[Study Aired May 29, 2022]

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
Jer 40:7  Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Jer 40:8  Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jer 40:9  And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Jer 40:10  As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.
Jer 40:11  Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
Jer 40:12  Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
Jer 40:13  Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
Jer 40:14  And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

It is a sad day in the lives of God’s elect when the Lord uses evil men to rightly instruct His very elect. That is what we will see in this 40^th chapter of Jeremiah. Just as Pharaoh and Abimelech were used by the Lord to correct and instruct Abraham, when Abraham denied His wife to save his own life, and just as the Lord used Abimelech to instruct Isaac, when Isaac followed in His father’s footsteps and denied that Rebekah was his wife, even now a pagan ‘captain of the guard’ of Nebuchadnezzar’s army tells the prophet Jeremiah why the Lord delivered Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon.

Gen 12:18  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

Gen 20:9  Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
Gen 20:10  And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

Gen 26:9  And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

The Lord is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and His will is to judge and destroy the marred vessel which He made first of clay. He made it to be destroyed though His judgments:

Psa 9:16  The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

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

Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

While there are always rebels in every country, Judah and Jerusalem are at this point a part of the Babylonian empire, and Gedaliah, a friend of Jeremiah, is also a friend of this world. So, Jeremiah has made friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, and the Lord is making even His enemies to live at peace with him:

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Luk 16:9  And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

This ‘Gedaliah’ is the grandson of a trusted scribe named Shaphan, who read the book of the law which Hilkiah the high priest found in the neglected house of the Lord. This all took place many years earlier at the beginning of the prophet Jeremiah’s service to the Lord for his own nation of Judah:

2Ki 22:8  And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
2Ki 22:9  And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.
2Ki 22:10  And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

When King Josiah heard the words of the law, he was sorely distressed because he realized just how far Judah had drifted away from the words of the law of Moses. So, he sent Hilkiah the high priest and Shaphan the scribe’s son, Ahikam and Ahikam’s father, Shaphan and two other men, Achbor and Asahiah, to Huldah the prophetess who “dwelt in Jerusalem in the college” to “enquire of the Lord” concerning what Josiah had heard read from the book of the law by Shaphan the king’s scribe.

2Ki 22:11  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
2Ki 22:12  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,
2Ki 22:13  Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
2Ki 22:14  So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.

Jeremiah had not yet been made manifest as the Lord’s certified prophet, but Huldah the prophetess delivered to the king the same message of judgment which Jeremiah would later deliver to his own people:

2Ki 22:15  And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
2Ki 22:16  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
2Ki 22:17  Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
2Ki 22:18  But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
2Ki 22:19  Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.
2Ki 22:20  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

So, this ‘Gedaliah’, whom King Nebuchadnezzar has made governor over Judah, is a long-time friend of Jeremiah. It was ‘Gedeliah’s father, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, King Josiah’s scribe, who had saved Jeremiah’s life when the people wanted to put him to death because He faithfully reported to the people what the Lord had told him to tell them. What the Lord told Jeremiah to tell the people was that if they did not repent of their rebellious ways the Lord would destroy the nation of Judah.

Let’s refresh our memory of what Jeremiah had prophesied nearly two decades before the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar:

Jer 26:1  In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
Jer 26:2  Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:

This threat against the life of Jeremiah, the Lord’s prophet, takes place “in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim” who reigned eleven years:

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.

Jer 26:1  In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,

Jer 26:7  So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
Jer 26:8  Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
Jer 26:9  Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

The patriotic people of Judah would have killed Jeremiah if he had not made to himself friends of the unrighteous mammon of this world in the person of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, the kings scribe:

Jer 26:24  Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

It is this ‘Ahikam’, who was prominent in the court of wicked King Jehoiakim, whose son, Gedaliah, has now been instituted by King Nebuchadnezzar as the governor of Judah, ending the physical Davidic line of succession to the throne of the kingdom of Judah.

Gedaliah was a friend of Jeremiah, but like King Josiah a few decades earlier, he did not see the need to inquire of the Lord in all of his ways, and as we will see in our next study, he paid with his life for not doing so.

Here is the story leading up to Gedaliah’s death:

Jer 40:7  Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Jer 40:8  Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jer 40:9  And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Jer 40:10  As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

The Lord had given Nebuchadnezzar the wisdom to pick Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, the scribe of righteous King Josiah, to be governor over the people of Judah. It was indeed a good choice because all the people and their leaders rallied around him:

Jer 40:11  Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
Jer 40:12  Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

It is part of our self-righteous, iniquitous nature to want to be near the things of the Lord, while at the same time refusing to submit to His words. Multitudes followed the Lord and listened to His parables, and ate His loaves and fishes and called Him ‘Lord’, but they still refused to do the things He told them to do.

The Lord’s words here are addressed to us and not to those who are not even given eyes that see or ears that hear:

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

One of the things the Lord requires of us is that we never lean to our own understanding and that rather we acknowledge Him in all our ways:

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Gedaliah typifies us after the Lord has begun His judgment upon His own house, because Judah has already been carried away to Babylon. Even then, he did not seek counsel from the Lord in His dealings with his subordinates:

Jer 40:13  Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
Jer 40:14  And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

Let’s not forget that all these “captains of the forces that were in the fields and all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries” are the very people who refused to obey the Lord’s words by the mouth of His prophet, Jeremiah:

Jer 38:17  Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
Jer 38:18  But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

Going forth to the king of Babylon’s princes signifies that we have acknowledged our transgression, and that we now welcome the Lord’s impending judgment. Isaiah had prophesied of this stage of our walk over seven decades earlier:

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

We are often self-righteously willing to forgo judgment on ourselves and on others. The Lord’s judgments just seem so lacking in mercy to us. However, the next verse of Isaiah 26 tells us what we will do if we are not judged in this present time:

Isa 26:10  Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

The Lord has indeed shown favor to those who escaped their Babylonian captivity, but the fact remains that they must be judged:

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?

These Jewish refugees who fled their own judgment “will… not learn righteousness”, as Isaiah prophesied. Even “in the land of uprightness will [they… me and you] deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord” until the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled in our lives:

Isa 26:11  LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
Isa 26:12  LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

“You have wrought all our works in us…” good and evil:

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither [“sold into Egypt” (vs 4)], but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart [our hearts] is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

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

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

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

If the Lord has predestinated us to be His first fruit elect, then there is simply no way we will be given to eat of the tree of Life, the doctrine and mind of Christ, without first going through the fiery sword which is in the hand of the Cherubims which are guarding the way of the tree of life:

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Enduring the fiery trials the Lord has predestined for us is “the way of the Tree of Life”.

Luk 12:49  I have come to throw fire on the earth. I wish that it had already started!
Luk 12:50  I have a baptism to go through, and I will suffer until it is over. (GW)

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

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:

These Jewish refugees symbolize us while we live under the illusion that Christ’s sufferings take the place of ours, and we need not suffer the Lord’s judgments upon the kingdom of our old man. As such we see no need to inquire of the Lord because we think we have escaped His chastening hand.

As we will see in our next study, Gedaliah, a type of that part of our “experience of evil” paid with his life because He thought he could avoid the judgments of the Lord:

Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

It is only when we come out of Babylon that we begin to develop the ability to discern spirits. Gedaliah is not capable of discerning the Truth in the words of Johanan, nor the murderous spirit in Ishmael. Johanan, as we will see, cannot hear the voice of the Lord, but the Lord has made him to know that Ishmael is in the service of the enemies of the people of the Lord.

Johanan, the son of Kareah, signifies our self-righteous old man who believes he can preserve the Lord’s kingdom without “going forth to the princes of Babylon” and without acknowledging his transgressions:

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

‘Going forth to the princes of Babylon’ signifies that we understand that no man can enter the temple in heaven until the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled:

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

“No man was able to enter into the temple” means that all those who think they can escape the seven plagues of the seven angels, typified by the Lord’s judgment upon His people, are in for a rude awakening, as we will see in our next study. In chapter 41 we will see this unrepentant remnant has no intention of fearing the Lord more than they fear men. They are not given to hear the voice of the Lord through His servant and His proven prophet, Jeremiah.

These remnant Jews typify us while we presumptuously think we can avoid the Lord’s judgments upon us for our own rebellious ways. Whether it was our belief in the false doctrine of a so-called ‘rapture’ or a ‘place of safety’, both teach that we can avoid having the Lord to pour out the seven plagues of His wrath upon our rebellious sinful ways, and the Lord is having nothing to do with such lies:

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Amo 3:8  The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

The Lord’s prophets all say the same thing. They all teach that the Lord is in the process of judging His creatures, beginning at His own house:

Jer 25:15  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18  To wit, [first] Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
Jer 25:19  Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

All nations will drink of the cup of the Lord’s wrath, but He begins inwardly at His own house, “Jerusalem and the cities of Judah”. That inward beginning does not exclude an outward dispensational fulfillment of these words. Christ came in the flesh before He comes to us inwardly in the spirit:

1Ti 3:14  These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
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.
1Ti 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Jeremiah 25 demonstrates that the Lord will judge and punish all nations on the face of this earth, but He will begin that judgment with “the city which is called by My name” and they “shall not be unpunished”. There will be no ‘rapture’ or ‘a place of safety’ from His wrath, and a million sermons from 40,000 plus Christian denominations will not deter His chastening scourging judgment upon those whom He loves:

Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

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?

Peter sums up the order in which the Lord will judge all mankind with these words:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17  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?

The chapters of Jeremiah are telling us of the fate of those who think they can avoid the judgment of God by fleeing from that judgment. When we refuse to go out to the princes of Babylon, we will discover soon enough that “[we] shall surely drink of that cup” as we will see in the ensuing chapters of the Word of the Lord at the mouth of Jeremiah. We all, by nature go back into the world to avoid the Lord’s judgment, but the Lord will send “[His] servant” to find us there and see to it that “no man [can] enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels [are] fulfilled” (Rev 15:8). This is all repeating what the Lord told Jeremiah earlier in:

Jer 27:5  I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
Jer 27:6  And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
Jer 27:7  And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Jer 27:8  And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
Jer 27:9  Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
Jer 27:10  For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
Jer 27:11  But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

What we do and what we did when we believed in the false doctrine of a secret rapture or a place of safety was really nothing more than returning to Egypt. Returning to Egypt typifies returning to this world instead of being submissive to the instrument of the Lord’s judgments upon our transgressions. This is what happens to us when we do that:

Jer 46:19  O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
Jer 46:20  Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
Jer 46:21  Also her [Egypt’s] hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
Jer 46:22  The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
Jer 46:23  They [Nebuchadnezzar’s army] shall cut down her forest [the men of Egypt], saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
Jer 46:24  The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
Jer 46:25  The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
Jer 46:26  And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
Jer 46:27  But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer 46:28  Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee [with His elect]; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

Isa 32:1-8 By Liberal Things Shall He Stand

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Isa 32:1-8 By Liberal Things Shall He Stand

Isa 32:1  Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
Isa 32:2  And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Isa 32:3  And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
Isa 32:4  The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
Isa 32:5  The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
Isa 32:6  For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
Isa 32:7  The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
Isa 32:8  But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

Isaiah 30 and 31 make it very clear that we are all, by nature, rebellious against the mind and the laws of God. Even after we come out of the world we want to return to Egypt and rely on the world for our strength:

Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Isa 30:3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

Isa 31:1  Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

In this chapter we are given the cure for our rebellious nature:

Isa 32:1  Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

Inwardly the "King [who] reigns in righteousness" is Christ within us, destroying the old man of sin within us and ruling over the kingdom of God which is increasing as the kingdom of our old man is decreasing within us in down-payment form at this time:

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

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

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

It is not just anyone who "rules in judgment". The only people who "rule in judgment" are those who are blessed to be those "who first trusted in Christ" and who will be in the "blessed and holy first resurrection". They alone "rule in judgment". That judgment begins now within, judging themselves while in bodies of "mortal flesh", as opposed to being judged after being "raised a spiritual body" and being "condemned with the world" to the second death:

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.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

It is God's elect who "have this treasure in earthen vessels... in our mortal flesh". There is neither "earthen vessels" nor "mortal flesh" in the second death. Those who are granted to rule with Christ for a thousand years are "raised a spiritual body" having already been judged while they were in bodies of "mortal flesh". Those who are ruling with Christ during the thousand year reign have already overcome the wicked one while yet in earthen vessels of mortal flesh. If that were not the case they would not have been in the first resurrection. None of these things can be said of those who are raised a spiritual body which comes forth to judgment. None of these blessing bestowed upon those who are given to be in the "bless and holy... first resurrection" are bestowed upon them because of anything they did of themselves. It is all done "after the counsel of His own will". (Eph 1:11)

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

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

Not just anyone is predestinated to "be the firstborn among many brothers". Those over whom the second death has power are not nor ever will be "the firstborn among many brothers... also glorified" above their firstborn brothers. It is not possible to be both the firstborn among many, and also be the many who are not firstborn. Nothing is more basic to the promises of scriptures than the doctrine of a predestinated firstborn, who is rejected and hated of His brothers, all "according to [the Lord's] own purpose" to use the firstborn as the saviors of the many brothers. "Firstborn" is a spiritual word which means the Lord's few elect who will indeed be the first to be "born of the spirit" into "the redemption of the purchased possession", the resurrection of life, the "inheritance" of a kingdom reserved for the firstborn of God.

Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;

Now let's read the words before and after that verse and discover what it means to have a kingdom appointed to us:

Luk 22:28  Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.
Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
Luk 22:30  That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Those who continue with Christ in His trials are those who obey His words and who do the things He tells us to do in this life. Christ's trials were in a body of "mortal flesh.. made of a woman, made under the law... of the seed of Abraham." The scriptures make that very important distinction. It is presented to us as if it were a much greater struggle than "the nature of angels":

Heb 2:16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

It is those few who are given to overcome in this age while struggling against both "mortal flesh [and] the wicked one" who are "appointed a kingdom". Those who "come forth to judgment" are not "appointed a kingdom [to] judge the twelve tribes of Israel". Those who come forth to judgment do so in "the nature of angels" as "a spiritual body".

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.

Being judged while in "a natural body" is much to be preferred to being judged in "a spiritual body" at "the resurrection of judgment" (Joh 5:28-29). The positive application of "the twelve tribes of Israel" is the judgment which begins at the house of God in this age.

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

The negative application of the twelve tribes of Israel is as "the camp of Israel" which is forbidden to touch the holy things within the temple of God or to eat at the altar of the kings and priests who are made to reign with Christ over the twelve tribes. It is Israel who is first in opposing their Savior, thereby symbolizing the whole rebellious world yet to be judged in the second death.

Isa 32:1  Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

Here is another way of describing these "princes":

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

All things are being worked after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). Nevertheless, scripturally it is "those who first trusted in Christ" who are predestinated to be "also glorified... unto the praise of His glory":

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

The love and compassion shown by Joseph to his brothers, who had despised and rejected him, is described in our next verse:

Isa 32:2  And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

This is a perfect description for how Christ has dealt with each of us. In our own time we have all hated and despised the mind of Christ. We have all denied we ever knew Him, and when our shame is revealed to us, we are definitely in need of a "hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, water in a dry place, [and] as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

Mat 26:75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

The night of Christ's apprehension by the Jews and the following morning were without a doubt the most miserable times of Peter's life, but it was at the same time the best day of Peter's life because it was the beginning of Peter being able to see himself and the whole world through the eyes and through the understanding of Christ:

Isa 32:3  And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

This is how Christ repeats the message of this verse:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

"The eyes of them that see" do so only because "it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven", and the only reason all the others do not see is that "to them it is not given".

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

We just naturally think that our own self-righteous deeds somehow make God indebted to us to bless us. Self-righteousness is the most insidious of sins, as demonstrated in Job 29 and in these New Testament verses:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

When we, like Job and like Peter, are brought face to face with our own self-righteous, rebellious old man within us, then judgment has begun at the house of God, and then we can say:

Isa 32:4  The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
Isa 32:5  The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

We justify our sins and count ourselves as doing the Lord a service even as we destroy His people within and without in committing our sins:

Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Joh 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

We are really just serving our own flesh, Egypt, the world which is still within us. Our most natural desire to trust in Egypt will, in time, bring us to regret that we did so as it did Peter. But 'trusting in Egypt' is not so easy to discern spiritually for a babe in Christ as we are clearly told:

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
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.

Any parent knows that an immature child cannot discern milk from strong meat. Everything that comes along is put straight into a baby's mouth. It takes "them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" to discern what is good spiritual food for the Lord's flock. None of us is an authority in spiritual matters unto himself. That is the very meaning of "the body is one body but many members':

1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1Co 12:15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
1Co 12:16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
1Co 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
1Co 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

This 14th verse of Hebrews 5 indicates that our past understanding of "if they do not  hear the church" has been in grave error. We now understand by the principle of "the sum of thy word", by putting Matthew 18:15-17 together with Hebrews 5:12-14, 1Corinthians 3:1-4 and Paul's words to the Corinthians, which we will read below, that carnal babes are not commissioned to "discern both good and evil" in complicated doctrinal matters. It was the elders who made such decisions. That is true in Matthew 18:15-18. That is what was done in Acts 15, and that is true here in Hebrews 5.

This was the spiritual state of the church in Corinth:

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

The immature church in Corinth could not bring themselves to do so much as put out of their midst a blatant fornicator. Had that matter have been taken to the church without the admonition of the elders such as Paul, that fornicator would have been voted most popular, and the Corinthians would have continued to stay puffed up over their supposed 'loving' tolerance of his fornication in their midst. Let's read what kind of fruit was produced by letting the church decide how we ought to deal with either physical or spiritual fornication:

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

We will be ashamed of trusting in ourselves, which is trusting in Egypt and leaning to our own understanding. That is the exact opposite of trusting in the Lord and being obedient to His Words. An example is our current trial. If we reject "a multitude of counselors", as many have done, we are simply 'returning to Egypt', and it has brought us to shame. It is the word of the Lord which instructs us that our safety is in a multitude of counselors. The apostles agreed to the counselors in Jerusalem and lived for many years by that counsel. It is by the Lord's design Samson's parents gave their son a Philistine wife, and it was by the Lord's design that the apostles all lived under the law of Moses, making blood sacrifices and taking vows and keeping holy days, for many long years after the death and resurrection of Christ and after the giving of the holy spirit. This was all done as seemed good to the holy spirit for that time:

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

It was the holy spirit who determined that the Jewish part of the body of Christ could not yet at that time receive the words of Peter right there in Acts 15:

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

In a letter to the Gentile part of the body of Christ at that time, the Gentiles were informed that only the Jews needed to keep the law of Moses. But it was also the holy spirit which opened the eyes of the apostles themselves, as a multitude of counselors, to later acknowledge the truth of Peter's words when many years later the holy spirit inspired Paul to affirm Peter's words in Acts 15 in his epistle to the Ephesians:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Both in Acts 15 and in Ephesians 2, along with "the sum of [God's] Word, it was by the multitude of counselors the Lord's purposes were established. It was and it is by that same multitude of counselors that the apostles waged spiritual warfare, and it is only by the multitude of counselors that we have any spiritual safety today.

But if and when we reject the Lord's words, we will be brought to shame, and these are the Lord's words which will keep us from being brought to shame. Three times we are told all the benefits of seeking to know the Lord's mind through "a multitude of counselors":

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

These are first and foremost words of instruction to the kingdom of God within us. They are instructing us on how we are to establish purposes, make war and keep the Lord's flock safe from the snares of the wicked one. Peter and Paul were of the same mind, and in time, the words of Peter became the words of other apostles.

Here is just how aligned with the mind of Paul was the apostle Peter:

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Peter did not align himself with Phygellus, Hermogenes, Alexander and Hymaneaus and Philetus. Both Peter and John heard the voice of Christ in the words of Paul, even though they were a 180 degree change in doctrine.

If we are given to accept the new doctrine of Christ, then we are given to see how the holy spirit has always waited to give greater revelation, which at times contradicted earlier revelation. It is only with this knowledge that we can acknowledge the reformation of our Lord who told Moses "save alive nothing that breathes" and then reformed those words into "love thine enemies". These words were both spoken by the same Lord:

The law of Moses:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Christ's new doctrine in "the times of reformation":

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

Heb 9:7  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8  The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

The congregation, the camp of Israel, was not permitted to handle the holy things of the temple. The camp of Korah wanted to do so to the extent they turned on Moses and Aaron, and would have taken over the leadership of the Lord's people had the Lord not stepped in when He did and made the earth to swallow up those who opposed His ways and those who had opposed the God-given leadership of Israel. That is exactly what has happened in our midst of late. The Lord Himself is working to keep His people from returning to Egypt by giving up their crown of life and denying that the second death has no power over them. It was the Lord who stepped in and brought those heresies out into the open to be swallowed up by the earth.

Here is just how much the Lord, until this very day, distinguishes between those who can enter into the holy place and those to whom that honor is not given:

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Heresies brought into our midst are simply "they [who] have no right to eat" with us at our altar.

The obvious contradictions in the two Testaments served to help the Jews turn the multitudes against Christ, in spite of all of Christ's miracles and healings. To this day the multitudes hear the gospel, but very few indeed are given to accept a message from a God who tells one generation to hate its enemies and then tells the next generation to love its enemies. In the same manner, the holy spirit led the apostles to keep the law of Moses for many years after the death and resurrection of Christ and then the same spirit had them to reform their doctrine to say the exact opposite and tell the Jewish Christians that they no longer needed to offer blood offerings, pay tithes, keep holidays or consider themselves as in any way being different from the Gentile believers.

It was all foretold by the Lord Himself:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

The principle of these words apply to all  of us as we "grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord" day by day. The wicked one will have us to believe that we are being carried about by every wind of doctrine when we turn away from the law of Moses, the law of the Gentiles and turn to the law of the Christ and the law of the spirit. Our friends and families will forsake us when we give up the doctrines of the trinity, the immortality of the soul, and its attendant doctrine of eternal torment and all the other doctrines of Babylon. That same evil spirit will also try to convince us that when we make needed corrections in our doctrine, we are being led astray of the adversary. But Christ's sheep know His voice, and a stranger they will not follow.

Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Even when we come out of Babylon we are still facing even more insidious false doctrines, emanating from within our very midst, which are called in the scriptures "heresies", and we are told that they are actually needful for the purpose of manifesting who is and who is not "approved among you":

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

This brings us to our next verse here in Isaiah:

Isa 32:6  For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

Heresies appeal to many, as the heresy of Korah and the 250 elders appealed to "the whole congregation, as Korah "uttered error against the Lord" in accusing Moses and Aaron of "taking too much upon themselves":

Num 16:1  Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
Num 16:2  And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

How very familiar are the words, "Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?" Is that not exactly what has taken place in our very midst? The faithful among the Lord's people are always accused of the same thing, and it is always justified in the same way... "the congregation is holy, every one of them... why then do you lift up yourselves above the congregation?" This is the exact same spirit which had raised its ugly head in Israel just a few months earlier when Miriam and Aaron had done the very same thing to the Lord in rejecting the leadership the Lord had ordained:

Num 12:1  And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Num 12:2  And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.
Num 12:3  (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

"The man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth", and yet the accusation against him is the same. Moses is falsely accused of exalting himself above others simply because the Lord did not place the others above Moses.

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram took 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation who were men of renown, and they took it upon themselves to falsely accuse the leader the Lord had given them of exalting himself above the people, claiming that everyone was just as qualified as Moses was to lead the Lord's people. It is obvious that none of these men were perceived by the  people as being churlish or evil or guilty of devising wicked devices which would destroy the poor with lying words. Nevertheless, this is exactly what took place when Korah and company falsely accused the leaders whom the Lord had placed over His flock:

Isa 32:7  The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

The true shepherds of the Lord's flock are not taken away "with lying words". The net effect of Korah's message was that all the congregation were on the same spiritual level. Does that not have a very familiar ring to it? Is that not the exact same message being foisted off on the Lord's flock by those who want to take our crown and give it to those over whom the second death is given power? Is that not the exact same spirit which teaches us that "the rest of the dead" are sins which still dominate the lives of the Lord's elect who are given to reign with Him during the millennium? Korah and company were promising all of Israel liberty from the leadership of Moses and Aaron who were in reality mere instruments in the Lord's hands to be a very liberal and generous blessing to all Israel.

So it is to this very day:

Isa 32:8  But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

The Lord's true shepherds want nothing more than to be a blessing to His flock. We constantly remind you:

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

We are quick to admonish us all to be aware that the devil is at large and wants nothing more than to rob the Lord's elect of the crown of life they have been given. Notice our crown of life is twice mentioned as something to be highly prized, and not to be considered as something which is being given to just everyone:

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

Just as the Lord distinguished between Moses and Aaron and Korah and company, His promises also distinguish between those who are favored as His people today. Look at what is promised to those whom He gives to overcome the wicked one in  this age. Notice carefully what the devil attempts to do to the Lord's flock, and notice also the promises given to those who overcome the wicked one in this age:

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

In both of these churches, the purveyors of heresy are called "the synagogue of Satan", and we are told they want to take our crown from us. Like Korah saying 'the congregation is holy every one of them', that is exactly the same effect the false doctrine that those in the second death will experience the first resurrection has upon us today. It takes our crown of life and gives it to "every one of them" in the whole congregation of those over whom the second death is given power.

That is exactly what we are told the synagogue of Satan will attempt to do. It is the synagogue of Satan which wants to take our crown of life, and give it to everyone in the second death. I will conclude by pointing out that another thing the synagogue of Satan is doing is denying that we will not be hurt of the second death.

The voice of the True shepherd is a liberal, gracious voice with promises to the overcomers which make the sufferings of this present age pale in comparison to the glory to be revealed in the Lord's faithful elect overcomers of this age:

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

This promise will never be made to those who are hurt of the second death. They will be given life, but they will never know "the glory which shall be revealed in us" if we are those few by whom the Lord "in the ages to come [will] show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward US through Christ Jesus".

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

These are just some of the very "liberal" words which are for those who are suffering in "this present time". It is not for those over whom the second death is given power. Truly the Lord intends to show all men of all time just how special to Him are His elect overcomers of this age.

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will continue our study of this 32nd chapter of Isaiah with these verses of warning against the churches which are at ease:

Isa 32:9  Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
Isa 32:10  Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
Isa 32:11  Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
Isa 32:12  They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
Isa 32:13  Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Isa 32:14  Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Isa 32:15  Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
Isa 32:16  Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
Isa 32:17  And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
Isa 32:18  And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
Isa 32:19  When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
Isa 32:20  Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 42 Discussion

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Isa 9:5-7 Of The Increase of His Government and Peace There Shall Be No End

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

As always we want to make the connections which the scriptures themselves make. In this case the first word of today's study connects our verses for today with last week's verses. So let's put them all together and see what we are being told:

Isa 9:2  The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Isa 9:3  Thou hast multiplied the nation, and [...] increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
Isa 9:4  For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of [the battle of] Midian.
Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

That is our message with all the verses put together. What we are being told is that "great light has [been] seen [only by] the people who [have been made to know they] walked in darkness. Only upon those who 'dwell in the shadow of death has this light shined', and it has brought them great joy "according to the joy in harvest and as men rejoicing when they divide the spoil" of a great battle.  It is through this great battle, that the "yoke... the staff and the rod of [our] oppressor... has been broken" by the Lord Himself. It is broken by a spiritual battle which is typified by symbolic "burning and fuel of fire", as opposed to the "confused noise, and garments rolled in blood", which typify a physical battle of literal warriors. This great battle is capable of being waged "with burning and fuel of fire [because] unto us a child is born... and the government shall be on His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Christ has made it clear that it is of utmost importance that we realize that the light of God comes only to those who have been brought to know they are blind and in deep darkness. He makes that very clear by telling us, and the man who was born blind and whom He had healed of that blindness, these words:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye [realized you] were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Now, through the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul, Christ tells all of us:

Act 26:16   ...rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power [the lies] of Satan unto [the truths of] God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

To those who have been given to realize they were born blind, Christ has multiplied His kingdom, and He increases the joy of all those who have received His kingdom within them. We are told that the joy we have in Him and in His kingdom within us is the joy that is experienced in the harvest and in taking the spoils of a great battle against a great oppressor. That oppressor is the great darkness we are given to understand we are in while we are living in and by the false doctrines of the great harlot and her many daughter harlots, who have long ago let it be known they fear and want to please men more than God.

Both 'the harvest' and 'the battle' are Biblical types of the day of our judgment and the destruction of the kingdom of our rebellious, dying man of sin, our old man:

Rev 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Rev 14:16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

Rev 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.

Only after "the battle of that great day" is engaged does our 'earth' (Jer 22:29) begin to be harvested.

A different kind of battle

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

"The battle of that great day of God Almighty" will be different from all other physical battles. Here is the difference in the form of the weapons of our warfare and the weapons of those who "war after the flesh":

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) ["with {spiritual} burning and fuel of {spiritual} fire"]
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Paul repeats this message in:

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" describes the type of battle which "is [not] with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but [is] with burning and fuel of fire." Ours is a spiritual battle conducted "with burning and fuel of fire". The fuel which feeds that "burning... fire" is all the "wood, hay, and stubble", which are the sinful pulls of our dying flesh, along with all the false doctrines of the "beast [which] comes up out of the earth [with] two horns like a lamb, and [speaking] as a dragon" and demanding that we worship the beast which "came up out of the sea".  The fire which consumes all of our "wood, hay and stubble" is the exact same fire with which Christ baptizes us (Mat 3:11). It is the exact same fire which is in the mouths of God's elect witnesses (Rev 11:3-5). It is also the same fire which will be in the mouths of "the righteous" whose words are the fire of the lake of fire (Isa 33:14-15). That "fire" is the word of God (Jer 5:14):

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

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

Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Rev 13:11  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.

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man [Greek: anthropos - mankind]; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Speaking specifically of "every man", we are told "...he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire". The fiery word of God burns up the wood, hay and stubble of the kingdom of our old man, and through that destruction "every man... shall be saved... by fire". That explains the word "For" connecting the "battle... with burning and fuel of fire" and with our next verse. Let's keep them together so we can make that connection.

Here again is verse 5:

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

And here is verse 6 beginning with the connecting word, "For":

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The word 'For' connects a battle fought "with burning and fuel of fire" to the birth of a child upon whose shoulders all government shall rest. That this is a prophecy of Christ and His doctrine is clear because "his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

So what does the coming of Christ have to do with a "battle [being waged] with burning and fuel of fire"? The coming of Christ to this earth has everything to do with a battle being waged "with burning and fuel fire" for this reason, which reason is given to us by the man who was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." These are the words of John the baptist describing for us how Christ will perform the work His Father sent Him to accomplish:

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.

Christ tells us he came into this world for judgment, and that judgment is our baptism with the holy spirit and with fire, just as Isaiah has already informed us:

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

"The holy spirit and... fire" are one and the same because:

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.

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

It is the Word of God which baptizes all who know Christ. That is the 'fire' which will 'purge... Jerusalem'. It is the fire which is the Word of God which will cause the loss suffered by the kingdom of our old man, and in the process of that destruction that same  "fire" will save "every man" (1Co 3:13-15).

Let's take very close note of the various names given to our Lord: "...His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

"Wonderful, Counselor" tells us that Christ knows how to deal with and work with His people, and He is giving His Christ to be His own 'wonderful counsellors' by giving them to know Him and His Words:

Isa 28:27  For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isa 28:28  Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isa 28:29  This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

While we are the first to point out that "to us there is one God, the Father" (1Co 8:6), and that Christ is the first of God's creation (Rev 3:14), let  us never be guilty of denying that Christ is also "the Mighty God", as Isaiah tells us here and as Christ called Himself and as He also called us:

Joh 10:24  Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Joh 10:25  Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.
Joh 10:31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Is Christ "the mighty God"?

Those are Christ's own words. He defended His sonship in the same way He defends our own sonship. "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods." So Jesus is indeed 'God', and this is how He tells us His Father wants us to think of Him:

Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Do you want to please the Father? If indeed you want to please the Father, then "honor the Son, even as you honor the Father". Do not hesitate to call the Son "the everlasting Father", or for that matter, do not hesitate to call Christ "the Almighty". Here is what Christ told Abraham:

Gen 17:1  And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

The prophet Baalam, who King Balak, the king of Moab, hired to curse Israel, saw "the Almighty" God:

Num 24:4  He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

Most Christians believe that "the Lord" and "the Almighty" in the Old Testament speak of the Father instead of Christ. But is that what Christ tells us? No, it is not. This is what Christ does tell us:

Joh 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

But didn't some in the Old Testament at least hear the voice of the Father? What is the doctrine of Christ concerning that question? This is the doctrine of Christ:

Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

That is the doctrine of Christ because He knows He was the One who had spoken to and appeared to so many people in the Old Testament, including all the elders of Israel who came up out of Egypt.

Deu 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

And that is why Christ tells us this:

Luk 10:22  All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

No one knows "who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." Can you and I see the Father? Only if we "honor the Son" as [we] honor the Father:

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

Christ tells us plainly in Revelation that He is "the Almighty".

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.

Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Just to be completely clear, we can believe that Christ is the Lord of the Old Testament, He is the Everlasting Father, the Almighty God, and still we can confess that we believe with the apostle Paul:

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

We can agree with this statement of Paul and also agree that Christ is "the Almighty God" because we know that Christ is the Almighty over all but the throne of His Father, as is revealed to us in the story of Joseph being made king over all Egypt. Joseph had all power over all Egypt and was superior to all in Egypt. "Only in the throne" was Pharaoh greater than Joseph.

Gen 41:38  And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
Gen 41:39  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

Is Christ "the Everlasting Father"

It is generally understood that Christ, as "the Son of God", is also our elder brother, since we, too, are called "the sons of God".

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

But Isaiah clearly tells us that one of Christ's names is "the Everlasting Father". So is there a second scriptural witness that calls Christ the Father of His children? It just so happens there is such a statement, in a "line upon line, and precept upon precept" manner in scripture for those who have the eyes to see it.

This is what we are told of who is our father:

Rom 4:12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Then who does Abraham symbolize in these verses? There is no room for doubt because it is the same person whom Isaiah tells us is to be called "the Everlasting Father". This is who gave Abraham his faith, and this is "who is the [True] Father of us all".

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ's [children], then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

We are even told that we, in Christ, are "counted for a generation":

Psa 22:30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
Psa 22:31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Abraham is just the type and shadow of Christ because "the law is not of faith".

Gal 3:12  And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Christ is the true "Father of us all", and He is also "a Son... [whose] name shall be called... the Everlasting Father."

The greatness of His government over His kingdom will never end

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

It is clearly established that those who are Christ's in this age will sit with Him in His Father's throne and will rule both this world, and then afterwards they will also rule angels in the lake of fire:

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

Christ promised this honor to all His apostles:

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

This is all repeated as a promise to "he that overcometh" in Revelation 2.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

But there is a widely accepted misunderstanding of what Isaiah 9:7 actually teaches us. Several Christian denominations use the phrase, "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end" to mean there is no end to the growth of His kingdom. I personally believed that doctrine while in an organization which taught that the universe was limitless for the very purpose of fulfilling that verse of scripture. The doctrine was that everyone who was saved would, in time be made a Christ over his own planet and would be sent to die for the sins of the inhabitants of his particular planet. This scenario was to be repeated over and over for all eternity, because the scriptures teach "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end".

There is one problem with this doctrine. The fact is that the Hebrew word translated as 'increase' in the KJV is marbeh^H4766, and this Hebrew word appears only one other time in the scripture, which is:

Isa 33:23  Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great^H4766 spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

This doctrine of an ever-increasing kingdom denies that there will ever be an end to "the last enemy... death", since death would necessarily continue forever if "increase of His government" means limitless or for all eternity.

'Marbeh', according the Strong's, is from the Hebrew word rabah^H7235.

H4766
מַרְבֶה
marbeh
mar-beh'
From H7235; properly increasing; as noun, greatness, or (adverbially) greatly: - great, increase.

When we look up the word 'rabah', this is what Strong's tells us:

H7235
רָבָה
râbâh
raw-baw'
A primitive root; to increase (in whatever respect): - [bring in] abundance (X -antly), + archer [by mistake for H7232], be in authority, bring up, X continue, enlarge, excel, exceeding (-ly), be full of, (be, make) great (-er, -ly), X -ness), grow up, heap, increase, be long, (be, give, have, make, use) many (a time), (any, be, give, give the, have) more (in number), (ask, be, be so, gather, over, take, yield) much (greater, more), (make to) multiply, nourish, plenty (-eous), X process [of time], sore, store, thoroughly, very.

Here is an example of how the word 'rabah' is properly translated as 'increase':

Lev 25:15  According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
Lev 25:16  According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase [H7235, 'rabah'] the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

Pro 28:8  He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth [H7235, 'rabah'] his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

According to Leviticus 25, the value of the purchase of a piece of property depended upon how many years remained until the jubile. The value would be increased in proportion to the years remaining until the jubile. But it could not be increased without limit, or forever, as this false doctrine teaches.

Proverbs 28 states that our substance can be increased by usury and unjust gain, but in spite of how it may seem in today's world, unjust gain does have its limits, as we are just about to discover as a nation and as a planet. Sin and death do not go on forever. If that were the meaning of Isa 9:7, then these verses would be lies:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

So 'marbeh' can properly be translated as 'increase', but neither 'marbeh' nor 'rabah' are ever to be understood as unending increase for all eternity.

"Then cometh the end." There is an end of the aions! The day will come when they have fulfilled their preordained purpose, and they and death will come to "the end". For death to ever be destroyed and for God to ever become "all in all", the aions (eons) must come to their prophesied consummation, and the number of those "in Adam" who will be redeemed from death must be filled up, and "come [to] the end". There would be no need for a former resurrection followed by a millennial kingdom if "of the increase of His government... there shall be no end" means that death never ends and that flesh is never destroyed. There would be no need for a "short season" of the rebellion of all the nations "in the four quarters of the earth [to be] devoured [by] fire... from heaven", followed by a great white throne judgment in the redemptive lake of fire, if there were no end to the increase of His government.

A much better translation of the Hebrew word 'marbeh' would be 'greatness', instead of 'increase', and then Isa 9:7 would accord with the sum of God's Word concerning the unending greatness of His government and His peace.

Then Isa 9:7 would read:

Isa 9:7  Of the greatness of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

His kingdom is "henceforth even for ever [Hebrew: olawm - age], not for eternity.

Lord willing, next week we will discover how that when God first begins dragging us to Himself, we do not just naturally turn to Him, as is revealed in these verses for next week's study:

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

[The study given at the Mobile, Al conference five years ago ties in with this study (thank you, Gale!). You can reference that study here.]

Revelation 1:5 – Part 2

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Introduction

As always we will begin our study of this book with the reminder that mankind “shall… live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and mankind will “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” (Mat 4:4, Rev 1:3, Rev 22:7)

Last week we saw that Christ is the faithful witness, who “does not shun to declare to us the whole counsel of God.”

Act 20:20   … I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

Review

“All the counsel of God” includes these sad words in the very next thought:

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

This is not a message exclusive to 35-70 A. D. We are clearly warned that “wicked men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.”

2Ti 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

This was true in 35 A. D., and it is true today. The closer we get to God, the more subtle the deception becomes, in any generation since Christ. As the delusion becomes stronger, the more crucial it is to know the voice of the True Shepherd, and the greater the need becomes to remain faithful to “what is written.”

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think … above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

The first begotten of the dead

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead…

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

Now we come to “the first begotten of the dead.”  Jesus Christ and His Christ are both “the first begotten of the dead.” We are His body which is still on this earth and not yet “out of the world.”

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

So while we live in this world, we are not of this world. We are what many would call a contradiction:

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.

Well, if “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live…” does that not indicate that I, too, am risen with Christ and become with Him “the first begotten” of the dead? Do the scriptures anywhere state that we are resurrected with Christ? As a matter of fact they do say just that:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:

Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

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

So we are actually told to “reckon ourselves both dead” with Christ, and yet living “in newness of life” in Christ. Are we actually counted as firstfruits from the dead, as Christ is?

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

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

The wave sheaf of barley, at the days of unleavened bread immediately after the Passover, was the first of the firstfruits. Fifty days later was another festival which was called Pentecost. Pentecost was also called “the feast of firstfruits,” because we, the church which was established on Pentecost, were to be “a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

Rev 14:4  These [144,000] are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Lev 23:10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Lev 23:11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

“The sheaf of the firstfruits” at Passover is Christ Himself. The feast of firstfruits, fifty days later, at Pentecost, typifies Christ’s Christ, the church.

Lev 23:15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they are] the firstfruits unto the LORD.

Exo 34:18  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Exo 34:22  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks [Pentecost], of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Exo 34:23  Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel [Pentecost is called “the feast of firstfruits”].

“Thrice [three times] in the year…” includes the feast of unleavened bread [passover], the feast of weeks [Pentecost], and the feast of ingathering [tabernacles] at the year’s end. These three seasons typify the three seasons of God’s judgments and His harvest of mankind. They are the first, the barley harvest, in the spring, which typifies Christ, the first of the firstfruits, the second, the wheat harvest, in the summer, the judgment which is on the house of God, and third, the grape harvest, in the fall, when all men are raised up from among the dead and are judged and cleansed in the white throne judgment/lake of fire.

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

So while our Head certainly does have the preeminence in all things, we are still “as he is… the first begotten of the dead and the firstfruits of them that slept.”

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

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

“The prince of the kings of the earth…”

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth…

Rev 6:2  And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Rev 19:16  And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

As always, Christ has the preeminence. In Christ, we, too, live these words and rule over the kings of this earth.

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

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

Over whom will we be reigning?

Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

The Lord’s Christ will reign over these kings.

Act 4:25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said [in Psalm 2], Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

These are words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God, and they will not pass away. They will be just as applicable at the end of the millennium and in the lake of fire as they were when they were first written and as they are today.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years [Over the kings of this world].
Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive [the kings of] the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Clearly “the Lords anointed” will be ‘princes of the kings of the earth.’

“Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Even the Concordant version retains the structure of this verse which has it saying “from Jesus Christ … Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” I have no problem with everything being of God through Christ and to Christ and for Christ, so that God is working of, by, through and for Christ.  As blasphemous as it may sound to so many, here is what the scriptures teach:

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

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Somehow we read those words and manage in our Babylonian minds to leave out the one most common ‘thing’ in the world, which is sin. Even many who declare God to be totally sovereign, struggle to accept verses like these:

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

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

We all tend to want to ask, “Which evils in the city? Surely the Lord has not done that evil!” Yet He is not hesitant in the least to let us know that when evil occurs, He does not ‘allow’ it, as we mean that word. He actually facilitates evil, even as both the Greek word translated ‘allow’ is defined:

Luk 11:48  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow⁴⁹⁰⁹ [Greek: suneudokeō, allow, be pleased ] the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

G4909
συνευδοκεω
suneudokeo
soon- yoo- dok- eh’- o
From G4862 and G2106; to think well of in common, that is, assent to, feel gratified with: – allow, assent, be pleased, have pleasure.

How many people can comprehend the meaning of this statement:

Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

We simply cannot accept the fact that God is pleased to destroy our flesh, but such is the case. Our physical bodies are “bodies of death”, and they must be destroyed.

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Flesh is conceived in sin simply by virtue of being made naked, of dust, marred in the Potter’s hand, because it is a vessel of dying clay instead of a purified, life-giving spirit, “conformed to the image of our Lord.”

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Who did God foreknow?

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

God foreknows everyone, and at the appointed time all will be “redeemed by His blood.”

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

This is a most basic truth, and yet it is so little believed. “As in Adam” we were all “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin… SO in Christ, will all be made alive.” Again we want to ask, “How much so?” and again the answer is the same, “All things are of God… who works all things after the counsel of His own will” (1Co 11:12, Rom 11:36, Eph 1:11), and it is His will to save all men of all time in the whole world:

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

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

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

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.

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.

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

All of the interlinears have no numbers for the words  “unto Him that…” The Greek is simply the word “agapao” Strong’s number G25. So even though most of the translations retain the structure of “From Jesus Christ… Unto Him that loved us…” it seems that the Catholic, Dowey-Rhimes Bible has the best take on this verse:

(DRB)  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth, who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood

We have seen how this verse has made Christ the center of all God is doing, and that in Him and Him in us we, too, as His Christ, are “faithful witnesses… a kind of firstfruits and through His shed blood.” We, too, can die daily with him and shed His blood in our dying daily and become saviors on Mount Zion, judging the mount of Esau.

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

This is all so because:

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.