28) of the world in the great white throne judgement (Luk 18:28-30, 1Co 6:3). The porch is “covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other” as cedar represents mankind that is becoming subject unto Christ, coming under His dominion under the feet of the saints who like Christ are now walking on the sea that represents all the world which will in time be brought into subjection unto Christ through the church so that ultimately God will be all in all (Mat 14:25, 1Co 15:28). It is however not covered with gold telling us that this is a temple that is still walking in the flesh [cedar – yet carnal] and not in the spirit that is represented by those things in the temple that are covered with gold (Gal 5:16).

Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Luk 18:28  Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
Luk 18:29  And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Luk 18:30  Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Notice the root of the word porch^H197 that shows us that the world is bound to the altar as well in their appointed time of salvation as was prophesied in Joseph’s dreams so many years ago (Gen 37:5-7).

Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7  For, behold, we were binding^H481 sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance^H7812 to my sheaf [Rev 3:9].

from H481
– Original: אu1500 םאu1493 ּu1500 םpar
– Transliteration: ‘uwlam
– Phonetic: oo-lawm’
– Definition:

1. porch
a. in Solomon’s temple
b. in Solomon’s palace
c. in temple of Ezekiel’s vision

– Origin: from H481 (in the sense of tying)
– TWOT entry: 45c
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine
– Strong’s: From H481 (in the sense of tying); a vestibule (as bound to the building): – porch.

Total KJV Occurrences: 34
•porch, 33
1Ki_6:3; 1Ki_7:6(2); 1Ki_7:7(2); 1Ki_7:8(2); 1Ki_7:12; 1Ki_7:19; 1Ki_7:21; 1Ch_28:11; 2Ch_3:4; 2Ch_8:12; 2Ch_15:8; 2Ch_29:7; 2Ch_29:17; Eze_8:16; Eze_40:7; Eze_40:8; Eze_40:9(2); Eze_40:15; Eze_40:39; Eze_40:40; Eze_40:48(2); Eze_40:49; Eze_41:25; Eze_41:26; Eze_44:3; Eze_46:2; Eze_46:8; Joe_2:17
•porches, 1
Eze_41:15

H481
– Original: אu1500 םpar
– Transliteration: ‘alam
– Phonetic: aw-lam’
– Definition:

1. to bind
a. (Niphal)
1. to be dumb
2. to be bound

b. (Piel) binding (part.)
– Origin: a primitive root
– TWOT entry: 102
– Part(s) of speech: Verb
– Strong’s: A primitive root; to tie fast; hence (of the mouth) to be tongue tied: – bind be dumb put to silence.

Total KJV Occurrences: 9
•binding, 1
Gen_37:7

•dumb, 7
Psa_39:2; Psa_39:9; Isa_53:7; Eze_3:26; Eze_24:27; Eze_33:22; Dan_10:15
•silence, 1
Psa_31:18

Looking again at…

Gen 37:7  For, behold, we were binding^H481 sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance^H7812 to my sheaf [Rev 3:9].

… we see the same thought of the whole world eventually being bound looking at the definition of that word ‘obeisance’ bringing to mind Revelation 3:9 which also has the same sound pattern of words:

H7812 shâchâh – from [Gen 37:7], [obeisanceH7812]
shaw-khaw’

A primitive root; to depress, that is, prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God): – bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.

G4352 proskuneō [Rev 3:9 = worship^G4352]
pros-koo-neh’-o

From G4314 and probably a derivative of G2965 (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, that is, (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): – worship.

Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

1Ki 7:8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.

Solomon is a type of the elect of God prior to coming into the temple of God, and these verses regarding these sections of the house Solomon built again demonstrate the rebellion we will experience during that symbolic 13 years until we can become that new foundation which is formed in Christ (12): “And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the like work.”

We are also told that “Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.” Pharaoh’s daughter represents the churches of Babylon and the false doctrines within us which are yet to be judged. Thus, this statement is very specific to how the Lord is able to judge the idols of our hearts which are being destroyed through the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives as the seven last plagues are poured out upon the body of Christ that is represented by the temple of God (Rev 15:8, 1Co 3:16).

Once again we are reminded that it is “like unto this porch” showing us that judgment is the consistent theme which will come upon all men. Specifically it is “Pharaoh’s daughter” that God’s elect come out of, as she represents Babylon within us who must be judged if we are going to come out of her (Rev 18:4).

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.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

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.

1Ki 7:9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.

When we read something is “according to the measure of”, we are being told it is measured against something so that it is a precision cut. With that in mind we learn that these “costly stones” were “hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping” meaning all of God’s workmanship within the life of His elect was predetermined from the foundation of the world. It was determined from “within and without” even when we were in rebellion and doing our own works in the our rebellious house of thirteen years where we “hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without” as opposed to not hearing any tools or pre-construction on the site of Solomon’s temple (1Ki 6:7) versus his own house.

All of this workmanship represents God’s workmanship that the bride of Christ is, “even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court”, a reminder of how “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). This calling was determined to be fulfilled “from the foundation unto the coping” by His mighty hand, or handbreadth [“coping” H2948 ] that spans all time and by which all things consist and unfold according to the counsel of His own will (Col 1:17-19, Eph 1:11).

H2948 ṭôphach to’-fakh
From H2946 (the same as H2947): – hand-breadth (broad).

Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

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:

1Ki 7:10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
1Ki 7:11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.

God is going to see to it that the elect bring “all the tithes into the storehouse”, the tithe representing all our fleshly life that belongs to Him (Mal 3:10) and that is bound to the altar as those sheaves we talked about earlier. What it takes to form those “costly stones” of “ten cubits” is found in the next chapter of Malachi (Mal 4:1).

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

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

The end result of having God judge us in this age and giving us the ability to “abide the day of his coming” spoken of in Malachi 3:2-3 is a Godly fear that is fashioned along with a desire to work righteousness as the body of Christ in this life (Mal 3:16-18, Ecc 12:13-14, Act 10:35).

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

The discerning that people will be given in the great white throne judgment of who is righteous and who is wicked, and who is serving God or not serving him is what God’s elect are discerning in themselves today as a royal priesthood being prepared to rule and reign under Christ (1Pe 2:9). We are suffering awhile now in order to be made perfect and stablished and strengthened and settled now in the Lord all to His glory, which is an ongoing is, was, and will be process that is unfolding in our lives as we die daily (Mal 3:17, 1Pe 5:10, 1Co 15:31). The costly stones are “stones of eight cubits” representing the new man who is formed through much tribulation (Act 14:22).

The costly stones from the foundation to the top, some of which were foundational and some of which were “above” which were made “after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars”, reminds us that every one of God’s elect is to be set in the temple where it pleased Him (1Co 12:18), “but God hath tempered the body” (1Co 12:23-26) via the Pearl of great price who is hidden in these earthen vessels (2Co 4:7) Who is working this glorious work of salvation (Php 2:12-13) that requires we give an accounting of our life first (1Pe 4:17) so we can become a fitly framed temple of God forged and cut from this life of “hewed stones and cedars” blessed to abide in the house of God, represented by the temple of God (Psa 84:10, Psa 23:6).

1Co 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

1Co 12:23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
1Co 12:24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
1Co 12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
1Co 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

1Ki 7:12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.

It was by design that we first read of the temple being built before we see Solomon’s efforts on his bigger-than-the-temple palace, because God speaks of things that are not as though they were (Rom 4:17), declaring the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and from the foundation of the world (Heb 4:3). The imagery of “the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams” that was “both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house” showing us that all of mankind is going to be judged in time. The “three rows of hewed stones” typify this process of judgment that makes is possible for us to become the “rows of cedar pillars” which start off as “a row of cedar beams”.

Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

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:

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

We become those beasts around the throne of God who will never forget where we came from with origins of beastly nature, fleshly carnal humans represented by the cedar beams and the beasts around the throne of God (Rev 4:6). Twenty trillion years from now I won’t need anyone to remind me that I was a beast, or likened to a wooden beam, because God had purposed from the foundation of the world that all mankind would come to see this truth that would bring us all one day to rejoice with an everlasting joy in our hearts for the things that God has done, so marvellously and so greatly (Ecc 3:21-22).

Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Ecc 3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

God’s elect rejoice and again I say rejoice because “a man should rejoice in his own works” especially when he knows that it is Christ and Christ alone who is doing them (Php 2:12-13).

Solomon’s house represents our rebellion because it is our own righteousness that sustains us at first, which is iniquity unto God, and only when God starts to pour out his wrath upon our old man do we begin to see the new temple being formed within us (Eze 33:13).

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [“Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house”]
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Eze 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.