Spiritual Significance of Numbers:  Ten is the Zenith of the Flesh

[Study Aired February 6, 2026]

Very few realize that the law of Moses is “not for a righteous man.” That is why it is called “the law… for the lawless.”

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,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

When speaking of “the law” Paul makes it clear he includes the law written on two tables of stone, which included the tenth commandment:

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

The only place in the Old Testament where that phrase, “Thou shalt not covet” is found is in the “ten commandments… for the lawless.”

Each number in scripture is the sum of its factors, so let’s consider what the factors of number ten have for our admonition:

Ten is 1 (God) plus 9 (judgment).

Ten is 2 (witnessing) plus 8 (the new beast) which is “of the seven and goes into perdition.”

Ten is 3 (the process of maturing) plus 7 (completion – Rev 2:10).

Ten is 4 (the whole) plus 6 (mankind – the flesh).

Ten is 5 plus 5 (It is grace through faith two times. Grace performs its fiery work in both the first and second resurrections)

Let’s take note of where this number ten appears in the Old Testament.

It happens that the society of mankind in rebellion against God came to its zenith in Noah’s generation, which was the tenth generation from Adam:

Gen 5:1 (a) This is the book of the generations of Adam… 1) Adam, 2) Seth, 3) Enos, 4) Cainan, 5) Mahalaleel, 6) Jared, 7) Enoch, 8) Methusalah, 9) Lamech, 10) Noah

Ten nations complete Abraham’s victory over his enemies

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Gen 15:19 [1] The Kenites, and [2] the Kenizzites, and [3] the Kadmonites,
Gen 15:20 And [4] the Hittites, and [5] the Perizzites, and [6] the Rephaims,
Gen 15:21 And [7] the Amorites, and [8] the Canaanites, and [9] the Girgashites, and [10] the Jebusites.

After ten years of waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promise, the patience of our flesh is exhausted.

Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom from judgment:

Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

It took ten camels to carry “all the goods of Abraham.”

Gen 24:10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

Babylon, signified by Jacob’s labors for Laban’s benefit, will rob us completely of our wages:

Gen 31:7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

The complete complement of Babylon will come to God’s elect when the famine of the Word is come:

Gen 42:3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

Gen 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s [ten] brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

It took ten asses to carry “the good things of Egypt:”

Gen 45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

Ten commandments, obedience to which gives us nothing more that “mine own righteousness, give us the “law for the lawless:”

Deu 4:13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

Exo 20:1  And God spake all these words, saying,
Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3  [1] Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4  [2] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exo 20:7  [3] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exo 20:8  [4] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Exo 20:12  [5] Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exo 20:13  [6] Thou shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14  [7] Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15  [8] Thou shalt not steal.
Exo 20:16  [9] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exo 20:17  [10] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Keeping these 10 commandments is the very best, the zenith, of mankind’s righteousness. Yet it is  lacking what is essential for salvation:

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

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,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

This is  what Christ had to say to a rich young ruler who asked him what he must do to be saved:

Mar 10:17  And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Mar 10:18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Mar 10:19  Thou knowest the [ten] commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Mar 10:20  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast [your “righteousness which is of the law], 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.
Mar 10:23  And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
Mar 10:24  And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
Mar 10:25  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mar 10:26  And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
Mar 10:27  And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Mar 10:28  Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
Mar 10:30  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Mar 10:31  But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

God used ten plagues to destroy Egypt, signifying the destruction of our carnal-minded old man:

Exo 9:14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
Exo 9:15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
Exo 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

The flesh of Christ, signified by the boards and curtains of the tabernacle, separates us completely from God.

Exo 26:1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Exo 26:16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

Christ’s flesh had to be destroyed before we could enter into the holy place in the heavens:

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, [The death of Jesus. That is why we are to “no longer know Him… after the flesh”]
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the [ten cubit] veil, that is to say, his flesh;

2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
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.

Ten signifies the rebellions of Israel against God:

Num 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

Ten days of patience do no good for the foolishness of the flesh – Nabal:

1Sa 25:37  But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things [David had intended to destroy Nabal], that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
1Sa 25:38 And it came to pass about ten days after [he learned of David’s intentions to destroy him], that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.

Ten in the New Testament

The flesh is completely bankrupt and totally incapable of ever paying for its sins:

Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

Inquiring of my ‘Brave search’ this is the modern value of “ten thousand talents” in American dollars today:

“Ten thousand talents in Matthew 18:24 is estimated to be worth between $13.4 billion and $18.15 billion in today’s U.S. dollars, depending on the valuation method.

– “Based on silver value: Using the weight of a denarius (60 grains of silver) and current silver prices (~$17.31 per ounce), one talent equals about $14,244, making ten thousand talents worth approximately $142 million.

– “Based on labor value: If a denarius equals one day’s wages, and using a modern average daily wage of ~$224, one talent is worth about $1.34 million, so ten thousand talents total over $13.4 billion.

– “Based on gold value: If the talent was gold (33 kg per talent), with gold priced at ~$55 per gram, ten thousand talents would be worth roughly $18.15 billion.

“The vast difference reflects the parable’s purpose: to illustrate an unpayable debt—symbolizing humanity’s sin against God—compared to the small debts we owe each other.  The king’s forgiveness mirrors God’s grace, which is beyond human repayment.” (End Quote, Emphasis is the Author’s)

“The ten” were “moved with indignation against [James and John]”:

Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping [him], and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Mat 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.

As long as we are in the flesh, “we shall suffer persecution and tribulation”, signified by ten days:

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 [Our entire lives in the flesh]: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

We are not persecuted for only ten literal days before we die. “Tribulation ten days” signifies being “faithful unto death” even as we go through “those things which thou shalt suffer.”

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.

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Ten signifies the church in its entirety while still in these ‘earthen vessels.’

Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Both fives will be saved “in [their] own order” (1Co 15:22) by the only formula for salvation – “Grace through faith.”

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Ten thousand signifies our carnal-minded old man who has no chance against twenty thousand:

Luk 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luk 14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
Luk 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Silver signifies redemption, and it takes two fives, signifying grace through faith, to redeem all mankind:

Luk 15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

All of Adam’s descendants are spiritually leprous, as signified by “ten men that were lepers.”

Luk 17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

All of Adam’s descendants will be cleansed, but His own people are not grateful for this truth in this present time:

Luk 17:15  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
Luk 17:16  And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Luk 17:17  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
Luk 17:18  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

Ten ‘pounds’ or ‘talents’ signify all that is to be accomplished while in this flesh… “Occupy till I come…”

Luk 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
Luk 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman [Christ] went into a far country [“the heavens”], 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.
Luk 19:15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Luk 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
Luk 19:20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, [here is] thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Luk 19:21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, [thou] wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: [The “idol of [this man’s] heart” Eze 14:4]
Luk 19:23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
Luk 19:24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give [it] to him that hath ten pounds.
Luk 19:25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
Luk 19:26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even 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.

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

‘Ten thousand instructors’ who are not “in Christ Jesus” are ‘fatherless’ and unable to properly instruct us:

1Co 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Ten thousand words which cannot be understood are worth less that “five words with my understanding.”

1Co 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Ten thousand is the number of God’s saints redeemed from the flesh and is a positive application of the number ten:

Jdg 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

We end our study of the number ten with another positive application of this number, which is used to denote the reconciliation of all things to Christ and His Father:

Rev 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

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The Number Six, Part 3 – Incomplete Mankind

[Study Aired January 23, 2026]

God’s goal for mankind is to have this number 66 lived within us (mankind will live by every word of God) This 2X3 witness (2) and process (3) happening on both the first and the second Adam is the one event that is common to all men mentioned in Ecclesiastes 9:2.

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

Notice that we are not told that ‘all things come alike to all at the same time.’ Neither does Ecclesiastes 9:2 say ‘all things take the same time.’ Those in the first resurrection, signified by the birth of the manchild, are being judged in this age, and will therefore be raised up from the dead in that “blessed and holy first resurrection.”

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

The first 6 in the 66 days of the purification of the woman who brings forth a maid child is the marred Adam who is marred in the hand of the potter and in need of becoming a new creation. The only way this purification process of blood from a woman who gives birth to a maid child can be completed is to have the second Adam, Christ, conquer the first Adam (6) who is a beast who cannot make war with his flesh without Christ within that flesh.

Two sixes are mentioned for the purification process of the birth of a maid child showing that it is accomplished by the witness of the holy spirit working within each individual but also to demonstrate that this judgment is the double judgment God decrees is upon the maid child as opposed to the man child. Scripture declares we cannot make war with the beast, which we are, until our blood, which is a symbol of our words, is purified by His blood, which blood (Christ’s blood) is a symbol of the words of God which all men of all time must eventually live by.

We can see that the number 33 represents Christ and the elect easily enough. However, it may be a little less obvious to see that 66 represents the unfaithful wife of Christ, and what the unfaithful wife of Christ (the Church) has to do to be purified and inherit eternal life is all that is mentioned in these verses of Leviticus 12.

Lev 12:5  But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.

She is unclean for two weeks showing that the unfaithful wife of Christ must go through two parts to go onto perfection. The first part of her purification, the first week of separation, signifies the time spent in the churches of Babylon by those who are not being judged in this life. ‘What we sow that shall we also reap’ applies to both the elect and to those who are not elect in this present time.

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.

Those who believe of the great harlot mother in this present time they can eat of her false doctrines and with their unfaithful mother they can wipe their mouth and say, “I have done no wickedness… I sit a queen and shall see no sorrow” will spend a second week being “judged according to their works” and being purified in the lake of fire.

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [whosoever was not given a part in “the resurrection of life… the blessed and holy first resurrection one thousand years earlier, Rev 20:4-6] was cast into the lake of fire.

This great harlot and her daughters require a second week of the same fiery purification endured by the manchild. It will simply require twice as much time for her and her daughters to be purified:

Lev 12:5  But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith, and the goal or prize of the mark of the high calling for the elect is to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection which is a pure gift given to the very “few [who] first trusted in Christ”:

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

Since “all things come alike to all” (Ecc 9:2) that would mean that there is a process of judgment within those first two weeks of the maid child which are crammed into one week of “fiery trials” for the man child, and as such we see judgment is on the house of God now.

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? [Judgment will be finished at the great white throne judgment, (Rev 20:11-15)]
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? [They will be judged according to their works in the lake of fire]

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.

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [The “blessed and holy… first resurrection”, (Rev 20:4-6)]

This gets into the seventy week’s prophecy in Daniel which talks about Christ being cut off in the middle of the week. The two witnesses who represent the elect finish Christ’s ministry or the three and a half year witness which is only able to be accomplished with Christ in them. Christ’s ministry is three and a half years, and the two witnesses complete the week of Christ’s ministry which was halted in midflight. The completed ministry of Christ is therefore only a week (man child) and not two weeks as it is for the maid child.

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

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

Lev 12:6  And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

The lamb of the first year is needed for both the son and the daughter, which is another way of saying all of mankind are reconciled by his blood.

Being forgiven again is only part of the process. We must fill up in our bodies “that which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ in [our] flesh for His body’s sake which is the church.”

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

Christ’s Adamic flesh is tied to the woman, as is our flesh. However, only Christ was able to escape the vanity of flesh by way of the holy spirit, and until the gift of the holy spirit was given on Pentecost our faith was yet in vain.

1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Christ was resurrected and will save all mankind in their appointed time. Our sins are forgiven as the woman, the church (the body of Christ), however we are in the process of being saved.

In other words, being saved is not just to have our sins forgiven, but also to have our nature changed as we go from glory to glory to the eventual first resurrection where our Lord now resides in His own fullness, and in earnest within everyone who has Christ within them.

Lev 12:7  Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [the mere down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [the “blessed and holy first resurrection, (Rev 20:4-6)], unto the praise of his glory.

The issue of blood from which the woman must be cleansed is the process of growing in grace and knowledge as we have all of our false doctrines rooted out of us. In other words, our blood is purified by being washed with the word of God.

Lev 12:8  And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

These many divergent sacrifices, which are needed in this shadow of old, represent degrees of getting dominion over sin in our life today, and as the sin is conquered by Christ within us our comprehension will increase in matters of the spirit.

1Co 10:11  Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. (ASV)

1Pe 1:12  To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angel desire to look into. (ASV)

God is the one who orchestrates the whole procedure, creating the sin within us and bringing us to the point where we can confess our sins. By His goodness we are led to repentance and offer up the needed sacrifice, which in the case of this story in Leviticus is a shadow of our recognizing that Christ’s life was taken for our sins. We may understand that Christ died for our sins, but as we are given to grow to understand the deeper purpose of Christ’s life within us we will bring greater offerings unto the altar of God which is the cross that we are all called to carry.

When we bare each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [Psa 107:1-31] leadeth thee to repentance?

Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

With all that has been said to this point, let’s now examine some of the shadows and types in God’s word, which should reveal the significance of the number six as we compare line upon line and precept upon precept.

Isa 28:15  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

There is a negative and positive side to virtually every word in scripture, so before we are through with this study, I hope to show a few examples of the positive and negative use of the number six. Here is a list of some events which will hopefully strike us as revealing the true significance of the number six whether that would be in the negative or positive view of the number.

The more important exercise in understanding the number six is seeing its close connection to incomplete mankind and to Christ and the church which can then allow us to more deeply appreciate everywhere else in God’s word where the number or multiple of that number is mentioned.

A good exercise is to just do a search for the number six in e-Sword, and you could study the number six until the cows come home. Here are some examples of that.

The last two kings of Israel “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” They both reigned eleven years: 6 + 5 = 11 which shows that the number eleven carries with it the mark of the beast 6 and 5 for grace and faith which is how all men will be saved and brought to the foundation of Jesus Christ (number 12).

2Ki 23:36  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

2Ch 36:5  Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

2Ki 24:18  Zedekiah [was] twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

2Ch 36:11  Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
2Ch 36:12  And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God, [and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of the LORD.
2Ch 36:13 (a) And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.

Leah, who was Jacob’s first wife, signifying our old man, bore Jacob six sons and was rejected of him as a type of our flesh being put off.

When Jacob brought his family down into Egypt after finding out that his son Joseph was still alive, it says that:

Gen 46:26  All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

When the Israelites left Egypt, there were 600,000 men besides children:

Exo 12:37  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.

 When Pharoah pursued, there were 600 chosen chariots:

Exo 14:7  And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

All of this was pertaining to the flesh.

In the book of Chronicles when Samuel is talking about Solomon when his empire was at its greatest, we are told that the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year, was 666 talents of gold:

1Ki 10:14  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

This tells us that his empire had gotten as great as it was going to be and had apostatized from obedience to the Lord.

Goliath had a fellow giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

1Ch 20:5  And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.
1Ch 20:6  And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.

Goliath, himself, was 6 cubits high, and his spear’s head was 600 shekels of iron.

1Sa 17:4  And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

1Sa 17:7  And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

Nebuchadnezzar’s “image of gold” was 60 cubits high and six cubits wide:

Dan 3:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

This is a negative use of the number 6.

The Israelites had to gather their food for six days in the wilderness, and then they rested on the Sabbath which was a type of our entering into the rest that God provides from the true manna from heaven, Jesus Christ:

Exo 16:21  And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
Exo 16:22  And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
Exo 16:23  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
Exo 16:24  And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
Exo 16:25  And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.

A Hebrew servant served for six years and was then set free:

Exo 21:2  If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

There are many other stories and combinations of the number 6, both negative and positive, which can be very instructive in learning the mind of Christ.

The number 6 in God’s word reveals how all flesh, including Christ’s flesh, is sinful flesh and tied to the earth which is an incomplete but necessary part of the Lord’s creation. I hope we are able to more clearly see the connection between the number 6 to the earth, the church, mankind and Christ himself.

Your brother in Christ,
Tony Cullen

[Tony can be reached for comments or questions at: anthocul@sympatico.ca]

The Number Six-Part 1- Incomplete Mankind

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-74-8-part-2b-who-are-the-144000/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-74-8-part-2b-who-are-the-144000 Sun, 16 Jun 2024 01:46:01 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=30109 Audio Download

Rev 7:4-8 – Part 2B, Who are the 144,000?

[Study Aired June 16, 2024]

The second list of the twelve tribes of Israel in this chapter is the names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem.

Eze 48:30  And these [are] the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
Eze 48:31  And the gates of the city [shall be] after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
Eze 48:32  And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
Eze 48:33  And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
Eze 48:34  At the west side four thousand and five hundred, [with] their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
Eze 48:35  [It was] round about eighteen thousand [measures]: and the name of the city from [that] day [shall be], The LORD [is] there.

The order here is:
Ruben, Judah, Levi, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.

Now let’s put all the listings together, and we will notice that the order and the names of the twelve tribes varies greatly:

1) Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin. (All 12 sons named in order of birth)
2) Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin. (All 12 sons named)
3) Rueben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Joseph of Manasseh, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, and Gad.
4) Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Ephraim , Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher.
5) Judah, Simeon, Reuben, Gad, Manasseh, Levi, Issachar, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher, Benjamin.
6) Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh. Ephraim, Reuben, Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad
7) Reuben, Judah, Levi, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
8) Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher Nepthalim, Manasses, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Not one single list is in the same order as any of the others, and the names of Levi, Simeon, Dan and Zebulun are missing from some of our lists. It has long been speculated that the tribe of Dan was omitted here in Revelation 7 because they were given to idolatry at an early stage. However, if idolatry at an early stage was any reason for having one’s name blotted out, then none of the tribes of Israel would be mentioned, because they were all idolaters from the day that Rachel stole her father’s gods before going into Canaan with Jacob until the golden calf at Sinai, to the setting up of the golden calf in Samaria in the days of Jeroboam. All Israel is equally guilty of early idolatry.

Jdg 18:30  And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:5  A nd when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

Gen 31:17  Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
Gen 31:18  And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
Gen 31:19  And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.

The one thing we should see from all these lists of the twelve tribes is that there are many different reasons for leaving out a name. The symbolism of the names themselves is not always as important as the spiritual symbolism of the number twelve. Twelve is the number of spiritual foundation. It is the number twelve which represents “all the tribes of Israel.” This is the symbol of all of God’s elect whom He has called out of all the nations of the earth.

Deu 14:2  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

So the tribe of Judah is placed first for the first time in any listing of the twelve tribes. Levi, which had no inheritance with the tribes of Israel, is included in this list here in Revelation 7, the tribe of Dan is not even mentioned, while the tribe of Ephraim is called the tribe of Joseph. Scripture has a reason that goes beyond having no set order for listing the tribes of Israel. The one thing we have established is that physical words, including these physical names of the twelve tribes of Israel, are spiritual symbols signifying those who with Christ will be the foundation of the government of the kingdom of God upon this earth. The symbol which signifies spiritual foundations is the number twelve. That is far more important than the inclusion of the name of the tribe of Dan in the listing of those who will be the kings and priests unto God and who are promised to “rule the nations with a rod of iron.” Ephesians 2 makes clear that the commonwealth of the twelve tribes of Israel, is no longer a physical commonwealth of physical Israelites, but a “one body” and a “one new man” of those who are “in Christ.”

Getting back to Ephesians 2, it is here that Paul explains why he appropriates ALL THESE PROMISES MADE TO ISRAEL TO HIS GENTILE CONVERTS:

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 [and what does being ‘without Christ’ mean?] BEING ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, and strangers from the covenants of promise [not capable of being one of the 144,000] having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus, ye who we at one time afar off [at one time in the past] are [NOW] made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Just what does “the blood of Christ” accomplish? It made Israelites in Christ and the Gentiles in Christ “BOTH ONE”. One “inward Jew,” one “circumcision… of the heart, in the spirit,” and one “Israel of God” for to make IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN [Israel and Gentiles] ONE NEW MAN… AND THAT HE MIGHT RECONCILE BOTH [ISRAEL AND GENTILES] unto God IN ONE BODY…” (vs 12-16). What room is there in this statement for two Jews, two circumcisions or two Israels? Paul makes it very clear that there is no room for outward Jews in the body of Christ. “He is NOT A JEW WHICH IS ONE OUTWARDLY…” (Rom 2:28). “They which are the children of the flesh, THESE ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF GOD: BUT THE CHILDREN OF PROMISE ARE COUNTED FOR THE SEED” (Rom 9:8). “We [Gentile Galatians] brethren, as Isaac ARE CHILDREN OF PROMISE” (Gal 4:28). “The son of the bondwoman… Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children… shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Gal 4:25-31). It is ONLY “the children of promise” who receive the promises. Will the physical twelve tribes be ruling with those who “as Isaac was, are the children of promise?” What says the scripture? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son [“Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” (vs 25)] FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN” (Gal 4:30). So who will be “heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29)? “Now WE, BRETHREN, as Isaac was, ARE THE CHILDREN OF PROMISE” (Gal 4:28); “So then, brethren we are not the children of the bondwoman but of the free” [and “heirs according to the promise”] (Gal 4:31). As far as God is concerned, “THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING” (Joh 6:63).

We are told that Christ made one statement that caused “many of his disciples [to go] back and walk no more with him” (Joh 6:66). What was it that caused this? It was the statement we have just quoted – “the flesh profiteth NOTHING” (Joh 6:63). This statement is still causing “many of His disciples to [go] back [to the flesh] and walk no more with Him.” It is the “inward [spiritual] Jew”; it is “circumcision… that is of the heart IN THE SPIRIT” (Rom 2:29); and it is the spiritual “Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16)] who “are counted for the seed” (Rom 9:8). Hence the symbol of “144,000… 12,000 from all the tribes of Israel” is the symbol of the true “Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16).

The Singleness that is in Christ

Here is Paul’s concern for all his converts.

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity [Greek: singleness] that is in Christ.”

Are you beginning to see the singleness of our calling? We Gentiles ‘were’ in the past ‘aliens from the commonwealth of the twelve tribes, of Israel’, but now we are ‘made nigh by the blood of Christ.’ Just how close to the twelve tribe commonwealth are we now? “NOW THEREFORE YE [GENTILE EPHESIANS] ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE [12,000 FROM EACH TRIBE] SAINTS. In other ages [this] was not made known… as it is now revealed… THAT THE GENTILES SHOULD BE FELLOW HEIRS [with the 144,000 of the ‘commonwealth of Israel’], and of the one man and of the same body, AND PARTAKERS OF HIS PROMISE in Christ by THE [ONE SINGULAR] gospel” (Eph 2:19, 3:6).

Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye [Gentile Ephesians] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

When was this finally revealed to mankind?

Eph 3:5  Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
Eph 3:6  That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

“We [Gentile Galatians] AS ISAAC was are the children of promise” (Gal 4:28). “Jerusalem which now is… answers to Agar [Not Sarah, as the whole Christian world believes] and is IN BONDAGE WITH HER CHILDREN” (Gal 4:25).

Here is what the scriptures say about who the 144,000 are and who they are not. Some Christians actually acknowledge that we Gentiles Christians are “the son of the freewoman.”

Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

There is not one Christian in 1,000 who will acknowledge that Jerusalem that now is, is “the son of the bondwoman” and is likened to Hagar. “Cast out the bondwoman and her son.” When Paul quotes that verse out of the Old Testament, he is equating “Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her children” with Hagar, the bondwoman. Paul deliberately explains himself by continuing to quote: “For the son of the bondwoman [outward Israel] shall not be heir with the son of the free woman [Sarah, Gentiles who are “Jews inwardly”].

Here now is the truth. Can we accept the Truth?

WE [Gentile Galatians] ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF THE BONDWOMAN, BUT OF THE FREE [The “bondwoman,” Paul says is those who “are Jews outwardly” (Rom 2:28); “Agar… [is] Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” (Gal 4:25); Physical Jerusalem and her children are “called the circumcision” (Eph 2:11)],

The Gentile converts in Christ are now the true ‘circumcision’ (Rom 2:29 and Php 3:3), the true ‘Jew’ (Rom 2:28-29), and the true ‘Israel of God’ (Gal 6:15-16)].”

Paul’s statement that there is neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ is not to be understood to mean that there is no Jew, but rather, “HE IS A JEW WHICH IS ONE INWARDLY” (Rom 2:29). “Circumcision availeth nothing” is not to be understood as there is no circumcision because we are told… “WE ARE THE CIRCUMCISION” (Php 3:3). What Paul is saying is what Christ said: “THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING… [and] is but dung” (Joh 6:63, Php 3:7). 12,000 from each tribe is not to be understood as ‘outward’…’children of the flesh’ because we are plainly told “these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the [144,000 – 12,000 from each tribe of Israel] seed.” That is those who are “counted” as opposed to “a great innumerable multitude.”

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 [144,000] for the seed.

“These are they which… are virgins” (Rev 14:4). Whom do the scriptures reveal these ‘virgins’ signify?

2Co 11:2 I have espoused YOU [Gentile CORINTHIANS] to one husband that I might PRESENT YOU AS A CHASTE VIRGIN UNTO CHRIST.

What Does 144,000 Symbolize?

To answer this question, we need to notice that the scripture declares that ‘God owns the cattle on 1,000 hills’.

Psa 50:10  For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

Does this verse mean that He therefore does not own the cattle on hill 1001? Is that what the scripture is saying? Of course not. Neither are the “virgin…first fruits” limited to exactly a physical count of 144,000. No, the explanation of these symbolic “… An hundred and forty and four thousand… [is simply] that these were REDEEMED FROM THE EARTH… REDEEMED FROM AMONG MEN, BEING THE FIRSTFRUITS UNTO GOD AND TO THE LAMB.”

Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

The 144,000 “were redeemed from the earth… These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” It is clear from the revelations of Paul that those “IN CHRIST” are the “ONE SEED” to whom “ALL THE PROMISES” apply. So it is apparent that the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14 and the “one seed” of Galatians 3:16 are, in reality, one and the same. They are the “firstfruits.” They are those to whom “ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD IN HIM ARE YEA, AND IN HIM AMEN’, UNTO THE GLORY OF GOD.”

Why 12,000 from each tribe, you ask? Numbers are as symbolic as anything in scripture.  The number twelve symbolizes foundational government, whether of Ishmael, who is the symbol of Abraham’s, after-the-flesh, firstborn (Gen 25:16, Gal 4:25), or physical Israel, whose twelve tribes symbolize the true “Israel of God” (Gal 5:15-16, Gal 4:25-30). In reality, of course, we are told of physical Israel “these are NOT the children of God: but the children of promise are counted for the seed” (Rom 9:8, Gal 3:16, 26-29). The apostle Paul is not mentioned among the twelve foundations of “the wall of the city” (Rev 21: 14) simply because, as he himself put it, he was “as one born out of due time” (1Co 15:8), not ‘out of place.’ The omission of the name of the apostle Paul in the names of the foundations of the New Jerusalem no more keeps the apostle Paul from being part of that foundation, than the omission of the name of the tribe of Dan keeps that tribe out of “all the tribes of Israel”. Twelve is symbolic of God’s foundational works, and the apostle Paul was certainly a part of that foundation, and the tribe of Dan is certainly one of “all the tribes of Israel.

Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Read The Spiritual Significance of the Number Twelve for more clarification on the meaning of this number in scripture.

When Physical Israel Will Be Saved

Someone is always going to point to Romans 11:29, “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” and ask, “How does that verse fit into your replacement theology?” So let’s look at Romans 11 and see what it really says.

Rom 11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Don’t these verses prove God will save all Israel in spite of the fact they have rejected him? Indeed it does, but physical Jews, apart from Christ, are spiritual Gentiles, and physical Israel is simply typical of us before we came to know and be known of God:

1Co 10:6 Now these things [that happened to Israel] became types of us…” (CLV)

So when will physical Israel be saved? Will physical Israel rule the nations of the earth during the thousand years? Paul speaks of “their [physical Israel’s] fullness:”

Rom 11:12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?”

Then in verse 25, he tells those with ‘eyes to see’ when ‘their fullness’ will be:

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

“All [physical] Israel shall be saved” AFTER the “fulness of the Gentiles be come in”. That is when all physical Israel will be saved.

Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

When will all of this take place? Will it be during the millennium as the orthodox Christian world teaches? We are not left to speculate. We are given the day nor the hour of this all important event but we are given the exact timeline of these events. If only we would believe God’s plain spiritual words:

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

When will physical Israel be saved?

Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them.

Why does God do this in this order?

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

We come now to the function of the 144,000. Here is why they are called ” first fruits.” Here is the reason for their being chosen first.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

It is through the mercy of the “few chosen… firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”, that all men of all time will be shown mercy. That is why we are called “Saviors” in this verse of scripture:

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.

Summary

We have seen that “all the tribes of Israel” represent all the tribes of this world, and that those 144,000 out of all the tribes of Israel, are the spiritual symbol of the few chosen out of the many called. See our study on The Tabernacle, The Court, and The Camp of Israel.

We know that “all the promises in Christ are yea” including the promises of the land, which is our bodies. We have seen that names of the twelve tribes are not as spiritually significant as the number twelve is itself, because twelve signifies the foundations of “Israel” and the foundations of “the city of God… the New Jerusalem”. We have seen that there is “singleness that is in Christ” and in His Israel and in His seed and in His promises to His “one seed.” We have seen that the spiritual significance of 144,000 is the few who are numbered as opposed to the “great multitude which no man can number.” We have seen that these 144,000 out of all the tribes of Israel, are all those who are chosen out of all of the world to be Christ’s Christ, who will then be sent by Christ to be “saviors” upon mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau.”

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.

Finally, we actually saw the verses of scripture which reveal when all physical Israel will be saved, and we saw that it would happen “when Sodom and Samaria” are saved.

In our next study, Lord willing, we will take a much closer look at what separates these 144,000 from the “great multitude which no man could number.”

The Book of Romans, Part 24 – Preach the Gospel

[Study Aired January 15, 2024]

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 
Rom 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 
Rom 10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
Rom 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. 

In Romans 10:14-21, Paul emphasizes the crucial role of preaching and spreading the Gospel. He raises a series of questions highlighting the interconnectedness of faith, belief and the need for preachers to proclaim the message. The passage emphasizes the importance of hearing the word of God, which is essential for faith to take root. Despite the widespread proclamation of the Gospel, not everyone has obeyed its message. Paul draws on the Old Testament, quoting Isaiah and Moses, to illustrate that God’s plan extends beyond Israel to include the gentiles from all nations. The passage concludes with a poignant reminder of God’s persistent outreach to a disobedient Israel. This study will explore the significance of actively sharing the Gospel and the universal invitation for all to embrace faith in Christ.

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 

Paul quotes Isaiah 52 1-12.:

Isa 52:1-12 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 

Isa 53:1-12 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Rom 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Rom 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 
Rom 10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
Rom 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Christ came to preach the gospel to the Jews first and was rejected and put to death. He changed the law, and they were not able to hear the truth of Christ’s words. The Father sent His Son to show the way of salvation. His own kinsmen were not given the ability to understand the message of Christ. He spoke in parables for the purpose of causing deafness and blindness in them.

Mat 13:10-15 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 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. 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. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Paul desires for his kinsmen of the flesh to seek salvation, but it is not meant to be. He has been chosen to preach the message of the gospel to the gentiles. He understands that the scriptures must be fulfilled. Paul is our example of preaching to the nations. We also desire for our kinsmen to be saved in this age. We are to share the gospel with anyone that desires to hear it.

Psa 96:1-13 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Our sharing of the word today may not produce fruit in this age, but in the ages to come fruit will be produced. We are commanded to preach the gospel to every creature.

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

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Psa 119:81  CAPH. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. 
Psa 119:82  Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? 
Psa 119:83  For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
Psa 119:84  How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? 
Psa 119:85  The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. 
Psa 119:86  All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me. 
Psa 119:87  They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts. 
Psa 119:88  Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. 

Psa 119:89  LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. 
Psa 119:90  Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 
Psa 119:91  They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
Psa 119:92   Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
Psa 119:93  I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. 
Psa 119:94  I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. 
Psa 119:95  The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies. 
Psa 119:96  I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

In last week’s study of the words “TETH and JOD” we looked at the ninth and tenth letters of the Hebrew alphabet which encompass the verses of Psalm 119:65-80.  We looked at the symbolic approximation of the nine thousand who sat at the feet of Christ in two specific instances, who experienced the multiplying of the bread and fish, a symbolic miracle that was for our sakes (2Co 4:15) revealing what Christ was going to have His disciples indeed do spiritually in time for the rest of the world:  “Give ye them to eat” made possible because we are granted in this age to “continue in my word”  (Luk 9:13, Luk 9:14-17, Joh 8:31).

The feeding of the multitudes in Matthew 14:21 and 15:38, the command to eat of every tree of the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16-17) and feeding the Israelites in the wilderness (Exo 16:8, Exo 16:35) are just three examples of “the natural first” experience which God gives to us to learn (1Co 15:46).

Both Adam and Eve and the Israelites disobeyed God’s commandments of what and how they were to eat. Gathering and eating through the week, until the Sabbath where no work was done, was a symbolic example of continuing in the word which is made possible by the life of Christ in us who gives us the power to collect twice as much the day before the Sabbath, laboring so we can enter into His rest (Exo 16:26, Joh 14:20). 

It remains true until this day that the world does not know the food God has given Christ and His body, and this fact is also stated by the world not recognizing the true bread of life which came down from heaven, Jesus Christ, whose life was symbolized by the manna in the wilderness which literally means “whatness” or “what is it”, the very thing Christ asked His disciples of Himself, the true bread from heaven: “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Joh 4:32, Mat 16:13-15, Joh 6:31)

G3131  μάννα  manna  man’-nah

Of Hebrew origin [H4478]; manna (that is, man), an edible gum: – manna.

Total KJV occurrences: 5

H4478  מָן   mân  mawn

From H4100; literally a whatness (so to speak), that is, manna (so called from the question about it): – manna.

H4100  מה    מ־    מ־    מה    מה  mâh  mah  mâ  ma  meh  maw, mah, maw, mah, meh

A primitive particle; properly interrogative what? (including how?, why? and when?); but also exclamations like what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjugational sneses: – how (long, oft, [-soever]), [no-] thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby (-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.

The dispensing of truth that will eventually feed all of mankind is explained in these verses in John 17:9-20. All twelve baskets will be picked up, no crumbs will be left behind (Mat 14:20), and the four thousand is the symbolic number which reminds us of this truth that all of humanity will be saved (1Co 15:22, 1Jn 2:2, 1Ti 4:10), by grace through faith represented by the five thousand (Eph 2:8) who were also nourished at the feet of Christ. 

That salvation will come by being fed by “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15, Eph 3:10, Rev 3:12) and will lead to the “ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh” (referring to the symbolism of the number 11 and introducing “Caph” the 11th letter of the Hebrew alphabet which we are examining now) revealing an order and process the world must go through in order to be one with Christ and His body who make up the foundation of that government (referring to the symbolism of the number 12 and introducing “Lamed” the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet which we are looking at in this study [Isa 9:7]).

Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 
Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 
Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 
Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. [Christ is “glorified in them“ by the elect’s “ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh” spoken of in 2Th 2:3-8]
Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 
Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [Mat 10:22]
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 
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. (Psa 107:20 we are being sanctified “through thy truth” so that when we are sent the world will “believe on me through their word” that will heal the nations)
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

In this study, we will look at the transition of going from “the ruin and disintegration of the flesh” clearly seen in these verses (Psa 119:81-88) represented by the eleventh letter in the Hebrew alphabet “CAPH”. We are reminded of how we must transition from that state to “LAMED”, the twelfth letter in the Hebrew alphabet which represents “the number of Christ” who is our foundation, that is witnessed to in this series of verses (Psa 119:89-96). 

Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted because his meal offering (grain) was not upon a burnt offering as it should have been, the burnt offering representing the living sacrifice Christ is for us, a life that knows that His own offering and our offering are not possible without God’s power working in our lives (1Co 10:31, Lev 23:10-17, Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5). 

As such, Cain represents our old man which must die and transition (11) through that death and disintegration into the new man, Abel, whose sacrifice is accepted because it is upon a burnt offering representing Christ whose life is symbolically represented by the number twelve just as the elect’s is because of our hope of glory within (12×12=144 – Rev 7:4).

The order of events regarding how God’s word will eventually be dispensed to all the world is also revealed to us in the type and shadow events in Leviticus that explain and show two very distinct offerings: 

1st Christ the foundational offering upon which all else sits (Mat 16:18) described as “a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest” or “an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD”(Lev 23:10-12) and then 

2nd the elect, the symbolic 144,00, revealed in these verses “after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.” and “Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.”(Lev 23:15-18)

These verses of Leviticus 23:15-16 parallel the judgment the seventh seal introduces along with the seven trumpets (Rev 8:1-5) and the seven bowls or vials that follow, found in Revelation 15:1-8. God’s elect are the first to be judged, and they experience these seals and trumpets and vials (the patience and faith of the saints) making it possible for the bride to be made ready to reign with Christ outwardly, after this promise occurs inwardly in our own heavens: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” These verses are very much connected to “the ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh” (11) and “the number of Christ” (12) that we will look at now!

Psa 119:81  CAPH. My soul faintethH3615 for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. 

The psalmist writes “my soul fainteth^H3615” because truly the soulish soul of man is going to perish and is going to be consumed and expire and fail and faint, and God is going to make clean riddance of that first man Adam to create something new and everlastingly wonderful in his place (Eze 18:20, Eze 18:24). It is because of the miracle of our “hope in thy word” that we can be saved in this age (Rom 8:24).

H3615  kâlâh  kaw-law’ (“fainteth”)

A primitive root; to end, whether intransitively (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitively (to complete, prepare, consume): – accomplish, cease, consume (away), determine, destroy (utterly), be (when . . . were) done, (be an) end (of), expire, (cause to) fail, faint, finish, fulfil, X fully, X have, leave (off), long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make clean riddance, spend, quite take away, waste.

That truth of the soul that sins shall die is contrary to what most of the secular religions of the world teach.  However, God has called the elect to see clearly “the ruin and disintegration of the flesh” is spiritually accomplished by the mercy and goodness of God (Rom 2:4) which is upon us today through judgment and will redound to the glory of God in the day the rest of mankind, the other fold (Joh 10:16) are brought in (2Co 4:15). 

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away (“the ruin and disintegration of the flesh“11); behold, all things are become new.

Luk 12:4  And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (“the ruin and disintegration of the flesh“11)

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 ruin and disintegration of the flesh” 11)

We’re called to not err, and to know that this gift of His grace is not given to many in this age but to few, and is tempered with mercy and the strength of Christ who reminds us of how precious the death of the saints (Psa 116:15) is in these confirming verses that remind us once again that we are more than conquerors through Christ: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven”(Mat 10:29-33).

Jas 1:16  Do not err, my beloved brethren. 
Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [Do not err]

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

Psa 119:82  Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? 
Psa 119:83  For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes. 

It was expedient for Christ to go away (Joh 16:7) so this flesh, which is subject to vanity and brought to see that we are “become like a bottle in the smoke” (Jas 4:14), can only overcome in this life when “thou comfort me” with the hope of glory that is given to those who first trusted in Christ in this age (Rom 8:20, Eph 1:12). 

It is only through “the ruin and disintegration of the flesh” (11), the decreasing of self, that Christ is formed within us (Joh 3:30); and only by that process of seeing our old man dissolve — “Mine eyes fail for thy word” (Joh 9:41) — that something beautiful and foundational can come about by our hope of glory within whom makes His strength perfect through the weak (2Co 12:9) and fills us with hope to be able to say “yet do I not forget thy statutes” that give us the spiritual vision that becomes a lamp unto our feet (Pro 29:18, Psa 119:105).

Psa 119:84  How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? 

The question “How many are the days of thy servant” tells us that at some point it must have been common knowledge that all our days are numbered and written in His book  (Psa 139:16). This servant of God reminds us that vengeance is God’s when he says “when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me“, and that He will repay (Rom 12:19).

Christ, being our perfect example, was not the one seeking that vengeance while in His flesh (Luk 6:29), and He also knew that judgment was going to come upon all the world in an appointed time, starting with the church (Luk 23:34, 1Pe 4:17, Rev 20:6). What that vengeance looks like is not understood by the carnal mind. The world within us wants old covenant vengeance, whereas God’s merciful spirit wants the reconciliation of all mankind which will come through the sacrifice of Christ and His Christ via the giving of our whole lives, which is our reasonable service to God and humanity (Rom 12:1, Luk 17:10). For that reason we can appreciate the context of these verses that talk about vengeance when scripture goes on to say that we are to feed our enemy and give them drink, which is how we heap coals on their head and heal them by bringing God’s fiery word to them.

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 
Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 
Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions [feed him; if he thirst, give him drink].

Psa 119:85  The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. 

It is those whose hearts are not set on God’s word and who have not been given to think on those things which are above (Col 3:2) that have a natural animosity toward Christ (Act 4:27). God purposed all flesh to be this way at and for an appointed time, and it is only through the miracle of keeping His commandments that we can truly say we love our neighbor as ourselves (Joh 14:15, 1Jn 4:20, Rom 5:5-6).

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

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

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

The pit the wicked dig against the people of God (“The proud have digged pits for me“) will always be the pit into which they end up falling (Est 8:7), seeing they are hating us without cause and taking vengeance where it should not even be theirs to take, even when it is deserved. Christ asked this question (Joh 10:32) of those who turned on him in His age and tells us to lay up a foundation of good works as He did against the day of evil (1Ti 6:19). Our perspective should be as Christ’s so we are not disheartened and think that our labor is in vain simply because we continue to be hated by all men for His name’s sake (1Co 15:58, Mat 10:22).

Psa 119:86  All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me. 
Psa 119:87  They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts. 
Psa 119:88  Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. 

We truly need to be quickened by God and helped by our Lord (Psa 94:17, Heb 13:6) to be able to keep all thy commandments that tell us to love our enemies, and to turn the other cheek. When God gives us to not forsake His precepts and to love our enemies that He allows to be our enemies, it will be a demonstration for us of His lovingkindness toward us giving us the ability to “keep the testimony of thy mouth“. Who can make war with the beast except the Lord gives that ability through the quickening of His holy spirit inwardly and outwardly (Rev 13:4).

These last three verses give us the sense of the narrow escape God will provide for us through Christ so that no flesh will glory in his sight and so that the testimony of the elect at the end, when all flesh will be destroyed, will be one that acknowledges His might and power, His sovereign hand over the light and darkness, bringing strength out of weakness as He alone gives increase to us through the “ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh” so that we can in turn show mercy to the rest of the world.

Psa 119:89  LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. 

It is very fitting that the thought expressed in this section which represents the twelfth letter in the Hebrew alphabet, “the number of Christ”, says “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” and that was also said to Peter in this prophetic moment by Christ speaking of what Peter was predestined to be, along with the rest of the members of Christ’s body.

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. 

Psa 119:90  Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

It is because God has given Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” that His “faithfulness” can be demonstrated “unto all generations“. God speaks of His sovereignty working through the stone “Peter” [God’s elect] by testifying, “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” It is by that binding and loosing with “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” within our hearts and minds that God is being established in the earth, because He has given us the ability to abide in the truth as we go through a process of being sanctified, as we hear His word in the earth, which is the church (Joh 8:31, Joh 17:17, Jer 22:29). His judgments are in our earth, abiding in our earth today so that we can learn of His righteousness (Isa 26:9) which comes through our relationship with Him that will in turn be shared with the rest of the world “unto all generations” (Oba 1:21). Again we see how this verse demonstrates to us foundational principles (12) which reveal how God is going to be established in the hearts and minds of all of mankind in time.

Psa 119:91  They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. 

It is through “all are thy servants” God is witnessing that “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations” (Psa 119:90), and that faithfulness that God has toward his servants is revealed in both the old covenant types and shadow relationships as well as the new. God is sovereign over the clay to make it a vessel of honour or dishonour, and therefore the vessel, whether it is glorifying Christ in this age or any other, or not glorifying Christ in this age or any other, has no right to complain to the Creator and say, “Why have you made me thus?” (Rom 9:20). Those types and shadows are set up for our sakes, as God’s elect, to show us that there is none righteous (Rom 3:10) and that God will have all of His family saved one day. Knowing that He is not a respecter of persons but rather a sovereign and loving Father who has the power and ability to use light and darkness for good, demonstrates the severity and goodness of His hand to be able to bring us all to that same conclusion: that we have been shown great love and mercy (Joh 3:16). So again, God brings to our hearts, through this verse, that the foundational government He is establishing in the earth is only possible because “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations” and “They continue this day according to thine ordinances“.

Psa 119:92  Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
Psa 119:93  I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. 
Psa 119:94  I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. 

We are called to rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice, twice mentioned as a witness in Phillipians 4:4 because it is Christ in us who is the one in whom we delight, as He works in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure (Php 2:13), helping us in our unbelief, and granting us the desires of our hearts in what He has ordained (Psa 37:4-6, Mar 11:24, Joh 14:12-14, Joh 16:23-24). Without Christ, our hope of glory within, we could never say “I will never forget thy precepts” or “I am thine, save me” (Rom 8:16). It is because he “hast quickened me” that we “have sought thy precepts“. 

These following verses reveal that God brings His children to ask according to His will, granting delight in the Lord in this age and ability to seek “thy precepts” (Mat 6:33). Asking and not asking amiss is very foundational to building up the body of Christ as we pray for each other and care for one another in this life (Gal 6:2).

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

Psa 37:4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psa 37:6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Psa 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Psa 37:8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Psa 37:9  For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Mar 11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Mar 11:25  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. [fret not thyself in any wise to do evil]
Mar 11:26  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Mat 18:19  Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Joh 16:23  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Joh 16:24  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Mat 7:7  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Mat 7:9  Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Mat 7:10  Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Psa 119:95  The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies. 
Psa 119:96  I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

God’s children are blessed beyond what we can truly comprehend in this flesh (1Co 2:9), because we have been granted in this age to “consider thy testimonies” and “thy commandment” that is “exceeding broad“.

The sin that lies at the door of our hearts is figuratively being spoken of with these words: “The wicked have waited for me to destroy me” (Gen 4:7, 1Jn 2:16). 

God’s elect will see “an end of all perfection” inwardly, telling us we will overcome through Christ until the end of this age in our flesh which must come to an end but not inherit the kingdom (1Co 15:50). The process of coming to an end is what (“the ruin and disintegration of the flesh” – 11) is, and that must occur in order for the new foundation of Christ to be formed with us (“the number of Christ” – 12).

(Key verses: Gen 18:1-33)

We are discussing the foundational theme of faith as it is typified in the life of Abraham. As we develop spiritually through the faith of Christ working in us, the communication with God, especially our prayers, also grows in maturity. Prayer is basically a two-way communication with God which He works in totality – He always initiates prayer and also brings His conclusion or answer to that prayer according to His will (Mat 6:10; Jas 4:15; 1Jn 5:14):

1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Abraham is not only our physical type of what the faith of Christ entails, but he is also our Old Testament example of a man of prayer:

Gen 13:4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Gen 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

In Chapter 18 of Genesis we see an interesting development in the life of Abraham which prepared his heart to be in a position to make petitions to the Lord, who personally appeared to him. Three things are recorded here which all combine to bring us the full picture of how a heart is prepared by God to pray fervently “without ceasing” and to see how God never forsakes the righteous (1Th 5:17; Psa 37:25):

Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.

2Ti 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day.

Abraham’s meal with three visitors

Gen 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

We already discussed the plains of Mamre in an earlier study (study #56) concerning Abraham’s connection to this place in Canaan (Gen 13:18; Gen 14:13). ‘Mamre’ means vigour or strength as we grow stronger in the faith of Christ, even as we also “sit in the tent door in the heat of the day.” The heat of the day refers to the fiery trials we need to endure in the time of our flesh for the purpose of maturing the faith we received from God (Eph 2:8-9):

1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

The number three spiritually confirms this process in our spiritual growth and even in the three men who came to visit Abraham:

Gen 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Gen 18:3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Gen 18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
Gen 18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

Through the faith of Christ in us we also learn how to be servants of God to all people whom God sends on our path (1Pe 4:8-11). If we serve others we can only present them with what we have been given to share. God loves a cheerful giver, and we should not begrudge people afterwards – that only reveals the carnal selfish spirit in our hearts when we think things are our possessions and not gifts from God to share with others (Rom 12:6-21; 2Co 9:1-15). It is only those at the right hand of God who will have this cheerful spirit in them to share their gifts, and they do not even seek recognition when they do good (Heb 13:2; Mat 25:34-40). Again the number three is emphasized in this event with Abraham when he asked Sarah to make cakes for these three visitors using three measures of fine meal:

Gen 18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

It is only fine meal that is useful in the kingdom of heaven as the three measures is progressively leavened in us (Rev 6:6):

Mat 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Leaven, like all things God is using in this creation through His Word, has a negative and positive application. The negative of leaven is connecting with unbelief and false doctrines in our hearts. The positive leaven is the pure Word of faith which is hidden by the woman, the church of God, in those who are crushed to powder by the stone over which we first stumble (1Pe 2:8):

Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

The good leaven produces the faith of Christ in us and is continually increased as we are also increased in the measure of our sacrificing to God (Rom 12:1-2):

Gen 18:7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
Gen 18:8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

He took one of his best young calves – an offering of the herd which represents the highest offering one can make and gave it to a “young man” to dress it. Youth is used in the scriptures as pointing to immaturity, but here the positive application of youth is emphasized in this sacrifice of Abraham:

1Ti 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

This sacrifice also indicates that Abraham somehow recognised that his visitors were of a high order. ‘Tender and good’ refer to our humility and meekness in our service to God and His people. The higher our sacrifice, the clearer we hear the voice of the true shepherd and how we can be more precise or diligent in following that voice.

A clear announcement of the ordained time of the birth of Isaac

Gen 18:9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
Gen 18:10 And he [one of the three men] said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Gen 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Gen 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

On numerous occasions God promised Abraham an offspring, but now the time of the birth of this child is certain or fixed by the Lord as He also makes this announcement Himself:

Gen 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

This person who brings this news to Abraham and Sarah is now revealed to us also as the Lord Himself as He also knew every word which Sarah said in her own heart. Our thoughts are known to God as He ordains all things to come to us, and nothing is hidden from His sight (Psa 139:1-6). Humans are fond of parading their ignorance in Godly matters in the form of knowledge or “science falsely so-called” (1Ti 6:20). In our carnal state of mind we cannot also see that nothing is too hard for God, even as we unashamedly protest against the Lord Himself in our self-righteous attitudes:

Gen 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Gen 18:15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

The intercession of Abraham for the righteous

These visitors ate with Abraham, and the announcement to Abraham and Sarah of the time of the birth of Isaac all coincides with the judgment that God was to bring on Sodom and Gomorrah. This brings to mind the meal Jesus had with His disciples when He also made the final announcement of his imminent death (His judgment) and resurrection of new life (Mat 26:17-35; Luk 22:7-38):

Gen 18:16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
Gen 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Gen 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Gen 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Abraham is a type of Christ who “will command His children and His household…to keep the way of the Lord.” “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do” is also emphasising that Jesus indeed reveals His secrets or mystery of His will to His elect (1Co 2:7: Eph 1:9)

Amo 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

God’s secret includes His sovereignty, and few can see how God works all things after the counsel of His will, especially His salvation plan through “His servants the prophets.” His servants will indeed be informed by Him about His ultimate purpose with all in the generation of the first Adam. He determined before the creation of this world to “gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Eph 1:3-12). However he does not reveal the future to His prophets because in the “is” the “was” and the “is to come” part of the revelation of Jesus Christ is settled (Mat 6:25-34; Jas 4:14):

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

God only informs us that all He had written in our books before we were born, will happen on the earth as it has been ordained and determined in the heavens (Psa 139:16; Mat 4:4):

Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

The distinction between the earth (represented by the evil in Sodom and Gomorrah) and the heaven (the righteous having the mind of Christ) is the focus of this conversation between Abraham and the Lord who stayed with Abraham, while the other two angels went to speak to Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah:

Gen 18:20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
Gen 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Gen 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

Sodom (and Gomorrah) represents the evil city (or cities) of our own flesh which is also symbolized by that great city, the spiritual whore Babylon, which controls all the “waters” of humanity (Rev 11:8):

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

The cry that came from Sodom (and Gomorrah) represents the prayers of the saints who still live under these evil worldly systems and who were at their appointed time also trading in its merchandise before they were dragged out by God (Eph 2:2-3). Lot was in this case the type of the righteous elect of God as Lot is also described as “just” and a “righteous man” in the scriptures for this purpose (2Pe 2:6-10). Lot cried to God concerning this city and all its evils, while he sat at the gate of Sodom. The Lord indeed knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, by taking them through the trails and temptations first before they are taken out:

Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

2Pe 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
2Pe 2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

God’s elect are the ones who are “vexed…in seeing and hearing…the filthy conversation…[and]…unlawful deeds” in Sodom as they wait for the judgement of God on all evil. God already determined that Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed, but these evil cities also serve the elect to understand the process of salvation inwardly first. This process is now revealed through Abraham as the Lord will drag him into making petition to the Lord for the sake of the righteous:

Gen 18:23 And Abraham drew near [Hebrew: “nâgash” = very intimate/something is “at hand” – Rev 1:3], and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

Making petition is a type of prayer where God brings to our heart the desire to “reason together” with Him while we are growing in the prayer of faith (Isa 1:18). God wants Abraham and us to first see and concentrate on the needs of His elect. Abraham’s plea to the Lord for the salvation of the righteous is reflecting God’s goal of the salvation of His elect first and foremost. God is not saving the world at this time, as He also does not pray for the world in that sense (Joh 17:9). Through the salvation of the elect God will cause the whole of the earth to be covered with the knowledge of the Lord at the appointed time (Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14):

Gen 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Gen 18:26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

At this point it is interesting to see how the number five and its multiples are constantly used in Abraham’s prayer as they apply to the righteous (or elect) first, as that is also Abraham’s focus. The number five relates to the spiritual application of what “grace…through faith” is all about (Eph 2:8-10; Tit 2:11-12; Heb 11:6; Heb 12:6). In Abraham’s first plea to the Lord he starts with fifty – the number five joining in with the number ten as ten relates to the flesh – all those in Adam. All in the flesh will be saved through the faith and work of Christ. That is the macro-spiritual picture God’s plan of salvation:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end [Greek: “telos” = “the final point aimed at”], when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

Although “they that are Christ’s at His [first] coming” will be raised in the first resurrection, this salvation process is not yet concluded at that time. The rest of humanity (described here as “the end” or “telos” in the Greek) will be the conclusion of the salvation process. This conclusion is when the “kingdoms of this world” (all in Adam) will be in the kingdom of God and delivered to the Father in spiritual perfection by Jesus. This is also symbolised by the fiftieth year when “liberty [is given] throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” in the Old Testament (Rev 11:15-19; Lev 25:8-10).

The number fifty also indicates the feast of weeks (“pentecost”) which is fifty days after the first feast of the harvest, which is the feast of unleavened bread in the calendar of the physical Jews (Lev 23:9-44; Exo 23:14-16). The feast of unleavened bread was fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ as the “firstfruit of them that slept” in death (1Co 15:20). The feast of weeks is fulfilled in the elect who is the “kind of firstfruits” who will be given spirit life at the first resurrection (Jas 1:18). This is why Abraham starts with fifty as referring to the righteous chosen ones specifically. We are not saved only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all in the generation of the first Adam. These few elected ones will be used to bring in the rest of humanity in what the scriptures called “the lake of fire” or second death where this second group will come to see their own spiritual death state:

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Now Abraham is caused by God to enquire further from the Lord to help us to get a deeper understanding of this salvation process by using another multiple of the number five (all related to faith and its growth in us):

Gen 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
Gen 18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

In the number forty-five, the number nine joins with the number five. Nine relates to judgment in the scriptures. Though painful and filled with anguish, the elect experience judgment as something positive because it is only through judgment that we are taught the righteousness of God (Isa 26:9; Mat 26:38-39). The elect does not escape the judgment and wrath of God, but it is first on them as the house of God before it comes on the rest of humanity (Isa 54:7-8; Mat 24:34-35; 1Co 10:11; Eph 2:2-3; Rev 1:3; Rev 15:5-8):

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

Now Abraham is moved in his petition in prayer to the Lord to help us understand that the new spirit man is indeed ordained for all through faith in another multiple of five:

Gen 18:29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

The number forty is also formed by a combination of numbers eight and five in their spiritual meanings. The number eight is the number for the new spirit man in the scriptures which will come through the completion (number 7) of judgment and destruction of the kingdom of the beast in us:

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.

The righteous will indeed be covered and protected by God (2Sa 22:3-4; Psa 121:1-8; 2Th 3:3).

Gen 18:30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

The number thirty includes the number six as it joins with the number five. Although the number six in its negative application symbolizes the carnal man in us, in its positive application it represents the covering and protection which comes through the Word of God. This new covering destroys our old tent of fleshly dependence as Boaz (typifying Christ) gave Ruth (typifying the elect) six measures of barley which started her new life with him:

Rth 3:15 Also, he [Boaz] said, Bring the veil on you, and hold it. And when she [Ruth] held it, he measured six measures of barley and laid it on her. And she went to the city.

Jdg 7:13 And when Gideon had come, behold, a man told a dream to his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came to a tent, and struck it so that it fell, and overturned it, so that the tent lay along.

Abraham in his petition to the Lord for the righteous in Sodom is again caused to realise that it is indeed a very small number who were chosen to be in that holy and blessed first resurrection when another multiple of five is mentioned (Mat 22:14):

Gen 18:31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

Twenty is the number four combining with the number five. The number four spiritually points to the whole of something, and in this prayer of Abraham the whole of the elect will be kept faithful by God until the end (1Sa 22:1-2; Mat 24:24; Rev 17:14):

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

The last multiple of five which Abraham used in his petition to the Lord for the righteous is the number ten:

Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

The number ten has the number two joined with five and the number two represents the true witness of the elect as in their mouth the Word shall be established:

2Co 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

The reason why Abraham did not go lower than ten is found in the following verse:

Gen 18:33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

The Lord ended this conversation by going “His way.” God initiates everything in this life, including our prayers to Him, and He brings an end to everything according to His own counsel – He is indeed the beginning and the end:

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

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

The Spirit as Flesh
Rev 17:7-11 The Scarlet Beast
Numbers in Scriptures
Our Great and Precious Promises