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“The glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter” Part 2

(Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God) (Pro 25:5-16)

[Study Aired January 29, 2026]

 

Pro 25:5  Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Pro 25:6  Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:
Pro 25:7  For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.
Pro 25:8  Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
Pro 25:9  Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:
Pro 25:10  Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.
Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Pro 25:12  As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Pro 25:13  As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.
Pro 25:14  Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.
Pro 25:15  By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
Pro 25:16  Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

God has called the elect to “know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15). It is the longsuffering spirit of God working within the body of Christ (Rom 8:9) that is required in order for us to become overcomers, or “a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out”(Rev 3:12). It is the glory of God to conceal this process of overcoming from the world, and it is the honour of kings to search out this matter, this unsearchable matter by the spirit of God, the Comforter that is able to lead us into all truth that will set us free if we are granted to continue in it (Joh 16:13, Joh 8:31-32).

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

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.

Solomon’s prayer for the physical temple found in (1Ki 8:22-36) is a type and shadow event that describes what God is answering for the temple of God that we are today (1Co 3:16, Luk 22:31-32).

1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
1Ki 8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
1Ki 8:29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

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

In order to become part of “the pillar and ground of the truth” or “a pillar in the temple of my God”, we must go through this longsuffering process ordained of the Master Potter, and not despise it (Rom 2:4), seeing it is the way by which the bride will be made ready (Rev 19:7). This section of proverbs gives some very instructive and clear reminders to the body of Christ as to “how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

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.

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?

Before we read the verses for our study today, let’s look at the prayer in Solomon’s dream (1Ki 3:5-10), and the prayer that Solomon was inspired to make for the temple itself (1Ki 8:22-36). What we’ll see is that, in type and shadow, Solomon is praying for the church, the temple which we are and asking God to know how we ought to walk in the midst of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The first thing to notice is that we will not ask anything amiss (Jas 4:3, Mar 11:24) if we are granted to be dead to sin and alive in Christ, which is typified by Solomon’s being asleep when God inspired his selfless prayer for the nation of Israel who represents the Israel of God [Luk 8:52-53, Rom 6:11, Gal 6:16].

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

“Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God”
“which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth”

1Ki 3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
1Ki 3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
1Ki 3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. [these words of (1Co 1:26) symbolized by “and I am but a little child”]
1Ki 3:8  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. [Our calling is ultimately for the multitudes who will be saved (Rev 7:9 , Oba 1:21)]
1Ki 3:9  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?(1Co 2:16)
1Ki 3:10  And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

David is a type of Christ and Solomon a type of the body of Christ who will do greater works than Christ (Joh 14:12), by way of building the temple, which is symbolic of converting the life of those that God draws to the body of Christ, represented by Solomon. Solomon is asking, in old covenant letter of the law terms, to teach me that I may “know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth”

“Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God”
“which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth”

1Ki 8:22  And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: [It is before the altar which is the cross where we must stand if we are going to be pillars of our God in his temple]
1Ki 8:23  And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
1Ki 8:24  Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
1Ki 8:25  Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; (Mat 22:14) so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. (1Co 11:1)
1Ki 8:26  And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
1Ki 8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
1Ki 8:29  That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
1Ki 8:30  And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. (Joh 17:20)
1Ki 8:31  If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
1Ki 8:32  Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
1Ki 8:33  When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
1Ki 8:34  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. (Rom 2:4)
1Ki 8:35  When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
1Ki 8:36  Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, [“know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God”] and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. (Rom 2:4)

Pro 25:5  Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Pro 25:6  Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:
Pro 25:7  For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

These first three verses give the critical message of identifying the wicked within ourselves (Pro 16:4, 1Co 11:31-32) and the need to take it away from before Christ “the king”, and then shall His throne within us be established. We must not put “forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great” (1Co 10:12), which is accomplished by resisting the devil and cleaving unto God, humbling ourselves under His mighty hand (Jas 4:7, Mat 23:12). If God will permit us this spirit then we will hear His voice telling us “Come up hither” (Rev 11:12). If we are to be raised in heavenly places today (Eph 2:6) we must be lying dead in the streets of that great city (Rev 11:11). If we are boasting in our flesh we will be “put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen” in the lake of fire, great white throne judgement. Judging ourselves today will result in our being chastened of the Lord abasing us in this age so that we can be exalted in the next (Rev 20:6).

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

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.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Pro 25:8  Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

If we are going in the way that seems right to us in our flesh we will end up being put to shame by those who see that we tried to build something by our own strength that never came to fruition in the first resurrection (Psa 127:1, Php 3:9). Only God can give us the power to stop trusting in our flesh (Eph 1:11-12) and to continue to rely on Him for everything, which is what will happen when we stop going “forth hastily to strive”. It takes the ongoing trial of our faith in order to make that a reality in the lives of God’s elect (Act 14:22, Pro 3:5, 2Co 1:9, 2Ti 2:24-26, Php 4:4-7).

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

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:

2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Php 4:5  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Pro 25:9  Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:
Pro 25:10  Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.

In other words, don’t be a talebearer, go to  your brother and him alone (Mat 18:3-4, Mat 18:10, Mat 18:15).

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 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 18:10  Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

If we gossip and don’t cover each other’s sins by going to our brother, the Lord will expose that immature spirit within us and it will humble us in one manner or another, “Lest he who hears should embarrass you When your gossip cannot be retracted” (CLV).

Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

How we go to our brother who is ensnared of the devil with a spiritual sin is with a humble and contrite heart (Isa 66:2, Jas 5:20, 1Pe 4:8), and then our words will be “fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”. The gold represents the tried word of God that is framed with silver that represents someone who has a humble and contrite heart and knows they are the chief of sinners and capable of any sin, but for the grace of God go we (Mal 3:2-6).

Mal 3:2  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver (Pro 25:11, Jer 5:14), that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. (Isa 33:14-15)
Mal 3:4  Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Mal 3:5  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

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 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Pro 25:12  As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Pro 25:13  As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.

Our goal in going to our brother is to be “a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters”, which is another way of saying we are winning our wayward brother by “pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” of (Jud 1:23).

Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
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.

If God permits, “an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold” will be found in both parties, the one being led and listening to the voice of the shepherd who leads us  to be our brother’s keeper (Gen 4:9, 1Ti 4:16), and God permitting the brother will be granted ears that hear Christ’s message to repent, represented by one who has an “obedient ear”, an ear that has been anointed and able to receive correction (Rev 3:18-22).

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.
Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The love and care we show to each other by going to our brother is interestingly connected with the snow and winter, when there is nothing happening in our lives spiritually, yet God says because we are sent as faithful messengers as Christ was sent into our lives, our actions will be “As the cold of snow in the time of harvest”, the harvest being the time of judgement when the wheat is separated from the tares (Mat 13:30) and where “the cold of snow” is the refreshing water in the heat of the Day (2Pe 3:9-12, Act 3:19)

Pro 25:13  (ERV) A messenger that can be trusted is worth much to the people who send him. He is like cool water during the hot days of harvest.

Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Act 3:19  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Pro 25:14  Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.
Pro 25:15  By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
Pro 25:16  Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.

There is a warning in these verses that speaks about swallowing down this honey, these riches he gifts us with (Job 20:15), to become “waxen fat and turn unto other gods” (Deu 31:20), leaning unto our own understanding with this knowledge that we can get puffed up with (1Co 8:1-2).

Job 20:15  He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

Deu 31:20  For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

1Co 8:1  Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
1Co 8:2  And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

This whole section of proverbs that we’ve looked at today has been very centered around humility and repentance, and how that is an integral part of how we walk in the house of God. It is with that humble and contrite spirit, a gift from God that we learn to bear long with the infirmity of our brother, and in God’s perfect timing, “By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone”, which breaking of bones symbolizes a turning of our stony hearts to repentance (Eze 11:19, Eze 36:26, 2Co 3:3, Rom 2:5). Once we see it in ourselves, we are able to help our brother.

Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

If we do not operate in the measure of faith that God gives us, we will be operating in our flesh, which is as one “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain”, the rain representing the spirit of God, the gift of faith that comes with that spirit.

This last verse, “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it”, is also speaking about the measure of faith that we need, and being grateful for what God supplies, knowing that He knows our needs and is teaching us to be content whether we have a little or a lot (2Co 8:15, Exo 16:18, Rom 12:3, Php 4:12).

2Co 8:15  As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

Exo 16:18  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

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.

God will always provide what each joint needs to supply (Eph 4:16) so that we learn how a many-membered body works together for the church to grow (1Co 12:18), in order that we may “know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (Joh 13:35).

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

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

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 

]]> Study of the Book of Kings – 2Ki 23:19-37  The pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-kings-2ki-2319-37-the-pillar-of-the-cloud-by-day-and-the-pillar-of-fire-by-night/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-kings-2ki-2319-37-the-pillar-of-the-cloud-by-day-and-the-pillar-of-fire-by-night Thu, 27 Apr 2023 21:04:29 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=27525

2Ki 23:19-37  The pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night

[Study Aired April 27, 2023]

2Ki 23:19  And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. 
2Ki 23:20  And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:21  And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 
2Ki 23:22  Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 
2Ki 23:23  But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:24  Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 
2Ki 23:25  And like unto him 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. 
2Ki 23:27  And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. 
2Ki 23:28  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
2Ki 23:29  In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. 
2Ki 23:30  And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead. 
2Ki 23:31  Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 
2Ki 23:32  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 
2Ki 23:33  And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. 
2Ki 23:34  And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there. 
2Ki 23:35  And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh. 
2Ki 23:36  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
2Ki 23:37  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 

Christ’s body will be “the pillar of the cloud by day” and “the pillar of fire by night” before the people throughout the thousand-year reign which God will not take away (Exo 13:22). 

Exo 13:22  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

That witness of God’s pillars (Rev 3:12) will have the same effect the parables of Christ have had on all of us in our time of ignorance and blindness not discerning the word correctly, not having been given the eyes or ears to see and hear the truths (Mat 13:13) which were always right in front of us (Act 17:27) like the pillar in the wilderness.

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.

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

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Flesh has no excuse regarding what God has physically witnessed to us about His existence (Rom 1:20), but without the spirit of God within (Rom 8:9), we can’t be anything other than blind and ignorant to what He is showing us His word means spiritually. Therefore, we can say with apostle Paul concerning doing evil that we did it in ignorance and were blind Babylonians in our thinking (Mat 13:16, Eph 4:18, 1Ti 1:13, 1Pe 1:14, Eph 1:11).

This section of 2 Kings highlights for us this blindness God can cause to fall upon us, demonstrated in type and shadow via the nation of Judah who, after the death of their zealous king Josiah, a type of Christ, go back into their same idolatrous ways. God has to make us a pillar and witness to us that we cannot become that new creation without His deliverance: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar [1Jn 4:17, Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5] in the temple of my God.

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.

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.

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.

Remembering that the example of Lot’s wife is an admonition to us that our natural mind wants to go back to a pattern which fashions ourselves “according to the former lusts in your ignorance”, and, God willing, our hearts will be as Lot who lost his wife who represents Babylon out of which we come as we are scarcely saved (1Pe 4:17-18) by being given the power to keep our eyes on the pillar of light set before us, actions typified by Lot who forsook all to ‘come out her my people’ and not look back (Rev 18:4).

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 

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. 

Our labor in the Lord is never in vain, even if it does not produce the immediate effect we are hoping. We need to be encouraged and not discouraged by the failure of the nation of Judah and their ultimate captivity into which God brought them. Their captivity and all the events that unfolded were to admonish God’s elect today that we can become more that conquerors through Christ, overcoming in this life, but we must go through the fiery trials of this life; the judgment that will purify the bride and make it possible for us to discern good and evil (Heb 5:14). This is another way of saying we will be able to be used by the Lord as “a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night” because we have been blessed to be judge and become those pillars by the hand of the Master Potter, of whose workmanship we are (Eph 2:10).

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. [“a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night“]

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.

God is seeking an occasion against the world who are being witnessed to (Rev 11:3) through the church that they are blinded (Rom 11:7) and cannot see the light side of that pillar unless they are dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44), which for Christ’s body today is a lifelong process of being dragged to Him. We are being blessed to have Christ as our hope of glory within who can give us the power (Rev 11:3) to go from glory to glory and unto perfection on the third day (Heb 12:2, Php 4:13, Exo 26:31, 2Co 3:18).

Exo 26:31  And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: 

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.

In this week’s study, we will look at more of the cleansing process of the land of Judah that typifies a work of the saints that will set the stage for the lake of fire, or great white throne judgment. All mankind must be baptized with water and with spirit as Christ told us in John 3:5. True spiritual baptism is what the elect of God must go through first (Rom 6:1-3, Act 14:22) if we are going to be made meet for the master’s use (2Ti 2:21, 2Ti 2:12) and given the honor to work with the world and bring them into the knowledge of God’s judgments and truth (Isa 26:9).

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.

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

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

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.

2Ki 23:19  And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. 

The words of the law cannot be performed if we are double minded and unstable (Jas 1:8, Jas 4:8). A cleansing of evil spirits must take place in order for true worship to happen as we draw near to Christ, to whom we are dragged (Joh 6:44), in order to cleanse our hands and purify our double minded hearts so we become stable in Christ (1Pe 5:10, 2Ti 1:7). 

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

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

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

This cleansing process Josiah put the nation through typifies what Christ is doing in the lives of His children today, making the bride ready. “The high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel” represent Christ destroying our pride-filled hearts that contended with God for so long, provoking Him to anger. The Lord takes that spirit away which He caused to be there in the first place (Isa 63:17). This section that reads: “and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel” reminds us that our strength to overcome comes from God, from the house of Bethel, which means bread, which we know represents the true bread from heaven, Jesus Christ our savior (Psa 104:15, Luk 18:1).

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.

Psa 104:15  And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. [Luk 21:26]

Luk 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

2Ki 23:20  And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:21  And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 
2Ki 23:22  Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 
2Ki 23:23  But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

It is only through the strength of Christ that we can slay “all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem” within us and burn “men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem“. After we destroy those things by the grace and faith of Christ, we return to Jerusalem, which typifies our being raised in heavenly places where we are seated together in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). 

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

“The passover” is a meaningless event if we partake of it unworthily (1Co 11:27-29), and in these verses we’re reading we see an example of the passover being taken worthily as a result of the diligence of king Josiah, who represents Christ, who destroys “the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars of our hearts and minds.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

Christ commands us, as Josiah did the people, to “Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.” This statement given to all the people of Judah to keep the passover typifies for us today the need to keep our lives undefiled and holy before God which we know is impossible without Christ delivering us from our sins (Joh 8:36) by His body and blood, which represent His word that is the true bread from heaven, the true passover we keep spiritually. The flesh and bones is also part of the passover and represents Christ’s body, the scapegoat (Eph 5:30, Lev 16:21) that is being preserved through the life of Christ within each of us, each member being a joint that supplies in love what we need from one another (Eph 4:16).

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

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

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: [Php 2:12-13]

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

Christ is our passover, and we labor to enter into that communion (1Co 10:16), that rest which is found in Him (Heb 4:11). When we confess our faults, He is faithful to forgive all our sins, all our iniquities, so that “Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah.”  This statement typifies for us today what only Christ is able to do through the body of Christ that is strengthened by His life working in us (Php 4:13, Col 1:27). 

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 
1Co 10:17  For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

What a wonderful blessing to know that the bride will be made ready, and that readiness will come as a result of Christ, who is typified by Josiah, who judged the nation. It is “in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem” which numbers add up to nine (1+8) that represents judgment. The number one (1) represents the day of the Lord and the eight (8)  represents the new man formed out of that judgment which happens on the day of the Lord.

2Ki 23:24  Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 
2Ki 23:25  And like unto him 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.

The words of the law that the land of Judah was called to perform cannot be accomplished unless “the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem” are put away by Josiah, who represents our faithful High Priest who cleanses us of all our sins and iniquities (1Jn 1:9). He is our advocate to that end and is greater than our conscience which condemns us and is easily beset by the sin in our lives (1Jn 2:1-2). When we are washed and cleansed of our sins, God is merciful to renew a right spirit within us (Psa 51:10), typified by “the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD“; a type of the law of Christ that quickens us (Gal 6:2, Joh 6:63, Rom 5:5).

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

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

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

This section, “And like unto him 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“,  reminds us that God is a jealous God and with His spirit within us, we are going to experience that jealousy regarding keeping the temple undefiled as we become consumed for the temple of God we are by the life of Christ within us (Col 1:27). That makes us a peculiar people who are zealous of good works, typified by the actions of zealous king Josiah (Tit 2:14-15). Those works are clearly connected to cleansing the temple, which then brings forth fruit and true spiritual worship which our Father seeks out and finds in His people (Joh 4:23).

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: 

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he [Joh 8:36] might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

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. 
2Ki 23:27  And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. 
2Ki 23:28  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

The conclusion of the matter is to fear God and work righteousness as we learn that God will not be mocked (Ecc 12:13-14). So we have this section of scripture reminding us that God puts us through severe trials so we don’t sin any longer (1Pe 4:1). He does not turn away “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“ because he loves us and is receiving us through those corrections (Heb 12:6) that make us one with Him as He gives us the power we need through Christ (Php 4:13) to overcome and endure the much tribulation of this life necessary in order to enter into the kingdom of God (Act 14:22).

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

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

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

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.

What we are being told is that if God can remove a nation, or nations, and cast off His chosen city Jerusalem, then we can be sure He can also do this to us, and will do this and receive us back in this age if we are His (Psa 37:28, Psa 94:14, Psa 138:8, Psa 119:8). We don’t avoid this captivity is what we’re being told, and at the same time we also are being reminded that the same God who has the power to bind and bring us into captivity can also deliver us and reinstate us, if it is His will to do so in this life.

Psa 37:28  For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.  captivity can also deliver us from ourselves each one of us at our appointed time.

Psa 94:14  For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

Psa 138:8  The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

Psa 119:8  I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

2Ki 23:29  In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. 
2Ki 23:30  And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead. 

Pharaohnechoh, king of Egypt, coming up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates, a place that means “break forth”, reminds us that our enemy is given to break forth at times and prevail against our flesh (Job 1:12). That does not mean that our spiritual life is going to be destroyed. Rather, it becomes a testimony for us, and eventually all the world, that nothing will ever be able to separate the body of Christ from the love (Rom 8:35-39) of God that receives us through those severe Job-like trials in our lives which are needful to try the faith of Christ in us (Luk 21:18, Rev 13:7-11).

Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. 

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

Rev 13:7  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. 
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear. 
Rev 13:10  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.
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. 

This period of time in 2 Kings has an is-was-and-will-be application, as do all the words of God. Looking at the sum of God’s word and considering that God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), helps us understand this principle and frees up these stories that were written for the elect’s sake today (2Co 4:15).

Satan, who is the god of this world (2Co 4:4), is figuratively represented by “Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt.” All of the cleansing of the land, which Josiah accomplishes from a physical standpoint, may seem futile to us seeing the kingdom went right back to its evil practices after Josiah is killed. However, the lesson is twofold for God’s elect; one side showing us that our flesh and blood being ruled over by Christ, who is typified by Josiah, cannot inherit the kingdom of God (“according to all the law of Moses” of v25 above), and that it is through that death of the flesh we will inherit eternal life (1Co 15:50). That’s the present way we can look at this section of 2 Kings, but it also has an outward dispensational way of looking at it, knowing that the saints’ rulership during the thousand years will not change anyone’s heart, as was typified by king Josiah’s rule, which is why the corrupt kings kept coming after Josiah was no longer ruling.

2Ki 23:25  And like unto him 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.

Being slain at Megiddo is another way of telling all mankind that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but all men will be saved each man in his own order. If we are predestined to be in the first resurrection, then we will have been tried and tested in this life, which is what it takes to keep our garments, otherwise our Megiddo moment will be in the great white throne judgment (Rev 16:14-16).

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. 
Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Rev 16:16  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue ArmageddonG717.

These physical locations discussed (Megiddo [2Ki 23:29] and Armageddon [Rev 16:16] which are the same location) remind us that the one thing common to all men is judgment. Gog and Magog is another physical type of judgment that represents the lake of fire judgment that will come upon all the world in the second resurrection when those who have not been blessed to be judged in this age (1Pe 4:17) will be judged by God’s fiery words in the great white throne judgment (Joh 5:29, Rev 20:13-15).

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.

Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

2Ki 23:31  Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 
2Ki 23:32  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 
2Ki 23:33  And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. 
2Ki 23:34  And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there. 

Notice who is running the show here. It is Pharaohnechoh who takes the twenty-three year old evil king Jehoahaz in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he [Jehoahaz] might not reign in Jerusalem, “And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath.” Pharaohnechoh is a type of Satan who keeps this king in bands just as the devil has kept the world in the bondage of corruption (Rom 8:21) until this day. Also, “that he might not reign in Jerusalem” means taking away all possibility for righteous rulership which typically can only manifest from Jerusalem, which typifies Jerusalem above, the mother of us all. Pharaohnechoh was the vehicle God used to stop grace [Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he began to reign. 2+3=5] from abounding in the king’s life which spiritual bondage prevented fruitful growth [Riblah: H7247]. Part of that bondage is expressed by the “tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold“, symbols of God’s word which is being peddled making merchandise of the brethren (2Pe 2:3, 2Co 2:17). A talent is worth 3000 shekels, and one hundred talents would be worth 300,000 shekels. Again we see the process of grace being taken away from the nation with these symbolic numbers reminding us that the way the world is being taxed today is by not being judged, which keeps the world in the bondage of sin, and that is what God has caused Satan to do until this day (2Co 4:4).

Riblah H7247  riblâh rib-law’

From an unused root meaning to be fruitful; fertile; Riblah, a place in Syria: – Riblah.

Total KJV occurrences: 11

Then Pharaohnechoh, who is type of Satan, made “Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.” This is telling us that the god of this world has the power God gives him to put the basest of men in charge and elevated to positions of power (Dan 4:17), even as others are taken away and destroyed as Jehoahaz was.

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

It is significant that Pharaohnechoh changes the name of Eliakim the would-be predecessor of king Jehoahaz to Jehoiakim as a negative shadow of the devil giving someone who is elevated a new name in this world, unlike the positive rendition of that written in Revelation regarding the new name God’s elect are given in Christ (Rev 2:17, Rev 3:12). 

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

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

Jehoiakim is also given “the room of Josiah his father” by Pharaohnechoh, a type of the devil who gives people power in places where they ought not to be, symbolizing the man of perdition being on the heart of our thrones until he is not (2Th 2:8). The father’s bed is to be undefiled, and Josiah, who typifies Christ, had a bed that was undefiled, and now with this latest king Eliakim whose name was changed to Jehoiakim (H3079) there was going to be defilement in the nation of Judah once again, symbolized by where Eliakim rested, whom God raised up to defile the bed of his father, Josiah.

2Ki 23:35  And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.

This is how the business of religion is run in this world, and these verses are clearly showing us that it is the god of this world, represented by Pharaohnechoh, who is pulling the purse strings of those who promise us liberty in Babylon but are actually in bondage, revealed by those very actions of putting a tax on the people, symbolizing their wanting dominion over the faith of others (2Pe 2:19, 2Co 1:24).

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 

2Co 1:24  Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. 

2Ki 23:36  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 
2Ki 23:37  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

This chapter ends by revealing the fruit of Satan’s world with its false version of grace, symbolized by the age of Jehoiakim who was twenty five (5×5) when he began to reign. He reigned for eleven years [“The Ruin and Disintegration of the Perfection of the Flesh”] telling us that no stable foundation of righteousness was ever established, reminding us that the so-called foundation of Babylon must come crashing down, first in the lives of the elect, and then in the whole world which will be judged by the saints who will bring “lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail” to wipe away the refuge of lies in this world (Rev 18:2, Rev 11:19).

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 

Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

That is when the world will begin to see a new version (2Co 5:17) of Exodus 13:22 “the pillar of the cloud by day” and “the pillar of fire by night.”

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. 

Exo 13:22  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

]]> Awesome Hands – part 86: “The judgments” – Part Q https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/awesome-hands-part-86-the-judgments-part-q/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=awesome-hands-part-86-the-judgments-part-q Thu, 03 Sep 2015 00:22:03 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=10107

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Awesome Hands – part 86

“The judgments” Part Q

September 2, 2015

 

The Lord is ever present in our lives causing good and evil to come about so that He can lead us to our ultimate goal of being with Him.

Obedience is very hard to hold on to when things are not going so well. Whether we are high on the mountain or low in the valley, obedience seems to be our mortal enemy. We tend to strain to keep His commandments at every turn of our lives, but I believe the Lord knows this is exactly how He has made us all to be.

In the study today, we are going to continue in Exodus 23 while focusing on the repeated admonitions of the Lord to “keep His commandments”.

 

An Angel before thee

 

In several of the last studies, we have focused on the Truth that we are God’s people but also that all of humanity is being brought in Him according to His timing.
All must go through the water of separation before they can be brought to the fire of God’s word to be purged with it.

Num 31:23  Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

More often than not, we see ourselves as the recipients of God’s mercy, love, grace, chastisement or insert whatever verb you would like to use.
However, what we should be focused on is how the Lord is using us for His purposes and not what He is doing to us.

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

We all know that the Angel being spoken about here is Jesus Christ. There is also a connection to these verses that we should directly link in our minds.

When we read these verses we tend to apply them to us individually and “obeying His voice, provoking Him not”. They certainly DO apply to us and the Angel is Jesus Christ, but the Angel is also anyone the Lord uses to bring another lost sheep into the fold.

I am going to list some verses that are probably familiar but that are also confirmations of what I just stated.

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

As I read the next verses, I ask you to consider if God’s people meet the qualifications of being sent as an Angel to those God is working with now and all of which He will eventually be working with.

Listen to and read these very important verses telling YOU who YOU are in Jesus Christ!

Clouds:

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mat 26:63  But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be THE CHRIST, the Son of God.
Mat 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mar 14:62  And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Are you hearing the voice of your Lord in these verses today?

We are compassed by a great cloud of witnesses. We run with patience the race of looking toward Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith.

Notice that the high priest adjures and forces Jesus to answer if He is the Son of God. Jesus’ answer is YOU have said it and then He goes on to say, “you shall see the SON OF MAN sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds”.

This is significant if you want to know the meaning of your Christian life! Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of man. If you are given to see it, and hear the words being spoken to you via the Holy Spirit, it is YOU who are walking to and fro INTO HEAVEN via Jacob’s ladder.

Gen 28:10  And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
Gen 28:11  And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Are these same angels the angels mentioned in John?

Joh 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Why is it Jesus mentioned “greater things than these” and then immediately mention heaven being opened and the angels of God ascending and descending?

If you read the entire story where Jacob has the dream of the ladder there are some key points that are often over looked.

Jacob was fleeing his brother who wanted to KILL him. The SUN was set and it was night. Jacob rests his head on STONE. He awakens out of his sleep and says something that still applies to us today.

Gen 28:16  And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gen 28:17  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the HOUSE OF GOD, and this is the GATE OF HEAVEN.
Gen 28:18  And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19  And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

If you want to know who you are in the Lord, then listen to what the Lord has prepared for you and has orchestrated over THOUSANDS of years. If you desire to know the purpose of your life, then know that you’ve been BASPTISED into His death and resurrection.

The night is representative of sleep and death and the day of being awakened and life.

Luz, are you listening? Bethel, do you hear? Son of man do you hear, Son of God do you know?

H3870
lûz
BDB Definition:
Luz = “almond tree”
1) the early name of Bethel and probably the name of the town in close proximity to the actual location of the altar and pillar of Jacob
2) the name of a town in the land of the Hittites; site unknown
Part of Speech: noun proper locative
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: probably from H3869 (as growing there)

Here is who you are thou prophet and prophetess:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond(H3870) tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

The Lord knows us before we were ever born and we were sanctified before we ever took our first breath. Our sanctification is to start off as Luz and be renamed Bethel, the house of God.

Being the house of God is being the angel the Lord says He will send to “keep the way” to the place He has prepared.

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

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

Being the light is not just speaking the “good” things and good news. It’s living it as the “pillar of fire” and having the “fire of the Word of God” upon your mouths.

Being the light of the world is much more than just applying the Word of God to ourselves. We must BE the example of Jesus Christ Himself as we interact with those around us and as the Lord gives us the victory to do so.

It is not easy nor are we alone. The Lord is with us and does the battle for us, both in us and around us in others. Our victories do NOT come overnight and we are given victory day by day so that we are not overthrown.

Fire burns until the work is complete.

Fire:

Exo 23:23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Exo 23:26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Exo 23:27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

Those the Lord sends us to, whom He has purposed to be worked with now for the purposes of His Kingdom of heaven, will be destroyed with the words that proceed out of mouth.

For those clouds who are without rain, they too will have their reward and we must be DILIGENT to pray that the Lord causes us to remain “faithful clouds”.

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.

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

The Lord will send hornets before us to both slay the enemy of the Lord WITHIN us and also without us in OTHERS.

Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

The hornets represent an act which is not of sword or bow but one of a direct act of the Lord Himself, just like the freeing of God’s people from Egypt.

The root word of hornet is leprosy. The warning to us is that we are to obey the commandments of the Lord and we are NOT to serve nor worship the gods of the people who God clears out of the land on our behalf. If we do worship other gods, then the Lord can just as easily send the plagues of Egypt upon us again.

Deu 7:18  Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
Deu 7:19  The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
Deu 7:20  Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

Jos 24:12  And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
Jos 24:13  And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Jos 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

It should be abundantly clear that before we are brought to the water of separation, representing baptism, we served others gods.

The gods we serve are always gods which come forth from our own hearts. Sure, there may be names given to them, they may represent the sun, moon or stars or they may represent fertility, death, life, the ground, the rain, etc.

What is abundantly clear is that those “gods” are formed from the worship that is not of Spirit and Truth, but is of self-worship in some way. We all want health, food in our bellies, a roof on our head and peace around us therefore we worship the means of gaining these things.

I am not saying that these “gods” do not have names, but they are names given to worship the “idol” instead of the one name above all names.

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

A good example of this is when Jesus cast out the unclean spirit, and asked for its name first.

Mar 5:7  And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Mar 5:8  For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mar 5:9  And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Many are contrasted to One. The Father and Christ are One, we are One with Christ, therefore we are One with the Father. Unclean spirits can give themselves all sorts of names to worship, but that is for mankind to be able to “name” their god or idol and to NOT worship the One True Holy God.

Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Eze 39:6  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 39:7  So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

The flood and the parting of the Red Sea both represent the baptism God’s people must go through. After that, we BECOME the clouds made of WATER by day leading to the Way, Truth and Life.

At night, we become FIRE to bring to naught anything that needs to be purified. It should be spiritually clear that we are the pillars of cloud and fire because we are also pillars in the temple of God.

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
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.

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

The patience of the race set before us is that we are in a marathon and not a sprint and the things the Lord is working in us and in others through us are happening each and every day of our lives.

]]> Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 90 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-90/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-90 Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:31:38 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=9345 Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 90

(Key verses: Gen 35:1-20)

The theme of sanctification runs throughout the scriptures, but is especially focused in the life of Jacob for our learning (1Co 10:11; Rom 15:4). On the instruction of God, Jacob returned to Canaan after twenty years in Haran. If he thought his trials were a thing of the past, he was soon awakened to the truth that in Canaan the levels of tribulation will increase. Shalem (a city of Shechem) was the first place Jacob and his family stayed, which ironically means peace and safety, but their stay here brought great grief and misery to the family as their daughter Dinah was raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor, who was a Hivite and a prince of the country (Gen 34:1-3). This happened while Dinah was visiting the daughters of Shechem. In their hate-filled revenge two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, killed all the men of Shechem after the sons of Jacob made a deceitful deal with them to have all these men circumcised to allow intermarriage between the two groups (Gen 34:13-17). Jacob only discovered afterward what these two sons had in mind when this deal was struck, and he deplored this evil act of his sons. Jacob, however, remained focused on the promises of God even through the severe trials and many distractions (Lev 20:26; Joh 10:36-39; Joh 17:19). The theme of sanctification in the scripture deals with this process of the perfecting of the elect of God to be a “vessel unto honour…and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2Ti 2:21):

Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1Pe 1:15  But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In Genesis 35 a few aspects in the lives of Jacob and his family are mentioned, which helps us to see why the enduring process of sanctification is such an important theme in scripture.

The priorities of the house of God are the focus for the elect

Through sanctification the elect are being separated from the self-centered spirit of the world in them with all its pride and lusts, to focus on the spiritual house of God and to be perfected and holy in their function to Him and others (1Jn 2:16; Exo 35:21; Jer 1:5; Act 13:2; 1Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-24; 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20):

Gen 35:1  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel [Hebrew: “bêyth-‘êl” = house of God], and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

This is the second time Bethel appears in Jacob’s life. When he was fleeing from Esau to Haran, he had a dream one night, and in this dream he saw a ladder reaching heaven on which the angels ascended and descended, pointing to Jesus as the only way to God on which His messengers, His true elect, also find their spiritual function and purpose (Ecc 12:13-14; Mat 7:13; Joh 14:6; Eph 2:8-10; Php 3:9-10; 2Ti 2:21). Here Jacob took the stone he used as a pillow the previous night and set it up as a pillar the following morning and poured oil on it, representing his acceptance of God’s promises to him of the inheritance of the land and producing an offspring which God’s protection will never cease:

Gen 28:18  And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19  And he called the name of that place Bethel [Hebrew: “bêyth-‘êl” = house of God]: but the name of that city was called Luz [means “almond tree”] at the first.
Gen 28:20  And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21  So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

The word “Bethel” is the first reference in the scripture of a manmade type of dwelling for God. No physical creation or manmade structure on earth can actually contain God, but this is how God, through the physical, wants us to understand something much deeper and more intimately about his intentions with His elect firstly, and with the rest of humanity (Rom 1:20). These are Solomon’s words written down to show us the intimate relationship between heaven and where God resides in His elect, as God has no desire to dwell in physical buildings (Deu 10:14; Psa 139:7-10; 1Co 3:16):

1Ki 8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

God’s focus is on spiritual intimacy with His elect in order that they indeed might be able to function to fulfill His purposes with all mankind. Mankind was first given a dwelling of flesh, which is marred or corrupted in the hand of the Potter (also called a “vessel unto dishonour”), before He makes us into a “vessel unto honour” which is our new resurrected dwelling in spirit:

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.

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Many earthly details of the physical “house of God” are given in the Old Testament which also helps us to see this spiritual process of sanctification in the hearts and lives of God’s elect in this age. We see a God that is meticulously at work, if we look at the specifics and details in the materials used in these buildings and also the specialized functions of those who were attached to these structures, among others (Exo 35:21; 1Co 10:11; Eph 2:10). The overall emphasis with the purpose and functions in these structures was on holiness and proper functionality. Not even slight deviations from His instructions were tolerated by God (Exo 15:26):

1Ki 6:11 And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
1Ki 6:12 Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
1Ki 6:13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

We see this single-mindedness also now in the life of Jacob and especially after this ordeal with the city of Shechem. Jacob is now taking stricter leadership in terms of holiness within his own family before they travelled to Bethel:

Gen 35:2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
Gen 35:3  And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

Jacob is cleaning his house of all idols – those who are visible and those who are hidden. Before we can enter the house of God, there is a cleansing process which needs to be completed through the symbolic seven vials in our lives:

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.

Those who preach a secret rapture out of these plagues are busy with a contaminated and twisted gospel. As these old covenant sanctuaries with all their manifold offerings were given to the nation of Israel in their years of wanderings and being taken captive to experience all the heartache and pain, so they all reveal our own story and process of sanctification. Those who keep the way of God must enter through the flaming trials and plagues to enter to God’s paradise (Gen 3:24; Act 14:22; 1Co 3:12-15; Heb 10:14; 1Pe 4:12-17; Rev 1:1-3). Like Jacob is now doing to his household, so Christ cleanses His elected spiritual household through His flaming sword – His Word (Mat 21:12-17):

Mat 3:12  Whose [Christ’s] fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Everyone in Jacob’s household listened to him and brought their strange gods to him to dispose of under an oak tree in Shechem. The name “Shechem” means “shoulder” which is the part of the body that relates to “the place of burdens”. Shechem was indeed a place of burdens for Jacob, and here under this tree in Shechem he covered or buried these “strange gods” of his family in order to move forward in love and forgiveness:

Gen 35:4  And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

It was here where all the outward and physical images of their native region in Haran, Mesopotamia (spiritually referring to Babylon), were taken away from the family of Jacob, including the family gods which Rachel had stolen from her father, Laban (Gen 31:19; Gen 31:32-35). The family of Jacob left all their “former conversations”, even as the true house of God in this age is putting off their old corrupt man of flesh and its deceit:

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

This brings the fear of God on those around us as they witness this powerful change from our “former conversation”. This fear of God is our protection from the fear of men, and this is what we also witness in the life of Jacob and those who were with him:

Gen 35:5  And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
Gen 35:6  So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
Gen 35:7  And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Another oak tree is then mentioned, but this time this tree is in Bethel, the house of God:

Gen 35:8  But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

The scriptures do not mention the death of Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, but only her gravesite is stated (Gen 49:31). The death of her nurse, Deborah, who was now buried here at Bethel, is specifically mentioned (Gen 24:59). Jacob’s links and memories with his old life and the world outside Canaan, even his part in Rebekah’s deceit, are also being detached in this way. We, as the elect of God, do not dwell on past failures and deceit we ourselves participated in or had to endure on our road to spiritual maturity (Eph 2:2-3):

Isa 43:18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

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.

The name of this tree in Bethel was Allonbachuth, which comes from two Hebrew words “allôn” which means “oak” and “bâkûth” which means “weeping”. This “oak of weeping” all sets the scene for the bitter trials the house of Jacob is yet to face. It is when we are given to see that we are the house of God and the heaven He dwells in that we are taken through much more intense judgment, knowing there is a joy-filled purpose to God’s judgment. We learn so much more of God and His righteousness through the death of our old man (Isa 26:9; 1Pe 4:17; Heb 9:27):

Jas 1:2 (BBE) Let it be all joy to you, my brothers, when you undergo tests of every sort;
Jas 1:3 (BBE) Because you have the knowledge that the testing of your faith gives you the power of going on in hope;
Jas 1:4 (BBE) But let this power have its full effect, so that you may be made complete, needing nothing.

Here in Bethel God confirmed His promises to Jacob:

Gen 35:9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
Gen 35:10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
Gen 35:11  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Gen 35:12  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
Gen 35:13  And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

The drink offering

A second aspect mentioned here in Genesis 35, which helps us to appreciate the process of sanctification in our lives, is what Jacob did after God confirmed His commitment to Jacob or Israel here in Bethel:

Gen 35:14  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
Gen 35:15  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

The drink offering relates to our attitude while going through judgment and trials. When we know that we are judged by God, we also know that every son whom God receives is chastened of the Lord. We will not murmur as before when we in our immaturity were ignorant of the purpose of God’s wonderful works, even the evil He brings on us (Psa 107; 1Co 10:1-10). We will also respect the trials of our brethren who go through the very same fiery trials (2Co 11:1-33):

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged [Greek: “krinō”], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [Greek: “katakrinō”, a later judgment] with the world.

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:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

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.

The drink offering Jacob poured on the pillar of stone symbolizes this attitude of the acceptance of God’s love and grace even through His chastisement (Tit 2:11-12). This is the first mention of a drink offering in the scriptures, and here we are also given to know why this drink offering is important if we can appreciate the process of sanctification in our own lives. The drink offering has to do with the giving up of a life, like water or blood being spilled on the ground (2Sa 14:14; Joh 19:34). The offerings under the law of Moses also give us more important aspects relating to this offering when we are indeed in “the land of [our] habitations”:

Num 15:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 15:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

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

This drink offering in the law of offerings was usually a “third part of an hin of wine”. The number three (“third part”) is spiritually pointing to this continual process of dying daily “for a sweet savour unto the Lord”:

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

Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Wine is also a product of ripe, crushed grapes, and this gives the picture of this crushing process in our lives (Neh 15:13; Lam 2:12). Spiritually wine is a symbol of blood, which is connected to life as is also seen in these words of Jacob on his deathbed to Judah and his household, typifying the life of God’s elected rulers (Lev 17:11; Isa 63:1-3; Hos 9:2-4):

Gen 49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.

Jesus’ life was given as a drink offering as we all take part in that offering first by our rejection and denial of Him and His true doctrine at our ordained time, before we can see how we ourselves are to be the drink offering in our association with Him and His doctrine (Mat 26:27):

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.

Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The pouring of oil

Jacob also poured oil on the pillar of stone at Bethel as he did before on his way to Haran (Gen 28:18):

Gen 35:14  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

Oil is a symbol of the spirit of God, and the pure oil of God is only connected to the true house of God and the true light therein which burns always because of this oil. This oil of His Word is necessary if we are to overcome the trials which God has in His storeroom for His elect. To keep our lamps trimmed is the way of the wise in the kingdom of heaven (Exo 25:6; Lev 6:13; Mat 5:14-16; Mat 25:1-7; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:5):

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.

Psa 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Our travailing and hard labour

When Jacob and his family left Bethel to travel to Ephrath, Rachel was at that point in time pregnant with Jacob’s twelfth son, but this birth was to bring death to Rachel, Jacob’s dearly beloved wife:

Gen 35:16  And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Gen 35:17  And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Gen 35:18  And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Gen 35:19  And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
Gen 35:20  And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

Here again a pillar is featured, and the term “unto this day” in scripture wants to give us a token of this truth that sanctification is an ongoing process, even as these words from God’s mouth are fulfilled in every generation, even today in our lives:

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

The pillar of Rachel’s grave is the sure remembrance that we will indeed lose everything we became attached to in this life, and that is the only way the new man in Christ is being brought forth, symbolized by Benjamin, a type of God’s elect. For Rachel it was the son of her sorrow, which is what “Benoni” means. Our sanctification comes through the painful redemption from our old body with its carnal mind which is experienced as very strong and stubborn, yet God’s elect is given the strength of Christ in them to overcome everything (Jer 31:11-15; Rev 13:4; Php 4:13). For Jacob this son was the son on the right hand which is what the name “Benjamin” means as he represents the elect of God, Christ and His Christ, which is born through much tribulation only (Mat 2:1-18):

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.

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

The Spiritual Significance of Biblical Locations – Part 3
The Spiritual Significance of Biblical Locations – Part 7
Building the House of God
The Drink Offering
Numbers in Scripture – Three, The Process of Spiritual Completion
Awesome Hands – Part 24: Arise, Go Up to Bethel
The Wise Took Oil

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