Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number Fourteen = Spiritual Progress and Spiritual Progression

[Study Aired February 20, 2026]

If the negative application of the number 13… 6+7, reveals the rebellion of our carnal mind (Gen 14:4), and on the other hand its positive application reveals the beginning of our deliverance from that rebellious mind (Gen 37:1, Gen 41:46), fourteen tells us what comes next. What follows is the beginning of our deliverance from the power of “the law of sin and death” that we have not attained but we are now definitely in the process of attaining:

Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect [G5046: telios] , be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

That verse 13 is the spiritual significance of the number 14.

#14 in the Old Testament

There is great spiritual significance in the lives of the wives of the patriarchs. The fact that Sarah and Rachel were barren for many years signifies how our carnal-minded old man flourishes and matures long before our new man is even born or makes his appearance in our lives.

In the case of Jacob’s two wives ,we see this same principle at work. Here is the first time we see the number ‘fourteen’ mentioned in scripture:

Gen 31:41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Jacob worked for his father-in-law, Laban. Living on the eastern side of the Euphrates river, Laban signifies Babylon in scripture. For 14 years Jacob worked for Laban to pay for Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Like each of us who once attended church services, Jacob was deceived into marrying Leah. Laban had told Jacob that he could have the only wife he loved. That was Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. In the words of Christ, Laban had “compassed sea and land” to get Jacob to marry his oldest  daughter.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell [G1067: ‘Geenna’, signifying the lake of fire] than yourselves.

Jacob was furious when he discovered that he had not been given the wife he had been promised. In that sense Leah signifies the churches of Babylon who deceive us into believing they are the true bride of the Lamb. Leah, the unloved wife is given to us for our good works… attending services regularly, tithing faithfully, going on missionary journeys, supporting the building fund… etc. etc. However, we receive her while still in deception. The second wife is the truly loved wife. She is given in advance of expected labor which must and does follow. That is the message of these New Testament verses:

Eph 2:8  For by [chastening] grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves [not because we have earned our salvation]: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. [Rachel was given to Jacob before he had worked the second seven years. Rachel was given, “Not of works…”]

Spiritual progress has now just begun to take root, and we just now beginning to see how Laban, who signifies our Babylonian experience, has been taking advantage of us for many years. As always it takes even more years, six more years, before we are granted to begin to “come out of her.” This is what Jacob told Laban to Laban’s face:

Gen 31:41  Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

This ‘spiritual progress’ is the significance of this number 14, which brings us to the second time this number appears in scripture:

Gen 46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

Here is what brings us to begin to experience true spiritual progress in our lives. It is signified by “the sons of Rachel” who signify the Lord’s elect as contrasted with his ten brothers who sold him into Egyptian slavery:

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

As all those who peddle the gospel and spread the lies of Babylon will do to us, Joseph’s bothers did indeed “bow themselves to the earth before him”, then he revealed himself  to them before sending them back to bring Israel down to him:

Gen 45:24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. [Do not blame each other for what God has done]
Gen 45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
Gen 45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph [is] yet alive, and he [is] governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.
Gen 45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Like Pharaoh, who signifies God the Father handing rulership over to His Son Christ in Genesis (Gen 41:41), and then this same figure, a Pharaoh “who knew not Joseph” signifies the adversary in the very next book of the Bible (Exo 1:8), Jacob himself signifies the Lord’s anointed when contrasted with his twin brother Esau (Mal 1:3, Rom 9:13), then he signifies the Lord’s rejected anointed when he bows down to his own son, Joseph :

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

This is where we are informed that it is “the sons of Rachel” who begin to have a spiritual experience, as signified by Rachel’s fourteen children:

Gen 46:19 The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.
Gen 46:20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Gen 46:21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
Gen 46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

It is we, signified by the “fourteen…. Sons of Rachel”, who will maintain a constant sacrifice of 14 lambs every day at the feast of tabernacles: (We plan to do a series of studies on the spiritual significance of the holy days which God gave to Israel. It will be very revealing).

Num 29:13 And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks [rebellion of the flesh], two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:

Notice what is offered on the last day:

Num 29:32 And on the seventh day seven bullocks [complete submission], two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:

Looks what happens on the eighth day, that “last great day of the feast”, the day which signifies both new beginnings when “the eighth is of the seven.”

Num 29:35 On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
Num 29:36 But ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: one bullock [God is all in all], one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish [Seven lambs on the eighth day signifies the progression is now complete]:

The diminishing bullocks signify that mankind has progressed from obedience to the rebellion which follows the thousand-year reign, signified by the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. The rebellion is expedient and gives God the “occasion” He is seeking to destroy all flesh and to bring about the completed unity with God which is signified by our sacrifice of the lambs on the eighth day “the last great day of the feast.”

Lev 23:36  Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD:  on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

Only those who have died first in this present age and have “filled up in [their bodies] that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ” will be given to make this proclamation with our Lord:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [to give to all mankind making “God… all in all”, (1Co 15:28)].
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive [the Lord’s ‘very elect’, (Mat 24:24)]: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

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:

Fourteen In The New Testament

There are three sets if fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ, demonstrating our progression (3) toward the beginning of our spiritual progress (14).

Mat 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Three (spiritually maturing) fourteens (spiritual progressions) bring us to the beginning of  our New Man. Three ‘fourteens’ brings us to Christ.

“Fourteen years” are mentioned in the context of learning to rejoice in our sufferings for Christ and ‘taking pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.’

2Co 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
2Co 12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
2Co 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2Co 12:5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
2Co 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but [now] I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me [to be], or [that] he heareth of me.
2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2Co 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Paul’s had not needed to go up to Jerusalem for fourteen years until the question about whether Gentiles must be physically circumcised came to a head:

Gal 2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

“Fourteen years after” what?

Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called [me] by his grace,
Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Gal 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Gal 1:18 Then after three years [of preaching in Damascus] I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Gal 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
Gal 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

Let’s go back to Genesis to see how the story of Joseph and his brothers parallels our New Testament experience. Joseph’s rule began in his fourteenth year in Egypt. The Pharaoh made Joseph the ruler of Egypt because the Lord had given Joseph to know what He was doing. The Lord had revealed to Joseph there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Two periods of seven years encompass fourteen years. Thirteen years earlier the Lord had shown Joseph that his brothers and his mother and father would bow themselves down to the earth before him. Because the Lord had given Joseph to know these things, his brothers hated him.

The Jews hated Christ and His apostles for the exact same reason. Even the apostles struggled to accept Paul as an apostle. There are many Christians today who think Paul is less of an apostle than those who knew Christ after the flesh. Peter, Paul and Barnabas had all been made to know by the events at the house of Cornelius the Gentile Roman Centurion, that God had placed no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. However, even the Lord’s apostles struggled for many years to accept such a revolutionary doctrine (Acts 15, Acts 21). Joseph was given from God to know that there would be seven years of great plenty followed by seven years of drought and famine.

We just naturally think of seven years of famine as a very negative time of starvation and suffering. Indeed it is a negative experience for our flesh, but this physical famine signifies the “famine of the Word” which drives Joseph’s brothers to come and bow themselves to the ground before him. I will include Genesis 37:2-3 to establish Joseph’s age at the time he was sold by His ten brothers into Egyptian slavery:

Gen 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

Israel then sends Joseph to check on his brothers and his father’s flocks. His brothers see him coming in his ‘coat of many colors’, and they conspired to strip him of his coat of many colors and murder him. Instead of murdering him. Judah talks his brothers into selling Joseph as a slave into Egypt.

The end of Joseph’s 13^th year in slavery is also the beginning of his delivery from his servitude, and that happens in Joseph’s 14^th year in Egypt. It is at the beginning of this fourteenth year when the Lord gives Joseph to know in advance what He is doing with Egypt at this time. It is “an answer of peace” to Egypt, which for the purposes of this story becomes a type of God’s rulership over ‘the kingdoms of this world:’

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

Gen 41:16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, [It is] not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Gen 41:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
Gen 41:18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Gen 41:19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
Gen 41:20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
Gen 41:21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they [were] still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
Gen 41:22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
Gen 41:23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, [and] blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
Gen 41:24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told [this] unto the magicians; but [there was] none that could declare [it] to me.
Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh [is] one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he [is] about to do.
Gen 41:26 The seven good kine [are] seven years; and the seven good ears [are] seven years: the dream [is] one.
Gen 41:27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them [are] seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
Gen 41:28 This [is] the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God [is] about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh [Amos 3:7]
Gen 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
Gen 41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
Gen 41:31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it [ shall be] very grievous.
Gen 41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; [it is] because the thing [is] established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Gen 41:33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:34 Let Pharaoh do [this], and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
Gen 41:35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
Gen 41:36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
Gen 41:37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
Gen 41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find [such a one] as this [is], a man in whom the Spirit of God [is]?
Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, [there is] none so discreet and wise as thou [art]:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Gen 41:43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him [ruler] over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I [am] Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over [all] the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

What does this fourteen-year period signify as it relates to us?

Gen 41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same [city].
Gen 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

What does ‘corn’ signify, and what does this mean for us?

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

In this parable ‘corn’, the same as ‘seed’, signifies “the Word of the kingdom.” Joseph “gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much…”

Gen 41:53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
Gen 41:54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
Gen 41:55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians [Egypt here signifies those who are in Christ in this present age], Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do [Luk 6:46… ‘Do the things that I say’].
Gen 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

What is the spiritual significance of all of these things which begin in our 14th year?

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.
Mat 25:3 They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: [Had not put up grain for  the famine]
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 [At the great white throne] 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.
Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Here is what “I know ye not” means.

Gen 42:5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: [after the door to the wedding feast is closed, (Mat 25:10-13)] for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
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 brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him [with] their faces to the earth.
Gen 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
Gen 42:8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. [Not knowing Christ is the same as Christ saying… “I know you not”]
Gen 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; [“I know you not”, Mat 25:12] to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

Joseph was a prophet. All the prophets prophesied of coming judgments upon the Lord’s own people, and they were hated for this foreknowledge in every generation. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all the rest of the prophets were  hated and rejected by those to whom they were sent, just as Joseph’s brothers “hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.”

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

It is the same today. Those who know God and know what He says will happen are “hated of all men.”

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

It is only through “much tribulation that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

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

The Lord incentivizes us with these and many other such promises:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

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

2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

Our fourteen years of spiritual progression Is, Has Been and Will Be being lived out in our lives. If we are ‘wise’ we will have plenty of grain stored up for the famine. We will have plenty of oil, and we will be ready for the bridegroom’s coming, and we will be careful “that we receive a full reward.”  

Proverbs 3:1-12 – For Whom The Lord Loves

[Study Aired Nov 14, 2024]

Proverb’s chapter one reminds us that Christ is our wisdom (1Co 1:27-31, Pro 1:1-7) and that there is an order to how God gives the body of Christ that wisdom through the church being guided by our head Jesus Christ.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence. 
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

1Co 2:3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 
1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 

Chapter two makes it clear that there must be a strong desire and ongoing resolve in the heart of the believer to continue to abide in the truth as we pursue after wisdom whose value is greater than anything we can compare her to in the earth, “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” and, “Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path“.

Pro 2:1  My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 
Pro 2:2  So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 
Pro 2:3  Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 
Pro 2:4  If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 
Pro 2:5  Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 
Pro 2:6  For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 
Pro 2:7  He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 
Pro 2:8  He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 
Pro 2:9  Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

A main theme being  brought out in chapter three is how we are to pursue wisdom in order to learn the benefit and blessing that will result in the lives of those who continue to cleave unto Christ who is our wisdom (1Co 1:30).

The reward for God’s elect who are blessed in this age to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) is to learn of the mind of him who is the way, the truth and the life (Joh 14:6, 1Co 2:16) to ultimately be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, which is what this 35th verse points to, “The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools” (Pro 3:35, 2Co 3:18, Rom 2:7).

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

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

Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 

Pro 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 
Pro 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 

We can all learn the law of God and then forget it, or hear it and not be a doer of it (Jas 1:22-25), also not benefitting us in any way; but to the one who is granted to have a heart that keeps God’s commandments and continue in them (Joh 8:31-32) as doers of the word, he shall find “length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee“. The promise of “length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee” refers to the life of Christ within us who is our length of days (“you have the words of eternal life“(Joh 6:68)), our life (Joh 14:6), and the one who gives us peace that passes all understanding as we are justified through the ongoing relationship that we have with Him and His body (Php 4:7, 1Jn 1:7, Eph 5:8).

Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 
Jas 3:14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 
Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 
Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 
Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 
Jas 3:18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  

Eph 5:8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy (Mic 6:8) and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

The next time we see the expression “bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart“ is in (Pro 6:20-21), which is in the midst of these verses, (Pro 6:16-19), that talk about the six things that God hates and the seventh which is an abomination unto Him, and can only be replaced by mercy and truth being formed in the inner man (Eph 3:16).

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? 

Pro 6:20  My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 
Pro 6:21  Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 

Pro 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 
Pro 6:17 1 A proud look, 2 a lying tongue, and 3 hands that shed innocent blood, 
Pro 6:18  4 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, 5 feet that be swift in running to mischief, 
Pro 6:19  6 A false witness that speaketh lies, and 7 he that soweth discord among brethren. 

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

We will find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man when we don’t forsake mercy or truth by continually binding them upon the table of our heart. Binding mercy and truth is what happens when we “keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother”(Pro 6:20, 1Jn 5:2).

None of this would be possible unless we were bound to the altar which is the cross (Psa 118:27-29), so we are being admonished in these sections of proverbs (Pro 3:3, Pro 6:21) to recognize who we are (1Co 3:16-17) and to understand that as that temple of God there is an ongoing cleansing work that is unfolding for God’s children, that Christ is performing within us (Php 2:12-13).

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 
Psa 118:28  Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 
Psa 118:29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

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

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 
Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 

The way that we are going to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” is by putting off our flesh which can only happen through judgement (1Pe 4:17). It is then that we can acknowledge God in all our ways so that he can direct our steps. Our thoughts are brought into subjection unto God through Christ’s judgement in our heavens (2Co 10:5, 2Co 1:9). Then the action of our being led by the spirit of God will follow, bearing witness that we are His children (Rom 8:14-15). We are either going to acknowledge God so that he can direct our paths, or be wise in our own eyes and not depart from evil, and it will be by God’s chastening grace that His elect sons and daughters will go in a direction that our flesh does not want to go, a way that is precious unto God because it tries our faith and puts to death our old man (Heb 12:6, Joh 21:18, Psa 116:15).

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 

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

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 

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: 

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The rich reward of being led by God’s spirit shall be spiritual health, spoken of in these terms, “health to thy navel” and “marrow to thy bones“, meaning the center of our spiritual strength, typified by our physical core, as it’s called in modern terminology, as well as the core of our bones that needs to be healthy which is where the marrow is formed that is used to produce the blood cells for the body. That healthy production of blood represents our being in the word and nourished together as a many-membered body of Christ, each joint supplying in love and not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (Heb 10:25) believing in the spiritual nourishment that God will provide for those who abide in the midst of ‘Jerusalem above the mother of us all’ (Luk 24:49), the spiritual umbilical cord for the manchild that we are (Gal 4:26, Rev 12:5).

Pro 3:9  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 
Pro 3:10  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Everything we have belongs to God and as God’s firstfruits we present our lives as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2) which is how we “Honour the LORD with thy substance“, acknowledging that He is the one who gives us the power to plant and water, as well as give us “all thine increase” (1Co 3:7-8).

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

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 
1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 

Our barns being filled “with plenty“, and our presses that “burst out with new wine” symbolize the treasure laid up in earthen vessels that God gives us through Christ (2Co 4:7, Col 1:27, Mat 6:19-21) as we present all our lives a living sacrifice, so we can lay up store in His garners (Mal 3:6-12).

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,(Col 1:27) that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 
Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 
Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 
Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 
Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 
Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse [“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase“], that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven (Mat 6:19-21), and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 
Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field [“So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine“], saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 3:12  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. 

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

These last two verses we are looking at tonight explain what must occur in the lives of God’s elect in order to bring forth fruit, and again it is centered around the loving hand of our spiritual Father who receives His children through grace that chastens us, teaching us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:11-13) so that we can lay up treasure in heaven (Heb 12:5-10).

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction“]
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth [“For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth“]. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?[Pro 24:10] 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?(Rom 8:18-19, 2Co 4:17-18, 1Co 10:13) 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 

Dan 10:1-21 “And, behold, an hand touched me”

[Study Aired May 2, 2024]

Dan 10:1  In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
Dan 10:2  In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
Dan 10:3  I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 
Dan 10:4  And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; 
Dan 10:5  Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 
Dan 10:6  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 
Dan 10:7  And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 
Dan 10:8  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 
Dan 10:9  Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 
Dan 10:10  And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 
Dan 10:11  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 
Dan 10:12  Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 
Dan 10:14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 
Dan 10:15  And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 
Dan 10:16  And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
Dan 10:17  For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 
Dan 10:18  Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
Dan 10:19  And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 
Dan 10:20  Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 
Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 

Chapter 9 of Daniel puts great emphasis on the need to pray fervently, and to be steadfast in prayer, the resultant effect being that we would then be given understanding regarding the second section of Daniel 9 that pointed to Christ’s ministry when He was on this earth and cut off in the middle of the week as our Savior (Dan 9:26-27). This prophecy is paramount to understand for God’s elect as it is Christ’s body who will fill up what is behind of the afflictions of our Lord in a time frame represented by the second half of that week. That last part of the week typifies the time that the saints will mature in this life through the ministry God has ordained through the church of which Christ is the head of (Col 1:24, Rev 1:3). 

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.

Christ died for the sins of the world (1Jn 2:2). However, He placed all the sin of the world on the scapegoat [Lev 16:21 the trespass offering Lev 16:22] that He, the fit man, would take into the wilderness (Php 2:12-13) where God’s elect would fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, being as He is in this world, and through that judgment upon the elect (1Pe 4:17), they would be made ready as Christ was (Heb 2:17, Heb 3:1, Heb 4:14-15, Heb 5:1, Heb 5:5) to be raised as saviors who come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21).

Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 

[It behooves God’s elect now to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ in order to become merciful and faithful kings and priests of God. (Rom 12:1-2, Col 1:24, Oba 1:21)]

Heb 3:1  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

In chapter 10, the emphasis is on the process of judgment God’s elect must go through in this life in order to have the light of Christ break forth and deliver us from the power of sin [(Joh 8:36, 1Co 15:1-2, 2Pe 2:14) God’s elect are the first to go from being unstable, spiritually, to being established strengthened and settled in the Lord (1Pe 4:1, 1Pe 5:10). It is made very clear in this chapter of Daniel that it is Christ alone who is the author and the finisher of that process in the lives of those who are being judged in this age (1Pe 4:17).

Dan 10:1  In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
Dan 10:2  In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
Dan 10:3  I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 
Dan 10:4  And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;H2313

The significance of something being revealed in the “third year of Cyrus king of Persia” is to remind us that this is a story about overcoming the powers and principalities of this world (Eph 6:12), typified here by “Cyrus king of Persia.” Being the third year of his reign is a symbolic number revealing that in order to overcome those powers and principalities, we must go through a process [3] of judgment. Daniel, as a type of the elect, was blessed and “understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision“, which typifies our being blessed to be able to read, hear, and keep the sayings of the prophecy in this life (Rev 1:3).

In order to overcome these kings within us, Daniel, who typifies the elect of God, “was mourning three full weeks” (Gen 50:10), again pointing to the process of judgment and the need to keep under our bodies as we die daily in this life (1Co 9:27, 1Co 15:31).

Gen 50:10  And they [Joseph and all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house – see v 7-8 – typifying the whole world within us] came to the threshingfloor of AtadH329 [‘thorns’, ‘bramble’; from an unused root probably meaning to pierce or make fast], which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father [Joseph’s father Jacob/Israel typifying our old man that must die] seven days [“three full weeks” (3×7=21)].

Daniel says he abstained and ate “no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” These actions typify for us the need to seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness (Mat 6:33), His bread, His flesh and blood (wine) (Joh 6:51-54) and to live a life that is sacrificial in God’s service (Rom 12:1-2), keeping under ourselves (“neither did I anoint myself at all” 1Co 9:27) as we learn of His faithfulness through a process that settles us in our minds and brings us to a place of acceptance that what God provides for us in this life is what is best for our spiritual growth, and whether it be a little or a lot, we can learn at His hand “both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need”  (Php 4:11-13, 1Ti 6:7-9).

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

Php 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 
Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Right after Daniel talking about his determination in his heart to abstain from bread, flesh and wine, we read that this is happening “in the four and twentieth day of the first month.” The spiritual significance of this statement is that it is after we dedicate our lives to God as a living sacrifice, which can only occur by God dragging us to Christ (Joh 6:44), that we end up being on a sure foundation, the rock Jesus Christ (Mat 16:18, Mat 7:24-25). It takes His judgment, the day of the Lord in our lives, for that foundation to be formed. This is typified by the “the first month” [day of the Lord] and the “four and twentieth day” as a [witness of Christ who is the true foundation that all men must be built upon in time (1Co 3:11) 2×12=24].

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. 

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

These events in Daniel’s life were also occurring “as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel.^H2313” ‘Hiddekel’ or the Tigris river is mentioned in Genesis 2:14 as the third river, again establishing the process of judgment we must go through, the much tribulation of this life, the abstaining from those things that war against our flesh (1Pe 2:11, Act 15:29), in order to then see the light of Christ break forth within our lives, which is the positive use of the word ‘Euphrates’ being the fourth river that follows the Tigris [Hiddekel], also mentioned in Genesis 2:14. The root meaning of Euphrates is to break forth, and this reminds us what happens in our lives when we are granted to be received of God through a process of judgment that makes it possible for us to put off our flesh and see the light of Christ break forth (Gen 2:14, Gal 4:27, Isa 58:4-11). 

H2313 chiddeqel khid-deh’-kel

Probably of foreign origin; the Chiddekel (or Tigris) river: – Hiddekel.

Total KJV occurrences: 2

Gen 2:14  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:^H2313 that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.^H6578

H6578 perâth per-awth’

From an unused root meaning to break forth; rushing; Perath (that is, Euphrates), a river of the East: – Euphrates. Total KJV occurrences: 19

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

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 
Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 
Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Isa 58:9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 
Isa 58:10  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Isa 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually (Rom 8:14-16), and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

Dan 10:5   Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 

When God’s judgments are in our earth, we will be humbled and learn righteousness, meaning we will learn of Christ who is our righteousness (Isa 26:9, Jer 23:6, Php 3:9). The vision Daniel is given ‘by the great river called Hiddekel’ is that of Christ who is “a certain man clothed in linen” (1Ti 2:5, 1Co 11:3, Joh 19:5, Exo 39:27) and whose “loins [are] girded with fine gold of Uphaz:^H210” (Rev 19:7-8, Rev 14:14, Son 5:11, Son 5:15,  Isa 13:12, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9).  The fine gold represents the tried faith of Christ which God forms within the body of Christ via our head Jesus Christ.

1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; “a certain man”

Rev 14:14  And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 

Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 

Son 5:15  His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 

Uphaz^H210  ‘ûphâz

Definition: Uphaz = desire of fine gold 
Origin: perhaps a corruption of H211
Total KJV Occurrences: 2

Isa 13:12  I will make a man more precious than fine gold;(Dan 10:5) even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir^H211.

Dan 10:6  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 

This is clearly representing Christ and His Christ as He is described in the book of Revelation, only using different terminology (Rev 2:18-19). The vision of Daniel is the opposite of the vision of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’ dream, as Christ in this instance is described as having a body like “beryl“, which happens to be mentioned only once in the new testament as the eighth [8 the number of the new man] of twelve stones that make up “the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Rev 21:10, Rev 21:20).

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire “his eyes as lamps of fire“(Dan 10:6), and his feet are like fine brass “his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass“(Dan 10:6);
Rev 2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

Mat 28:3  His countenance was like lightning “his face as the appearance of lightning” [Dan 10:6], and his raiment white as snow: 

Rev 21:20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; [Dan 10:6] the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth “the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude” [Dan 10:6].

Dan 10:7  And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 
Dan 10:8  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

The vision God gives us today of Christ is seen most clearly when we are putting off our flesh, “and there remained no strength in me.” Daniel retaining no strength in himself is a positive expression telling us that when we get out of the way we will see ourselves as nothing, “for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.” It is in that humbled state that we alone will see “the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision.” Those men who see not the vision represent our old man who says he sees, when in fact he is blinded for the self-righteous condition that is the natural status of all men without God’s spirit within them (Joh 9:41, Php 3:9, Rom 8:9). Our first parents experienced this earthquake, “but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves“, who initially were naked and not ashamed, but then when their sinful condition became exceedingly evident because of their disobedience (Rom 7:8, Rom 7:13-14), then they hid themselves (Gen 2:25, Gen 3:7-8).

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

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: 

Gen 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 
Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 
Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Dan 10:9  Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 
Dan 10:10  And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 

Sleep is likened to death in the bible, symbolized by this moment with Daniel, “then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.“ Now his fleshly reasoning is out of the way as he finds himself in this humbled position with his face toward the ground where God would give him his instruction (Job 33:15-16). It is when we are abased that God will exalt us (baptized into Christ death – resting in the Lord – [Rom 6:3]), and so we read that Daniel is left alone when he sees this vision, as we often feel in this earth very alone in our belief. What he saw represents what we see, a “great vision” which can only be seen when God gets us out of the way and we know we are the chief of sinners (1Ti 1:15): “there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.” It is the evil experiences of this life which God gives His people to be exercised and humbled therewith (Ecc 1:13). All of Christ’s sons must experience this humbling so we will be received by Him (Heb 12:6), “And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.“

Dan 10:11  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord (Heb 10:31), and that is what is happening to Daniel who typifies the highly-favored bride of Christ, the “greatly beloved” who represents the Church (Luk 1:28). Christ tells Daniel to “understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright” and explains to us how this is possible because He is sent into our lives, “for unto thee am I now sent” (Joh 17:25-26, Joh 3:16-17). 

Luk 1:28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women [women representing churches]. 

Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Dan 10:12  Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

When God’s word is sent into our lives, it does not return void, “thy words were heard” (Isa 55:11). It is the power of God’s holy spirit working in our lives that gives us power over fear (1Jn 4:18) because Christ is working in us ‘both to will and to do of His good pleasure’ (Php 2:12-13). We can therefore “Fear not“, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, having from “the first day“, representing the start of ‘the Day of the Lord’, to “set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God.” Chastening ourselves before the Lord is an expression that reveals that we understand and believe these verses that apply to us (Act 14:22, 1Pe 4:12, Heb 12:6).

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.

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: 

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

Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 
Dan 10:14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 
Dan 10:15  And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 

The “prince of the kingdom of Persia” represents Satan who hinders us in this life (1Th 2:18). God gives Satan command to hinder us for this symbolic number of twenty one days that witnesses [2] to the truth that Satan is an instrument in God’s hand which He uses to stretch us in the day of the Lord [1] as we see evidenced with these verses (Satan tries to hinder our coming together [1Th 2:14-20]). ‘Twenty one’ is a multiple of seven as well (3×7=21), which brings to mind  the three [3] sets of seven [7]  seals, trumpets and vials found in the book of Revelation (Rev 5:5, Rev 8:2, Rev 17:1).

“I remained there with the kings of Persia” means that God does not take us out of the trial but rather makes a way for us to bear the burden and go through the experience (1Co 10:13). It is through those who are close to God that we receive our help in time of need in the body of Christ, represented by how “Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Rev 12:7-8).

Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. Then lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; for I had been there alone with the kings of Persia. (AFV)

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Christ strengthens us by His word through the church who brings the word of God that gives us the vision we need in this life so we don’t perish (Pro 29:18), “Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.“

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. 

This knowledge that God brings to us through the church (Eph 3:10), humbles us to our core if Christ is working with us in this life, preparing us to receive His word that brings us to a point of being quiet or still (“and I became dumb” – Job 40:4, Psa 46:10). We now realize that our words, our righteousnesses, are as filthy rags and are of no significance, as opposed to His words of eternal life (Joh 6:68), “And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.“

Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 

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

Dan 10:16  And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 
Dan 10:17  For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 
Dan 10:18  Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,

It is by “the similitude of the sons of men” by which Daniel’s lips are touched, and this touching of his lips signifies his being purified by the word of God that comes from “the sons of men” who are like the angel (Luk 22:43) or messenger that purified the lips of Isaiah (Isa 6:5-8), reminding us that we need someone to teach us, through the church, the manifest knowledge of God being made known so that we can be sanctified in this life by His words (Act 8:30-33, Joh 17:17)

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 
Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

God must humble us in this life in order to have His strength made be perfect through our weaknesses (2Co 12:9), and so the prophet mentions several times how he has no strength in himself and no breath left in him, both signifying that now Daniel is ready to hear the word of God and be strengthened as we see happening in these verses, (Dan 10:18-19). He is out of the way, signified by his strength being taken, and his breath, that symbolizes his own will and not the will of God that can only be accomplished by the spirit of God working in us (Php 2:12-13, Rev 1:17). 

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

Daniel then asks how can he, the mere servant, talk with one so powerful when he can’t even get his natural breath. This conversation symbolizes for us how we can’t have communion with our Father and Christ unless we are granted to partake of that altar which those who serve the court cannot partake of at this time (Heb 13:10, Rom 8:9). The answer for Daniel in the next verses typify for us how it is through Christ that we are accepted and strengthened and able to have communion with our Father and Christ at that day (Eph 1:6, Joh 14:20):

Dan 10:19  And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 

God is telling us with this verse that we can endure all things through Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13), and that His peace passes all human understanding (Php 4:7) so that we can go through a process of being perfected, established and strengthened (1Pe 5:10) via the words of God, the truth of God, that reveals promises that confirm to us and ultimately convince us and quicken us in this life (Joh 6:63), becoming more than conquerors through the love of God which He sheds abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5, Rom 5:10, Rom 8:36-37, Joh 8:32-36).

Dan 10:20  Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 
Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 

Daniel does not understand why the angel has come to him, “Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee?” (typifying what we all ask at the onset of our coming to know Christ whom we persecuted [Act 9:5-6]), but we know that Christ has come to win the battle for us and to demonstrate through the weak of the world that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. What will Christ do for us if he will overcome the adversary by praying that we would be given the faith of Christ to do so (Luk 22:32), which is what this sentence symbolizes for us today, “and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” The battle is a lifelong enduring to the end battle that is of the Lord to win within us, and so “the prince of Grecia shall come“, telling us we will drive the beasts out of our land “by little and little” (Exo 23:30).

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

God wants us to know “wherefore I come unto thee” and that is to reveal to His little remnant that it is His good pleasure to give to us the kingdom (Luk 12:32), even as we see that there is no faith in thVie earth to believe in these great things, which is why He tells Daniel, “and there is none that holdeth with me in these things” save “Michael your prince” who represents the remnant for whom Christ has prayed to be given faith that will be needed in order to stand and endure until the end of this age, believing all things, and holding fast to the Lord to the crown of life we’ve been promised (1Co 13:7-8, Mat 6:24, Rev 3:11).

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Book of Obadiah – Oba 1:2 Thou art Greatly Despised

[Study Aired December 13, 2023]

Oba 1:2  Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised

Oba 1:2  Behold,^H2009 I have made^H5414 thee small^H6996 among the heathen:^H1471 thou^H859 art greatly^H3966 despised.^H959 

The seven Hebrew words used are:

H2009 – Hinneh, behold, lo, see, if, prolongation for a primitive particle H2005, Hen, behold, lo, if

H5414 – Nathan, (Qal) to give, put, set, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, extend, put on, put upon, appoint, assign, designate, make, constitute, a primitive root

H6996 – Qatan, young, small, insignificant, unimportant, from a primitive root 

H6962, Koot, to loathe, be grieved, feel a loathing, detest, loathe oneself

H1471 – Goy, nation, people, swarm of locusts, other animals, from the same root as 

H1465, Gevah, the back, behind, from H1460, Gev, the back, back, midst, from a primitive root H1342, Ga’ah, to rise up, grow up, be exalted in triumph, be lifted up, be raised up, be exalted

H859 – Attah, you (second pers. sing. masc.) a primitive pronoun of the second person

H3966 – Meod, Vehement, exceedingly, much, might, force, abundance, muchness, greatly, very, up to abundance, to a great degree, with muchness, from the same as H181, Ood, brand, fire brand, from an unused root meaning to rake together a poker (for turning or gathering embers) (Root word used three times in OT)

H959 – Bazah, (Qal) to despise, hold in contempt, a primitive root

Here is a literal translation of verse 2 including the root words:

Oba 1:2 Behold (you are) given to be small [to loathe yourself], [you will] be raised up, you, a firebrand, held in contempt.

The new man loathes the old man, because they are opposites (in opposition) and will hold it in contempt just as the new man is held in contempt by the flesh. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he refers to this conflict:

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind [G5426] the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

It is the carnal mind (false doctrines) which make up the old man and it is the carnal mind that is enmity (hostility) against God.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

As we mature in Christ we begin to place much more emphasis on understanding the things of the spirit, by spending time in the Word, because we know that focusing on the flesh does not please God. 

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God

The Greek word used in Romans 8:5 for mind (for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit) is:

G5426 
phroneō [fron-eh’-o]

From G5424; to exercise the mind, that is, entertain or have a sentiment or opinion; intensively to interest oneself in (with concern or obedience): – set the affection on. From a root word G5424 “the faculty of perceiving and judging”.

As the elect we are interested in understanding the Word of God, and we are very concerned with being obedient to His Words. This is what makes us “able ministers” as shown in 2 Corinthians.

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers [G1249] of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life

The elect are “able ministers”:

G1249
diakonos

Thayer Definition:

1) one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master, a servant, attendant, minister

1a) the servant of a king

We are, and are to be, servants of Christ, our King. He is the true King of kings and Lord of lords. He chose us to be servants; we didn’t choose to be invited to be a servant in his Kingdom because it is He who appoints us to this role.

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

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

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

Good servants, primarily are obedient to their King. This is how we can keep every word of Christ and at the same time apply the spiritual principle of not keeping every “letter” which has been written in the Bible, instead discerning truth from error as we start to put away the idols from out of all our land. As servants we are given the keys to the Kingdom so we may better understand the spirit behind the letter of what has been written:

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

It is our reasonable service to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. This is achieved by renewing our mind (putting away the flesh/the idols and giants out of our land).

2Ch 15:6  And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
2Ch 15:7  Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
2Ch 15:8  And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin.

Nations are destroyed within us (false doctrines) as Christ (true doctrines) increases in us. Christ is moulding us into a firebrand, a “new sharp threshing instrument having teeth” that is comfortable in fire, discerning truth from error:

Isa 41:13  For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isa 41:14  Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:15  Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Sharp denotes the Word and how we use it in conjunction with the Holy Spirit 

H2742 chârûts (khaw-roots’), incised or incisive; hence a trench (as dug), gold (as mined), a threshing sledge (having sharp teeth); (figuratively) determination; decision

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

God has three seasons in which he is harvesting all of mankind to himself so he may be all in all (1Co 15:28).

The first season of harvesting is the first of the firstfruits which is Christ.

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The second season is the harvest where the firstfruits are brought to God. The elect are a type of firstfruits.

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

The third season is the “feast of ingathering” which occurs at the end of the year and is when all in Adam will be dragged to their Creator.

Here is how it appears in Exodus:

Exo 34:22  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

Ultimately this work of harvesting will bring both the sower and the reaper joy. We find our peace and joy in being a servant of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Joh 4:34  Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Joh 4:35  Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
Joh 4:36  And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

It is also comforting to know that Christ also thinks of us as more than just servants. He calls us His friend.

Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Conclusion

Spiritual principle: We are to keep every word of scripture, but also understand the letter kills, but it is the spirit that giveth life.

Because of Christ in us, he is making us “able ministers” of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

[Study Aired August 11, 2022]

To give a brief recap of the players in this section of kings, it will be helpful to recall that King Ahaziah had no sons (2Ki 1:17), so Ahab’s other son Jehoram (who is also called Joram (2Ki 8:16) reigned as the next king of Israel. He is one of the key figures in this study.

If you recall, Rehoboam was the king of all of Judah and Israel who caused the split (by the Lord’s hand) from Judah. He was the son of Solomon who became an idolatrous king, yet for David’s sake, God did not take the kingdom from him (1Ki 11:11-13) but rather from Solomon’s son Rehoboam.

Rehoboam added a heavier yoke on the people (1Ki 12:8-11), “so Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day” (1Ki 12:19), thus the split that occurred.

Now let’s be reminded of who Jeroboam the son of Nebat is (1Ki 11:28-40, 1Ki 12:26-33), as he is mentioned often throughout these chapters of the second book of Kings.

1Ki 11:28  And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
1Ki 11:29  And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field: 
1Ki 11:30  And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: 
1Ki 11:31  And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

1Ki 12:15  Wherefore the king [Rehoboam] hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

1Ki 12:19  So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 
1Ki 12:20  And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

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

It’s also important to remember that Moab was Lot’s firstborn son from his firstborn daughter, and that the Moabites were allowed a possession in the land up until the time of David when they became David’s servants, bringing tribute to the king (Deu 2:9, 2Sa 8:2).

Deu 2:9  And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.

2Sa 8:2  And he [David] smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts. 

In this part of the books of kings we are looking at today, it is roughly two years that have passed since Ahab died in battle against the king of Syria.

1Ki 22:40  So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead. 

1Ki 22:51  Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.

2Ki 1:17  So he [Ahaziah] died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken [2Ki 1:1-4]. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he [Ahaziah] had no son.

With this backdrop, here are our first verses:

2Ki 3:1  Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. 
2Ki 3:2  And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. 
2Ki 3:3  Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

There is going to be an alliance in war with Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom (1Ki 22:47), against Moab, shown to us with Jehoram the son of Ahab who began to reign over Israel in Samaria the capital “the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years“. These numbers are significant in that they reveal something about this alliance that is going to be forged through the judgment of Moab that represents our flesh. The “eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah” represents that judgment (1+8=9) and the twelve years of reigning is the foundation that is forged through that judgment which becomes very detailed in the verses that will follow.

Jehoram represents more of the yet carnal Christian (1Co 3:1) who continues to do “evil in the sight of the LORD” but not as dramatically as “his father, and like his mother”  which we know represents a stage of growth for Jehoram (Mat 19:5) who now “put away the image of Baal that his father had made” which we begin to do when we come out of Babylon the mother of harlots and denounce our fleshly and sensual way of worshiping represented by “the image of Baal that his father had made” (2Co 6:17, Jas 3:15, Jud 1:18-19). So Jehoram cleaved to the Lord in one area of his life “Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat” which does remind us that overcoming sin is a process, which this story of these three kings is going to bring out for us.

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 

Jud 1:18  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 
Jud 1:19  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

2Ki 3:4  And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. 

Mesha^H4338 the king of Moab’s name, means ‘safety’ and typifies the court of the temple, Babylon, where our flesh represented by “hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool” is not going through a process of judgment but rather being preserved like the Israelites in the wilderness by “sheepmasters”, not unlike Moses who was “the shepherd of his flock” (Isa 63:11) to the people of Israel in the wilderness, which typifies the churches of Babylon today that are in a spiritual wilderness (Deu 29:5, Psa 84:10).

Isa 63:11  Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him? 

Deu 29:5  And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. 

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

H4338 mêysha‛may-shaw’  A variation for H4337; safety; Mesha, a Moabite: – Mesha.

2Ki 3:5  But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

Rebellion will often manifest when there is a void of leadership as stated with these words of Paul (Act 20:29-31), and that is what we are being told here with the death of Ahab, the king of Moab can now rebel against the king of Israel with this perception in mind.

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears [1Co 9:27].

2Ki 3:6  And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.
2Ki 3:7  And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. 
2Ki 3:8  And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.

Jehoram did not have enough resources within “all Israel” [Israel representing our flesh and all the world where there is none righteous (Rom 3:10)] to do battle against Moab, and so God mercifully led him to make alliance with “Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up.” Jehoshaphat who is a type of our Lord, the Lion of the tribe of Judah who changes not (Mal 3:6), also changes not in his desire to do battle against the enemy as our head (Psa 7:11, Eph 4:26, Rom 12:21) with the same words expressed earlier in this battle with Jehoshaphat against Ramothgilead (1Ki 22:4) “I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.” Samaria represents an earlier relationship with Christ in our walk (Joh 8:31-32, Mat 15:32) but not one that is strong enough by itself to do battle against Moab, unless we are granted to continue to abide in the truth which will set us free, which is what this alliance that “all Israel” representing the world will one day do through Christ, represented by “Jehoshaphat the king of Judah” (1Co 15:22).

1Ki 22:4  And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. 

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 

Mat 15:32  Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

When Jehoshaphat was asked: “Which way shall we go up?”, Jehoram replied: “Through the wilderness of Edom” because Edom, who is Esau’s descendants (Gen 25:30), was also David’s servant (2Sa 8:14). Edom represents those parts of our life that we have dominion over and not the other way around, which is what Edom being David’s servants represents.

2Ki 3:9  So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days’ journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.

This seven days’ journey with these three kings represents a famine of the word that is going to, in the positive view, make the cattle which represent the beasts that we are be brought to their wits’ end for thirst of water, which typifies thirst for knowledge of God’s word (Hos 4:6).

Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

2Ki 3:10  And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!

Jehoram is at his wits’ end and despairing for life, typifying the process of judgment symbolized by three kings, who bring us to a place where we see our lack of faith. Paul expresses this idea in these verses which express how God brings us to our wits’ end, so that we cry out to Him and are delivered as Christ was also delivered (2Co 1:9-10, 1Ti 4:10, Heb 5:7)

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 
2Co 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

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

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

2Ki 3:11  But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.

Christ is always that after-thought to the first man Adam, and it is only in our distress that we finally cry out when the Lord brings us to our wits’ end and delivers us (Psa 107:4-6).

Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. 
Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 
Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

It is “one of the king of Israel’s servants^H5650“, a bondservant, who recognizes the answer to this question, “Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him?” This is telling us that when we labor in the word of God and study to show ourselves approved by seeking the Lord with all our hearts, like a bondservant (Php 2:12-13), we will find the Lord and save both ourselves and those who hear us (Jer 29:13, 1Ti 4:16). Here, we point others to the relationship we have in the body of Christ that washes the bride with the word (Eph 5:26, Rev 19:7) and is typified by Elisha who pours “water on the hands of Elijah“. Christ’s hands are doing the work in us, and so Elisha, who represents the servant-church, is pouring the water on Elijah who typifies Christ and reminds us again that “without me [Christ] ye can do nothing” (Joh 12:26, Joh 15:5, Joh 14:20).

1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

2Ki 3:12  And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

These three kings represent the process of judgment that is over God’s elect that brings us to come to know the Lord in each other, symbolized by Elisha who is a type of the elect who they’re going to see.

2Ki 3:13  And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

Elisha knows the king of Israel and tells him to go back to your gods “the prophets of thy mother” and asks why are you inquiring of me while you’re not living lives that are consistent with what God requires (Luk 6:46). Jehoram says, “No, this is of the Lord. We are being delivered into the hand of Moab to be killed, and there is no way out, so we are asking you with humbled and contrite hearts to give us the Godly advice that we need” (Isa 57:15).

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

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

2Ki 3:14  And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.

This is symbolic language from Elisha telling us the only reason God will listen to us for anything is because we are accepted in the Lord (Eph 1:6-9), symbolized by “Jehoshaphat the king of Judah“.

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 
Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 

2Ki 3:15  But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

Music and prophecy are seen being spoken of together in scripture, and it is in these “courts of the LORD’S house” that we are truly “refreshed” and “well” (1Sa 16:23). So we ought to enter into the courts of our Lord with the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise on our lips continually (1Sa 10:5, Eph 5:18-19, Col 3:16, 1Sa 16:23, 1Ch 25:2-3, Psa 100:4, Psa 116:19, Heb 13:15).

1Sa 16:23  And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Psa 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 

Psa 116:19  In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. 

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

2Ki 3:16  And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. 
2Ki 3:17  For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.

The valley being filled with ditches is symbolic of our laboring in the word and digging a deep foundation which happens best when we are humbled and made low, symbolized by the valley (Luk 6:48). God says the spirit that He gives us will well up within us when we search for him with all our hearts (Jer 29:13, Rev 7:17, Joh 7:38, 1Ti 4:14, Heb 2:3).

Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Rev 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne [Eph 2:6] shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

1Ti 4:14  Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery [1Co 9:25].

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

2Ki 3:18  And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. 
2Ki 3:19  And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

The context of this statement “this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand” should greatly encourage us as it reveals that those who are in God’s hand cannot be separated from Him (Joh 10:28) by way of our flesh “the Moabites“, and that God’s elect will learn of His deliverance over the sinful nature within us through Christ (Joh 8:36).

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Our deliverance from our carnal nature is a process that takes time, but God promises that it will be accomplished by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). That process of overcoming requires that, through Christ working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13), “Ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.“

What is wrong with these things mentioned, the “fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones“, is that they represent our own righteousness, our many wonderful works that we don’t give God the credit for until we are chastened by the Lord and received by Him in love (Heb 12:6). Like these choices and good things mentioned, we are also “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” with no thought to the impending judgment that is soon to come and does come to God’s elect (Mat 24:38, 1Pe 4:17). Dispensationally, this smiting of all the fenced cities and choice cities and everything else mentioned will happen to all the world that will be judged in the great white throne judgment when it will be their time to say to God ‘haven’t we done many wonderful works’ (Rev 20:11, Mat 7:22). So God tells Noah, who represents God’s elect, to move with fear to the building up of the ark that represents the body of Christ, the church today that is built through His judgments happening in our earth today so we can learn of His righteousness (Heb 11:7, Isa 26:9).

2Ki 3:20  And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. 
2Ki 3:21  And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.

This next section of Kings describes for us how easily God can seek an occasion against our flesh. The “meat offering“^H4503 that was being made in the morning represents our desire to please God first in the morning (Mat 6:33), but as with all offerings they mean nothing to God if they are not given with a humble and contrite heart, which is where the Lord abides (Isa 57:15, Isa 66:2, Jas 4:6).

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit [Eph 2:6], to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

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

Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

God must be the one who chooses where we go and how we lay down our life and when we say “nevertheless your will be done”, we are presenting our lives a living sacrifice that is going to “a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there”. That is why we must be led by the holy spirit and commit all our ways unto God so He can direct our paths to His glory and for His name’s sake (Deu 12:11, Psa 51:16-17, Rom 8:14-15, Isa 61:1, 2Co 3:17).

Deu 12:11  Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: 

Psa 51:16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 
Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

[a broken and contrite heart will “bring all that I command you” as opposed to Saul who represents our flesh trying to please God by our own reasoning and not through obedience  (1Sa 15:14, 1Sa 15:22).]

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

Isa 61:1  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

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

It was after the meat offering that “there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water”. Judgment was going to come by way of Edom but only after a seed died, represented by the meat offering that represents Christ (Joh 12:24, Isa 26:9). “And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward^H4605 , and stood in the border^H1366” tells us that the flesh, represented by “Moabites“, has its negative version of putting on the whole armour of Ephesians 6:11 and Satan is given to gather “all that were able to put on armour” (Joe 3:2, Rev 16:13-14, Isa 63:17, Rom 9:20). The words “and upward, and stood in the border” describe when and where the spiritual battle is taking place that we are fighting (Eph 6:12), and it is at the door of our maturing hearts and minds where this persistent war is happening (Gal 5:17, Gen 4:7).

Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 
Rev 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 

2Ki 3:22  And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: 
2Ki 3:23  And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 

In this section of the story we see the specific way in which God deceived the Moabites into a battle they were not going to win. It was when the Moabites were “on the other side” that they saw and interpreted those waters as being the blood of kings who they believed were slain, believing they had “smitten one another:” and as such could go up to the spoil – “now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.”

This “red as blood water” symbolizes the blood of Christ for these three kings who were near it and alive and ready to make war which is what we can do when we are cleansed by the blood of Christ by being baptized into His death (Rom 6:3). That baptism makes us alive in Christ and is an ongoing process of judgment symbolized by three kings (Gal 2:20).

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

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.

As for those “on the other side” this ‘red as blood’ view of the water symbolizes their view of the process of judgment being as the odor of death which is how they perceived the three kings to be at this point (2Co 2:15-16). This misinterpretation of the water led to their defeat, and the lesson for us is to ask God to help us to continue to correctly interpret the judgment that is upon those kings within us which is how we are to interpret the signs of the times, the wars and rumors of wars within (Mat 16:2-4).

2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 

Mat 16:2  He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Mat 16:4  A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

2Ki 3:24  And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country. 
2Ki 3:25  And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it. 

We must persist in the battle against our old man and die daily and fight a good fight of faith (Rom 12:21, 1Ti 6:12), forgetting what is behind us and “reaching forth unto those things which are before” pressing “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:13-14). That is the primary message being stated here “And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.“

This passage, “And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees”, is the fulfillment of Elisha’s prophecy noted in 2 Kings 3:18-19 and is shown to them to be a light thing in the sight of the LORD to deliver these kings. In other words, the battle is the Lord’s all along (1Sa 17:47), the tearing down of the old self-righteous old man within us symbolized by these cities, and wells of water and good trees, just as the building up of the new man, the new Jerusalem is also of the Lord, so whether we live or die we do so unto the Lord (Psa 127:1, Rev 3:12, Rev 21:2, Rom 14:8.

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands. 

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

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

Rom 14:8  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Then the last section of the verse says, “only in Kirharaseth^H7025 left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it”.

According to BDB and Strong, Kirharaseth is one of the two chief strongholds of Moab, and also means ‘wall of potsherds’ or ‘fortress of earthenware’. This is telling because it symbolizes the marred vessel that must be destroyed and made anew by the Potter’s hand (Jer 18:3-4), and this is done by the word of God that breaks that first vessel of dishonor by “the slingers” who represent those who bring the word of God to us that destroys our fleshly foundations (Lev 20:2).  Slingers make us think of king David slinging a stone into the giant’s head, those giants that will be bread for us (1Sa 17:24, 1Sa 17:48-49,  Num 14:9).

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
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. 

Lev 20:2  Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 

1Sa 17:24  And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 

1Sa 17:48  And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
1Sa 17:49  And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; [rebellion is connected to fear that we won’t overcome the giants in our land, which God tells us we will] for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

2Ki 3:26  And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.

Satan knows “that he hath but a short time” (Rev 12:12) and so does the king of Moab who symbolizes our flesh that is not going to win regardless of this complete assault symbolized by “seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom” because Christ is greater than he who is in the world (1Jn 4:4). Therefore the battle will be “too sore for him“, and we will be more than conquerors through Christ over all that is in the world within us.

Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them [Rom 8:9]. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Despite Satan’s greatest attempts to deceive the very elect, the world will learn “but they could not” (1Jn 2:16, Mat 24:24, Act 4:27, Mat 10:28-30). Our life in Christ is one of overcoming and enduring to the end and is always to be put into the right perspective as to who is winning this battle within us, which is what these three kings teach us representing that process of judgment that leads to perfection and a victory  that is given by the Lord who tells us, “And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.”

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

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

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, 

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.
Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

2Ki 3:27  Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

This horrible event symbolizes the same action of ‘offering our children on the fire’, which is what we do when we teach our children false doctrine and say that knowing the way of the heathen cultures around us is fine to embrace. Fire can represent doctrine both positively and negatively (Eze 16:21, Jer 10:2, 2Ki 17:17, Jer 5:14, Rev 13:13).

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

negative: Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 

The world does have “great indignation against Israel“, the Israel of God who are hated by all men for his name’s sake (Gal 6:16, Mat 10:22).

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

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Finally, brethren, stand on God’s word as Christ did when he was tempted of the devil, and pray for each other that we can endure that process of being tempted of the devil and overcome him, so that he will depart from us (Mat 4:10-11) “and they departed from him, and returned to their own land“.

Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

[Study Aired March 13, 2022]

Jer 33:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 33:2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jer 33:4  For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
Jer 33:5  They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
Jer 33:6  Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Jer 33:7  And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
Jer 33:8  And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
Jer 33:9  And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
Jer 33:10  Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
Jer 33:11  The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
Jer 33:12  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
Jer 33:13  In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

This study begins by informing us that this is the second time the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison.

Jer 33:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

We need to remember that when the Lord gives us the same message “the second time” it signifies that this message is established and will “shortly [be brought] to pass”:

Gen 41:32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Jer 33:2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;

What is it that “the Lord is the maker thereof”? What is it he has “formed [and] established”? Here is His own answer to all those questions:

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

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

We have learned that the Lord uses a formula in His dealings with His creatures. We see that formula being adhered to throughout the scriptures, and He tells us many times what that formula is.

Here are a few statements which reveal to us how the Lord works with every man:

Psa 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

We simply cannot ‘glorify God’ until we are given to see that “all things are [ours]”. The fact is that until we are granted to acknowledge ourselves as ‘chief of sinners’, we will not be able to accept that ‘all things are ours’ includes being given to see that we are first an unfaithful wife before the Lord pours out His wrath upon us and drags us out of Babylon.

Zedekiah simply was not given to acknowledge his self-righteous iniquity and submit to the man the Lord had sent to chasten him and his self-righteous people. We have either each been in that position, or we are yet to be in that position. The leaders of every nation on this earth self-righteously justify their rebellious false doctrines which directly contradict the doctrines of Christ. We are one and all righteous in our own eyes:

Job 32:1  So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

Psa 36:2  For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Remember what we just read in Proverbs 16:4 and in Isaiah 45:7. It is the Lord who has made all things for Himself, including “the wicked for the day of evil” of Proverbs 16:4, which is the same as “the day of trouble” of Psalm 50:15. He brings us into trouble for the purpose of bringing us out of our troubles after we have been chastened and scourged for our good:

Deu 30:1  And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Deu 30:2  And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
Deu 30:3  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

Psalm 107 makes this point very clear where we are informed:

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep [In His creatures, Rev 13:1].
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and  for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Jer 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

The “great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” include the knowledge of “His wonders in the deep” meaning how He is dealing with His creatures (Rev 13:1). The ‘great and mighty works which thou knowest not’ includes being granted to know that it is the Lord Himself who commands and raises up the stormy winds of this life which is short and full of trouble:

Job 14:1  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

It is the Lord Himself who has ordained that these marred clay vessels would reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man until we are brought to our wits’ end. The ‘great and mighty things which we know not’ also include the fact that all the humiliation of this rebellious and yet self-righteous mind was intended all along to humble us and give the Lord the occasion He is seeking to destroy the powers and principalities which govern our old man whose flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 3:13-16, 1Co 15:50, 2Th 2:8)

Being humbled and humiliated by the self-righteous, rebellious actions of our old man are the first prerequisites for being entrusted with the true riches which we have been given, and it is all a part of the formula the Lord devised for the salvation of His creatures “before the beginning of the world”.

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

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Being humbled and humiliated is a fiery experience which destroys the self-righteous kingdom of our old man within each of us.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Remember “all things are yours” and ‘all things are mine’, and there is no man who has ever lived who has not defiled the temple of God and who must therefore ‘die daily and be crucified with Christ’, and suffer the destruction of the man of sin within each of us at “the brightness of His coming”:

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [“of the Lord”] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The destruction of the kingdom of the man of sin within us is the message of these verses:

Jer 33:4  For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
Jer 33:5  They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

The Lord’s people must all “come out of [Babylon]”. Until we acknowledge that we must go into Babylon before we can “come out of her” we are nothing less than “dead bodies” fighting against the Chaldeans:

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

The lesson for us in this story is that Zedekiah was already serving the great whore before the Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar to punish and chasten him for his self-righteous iniquity:

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

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

The lesson for us is that we must confess our own self-righteous iniquity and transgressions against our Lord and acknowledge that we personally have spiritually held the Lord’s prophets in prison. Until the Lord brings us to see and acknowledge our own infidelity, the Lord continues to answer us “according to the multitude of our idols” and we continue in darkness thinking we are in the light.

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

However, the Lord has devised means that His banished be not expelled from Him (2Sa 14:4), and after He has chastened and scourged us with His seven last plagues He will then drag us out of the Babylonian system and make us to repent of the sins He made us to sin against Him. It is He, not us, who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will… for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.”

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

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

All of which the prophet Jeremiah confirms:

Jer 33:6  Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

If we are simply granted the faith to believe the Lord’s words, we have been given “the abundance of peace and truth”.

It is the Lord’s Word which ‘cures’ and heals us from all our destructions:

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

When the Lord sends us His word it means that He Himself is coming to us to heal us because:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Christ is the Truth and through His Truth, He gives us His peace:

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

While Our flesh struggles to believe those words they are “The Truth” as are these words:

Jer 33:7  And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

“As at the first” is a reference to our “first love” which we are all given when we are first convicted of our sins. Losing our first love and being brought to repent of doing so is an integral part of the Lord’s wonderous works in the deep, which we referenced earlier and repeat now:

Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Keeping the things written in this prophecy (Rev 1:3) means that it is we who must do so, including the act of losing our first love and repenting of doing so:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Jer 33:8  And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
Jer 33:9  And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

What a wonderful promise to all who are made to “love God and are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28)!

Our whoredoms and apostasy are ordained for our own “day of evil” and that, too, is made for the Lord:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for Himself [to punish us in our own “day of evil”]: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

The day of evil which the Lord has made for each of us gives him the occasion He is seeking to pour out His seven last plagues on the self-righteous, apostate kingdom of our old man.

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

Rev 18:22  And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

The Lord tells us that He caused us to be carried away with these false lying spirits:

Eze 39:28  Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

The Lord does not “cause [us] to be led into captivity among the heathen” without first furnishing Himself with “an occasion” to justify chastening and punishing us for our infidelity. The “occasion” He is seeking against us is also a work of the Lord, as the story of Samson so graphically demonstrates:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

The phrase, “It was of the Lord” tells us plainly that it was the Lord who, through an evil spirit, made Samson disobey His commandment to Israel telling them they must never marry the daughters or sons of the people of the land (Deu 7:3). The phrase “it was of the Lord” is just another way of telling us that the Lord made the vessel of clay to be marred in His own hand:

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.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

All Israel is “as clay is in the Potter’s hand”. That is a Truth which applies to both physical Israel and spiritual Israel, “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16).

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

Our returning to Him in the day of joy and honor before all the nations of the earth is also His doing. We return to “fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days”:

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

Isa 60:15  Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.

Hos 3:5  Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

If we fail to see the word “afterward” then we will not realize what must happen first. What must first happen is that the Lord must first give Himself an occasion to destroy the kingdom of our corruptible, self-righteous, rebellious old man. Our next verse shows us how the Lord first pronounces us to be evil, providing Himself the “occasion” He seeks to “make [us] again another vessel as it seems good to [Him] to make [us]” (Jer 18:4).

Jer 33:10  Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

In this verse, the Lord has put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth and then tells us “Ye say… this place… shall be desolate”. The fact is that the Lord had just informed us that it is He who is making this place to be desolate:

Jer 4:27  For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

Jer 9:11  And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Jer 19:8  And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Rev 18:22  And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

The Lord takes away the voice of the bridegroom, and then He also causes the voice of the bridegroom to return. He works all things after the counsel of His own will.

Jer 33:11  The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

Our spiritual adulteries and our unfaithful apostasy are just as much a part of “all things” as our whole hearted return to the Lord. Remember what we read earlier in Hosea:

Hos 3:5  Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

The use of the word ‘afterward’ demonstrates that our apostasy and our part in the death of our Lord are as integral to the Lord’s work in our lives as is our return to Him at His appointed predestined time:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

The Greek word translated ‘predestinated’ is ‘proorizo’ and here are all the entries for that word and its various English translations in the KJV:

G4309
προορίζω
proorizō
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
predestinate, 2
Rom_8:29-30 (3)

predestinated, 2
Eph_1:5, Eph_1:11

Before determined, 1
Act_4:28

ordained, 1
1Co_2:7

It will be well worth our time to read all these entries. We just read the first entry in Rom 8:29-30. Here are the next two times this Greek word appears where it is translated as ‘predestinated’:

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Clearly this Greek word ‘proorizo’ refers only to those that have been “made to know the mystery of His will” and those “who first trusted in Christ”. It does not refer to any in “this present time” who are not made to know the mystery of His will and who are not the first to trust in the true Christ. What this tells us is that those who are in the white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death are not to be considered as “predestinated”. That word has no application to any who are not made to know the mystery of His will and who are not the first to trust in Christ. If we fail to see the order in which the Lord is working, we can and we will miss the spiritual message He is imparting to us.

Our next entry is the first time this word ‘proorizo’ appears in scripture:

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
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,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before [Greek: ‘proorizo’] to be done.

Christ’s crucifixion was not happenstance. Nothing is happenstance. God is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

Here is the last entry in the New Testament of this Greek word, ‘proorizo’:

1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained [Greek: ‘proorizo’] before the world unto our glory:

Once again, this verse makes clear that this Greek word ‘proorizo’ has only to do with “our glory”, the glory of being in “the resurrection to life”, and not those who will be raised to “the resurrection of judgment”/the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/ second death after “the thousand years are expired” (Rev 20:7):

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: ‘krisis’, judgment]

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

We cannot speak of the Lord’s judgments without mentioning their purpose and their fruit. This is the fruit of all the Lord’s judgments, both the judgment which is now “on the house of God” (1Pe 4:17), and the great white throne judgment.

Here is what the Lord’s judgments always produce:

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

That is not the malicious, slanderous, lying false doctrine of eternal hell fire. That is the good news of the Truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now let’s read the context of the 5^th verse of Hosea 3 to learn of how the Lord works with all men:

Hos 3:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
Hos 3:2  So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
Hos 3:3  And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
Hos 3:4  For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
Hos 3:5  Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Here again we witness the formula by which the Lord operates with His creatures. This woman was first “beloved of her friend”, then she became a harlot (Hos 3:1). We all experience a “first love”, and then we ‘lose our first love’ and we are a harlot, but in the end the Lord redeems us and drags us back to Himself.

The ‘image’ and the ‘teraphim’ of verse 4 are just two different words for ‘an idol’. An ‘ephod’ is a priestly garment. What the Lord is telling us here is the same thing He tells us in Revelation 17 which we must endure spiritually before He will ‘return the captivity’ of His people to Himself:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

You and I have “burned her with fire” when we came to see all her lies which had deceived us for so long. We are witnessing this same dynamic working outwardly where religion is under attack worldwide. This is especially true of the self-righteous western world which has been historically ‘Christian’ in name only. Centuries of self-righteous hypocrisy are coming home to roost for an aging harlot who hates her Husband’s clothing and the food He offers her, yet she retains His name:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

We are experiencing the inward loss of our ‘images’ and our ‘teraphims’ while we are being dragged out of the great whore. Now we are also witnessing the outward fulfillment of these words as the beast turns on the harlot religions of this age and devours her and burns her with the ‘fire’ as they burn us and devour all her images and teraphims, all her false doctrines.

For those who are “predestinated… to be the firstborn among many brethren”, we will be the subject of our next two verses:

Jer 33:12  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
Jer 33:13  In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

The phrase “under the hand of him that telleth them” means ‘those who count them’. This is an allusion to those who will judge this world for a thousand years, followed by being the judges of the great white throne judgment where we will also judge the spirits of all men of all time as well as angels:

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

The judging of “this world” refers to the saints judging “the kingdom of this world” for a thousand years. The judging of ‘angels’ refers to those who will be very comfortable and at home in the ‘devouring flames’ as judges in the ‘great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death’:

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

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion [the great harlot and all of her daughter harlots (Rev 17:1-5)] are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

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

Being comfortable in “the devouring fire [and] everlasting burnings”, while teaching the inhabitants of the world righteousness in the great white throne judgment, is the ultimate fulfillment of being “an habitation of shepherds… [with] flocks passing under [our] hands”.

What wonderful, good news it is to be given to see that all the Lord’s judgments ‘teach us righteousness’. What a great blessing it is to “have made known unto us the mystery of His will” (Eph 1:9), and to be given to be those who will judge this world and angels and ‘teach the world righteousness’ at the great final judgment of the dead who are raised up in “the resurrection of judgment” (Joh 5:27-29). That is why it is not called ‘a great black throne’, rather it is “a great white throne” where you and I, Lord willing, will judge all men of all time, and we will also “judge angels” and the entire spirit realm which is yet in need of being purified.

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in [the] Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 33:14  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

Jer 33:15  In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
Jer 33:16  In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
Jer 33:17  For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
Jer 33:18  Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
Jer 33:19  And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 33:20  Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
Jer 33:21  Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
Jer 33:22  As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
Jer 33:23  Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 33:24  Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
Jer 33:25  Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
Jer 33:26  Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Jer 22:17-30  O Earth, Earth, Earth, Hear the Word of the Lord

[Study Aired October 31, 2021]

Jer 22:17  But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Jer 22:18  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
Jer 22:19  He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Jer 22:20  Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
Jer 22:21  I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
Jer 22:22  The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
Jer 22:23  O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
Jer 22:24  As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
Jer 22:25  And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jer 22:26  And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
Jer 22:27  But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
Jer 22:28  Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
Jer 22:30  Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

The prophecy of Jeremiah began in the reign of Josiah, the best king Judah ever had, but Josiah’s sons Shallum and Jehoiakim were both evil kings. Josiah typifies Christ within us, and his sons typify our old man, a vessel that is “marred in the Potter’s hand” (Jer 18:4), who was “made to be taken and destroyed” (2Pe 2:12).

We are told that Jeremiah mourned the death of Josiah, but in this study we are told no one will mourn the death of either of his sons, Shallum or Jehoiakim.

2Ki 23:25  And like unto him [Josiah] was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
2Ki 23:26  Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

2Ch 35:25  And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

When we read of Josiah… “there… was… no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him” and when the Lord tells us, “Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal” what we are being told is:

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.

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

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

What all these verses reveal is that the “many wonderful works” of our old man will not earn us salvation, because our good works and our righteousnesses are just filthy rags to our Lord:

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

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

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?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Our last study ended with the holy spirit contrasting the reign of Josiah with that of his son, Shallum:

Jer 22:14  That [Shallum, vs 11] saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Jer 22:15  Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father [Josiah] eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
Jer 22:16  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.

This study will begin by contrasting both Shallum and Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah, both being types of our old man, with his father, Josiah, a type of Christ in us:

Jer 22:17  But thine eyes and thine heart [Shallum] are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Jer 22:18  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
Jer 22:19  He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

A burial of a person being treated as the burial of an ass is no burial at all. It amounts to being cast out to be devoured by the buzzards, as Jeremiah has already told us:

Jer 7:33  And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.

Jer 15:3  And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Jer 19:7  And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

“I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place” leads us to believe that the influence of the great whore upon the kings of this world is, was and will be diminishing. This hatred of the great whore will climax in an end of this age rejection of all religions. All who stand with the great whore will also be rejected by the beast over whom this whore has had such a great influence for so long:

Jer 22:20  Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

Lebanon and Bashan here are types of Judah and Jerusalem. Why ‘Lebanon’ is used to typify this great whore we will see in a few minutes, but for now this is how the destruction of this ‘great whore’s lovers’ is expressed in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ:

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

Notice that it was God who put it in their heart to “make her desolate and naked, [to] eat her flesh, and burn her with fire”. The adversary was no doubt involved but only at the behest of the Lord Himself.

So it is with “all things” (Eph 1:11), including “the preparations of the heart” in every man:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

The scriptures plainly teach that when we do not hear His voice it is because the Lord Himself has given us ‘eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear’:

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Therefore, when we read:

Jer 22:21  I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
Jer 22:22  The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

We can now see just how true it is that the Lord “makes us to err from His ways”. He does so by making us physically prosperous while becoming daily more spiritually ‘wretched, miserable, poor, and blind and naked.’

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Christ Himself tells us this of our old man before He “returns the tribes of [our] inheritance”. This is what “return the tribes of thine inheritance” means:

Deu 30:3  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

Inwardly the nations that hold us captive are all the false doctrines which held our hearts and minds when we believed them. Until He “turns [our] captivity” this is how the Lord “makes us to err from His ways, and hardens our hearts from His fear”:

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

Notice, Christ did not say ‘You refuse to hear my word’, although that is true. Instead, He gives us the reason why we refuse to hear Him.

The NLT puts it this way:

Joh 8:43  Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to do so! (NLT)

Christ had earlier said the same thing in these verses:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

So, the thoughts and actions of all men have always been a matter of what God has placed into our hearts and minds to keep us as captives to the doctrines of the great whore. Our very thoughts are not our own because:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Solomon knew this Truth because he had read these words of Elihu in the book of Job:

Job 34:10  Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
Job 34:11  For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
Job 34:12  Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
Job 34:13  Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed [H7760: ‘sum’] the whole world?
Job 34:14  If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
Job 34:15  All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

The Hebrew word translated as ‘disposed’ in verse 13 is ‘sum’ (Pronounced ‘soom’), and it means ‘to put, to place, to set’.

H7760
שִׂים    שׂוּם
śûm    śı̂ym
soom, seem

A primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literally, figuratively, inferentially and elliptically): –    X any wise, appoint, bring, call [a name], care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, + disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, + name, X on, ordain, order, + paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), + regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, + stedfastly, take, X tell, + tread down, ([over-]) turn, X wholly, work.

Total KJV occurrences: 580

It is the Lord who puts, places and sets every man where that man is. That is true physically, racially, ethnically, socially, financially, and mentally and spiritually. Remember that when you are tempted to hate your brother. Remember that also when you are tempted to “bow down to the angel who [shows you] these things” (Rev 19:10 and Rev 20:8). When we are both evil and good, we are mere vessels in the Lord’s hands.

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

All glory therefore goes only to the Lord because:

Psa 139:2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Psa 139:3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
Psa 139:4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

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

“You understand my thought afar off” means the Lord knows our thoughts before we have them because:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

It is true that the Lord’s words concerning His judgments upon our sins dominate most of His Word, but this is the reason for that fact:

Isa 35:4  Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Isa 35:5  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped

“With a recompence; he will come and save you” and open your eyes and unstop your ears. These words of Isaiah are the foundation for these words of the revelation of Jesus Christ within us:

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

The “seven plagues” are the “recompense” for our sins of Isaiah 35:4. God has “made us to err from His ways, and [He has] hardened our hearts from His fear, and “made [us] wicked for [our own] day of evil’. (Isa 63:17, Pro 16:4), to give Himself “[the] occasion [He is seeking] to judge us, His own people in “this present time” (Rom 8:18).

Jer 6:19  Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

‘Lebanon’ means ‘white’. With its snow-covered mountains and its mighty cedars, it signifies anything that is exalted. In this chapter it refers to the kings of Judah who live in houses which are roofed with cedar, as we were told earlier in this chapter:

Jer 22:14  That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled [roofed] with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

Our beast exalts himself, but when our beast first begins to be killed by the sword of God’s Word, the spiritual Pharisees then make us “two-fold more the child of hell than [themselves]”:

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

At this point we are Judah (Ahollabah), the “beast that comes up out of the earth having two horns like a lamb, but speaking like a dragon” (Rev 13:11), as opposed to Aholah our earlier religious experience.

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

It is this beast that comes out of the earth to whom this chapter of Jeremiah is addressed as we will soon see:

Jer 22:23  O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
Jer 22:24  As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

The Lord has spoken. He has already told us that even King Josiah’s zeal for serving Him will not keep Him from judging His people:

2Ki 23:25  And like unto him [Josiah] was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
2Ki 23:26  Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

“The provocations” of Josiah’s father Manasseh, and the provocations of Josiah’s sons, Shallum, and Jehoiakim, and Jehoiakim’s son,  Jechoniah typify God seeking an occasion against our flesh (Jdg 14:3-4). The ‘Je’ part of Jeconiah, means ‘the Lord’:

H3204
יְכוֹנְיָה    יְכָנְיָהוּ    יְכָנְיָהo
yekonyâh    yekonyâhû    yekôneyâh
yek-on-yaw'(-hoo), yek-o-neh-yaw’

From H3559 and H3050; Jah will establish; Jekonjah, a Jewish king: – Jeconiah. Compare H3659.

His name is shortened to ‘Coniah’, as a sign of the Lord’s distain for Jechoniah. Both of Josiah’s sons and Jehoikim’s son, Jeconiah, are all evil kings whose sins are used to give the Lord the “occasion” He is seeking to judge His people and through that judgment cast off their oppressor, our old man, who first dominates them as the story of Samson wanting to marry a Philistine woman reveals:

Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. [Samson could not hear his father’s words]
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was  of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

If we do not suffer some sort of trial in this present time, and if all we experience is prosperity, then we are not now being judged of the Lord, and we will not be capable of entering into the heavenly temple:

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

But judgment is now on the house of God (1Pe 4:17). We have gone into Babylon from whence we are now being dragged and judged.

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

G1670
ἑλκύω, ἕλκω
helkuō    helkō
hel-koo’-o, hel’-ko

Probably akin to G138; to drag (literally or figuratively): – draw. Compare G1667.

It is our old man who must die in that land, and it is our new man who through that dying process is being dragged to Christ:

Jer 22:25  And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
Jer 22:26  And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
Jer 22:27  But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.

Even as children of “[our] father the devil” we are still the Lord’s children, because He is “the father of spirits” including Satan:

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

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Our ‘mother that bare [us]’ is the bondwoman, who is the same as the great whore. This great whore bears children to the Lord, but those children must first be judged for being children of whoredoms, and they must die to that great whore and to their father the devil:

Eze 23:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.

These two women are both qualified as being harlots and are therefore nothing more than the two stages of our apostasy.

Applying the principle of “the dream is one” (Gen 41:25), these two women are the one ‘bondwoman’ of:

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

In this case, the scriptures again qualify that these two women and their two sons represent the two covenants, the first being the covenant to the letter of the law given by Moses, and the second and last being the covenant to the spirit of the law given by Christ.

Notice that Agar, meaning Hagar the bondwoman, “answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.” Not one of the ministers of the children of the bondwoman who thinks that “Jerusalem which now is… will be made heir with the son of… Jerusalem which is above”, believes that “Jerusalem that now is… answers to Hagar [and] the son of the bondwoman”.

Yet that is exactly what our last three verses are saying:

Jer 22:28  Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
Jer 22:30  Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

“Wherefore they are cast out” are the very same words used to speak of “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”:

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.

Ishmael was “the son of the bondwoman”, but Ishmael is just an early iteration of Esau, who was physically of the same mother, yet spiritually also typifies “the son of the bondwoman”, and neither will be made “heir with the son of the freewoman”:

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
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 are few indeed who are given to say ‘Amen’ to any of these words of Galatians 4. Nevertheless a million sermons coming from “the son of the bondwoman” will not make them heirs with the son of the freewoman”, and a million sermons teaching that the Lord has a physical elect in “Jerusalem which now is”, as well as a spiritual elect in those who are “in Christ… Jerusalem above” will not make it so. Christ is not making of twain, twain. Christ has torn down the middle wall which was between Jews and Gentiles “to make of twain one new man, so making peace”. There is no spiritual ‘peace’ to be had with those who teach otherwise because we are admonished to “be of one mind”:

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

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

I will let the holy spirit conclude our study with His own plea to each of us:

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Here are the verses for our next study in Jeremiah 23:

Jer 23:1  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jer 23:2  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:3  And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Jer 23:4  And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:5  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6  In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Jer 23:7  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
Jer 23:8  But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
Jer 23:9  Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
Jer 23:10  For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
Jer 23:11  For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:12  Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:13  And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
Jer 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Jer 23:15  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
Jer 23:16  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
Jer 23:17  They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
Jer 23:18  For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
Jer 23:19  Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 23:20  The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.

Gospels In Harmony – By What Authority?

Mat 21:23-27, Mar 11:27-33, Luk 20:1-8

[Study Aired May 11, 2021]

Mar 11:27a And they come again to Jerusalem: Luk 20:1a And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, Mar 11:27b and as he was walking in the temple,  Luk 20:1b the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

Mar 11:28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

Mar 11:29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Mar 11:30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

Mar 11:31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

Luk 20:6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: Mar 11:32b they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

Mar 11:33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

In today’s study we will answer the questions by what authority Christ does what he does, who else has receives this authority, and once they receive this authority what will they do with it?

G1849
ἐξουσία
exousia
ex-oo-see’-ah

From G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: – authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.

G1832
ἔξεστι
exesti
ex’-es-tee

Third person singular present indicative of a compound of G1537 and G1510; so also ἐξόν exon; neuter present participle of the same (with or without some form of G1510 expressed); impersonally it is right (through the figurative idea of being out in public): – be lawful, let, X may (-est).

G1537
ἐκ, ἐξ
ek  ex
ek, ex

A primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds), from, out (of place, time or cause; literally or figuratively; direct or remote): – after, among, X are, at betwixt (-yond), by (the means of), exceedingly, (+ abundantly above), for (-th), from (among, forth, up), + grudgingly, + heartily, X heavenly, X hereby, + very highly, in, . . . ly, (because, by reason) of, off (from), on, out among (from, of), over, since, X thenceforth, through, X unto, X vehemently, with (-out). Often used in composition, with the same general import; often of completion.

G1510
εἰμί
eimi
i-mee’

First person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist (used only when emphatic): – am, have been, X it is I, was. See also G1488, G1498, G1511, G1527, G2258, G2071, G2070, G2075, G2076, G2771, G2468, G5600. 

G1849
ἐξουσία
exousia

Total KJV Occurrences: 103

power, 61

Mat_9:6, Mat_9:8, Mat_10:1, Mat_28:18, Mar_2:10, Mar_3:15, Mar_6:7, Luk_4:6, Luk_4:32, Luk_5:24, Luk_10:19, Luk_12:5, Luk_22:53, Joh_1:12, Joh_10:18 (2), Joh_17:2, Joh_19:10-11 (3), Act_1:7, Act_5:4, Act_8:19, Act_26:18, Rom_9:21, Rom_13:1-3 (3), 1Co_7:37, 1Co_9:4-6 (3), 1Co_9:12 (2), 1Co_9:18, 1Co_11:10, 2Co_13:10, Eph_1:21, Eph_2:2, Col_1:13, Col_2:10, 2Th_3:9, Rev_2:25-26 (2), Rev_6:8, Rev_9:3 (2), Rev_9:10, Rev_9:19, Rev_11:6 (2), Rev_12:10, Rev_13:4-5 (2), Rev_13:7, Rev_13:12, Rev_14:18, Rev_16:9, Rev_17:12, Rev_18:1, Rev_20:6

authority, 28

Mat_7:29, Mat_8:9, Mat_21:23-24 (3), Mat_21:27, Mar_1:22, Mar_11:27-29 (4), Mar_13:33-34 (2), Luk_4:36, Luk_7:8, Luk_9:1, Luk_19:17, Luk_20:2 (2), Luk_20:8, Luk_20:20, Joh_5:27, Act_9:14, Act_26:10, Act_26:12, 1Co_15:24, 2Co_10:8, Rev_13:2

powers, 8

Luk_12:11, Rom_13:1 (2), Eph_3:10, Eph_6:12, Col_1:16, Col_2:15, Tit_3:1

right, 2

Heb_13:10, Rev_22:14

authorities, 1

1Pe_3:22

jurisdiction, 1

Luk_23:7

liberty, 1

1Co_8:9

strength, 1

Rev_17:13

Mat 7:28-29 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Mat 9:3-8 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

Mat 11:25-30 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Mat 10:1-4 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Mar 13:32-37 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

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

Rev 2:25-27 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Christ’s power and authority is given to him by His Father. Christ then gives His apostles and disciples this power. Do you count yourselves as an apostle or disciple of Christ? If you do, what will you do with the power and authority give to you by Christ?

Rev 11:3-6 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

There is someone else given this power, and it will be used against the saints. The dragon has been given this power and gives it unto the beast.

Rev 13:3-18 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Rev 17:11-14 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 

The power given to the saints of Christ will overcome the power given to the dragon and his angels, and this is how it is accomplished.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 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. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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.

In closing, here is what accomplished by the power given to the saints and what they will do.

Heb 13:1-19 Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

1Pe 3:8-22 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Let Your Light Shine – by Willard Rogers

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

1Co 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

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

1Co 16:11  Let no man therefore despise him: but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me: for I look for him with the brethren.

1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

2Co 1:14  As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

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

Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Exo 27:20  And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

Lev 24:2  Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

Exo 25:6  Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

Exo 27:20  And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

Exo 35:8  And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

Exo 39 Exo 39:37  The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light,

Lev 24:2  Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

Num 4:16  And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

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

Joh 14:2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

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

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

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

Pro 25:22  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Lev 2:13  And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

Mar 9:49  For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Pro 8:12  I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt^G217, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

G217 – Strong’s: From G251; salt; figuratively prudence: – salt. Mat_5:13 (2), Mar_9:50 (3), Luk_14:34 (2), Col_4:6

Pro 13:9  The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

Job 18:5  Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
Job 18:6  The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

Job 18:18  He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

Luk 14:34  Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

2Co 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Pro 8:10  Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
Pro 8:11  For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
Pro 8:12  I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. 

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence^G5428;

G5428- Strong’s: From G5426; From G5426; mental action or activity, that is, intellectual or moral insight: – prudence, wisdom.

Col 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. (KJV)

Col 4:6  Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions. (CEV)

Col 4:6  Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone. (GNB)

Mat 13:52  Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence^G5428;

prudence  G5428  phronēsis  fron’-ay-sis
From G5426; mental action or activity, that is, intellectual or moral insight: – prudence, wisdom.

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

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Act 5:41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Php 1:17  But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

1Co 11:14  Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

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

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Lev 24:2  Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

Psa 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn^G2919the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

condemn  G2919  krinō  kree’-no
Properly to distinguish, that is, decide (mentally or judicially); by implication to try, condemn, punish: – avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment^G2917 I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

judgment G2917 krima kree’-mah
From G2919; a decision (the function or the effect, for or against [“crime”]): – avenge, condemned, condemnation, damnation, + go to law, judgment.

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Joh 3:17  God did not send his Son into the world to be judge of the world; he sent him so that the world might have salvation through him.[BBE]

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, I came into this world to be a judge, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.

Joh 12:31  Now is this world^G2889 to be judged (judgment G2920): now will the ruler of this world^G2889 be sent out. [BBE]

“to be judged”=judgment  G2920  krisis  kree’-sis
(Subjectively or objectively, for or against); by extension a tribunal; by implication justice (specifically divine law): – accusation, condemnation, damnation, judgment.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment^G2917 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  G2917  krima  kree’-mah
From G2919; a decision (the function or the effect, for or against [“crime”]): – avenge, condemned, condemnation, damnation, + go to law, judgment.

1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

1Co 6:1  Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
1Co 6:4  If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
1Co 6:5  I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
1Co 11:33  Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

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

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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

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

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.

Luk 20:18  Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Psa 116:11  I said in my haste, All men are liars.

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

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Tit 1:12  One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Psa 18:23  I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
Psa 18:24  Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
Psa 18:25  With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Psa 18:27  For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
Psa 18:28  For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

Pro 20:26  A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
Pro 20:27  The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Pro 20:28  Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
Pro 20:29  The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
Pro 20:30  The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

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

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:

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

Luk 11:34  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Hang onto the light you have!

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

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
Luk 11:36  If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

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

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

1Jn 2:21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

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,

Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

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

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Rev 22:5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

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

Joh 21:17  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

[Study Aired February 13, 2020]

Psa 144:3  LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! 
Psa 144:4  Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. 
Psa 144:5  Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 
Psa 144:6  Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. 
Psa 144:7  Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; 
Psa 144:8  Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 
Psa 144:9  I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. 
Psa 144:10  It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. 
Psa 144:11  Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: 
Psa 144:12  That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: 
Psa 144:13  That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: 
Psa 144:14  That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
Psa 144:15  Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

What is man without the judgments of God upon him (1Pe 4:17) is the opening question in this second part of our study entitled “Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children“. If we are being judged by the Lord today, our desire should be to know Him and His son which is “life eternal” (Joh 17:3).

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent [what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him!].

When God “takest knowledge^H3045 “of us, it is speaking of something He is doing with the body of Christ today who are the ones who “makest account^H2803” and acknowledge that God is sovereign in all the affairs of man from start to finish (Gen 45:5-7, Col 1:17).

Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. [What is man, that thou takest knowledge of him!]

Many “prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see”, but Christ tells us it is only given to a few to see and to hear and be changed by keeping His judgment (Rev 1:3) which leads us unto repentance where we “makest account^H2803” (Rom 2:4) and learn of His “goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” toward us through those judgments (Luk 10:24, Isa 26:9).

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

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

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

Just knowing those two words “knowledge^H3045” and “account^H2803” should help set the stage for the rest of this study that addresses the vanity of man’s flesh [the fleshly carnal mind, in other words] that God knows how to destroy through judgment [“that thou makest account of him”] (Mat 10:28). The fruit that comes about as a result of that judgment in our earth is we will learn of His righteousness (Isa 26:9) and we will “sing a new song unto thee”, that song being symbolic of the new life of Christ that is formed in us through judgment as we decrease and Christ increases within us (Joh 3:30). We become friends or acquaintances of God and Jesus Christ by coming to know them through the knowledge that we grow in by grace through faith in Christ (Joh 17:3, Eph 2:8).

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.

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

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

H3045 knowledge  yaw-dah’  A primitive root; to know (properly to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively instruction, designation, punishment, etc.): – acknowledge, acquaintance [Joh_15:15] (-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, [un-] awares, can [-not], certainly, for a certainty, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be [ig-] norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to, let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have [knowledge], (be, make, make to be, make self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have [understanding], X will be, wist, wit, wot.
[H8799] = ‘causal’ action Qal:   1. to know

H2803 account  khaw-shab’ A primitive root; properly to plait or interpenetrate, that is, (literally) to weave or (generally) to fabricate; figuratively to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think, regard, value, compute: – (make) account (of), conceive, consider, count, cunning (man, work, workman), devise, esteem, find out, forecast, hold, imagine, impute, invent, be like, mean, purpose, reckon (-ing be made), regard, think.

[H8762] = ‘intentional’ Piel:   1. to think upon, consider, be mindful of  2. to think to do, devise, plan 3.  to count, reckon.

It is God who gives salvation to kings as stated in verse 10, and this type and shadow deliverance in this instance is given to His servant David, who represents God’s elect “from the hurtful [H7451 = ra = evil]  sword”. That hurtful sword is the false doctrines which are wielded for so long in our heavens “from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood” that the Lord must deliver us from. It is in their right hand because there is an appearance of strength with these powers and principalities against which we wrestle through the night, but Christ who is in us is greater and “far above all” these powers and falsehoods that reside in our heavens and which need to be removed as we are sanctified by His word (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21, 1Jn 4:4, 1Pe 1:4, Rev 14:4, 1Jn 4:4-6).

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

The last few verses of this study (vs 12 to 15) reveal the abundant fruit which is produced as a result of having God’s judgments in our lives today (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17) and the blessing that becomes part of those whose senses are exercised to discern good and evil in this age (Heb 5:13-14). That discerning is a life-long process that God’s elect are called unto  as we “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever” (2Pe 3:18) as we learn to wield the two-edged sword of God (Heb 4:12) by His power and not by our own righteousness (Php 3:9, Mat 26:52).

God is ridding us of our self-righteousness, our natural inability to let go of the sword of God we hold unto with our own fleshly reasoning as we learn to trust God to accomplish what He is working in us both to will and to do (Php 2:12-13). That trust is the by-product of His judgments in our lives, of His chastening and scourging which are needed in order for us to be received of God as His sons today who are giving an accounting everyday as we die daily (Heb 12:6). A proper knife in the hand of a skilled chef or a knowledgeable butcher, can process those foods with which they are working with very great efficiency, and this is in fact what God has called each of us to do; maturing as kings and priests who are learning to rightly divide the word so we can be edified and strengthened by those things which we are blessed to come to know in the Lord (Heb 5:14, Joh 6:27).

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

When we try to control the knife and not let the sharp knife do the work of cutting whatever we are working on, it is akin to our own righteousness, and we will soon exhaust ourselves of this vain effort unless we’re given to be more than conquerors through Christ who knows how to take our weary souls with all our cares (1Pe 5:7) and give them over to Him alone who can build this new house, all to the glory of God (Php 3:9, 1Co 2:5, Psa 127:1). This simple analogy and the words we will look at today in this study will, God willing, help us to stand by the power of God and not by the wisdom of men or by the strength of our own flesh, as we come together and pray to our heavenly Father “Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children“.

Paul was clear in saying that he considered his afflictions in this life to be a great blessing knowing that this was the means by which God’s grace was going to be able to abound in his life so the gospel could continue to be preached through him and he could be used of God to fulfill His purpose for the body of Christ (2Co 12:9, Col 1:24).

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

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:

Psa 144:3  LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! 

God knows us, of all of his creation, but not all men are being enlightened as God’s elect are today, with the knowledge and the mind of Christ (1Co 2:6-10, 1Co 2:16), and it is because His intention is to make account of us today that we can give an accounting of those things God already knows we are and where we’ve been (Ecc 11:9, Joh 21:18) just as he knew where Adam was in the garden (Gen 3:9).

1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

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

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

It is that accounting that we are blessed to give in this age, being of that generation that shall not pass (Mat 24:34) which brings us to think soberly and to see ourselves for who we really are in the plan of God and how blessed we are to be His friends, His acquaintances who have an altar at which no one else can eat at this time (Mat 22:14, Isa 3:1, Heb 13:10).

God has deemed the weak of the world to be those He would take knowledge of and must bring into judgment first (1Pe 4:17); a judgment that will humble us to our core, crushing us under the stone (Mat 21:44) through that accounting which will destroy our old carnal self and bring about the new creation through Christ (2Co 5:17, Rom 8:9).

Psa 144:4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. 
Psa 144:5  Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 

These two verses describe the marred vessel we all are (Jer 18:4), shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psa 51:5), our vain flesh and fleshly existence (Ecc 1:14) that shall pass away like a mist (Jas 4:14). It is hard for our minds to appreciate just how fleeting this life is from God’s perspective, and it is only through judgment that we can remain sober and vigilant (1Pe 5:8) in Christ as we continue to apply our hearts to wisdom and to number our days that are so few and being shepherded by the author and finisher of our faith (Psa 90:12, Php 1:6).

Bowing “thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke” are symbols of His judgments upon our carnal hearts that need to be transformed by His word in order to have a new heaven and a new earth (Rom 12:2, Rev 21:1-2).

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The heavens that bow represent new Jerusalem from above coming down or bowing and overtaking our old heavens and old earth through judgment that touches the mountains which represent our pride that needs to be destroyed resulting in the temple being filled with smoke and bringing forth those who have “his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev 15:8, Rev 14:1).

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

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

The old covenant type of this event is shown when the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9) was being given to Moses, and at this time the mountains did smoke as well; the law being given as a type of the new covenant law of the spirit of Christ (Exo 19:18). The first law given could not change us, but only show us how exceeding sinful we were and powerless over it (Rom 7:13). However, the second law, the law of the spirit of Christ (Gal 6:2), is the new covenant realization of “thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke“, Christ in us our hope of glory who will consume everything that breathes with His fiery word (Heb 12:29).

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,

Exo 19:18  And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

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

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Psa 144:6  Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. 
Psa 144:7  Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; 
Psa 144:8  Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 

God’s lightning that scatters the false doctrines of our heart, and His arrows are the same thing, his word that goes forth and is sent into our heavens by way of a process of sanctification (Joh 17:17) that is coming from above (we are in darkness 1Th 5:2, then he sends his word that is likened unto lightning Mat 24:27, to destroy the man of perdition within 2Th 2:8). Boasting is excluded therefore by the law of faith that is required in order for God to “deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children”.

Those within us are known by their fruits and must be destroyed as “they speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood” (2Pe 2:18). It is those great swelling words within us that God knows how to destroy through fiery trials which will calm the sea within us as we are brought to our safe haven Jesus Christ (1Pe 4:12, Psa 107:30).

Those principalities and powers spoken of as “a right hand of falsehood” are described as such to remind us that the leaven of the Pharisees has a power, in this case a negative representation of power on the right hand, of which we must be mindful (Mat_16:6) and can only be overcome by the brightness of His coming into our heavens so that these seeds of the wicked one (Mat 13:25) don’t take root and bring forth “strange children” false doctrines.

Psa 144:9  I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. 

As our heavens are cleansed of false doctrines, these false riches are replaced with the true riches of knowing God and Christ and His body (Joh 17:3), and we can now sing a new song of praise, meaning we are able to worship God in spirit and in truth now that all things are new in Christ (Joh 4:23, 2Co 5:17) having had our heavens cleansed of all filthiness (2Co 7:1).

All of this is worship unfolding within the earnest condition (Eph 1:14, Rom 8:23, Rom 8:19, Php 1:20) that we are in “upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings”, the ten now representing the positive relation of the number ten being fulfilled in a life that is being led by the spirit of God (Rom 8:14) and glorifying Him with all our thoughts and actions that He is giving us the power through Christ to bring into subjection unto Him (Rom 8:16, 1Co 10:31, 2Co 10:5).

Psa 144:10  It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. 
Psa 144:11  Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: 

This section of Psalm 144 is at the heart of what our calling is all about. It is a free gift (Eph 2:8), the “salvation” given “unto kings” (Rev 5:10), and is only possible because He “delivereth David^H1732 his servant from the hurtful^H7451 sword“.

It’s God’s beloved, His elect, who are first delivered from all the strange children, false doctrines of this world as we are healed through Christ and made ready as the bride of Christ who will bring forth living waters (Rev 19:7, Joh 7:38) that will be sent out to all the nations to bring healing (Psa 107:20, Rev 22:2).

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Psa 144:12  That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: 
Psa 144:13  That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: 

The reward (Jud 1:24, 1Th 2:19), the end result of being blessed to be made ready to be his bride, is so aptly described in these verses.

Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jud 1:25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

1Th 2:19  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Rev 3:11, Joh 10:28] Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1Th 2:20  For ye are our glory and joy.

The temple of God that we are (1Co 3:16) is being formed as the foundation for all of God’s government that will be established and ordered by God through Christ (Isa 9:6-8) and it is likened to his wife (Rev 19:7) who will bring forth many children as described in this verse “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace“.

We are as Christ now (1Jn 4:17), to the end that the rest of the world will come to know Christ through the church, through the nine pillars found in the temple of God that represent the judgment we will be blessed to administer in the lake of fire (#5 – Exo 26:36-37) so that all the rest of humanity (#4 – Exo 26:32-34) can be grafted into the body of Christ “as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace“.

Verse thirteen is more of the same, speaking of the abundance God will give to the elect, and that abundance is the nations of the world whom we will be blessed to bring into our Father’s joy as Christ did for us (Mat 25:21, 1Jn 4:17).

Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

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

Look at the language used to describe this abundance, and think of Joseph who typifies the elect who laid up store in the garners, which resulted in “affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets“.

His inspired life is a type of the elect. He brought about the conditions (by God’s design) that were going to physically save the world of his time, and Joseph’s brothers represent the other fold [all of the world] that God’s elect will save (Joh 10:16, Oba 1:21), symbolized by this verse “our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets“.

Psa 144:14  That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. 
Psa 144:15  Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

There will be peace and no end to the joy that all of humanity will experience when it is all said and done, and these next verses give witness to that fact that all of God’s creation will be “happy” and content and productive: “That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD“.

We are all heading toward endless joy and happiness, and God’s elect will have the blessing of being able to give life and to utter the words that our Father gives us the ability to receive in earnest today as we pray for his kingdom to come (Mat 25:21).

Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Those words will be uttered through God’s elect because we are as Christ is, but they won’t be uttered until the world goes through judgment as we are going through now, and that judgment will produce a mindset through and through which will glorify God as being all in all (1Co 15:28), within a creation that has been rid and delivered from “the hand of strange children“.