1 Samuel 21:1–15 David and the Holy Bread

[Study Aired June 15, 2026]

The study for today can be divided into two parts. The first part deals with David seeking support from a priest at Nob, where he ended up receiving holy bread and Goliath’s sword. The second part focuses on David’s escape to Gath where he feigned madness. As indicated in all our studies, today’s study will highlight what the spirit is saying to us through David’s actions. 

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.  

David and the Holy Bread

1Sa 21:1  Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 

Nob means ‘fruit’ and that of Ahimelech indicates that ‘my brother is king.’  It is in the church of the Lord’s elect that we start to produce fruit of the spirit and are promised kingship. In verse 1, Ahimelech the priest is a symbol of our brothers and sisters who are called and chosen by the Lord for the role of being a royal priesthood. Therefore, David coming to Nob to Ahimelech the priest shows our exit from the church system of this world or Babylon to the church of the first born or Heavenly Jerusalem, where we start the process of bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

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: 

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 
Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Ahimelech seeing David alone and not with an entourage, made him fearful of repercussions that may arise from aiding him. At this point, David was under the judgment of the Lord as Saul sought to kill him. During these trial times, we become vulnerable like David. However, amid his suffering, David sought Ahimelech, a symbol of the Lord’s elect. Verse 1 therefore assures us that in our times of trials, there is nothing wrong in seeking support from our brothers and sisters in Christ. This verse therefore offers reassurance to us that asking for support is not a sign of weakness, but rather an essential part of overcoming hardship the Lord has brought on us. In other words, the support we receive from our brothers and sisters is the way of the Lord for us to be able to bear the suffering we are going through.

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

1Sa 21:2  And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 

David lying to Ahimelech the priest that king Saul had sent him on a business and that he had stationed the young men with him at a certain place shows that David was still of the flesh in his walk with the Lord. Thus, the need for his sins to be burnt out of him through the Lord’s judgment. In other words, we need to learn righteousness by the things that we suffer. 

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 

Psa 119:67  Before I (David) was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. 
Psa 119:68  Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. 

1Sa 21:3  Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 

As indicated earlier, David coming to Ahimelech the priest is our coming to the heavenly Jerusalem or the church of the firstborn, where we are to receive support from our brothers and sisters or what every joint supplies.  

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

David requesting Ahimelech to give him five loaves of bread signifies our need to feed on the word of truth by what every joint supplies by the grace of the Lord through faith (the significance of the number five). This truth of the word of the Lord is like hail that destroys the refuge of lies or the false doctrines in our heavens or hearts and minds. 

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

It is important to note that it is while we are being judged that our understanding of the word of the Lord is also enlightened. That is what is happening to us, His elect (David) as we receive these five loaves of bread from Ahimelech or what every joint supplies. It is the same as hearing the voice of the Lord in the midst of the fire. It also implies the Lord coming to us with hail for rain and flaming fire on our land, which is our bodies. 

Psa 105:32  He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.

Psa 148:8  Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:  

Deu 4:36  Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 

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.   

1Sa 21:4  And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 

It is important to distinguish here in verse 4, the difference between common bread and hallowed bread. The common bread spiritually represents man’s wisdom and tradition which emanates as smoke from our bottomless pit (our hearts and minds), which darkens our understanding of the word and therefore makes it impossible to know Christ and His word. This is what is propagated by the false apostles (locusts) parading in the corridors of the church system of this world. 

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 

According to verse 4, the hallowed bread, on the other hand, is available only to those who have kept themselves from women. The women here in verse 4 represent the churches of this world. This hallowed bread, which represents the truth of the word of the Lord or the mysteries of the kingdom, is available only to those who have kept themselves from the leaven or the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition of the Pharisees or the church system of this world.  

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 16:6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mat 16:7  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 
Mat 16:8  Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 
Mat 16:12  Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

1Sa 21:5  And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

An easier to understand translation of this verse is shown as follows:

1Sa 21:5  And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” (ESV)

David’s response to Ahimelech the priest when clarifying whether he and his young men have kept themselves from women is that when they were on a mission, they keep themselves from women and especially in this case, when they were visiting Ahimelech the priest in a temple. Our mission as the Lord’s elect in this life is to become an overcomer. Being an overcomer entails keeping ourselves from women or the churches of this world with their false doctrines, especially when we have become part of the church of the firstborn or the Heavenly Jerusalem. Many of our brothers and sisters who started well in the faith have become victims of these women, collectively called the harlot, who lurks around the corner looking for whom to devour. This is the present danger that we face as the Lord’s elect, as shown in the following verses:

Pro 7:7  And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 
Pro 7:8  Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, 
Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: 
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 
Pro 7:14  I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. 
Pro 7:15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 
Pro 7:16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 
Pro 7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 
Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 
Pro 7:19  For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
Pro 7:20  He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 
Pro 7:21  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Pro 7:22  He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
Pro 7:23  Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

1Sa 21:6  So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.  

The Priest giving the hallowed bread to David signifies our coming to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven through what every joint supplies in the assembly of the Lord’s elect. The Priest here, who represents what every joint supplies, is Christ, who opens our eyes to see and ears to hear. The hot bread before the presence of the Lord in the temple is to remind us that the Lord’s truth cannot be tainted by any false doctrine. It is bread that is taken out of the Lord’s presence and is in the hands of a priest which can be contaminated with false doctrine. However, in our case, it is Christ Himself who is availing to us His truth, just as He opened the understanding of the disciples after His resurrection.  

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 
Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

1Sa 21:7  Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.  

The statement that Doeg was detained before the Lord is to show us that both good and evil are all working according to the counsel of the Lord. This Doeg was the one responsible for killing all the priests in Nod under the instruction of king Saul, as we shall see in the next chapter. 

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: 

1Sa 22:18  And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
1Sa 22:19  And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

The presence of Doeg, who belonged to Saul as his chief herdsman was all of the Lord to show us the enmity of our brothers and sisters in Babylon against us. The killing of the priests under the instruction of Saul shows us, the Lord’s elect, how our brothers and sisters in Babylon consider us as spiritually dead in the streets of Jerusalem or the corridors of the church system of this world. 

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Goliath’s Sword Given to David

1Sa 21:8  And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. 
1Sa 21:9  And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. 

David needed a sword for his protection, and Ahimelech gave him the sword of Goliath. The question is, “What is the spiritual significance of Goliath’s sword in the hand of David?” A sword on a positive note denotes the word of the Lord as shown in the following verse:

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Goliath’s sword signifies a negative application of sword, and it indicates false doctrines of man’s wisdom and traditions. David taking possession of Goliath’s sword implies that as the Lord’s elect, we are given power over false doctrine such that it cannot hurt us. As the Lord declared, we are given power over serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, such that they cannot hurt us. This power over serpents and scorpions refers to the sting from their mouth or their false doctrines which cannot hurt us. 

Luk 10:19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

David Flees to Gath

1Sa 21:10  And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 
1Sa 21:11  And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
1Sa 21:12  And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

Gath means ‘winepress’, which signifies judgment. It is instructive to note that the name of the king of Gath (Achish) means ‘I will blacken or terrify.’ David fleeing to Achish, the king of Gath, therefore implies David being given over to Satan to terrify him, just as Job was given over to Satan to sift him.

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

David thought he could hide in Gath without being recognized. However, the fact that the servants knew who he was, in terms of his conquest, made it difficult for David to continue to hide in Gath. As a result, he became afraid of king Achish. When we are under the Lord’s judgment, sometimes we wonder why things happen the way they do, making us easily discouraged. As a result, we become apprehensive just like David. 

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;

The word “perplexed” (from the Greek aporeo) in 2 Corinthians 4:8 literally means to ‘be at a loss’, to be unable to find a way out, or to wonder why things are happening the way they are. However, Paul concluded that God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

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.

1Sa 21:13  And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 
1Sa 21:14  Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 
1Sa 21:15  Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? 

In this study, David was not matured enough to understand why he was going through such suffering. Being afraid of King Achish, he feigned being mad to escape from Gath. Here in these verses, we can see David depending on his own wisdom of the flesh to escape from the Philistines. However, the Lord in His mercy, overlooked it.

Act 17:30  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: 
Act 17:31  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 

As we mature in Christ, through the Lord’s judgment, we come to see just like Paul, that all things work together for our good. Years later, as David had matured through the Lord’s judgment, he penned Psalm 34 which speaks of His maturity in the Lord as follows:

Psa 34:1  A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Ahimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 

Psa 34:4  I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 

Psa 34:6  This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 
Psa 34:7  The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 
Psa 34:8  O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 

Psa 34:15  The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Psa 34:19  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Pas 34:20  He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Pas 34:22  The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Amen!!   

Created Soulish Adam, Sin and the Sovereign Design of God, Part 1

[Study Aired May 12, 2026]

Introduction

No one mistakes a seed for the harvest. The seed goes into the ground first — not because the harvest failed to arrive, but because the seed must precede what it produces. Christ named this principle in John 12:24: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” This is the architecture of God’s counsel for humanity. Adam was created as the seed — the earthy, soulish, the natural first. Christ as the Last Adam is the fruit — life-giving spirit, the spiritual afterward. The falling into the ground was not a tragedy interrupting the plan. It was the plan doing precisely what the Planner purposed.

At the center of this investigation stands a question that must be answered from Scripture alone: Was Adam created a sinner? Before that question can be answered, a prior question must be settled: What is a sinner? The answer to the second question determines the answer to the first. We begin there.

What Sin Is: The Biblical Definition

The biblical definition of sin is not primarily a legal category or a catalogue of moral infractions. It is an archery term. The Hebrew word chata (H2398) appears in a striking context in Judges 20:16, “Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss.” Slingers are described as men who could hurl stones at a hair and not miss — chata (H2398). The same root rendered “sin” throughout the Old Testament is rendered “miss” in that marksmanship context. To sin is to miss the mark. The Greek word hamartano (G264) carries the same image — the arrow that fails to strike the target. This is not linguistic speculation; it is the plain semantic field of both words across both Testaments.

Paul captures the definition with precision in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Both verbs in the Greek deserve attention. Hamartano (G264) — they missed the mark, a completed historical act. And hustereo (G5302) — they fall short, they are deficient, a present ongoing condition. Paul is not describing a single moral act but a present state of being. Sin is falling short — missing the mark of God’s own glory.

What is that mark? Romans 8:29 identifies it: “whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” The mark is conformity to Christ. And what is Christ? First Corinthians 15:45 declares: “the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” — life-giving spirit. John 4:24 declares: “God is Spirit.” Not that God has spiritual qualities — God IS spirit. First John 3:2 names the destination plainly: “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Like Him who is spirit.

The mark, therefore, is not improved moral behavior. The mark is being changed into spirit — conformed to Christ who is life-giving spirit, becoming like God who is spirit. Anything that falls short of that appointed end — by definition — misses it.

The Mark: Being Changed Into Spirit

The destination of God’s intent is transformation into spirit — not improved natural existence — Paul establishes beyond question in 1 Corinthians 15. He lays out the two-stage ordering with surgical precision:

“It is sown a natural body (soma psuchikos); it is raised a spiritual body (soma pneumatikos). There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:44). Soma (G4983) — body. Psuchikos (G5591) — soulish, natural. Pneumatikos (G4152) — spiritual.

Sown soulish. Raised spirit. These are not two quality levels of the same thing. They are two different orders — and the second was never what the first was. Paul then makes the governing principle explicit:

“Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46).

The natural must precede the spiritual. God did not make a mistake when He made Adam soulish. He made the first stage first.

Why the soulish cannot reach the destination on its own terms Paul states plainly: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:50). The earthy, breath-animated nature cannot become the destination form simply by improving itself. It must be changed. The Greek allasso (G236) in verse 52 is decisive: “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Not incremental improvement — transformation. And 2 Corinthians 3:18 names the nature of that change: metamorphoo (G3339) — metamorphosis. Not enhancement. Fundamental transformation into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.

Christ himself gave us the governing image of what this transformation requires: “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). The seed does not become better seed. It dies, and what emerges is a plant, vine or tree that produces fruit — a fundamentally different form. Paul applies this directly in 1 Corinthians 15:36-38: what is sown is not the body that shall be. God gives the body that emerges. The earthy nature is the seed. The spirit form is the plant producing fruit. And the death of the seed is the condition the plant requires to produce fruit.

A question must be named before it is passed over: if the soulish nature is the first stage of God’s ordained purpose — the seed placed in the ground by the Maker’s own hand — in what sense does it constitute missing the mark rather than simply occupying its appointed place in the journey toward it? Adam was not to blame for being what the Potter formed him to be. Romans 8:20 is explicit — it was God who subjected the creation to vanity, and He did so in hope of what that subjection would produce. The falling short is real; the soulish nature genuinely fails to reach the glory of God. But the creature is no more blameworthy for that distance than the marred clay is blameworthy for the marring that happened in the Potter’s own hand (Jeremiah 18:4). When Paul himself is pressed on this tension — “why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?” — he does not resolve it philosophically. He redirects to the potter: “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:19-20). The clay does not interrogate the Maker. Blame enters by a different door entirely. Romans 4:15 states it plainly: “where no law is, there is no transgression” — the Greek parabasis (G3847), a knowing crossing of a known boundary. Three things had to be present for blame to attach: a commandment (Genesis 2:17 — “thou shalt not eat”), knowledge of that commandment (Adam received it directly from God), and the act of crossing it knowingly (1 Timothy 2:14 — “Adam was not deceived”). God formed Adam soulish. God is not blamed for that. Adam crossed the commandment knowingly. Adam is blamed for that.

Blame is not the end of the sequence — it is the beginning of the next stage. Blame is what makes judgment just. Judgment is what the blame occasions. And judgment serves restoration. Isaiah 26:9 establishes the corrective purpose of judgment plainly: “for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” The soulish nature is the root. The known commandment is the occasion. The knowing transgression is where blame enters. The judgment that follows is the Potter’s corrective forming. And the restoration of all things is where the forming was always headed — “in hope” (Romans 8:20), “that he might have mercy upon all” (Romans 11:32).

The Natural First: Adam’s Created Constitution

When God formed Adam from the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, Scripture records precisely what Adam became: “man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). The Hebrew is nephesh chay (H5315, H2416) — a living soul, animated by nishamah chay (H5397, H2416), the breath of life. This is not incidental detail. The formed nature Adam receives from the Creator determines everything that follows. He did not receive the ruach Elohim (H7307, H430) — the Spirit of God — as the constituting reality of his being. He received the animating breath that makes a creature alive.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:45 deliberately quotes Genesis 2:7 with a purpose. He writes: “the first man Adam was made a living soul (psuche zoa); the last Adam was made a quickening spirit (pneuma zoopoioun).” Psuche (G5590) — soul. Zoa (G2198) — living. Pneuma (G4151) — spirit. Zoopoieo (G2227) — life-giving. He sets the rendering of Genesis directly against what Christ became — not to show a fall and recovery, but to show an ordained progression. The living soul is the first order. The life-giving spirit is the second. The second was never what the first was. Adam was made a living soul by divine intent.

The contrast with Christ illuminates the significance of what Adam did not have. John’s Gospel records of Christ that “God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him” (John 3:34). What the Father gave to the Son without measure was not given to Adam. Colossians 2:9 declares that in Christ dwells “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Christ possessed the complete spiritual reality that constitutes the mark. Adam possessed only the breath of life. This is not a commentary on Christ’s superiority in degree — it is a statement about two different orders operating within God’s working.

Adam was created without the knowledge of good and evil. Deuteronomy 1:39 uses the exact same Hebrew construction as Genesis 2-3 to describe young children: “Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.” Isaiah 7:15-16 establishes that knowing enough to refuse evil and choose good is a developmental capacity grown into. “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.” Adam was not created in moral maturity. He was created as a child — placed by God within conditions appointed for the developmental process to begin.

Genesis 2:25 confirms this: “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” This is innocence, not perfection. Ecclesiastes 7:29 adds the precise nuance: “God made man upright (yashar), but they have sought out many schemes.” Yashar (H3477) — morally oriented, aligned toward God’s will. Not metaphysically incapable of deviation, but genuinely aligned. Adam was good. The word towb (H2896) across Genesis 1 consistently means functional excellence for its appointed purpose — not metaphysical perfection incapable of sin. Adam was towb me’od (H2896, H3966): very good, excellently suited for his role in the totality of God’s counsel.

Sin Enters: Genesis 3 Examined

Genesis 3 is often read as the narrative of catastrophe — the moment God’s perfect plan shattered. Read carefully without that assumption, the text tells a different story.

God’s first response to Adam’s act is not judicial sentence. It is four questions: “Where are you?” (v.9). “Who told you that you were naked?” (vs 11). “Hast thou eaten of the tree?” (vs 11). “What is this that thou hast done?” (vs 13). A judge pronouncing sentence on an autonomous criminal does not ask questions. A Father drawing His child to give account does. Hebrews 12:7 establishes the pattern explicitly: “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” Read through that lens, God’s response in Genesis 3 is the first instance of the paideia (G3809) — the whole training and education of children — that Hebrews 12 names and the entire developmental ordering requires. This is not the rupture of a broken plan. It is a Father beginning the forming process in earnest.

Before any consequence falls on Adam, redemption is already announced. Genesis 3:15 — the first promise of redemption, the first proclamation of the gospel — is embedded directly inside God’s response to the serpent, before Adam receives a single word of consequence: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Four elements carry the weight of the entire redemptive arc.

First: God Himself puts the enmity. Not the woman, not humanity — God initiates the opposition between the serpent’s domain and humanity. The conflict is His sovereign arrangement from the beginning.

Second: the seed is the woman’s — not the man’s. While zera [seed] (H2233) typically traces through the male line in the covenant genealogies, this promise is given to the woman — marking a deliberate exception that Paul identifies explicitly in Galatians 3:16 as pointing to Christ: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

Third and Fourth: “it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The Hebrew word rendered “bruise” in both clauses is shuph (H7779) — a rare word appearing only three times in the Old Testament: here in Genesis 3:15, in Job 9:17 where it describes an overwhelming tempest, and in Psalm 139:11 where it describes a covering, enveloping force. Examining all three contexts together, shuph carries the sense of overwhelming, overpowering force — not necessarily a single precise blow.

Significantly, when the Jewish scholars translated this passage into Greek in the Septuagint, they rendered shuph with the word tereo (G5083) — meaning to guard, to keep watch over. Rather than a single crushing blow, they read the posture of both parties as one of vigilant, sustained watchfulness — each keeping close watch on the other, each waiting for the decisive moment to act.

Read through that lens, Genesis 3:15 is not predicting two isolated events — a heel wound and a head wound at the cross. It is describing an entire arc of conflict: the serpent watching for every opportunity to strike the heel of the woman’s seed, and the seed keeping watch for the decisive moment to overwhelm the serpent’s head. Three witnesses confirm this ongoing-war reading. Revelation 12:17 — “the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed” — the conflict is generational. First Peter 5:8 — “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” — the watching is continuous. Romans 16:20 — “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” — the final overwhelming is still future according to Paul.

The cross is the decisive moment within this ongoing conflict — the moment both parties struck simultaneously and the resurrection proved whose watching prevailed. Genesis 3:15 encompasses the whole war, not just its climax. God announced the entire arc of conflict and its ultimate resolution before a single consequence fell on Adam.

This is not God improvising a remedy. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Genesis 3:15 is God unveiling before Adam what was ordained before the first breath of life entered the soulish seed.

God’s own statement in verse 22 is decisive: “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil.” The Hebrew verb (has become) hayah (H1961) — qal perfect — describes a completed crossing of a threshold. The knowledge of good and evil has been entered into — but entering a process is not the same as completing it. Hebrews 5:14 establishes that full discernment of good and evil comes through gumnazo (G1128) — senses trained through repeated practice over a lifetime. “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.” Genesis 3:22 marks the beginning of that process, not its end. Two trees. Two aspects of becoming like God. Knowledge of good and evil — begun. Life itself — yet to come.

The tree of life corresponds to Christ as the Last Adam — pneuma zoopoieo (G4151, G2227), life-giving spirit. John 4:24 establishes God is spirit. 1 John 3:2 establishes the destination is becoming like Him. Access to the tree of life was not permanently denied — it was temporarily withheld until Christ, the New Covenant, and the outpouring of the Spirit could open the way. The blocking was deliberate, not punitive.

Consider what God says to Adam in verses 17-19: toil, thorns, sweat, and return to dust. The tradition reads these as punishments added. But Adam was formed from dust (Genesis 2:7). Return to dust — death itself — was always latent in what Adam was made of. God is not introducing something foreign to Adam’s nature. God is unveiling what was always true of the earthy, breath-animated nature.

John 12:24 names what the unveiling reveals: the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying. First Corinthians 15:36-44 applies this directly: what is sown is not the body that shall be. The soulish nature — earthy, dusty, breath-animated — was always the seed appointed to die so the spirit body could emerge. The conditions given to Adam in Genesis 3 are not the destruction of the plan. They are the continuation of the developmental process the plan requires. The Maker does not discard the marred clay. He clothes it (Genesis 3:21) and continues forming it.

Genesis 3, examined without the tradition of catastrophic rupture imposed upon it, reads as the first stage of God’s counsel unfolding exactly as ordained.

Genesis 3 is not the end of the story. It is where the story properly begins. In this first part we have established the foundation: sin is hamartano (G264) — the arrow that fails to reach the target — and hustereo (G5302) — the ongoing condition of falling short of the glory of God. Adam was not created at the destination. He was formed as the first stage of a two-stage ordering — earthy, breath-animated, soulish — placed by the Maker’s own hand into the ground as the seed that must die before the fruit can emerge. And when Genesis 3 arrived, what tradition reads as catastrophe the text reads as the first movement of the Potter’s forming: four paternal questions, redemption announced before a single consequence fell on Adam, the threshold of the knowledge of good and evil entered but not yet completed, and the conditions of toil and death simply unveiling what the soulish seed was always constituted to be. In Part 2 we turn to the Pauline framework that traces what this foundation means for all humanity — the universal scope of both the condemnation and the justification, the sovereignty that shut all up in disobedience in hope of mercy shown to all, and what it means for every vessel in the Potter’s hand to stand before the One whose forming never stopped.

The Spiritual Significance of Numbers – Number Three

[Study Aired January 4, 2026]

The number three signifies that a process is taking place. The ultimate purpose of every process we see taking place in scripture is the process of judgment with whatever this number is connected. The three times repeated vision of Peter in the house of Simon the tanner, which led to the gospel going to the Gentiles, also led to you and I being “the house of God which is now being judged (1Pe 4:17). This number three signifies that a process is taking place, and that process is ultimately the process which in the fullness of time is to be administered to the whole world:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of [the process 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.

‘The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness”, but  learning takes time, and the only way any of us learn righteousness is through the process of being judged by the fiery trials and tribulations of this life:

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

Being tried  requires going to trial, and the trial of our faith is a fiery trial which reveals all the self-righteousness and corruption of our rebellious carnal mind. The process of judgment is even now taking  place in the lives of Christ’s elect:

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

Judgment is a process which is not done and over with all at once in a ten-second ‘sinner’s prayer.’ The process of judgment is the greater significance of the number three.

In this study we will examine many of the entries in scripture where the number three appears, and we will demonstrate how this number is associated with the concept of this process taking place. In the end we will see that everything the Lord is doing in this process is leading to the judgment of all men in their own order:

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 [‘the end’ harvest, (Exo 23:16)], 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.

Exo 23:14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15  Thou shalt keep [1] the feast of [Passover and] unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16  And [2, Pentecost] the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and [3, Tabernacles] the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

The “three times in the year” signifies the three seasons of spiritual growth we will all experience in our spiritual walk. Our initial Passover experience as “carnal… babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4), our Pentecost experience, when we begin to mature, and our Tabernacles experience, when we are “chastened and scourged and we begin  to die daily [and] suffer with Christ” (1Co 15:31, Php 1:29, 1Pe 4:13). God does not ‘chasten and scourge’ carnal babes in Christ. That is the Passover stage of our conversion. At that Passover part of our process, all we know is “Christ and Him crucified”:

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

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?

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

It is not until the Pentecost part of the process of our spiritual experience that we can begin to appreciate the need for deep repentance and spiritual discipline which leads to understanding the function of the Lord’s goodness and His grace:

Psa 107:25  For he [The Lord] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof [The fiery trials of life].
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The “goodness” of Psalm 107:31 is the same “goodness” of this verse in Romans:

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

It is in the third part of the process of our conversion that we are finally given the maturity to appreciate The Truth of these verses:

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

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

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Being given to understand that our suffering with Christ fills up what is lacking of His suffering is the beginning of the third step in the process of our judgment which “must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17) in this present time:

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 process of God’s judgment began with Christ, who was “made sin for us” and whose “sinful flesh” was not capable of inheriting the kingdom of God and had to be rejected and replaced with a resurrected spiritual body:

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [Christ was “made sin” yet never  once committed a transgression of the “law of the spirit”]

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.

2Co 5:21  For the man who knew no sin was made sin [made “sinful flesh”] on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Before His resurrection from the dead Christ did not pass through a locked door, but as a spiritual body, He could appear as “flesh and bone”, and yet He could simply appear in a locked room.

Luk 24:36  And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Luk 24:37  But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Luk 24:38  And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Luk 24:39  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Luk 24:40  And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.

“A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” is not Christ denying the truth of 1 Corinthians 15:44. Spirits had many times appeared as “flesh and bones”, such as when the Lord ate with Abraham and Sarah, when He wrestled with Jacob and here in this room where He is demonstrating that the tomb was indeed empty, and He was “raised a spiritual body” capable of being handled and capable of eating a meal with physical men:

Luk 24:41  And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
Luk 24:42  And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
Luk 24:43  And he took it, and did eat before them.

All the fiery trials and the suffering “of this present time” (Rom 8:18) are just the ‘beginning of the judgment of God which is now on His house’ (1Pe 4:17). The judgment which “begin[s] at the house of God” does not end there. It culminates in the “great white throne… judgment” which will be the third season of the three seasons of God’s work of bringing all mankind into judgment and will completely destroy death to the extent that all death will be replaced with life in everyone who has ever drawn breath:

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.

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave [G86: ‘hades’], where is thy victory?

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

As long as one person remains in the grave, death will still have a sting and a victory. However, we are assured that:

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

For all the Babylonian ministers who maintain that ‘will have all men to be saved’ means that Christ simply ‘desires that all men be saved’, but He would never do anything contrary to our own fabled ‘free will’, consider this great Truth:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Mankind’s will is worked by God’s desire. For that reason salvation for “all in Adam” does not depend on the will of men:

Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

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

It is manifested throughout scripture that what God desires is what He does, and if He desires the salvation of all in Adam, then that is what He is in the process of doing through His three steps of the judgment of all men of all time, signified by the three harvest seasons of the holy days which God gave to Israel.

Here are the three outward dispensations in which the Lord is working with His creatures:

1) “From the beginning:”

Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

2) Moses and the law of Moses:

Mat 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

3) The “time of reformation”

Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

This “time of reformation” is the time in which God matures His work as He reforms this vessel of clay. What is impossible for the carnal mind to understand is that as this part of God’s work with the flesh is being accomplished, a new spiritual man is being brought forth in a resurrection. We experience the resurrection now only in down-payment (“earnest”) form:

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 [future tense] also in the likeness of his resurrection:

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.

This “redemption of the purchased possession” is the first resurrection. It is the shedding of this vessel of clay once and for all. It is not just an “earnest” or down-payment, but it is taking full possession of a spiritual body in resurrection from among the dead, as the captain of our salvation has already experienced.

When Peter was found by Cornelius the Roman centurion, he was feeding Christ’s sheep at the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa. Just before Cornelius’ three  Gentile messengers knocked on the door of the home of Simon the tanner in Joppa the holy spirit three times showed Peter a vision of unclean animals and told Peter… “Arise Peter, slay and eat.” Three  times Peter answered, “Not so Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” The people who Peter at that time considered to be “common and unclean” and unworthy of being spiritually fed were knocking on the door of his host, Simon the tanner. Even after being shown that he was not to “call any man common or unclean”, it was still a slow, hard, and trying process for Peter to accept the Truth that God was taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter struggled many long years, after having the three times repeated vision of unclean creatures which he was commanded “Arise Peter, slay and eat.” The Lord made it clear to Peter that the three visions corresponded with the three Gentile men knocking on the door of Simon the tanner. In the very next chapter Peter was obliged to explain why he had decided to entered the home of the Gentile, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and this what Peter said about the significance of his three visions in which he was three times commanded to eat unclean food:

Act 10:25  And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
Act 10:26  But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
Act 10:27  And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.
Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Even after this miraculous event in the house of Cornelius, the Gentile Roman centurion it still required a process of many years for Peter to extricate himself from the “carnal commandment” Israel had been given to separate themselves from the Gentiles.

Here is an event which took place several years after Peter was honored to be the first apostle to share the gospel with a Gentile:

Gal 2:11  But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation [hypocrisy].

This story is given to demonstrate to us the spiritual significance of the number three. Three signifies the fact that a process is taking place. Our old man is daily being judged and being burned out of each of us, and ‘the world within us is learning righteousness.’ Both judgment and learning require time and experience, and time and experience produce the process being judged. The fact that both Peter and Barnabas struggled to accept what the Lord had revealed to them demonstrates the significance of the number three. It signifies the process of being judged:

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.

This is not just a history lesson about Peter’s struggles. This is an admonition for you and me to guard against any tendency to be respecters of persons because of income, race or social standing. Our only consideration is to please our Lord. We are to seek to worship God in spirit and in Truth. We are not to be men-pleasers. If we seek to please men, we are not fit to feed Christ’s sheep:

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

Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Peter, setting us an example, immediately repented of His hypocrisy, and said this at the Jerusalem conference of Acts 15:

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.

We will now examine how this process is revealed in the words of scripture:

Christ’s words demonstrate that no good is accomplished without going through the process of being judged:

Luk 13:32 And he [Christ] said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

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

The “three years old” sacrifices the Lord required of Abraham demonstrates that the only sacrifice acceptable to God is one which has endured the chastening process of being judged:

Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

Christ, along with His ‘two witnesses’, brought the news of a barren wife bringing forth a manchild, and bringing about the destruction of Sodom, which signifies the destruction of Babylon the great:

Gen 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Gen 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

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

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

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

The “three tenth deals” of the “meat offering” signify that it also is part of the process of judgment:

Lev 14:10 And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil.

The three branches of the vine in the dream of Pharaoh’s butler signify the process of his release from prison.

Gen 40:10 And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

Gen 40:13 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

Here are a few negative applications of how the number three signifies a process is working:

Gen 40:18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
Gen 40:19 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

Exo 10:22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

Exo 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

Num 22:28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Three hundred pieces of silver signify the process of the redemption of the Lord’s elect:

Gen 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

Going into the wilderness for three days signifies the beginning of the process of being separated from our old man:

Exo 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

 Our fruit is not edible until after three years:

Lev 19:23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

It takes two cycles of three years to bring us to our year of rest in Christ:

Lev 25:21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

After three years we are given to feed the Levite who ministers to us and the fatherless and widows who are among us:

Deu 14:28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
Deu 14:29  And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

The Lord’s Word is divided into three parts, signifying that its revelation is a process:

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Even our deception by the lies of Babylon are revealed to be a process which takes time:

Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Rev 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Three men, Cain, Balaam, and Korah, signify the process of apostasy:

Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Christ presence in every generation is expressed in three ways… 1) Is, 2) Was, and 3) Is to come:

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

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.
Rev 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

Three principles govern the proper understanding of the Word of God and those three are 1) the letter of the word, 2) the spiritual meaning behind the letter of the word and 3) the sum of thy word [‘a multitude of counselors’].

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world [the letter of the Word], but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth [The letter of the Word], but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting (ASV, ESV, etc.).

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.

The Process of Spiritual Growth From Faith to Love

[Study Aired March 11, 2025]

Introduction

The spiritual journey unfolds according to a heavenly pattern that renews us from within. Rather than occurring instantly, this renewal develops gradually through interconnected phases of growth. As the Psalmist recognized, “The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live” (Psalm 119:144), showing that inner understanding precedes outward transformation. The prophet Isaiah affirmed this interior work, saying “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth” (Isaiah 55:10-11). This growth follows a deliberate design, for as Solomon observed, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Recognizing this gradual, purposeful development enables us to yield to the Lord’s formative work within our hearts and minds.

Scripture reveals that spiritual growth follows specific patterns. The apostle Peter outlines one such progression: “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” (2 Peter 1:5-7). This step-by-step development shows how each spiritual quality builds upon the previous one, culminating in love.

Paul reveals a similar progression in Romans: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:3-5). Both passages emphasize that spiritual growth follows an intentional sequence, orchestrated by God Himself.

Faith: The Foundation of Spiritual Growth

All spiritual development begins with faith. The writer of Hebrews makes this clear: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith serves as the essential foundation upon which all other spiritual qualities are built.

Yet we must recognize that even this foundational faith originates not from ourselves but from God. Paul explains, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). This revelation transforms our understanding of spiritual growth—even the starting point comes through God’s work, not our human effort.

Faith itself represents spiritual perception that transcends natural understanding. As Paul declares, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). This spiritual sight enables us to “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Through faith, we begin to perceive reality from God’s perspective rather than our limited human viewpoint.

This faith becomes the connecting point to all subsequent spiritual qualities. As we trust God rather than our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”, space is created for Him to develop additional spiritual fruit in our lives. Faith opens the door to God’s transformative work within us.

Virtues Developed Through Testing

The progression from faith continues as God develops various virtues through testing and challenges. James explains this developmental process: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Notice how testing produces patience—the same quality Peter and Paul include in their progressive sequences. This reveals the crucial role of trials in spiritual development. Through difficulties, God transforms theoretical faith into practical experience, building qualities that cannot emerge any other way.

Knowledge—another step in Peter’s progression—grows through this practical experience. In 2 Peter 1:5, the Greek word translated as “knowledge” is “gnōsis” (Strong’s G1108), which refers to general knowledge or understanding. However, later in the same chapter, Peter uses a more intensive term: “epignōsis” (Strong’s G1922), when he writes, “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge [epignōsis] of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8). This distinction is significant.

While “gnōsis” refers to general knowledge or awareness, “epignōsis” denotes precise, experiential knowledge—knowledge gained through personal experience rather than mere intellectual understanding. This deeper knowledge comes only through walking with God through trials. Paul prayed for believers to grow in this precise knowledge: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge [epignōsis] of him” (Ephesians 1:17).

Similarly, in John 17:3, Jesus uses the Greek word “ginōskō” (Strong’s G1097) when He says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” This word implies an intimate, experiential knowing—not intellectual understanding but relational knowledge. It’s the same word used for marital intimacy in scripture, revealing that true spiritual knowledge involves deep communion with God, not merely learning facts about Him.

As we walk through trials holding fast to faith, we gain this experiential understanding of God’s faithfulness. This knowledge transcends mere information, becoming wisdom born of spiritual experience. As Solomon wrote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), showing that true knowledge flows from right relationship with God.

Self-control (temperance) develops as we learn to submit our natural desires to God’s higher purposes. Paul describes this inner battle: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection” (1 Corinthians 9:27). This mastery over fleshly impulses comes not through human willpower but through yielding to God’s Spirit. As Paul teaches, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other” (Galatians 5:17). True self-control emerges as God’s Spirit prevails over our carnal nature.

The apostle Peter links experiential knowledge directly to self-control, showing that true spiritual knowing naturally transforms behavior. Scripture consistently confirms this connection. John declares, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4), using forms of “ginōskō” twice to emphasize that authentic knowledge of God manifests in obedient living. Similarly, Paul prays for believers to be “filled with the knowledge [epignōsis] of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (Colossians 1:9-10), establishing that true knowledge produces worthy conduct. This aligns with Jeremiah’s prophecy that under the new covenant, God would “put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts… for they shall all know me” (Jeremiah 31:33-34), connecting intimate knowledge of God with His law internalized in our hearts rather than merely understood by our minds.

Higher Spiritual Qualities

As these foundational virtues are established, God develops higher spiritual qualities that more directly reflect His nature. Godliness—reverence and devotion toward God—grows as we increasingly become aligned with His character. This conforms us to Christ’s image, fulfilling God’s eternal purpose: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).

Brotherly kindness flows naturally from this growing conformity to Christ. As John explains, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14). This love for fellow believers serves as evidence of spiritual maturity, demonstrating that God’s nature is being formed within us.

The culmination of this spiritual progression is love—not human affection but God’s supernatural agape love. This selfless, sacrificial love reflects God’s very essence, for “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Paul identifies love as the greatest spiritual quality: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity [love]” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

This progression reveals a profound truth: spiritual growth is the process of God developing His own nature within us. Each quality brings us closer to reflecting His character, fulfilling His purpose “that we might be partakers of his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).

God’s Sovereign Work in Our Growth

Throughout this developmental process, we must remember that spiritual growth comes through God’s work, not self-effort. Paul affirms this truth: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). The same God who initiated our spiritual journey faithfully continues developing us according to His perfect plan.

Paul further emphasizes God’s primary role: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). This reveals the comprehensive nature of God’s work—He influences both our desires (“to will”) and our actions (“to do”). Our spiritual growth proceeds according to His good pleasure, not our personal preferences or timeline.

Our part in this process involves yielding to God’s Spirit rather than producing results through human effort. As Jesus taught using the vine metaphor: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4). We bear spiritual fruit not by striving but by remaining connected to Christ, the source of all spiritual life.

This understanding liberates us from performance-oriented spirituality. We need not generate these qualities through self-effort but rather being given the ability to cooperate with God’s Spirit as He produces them within us. As Paul writes, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). Notice these are called fruit of the Spirit, not fruit of human effort.

The Evidence of Spiritual Growth

Genuine spiritual growth manifests in observable ways. Jesus emphasized that true development produces visible results: “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit” (Matthew 7:17). This fruitfulness becomes inevitable as we abide in Christ: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15:5).

Peter contrasts this fruitfulness with spiritual barrenness: “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge [epignōsis] of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8). Here Peter again uses the deeper term “epignōsis” (precise, experiential knowledge), reminding us that the presence and abundance of spiritual qualities prevent stagnation, ensuring continued growth in our intimate, experiential relationship with Christ. This deliberate word choice emphasizes that mere intellectual understanding of Christ is insufficient – the spiritual qualities Peter lists cultivate the kind of deep, personal knowing that transforms our entire being. The presence and abundance of spiritual qualities prevent stagnation, ensuring continued growth in our relationship with Christ.

This growth process transforms us progressively, as King Soloman describes: “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). This beautiful imagery of increasing light illustrates how spiritual growth advances gradually toward completion, with each stage building upon and intensifying the previous one. Just as dawn begins with faint light that steadily brightens to the full day, our spiritual transformation unfolds in progressive stages of increasing glory and clarity.

Peter’s language of “adding” these qualities suggests more than mere accumulation. The Greek word used (epichorēgeō) implies generous, abundant supply—each quality multiplies rather than merely adds to our spiritual development. This multiplication principle explains why mature believers often experience accelerated growth—each quality enhances all others, creating exponential rather than linear development.

Obstacles to Spiritual Growth

Despite God’s faithful work, various obstacles can hinder our spiritual development. Pride particularly impedes growth, as it prevents us from receiving God’s grace: “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). When we believe we’ve attained spiritual maturity through our own efforts, the very grace that produces true growth is blocked.

Neglect also stunts our development. The writer of Hebrews warns against spiritual drift: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1). Regular immersion in Scripture and spiritual practices such as prayer, fellowship, and self-sacrifice help create the ideal conditions for spiritual growth to thrive, much like consistent sunlight and water allow plants to develop strong roots and produce abundant fruit.

Worldliness similarly hinders spiritual progress. John cautions, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Attachment to worldly values and priorities diverts our attention from spiritual realities, slowing our development. John further defines this worldliness as “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16), identifying the three primary channels through which worldly influence corrupts spiritual growth. These same channels of temptation appeared in Eve’s original temptation—she saw the fruit was “good for food” (lust of the flesh), “pleasant to the eyes” (lust of the eyes), and “desired to make one wise” (pride of life) in Genesis 3:6. Similarly, Satan tempted Jesus through these same avenues in the wilderness when he challenged Jesus to turn “stones be made bread” (lust of the flesh), showed Him “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (lust of the eyes), and urged Him to “cast thyself down” from the temple to prove His divine status (pride of life) in Matthew 4:1-11. Paul warns that friendship with the world creates spiritual enmity: “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). This divided loyalty creates a double-minded condition that James describes as unstable “in all his ways” (James 1:8). Jesus taught that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), emphasizing that worldly attachments compete directly with spiritual priorities. The remedy for worldliness comes through renewed thinking, as Paul instructs: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This transformation requires God to set our affections “on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2), creating a fundamental reorientation of our values and desires.

Perhaps most serious is the obstacle of carnality. Fleshly attitudes rather than spiritual attitudes prevailing in our lives. Paul addressed this condition in the Corinthian church: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ… For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1,3). Carnality keeps believers in spiritual infancy, preventing the maturation God intends.

God addresses these obstacles through loving discipline: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). This correction, though painful, serves a redemptive purpose: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11). God’s discipline removes obstacles to growth, promoting our spiritual development.

The Ultimate Purpose: Conformity to Christ

The entire progression from faith to love serves God’s ultimate purpose: conforming us to Christ’s image. Paul states this clearly: “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” (Romans 8:29). Each stage in our spiritual growth brings us closer to this perfect likeness. This conformation process represents God’s primary work in believers, as Paul elsewhere describes: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). The apostle’s language of “birth pangs” reveals both the intensity and importance of this transformative work.

This holy purpose explains why God orchestrates our circumstances to produce spiritual growth. As Paul teaches, “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” (Romans 8:28). The “good” mentioned here isn’t primarily our comfort or preference but our increasing Christlikeness. In fact, the very next verse defines this good as being “conformed to the image of his Son.” This reveals that every circumstance, whether pleasant or difficult, serves the Father’s purpose of developing Christ’s character within us.

The Spirit’s work transforms us as we fix our attention on Christ rather than ourselves. John reinforces this principle: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The ultimate seeing will produce the ultimate likeness.

This conformity reaches its fullest expression in love—the quality that most completely reflects Christ’s nature. As Paul writes, “And above all these things put on charity [love], which is the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14). Love represents spiritual maturity, binding all other virtues together in perfect harmony. This centrality of love fulfills Christ’s own teaching that love for God and others constitutes the essence of God’s law: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. “ (Matthew 22:37-40). John affirms this connection between God’s nature and love: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). As we grow in love, we more perfectly reflect God’s very essence.

Our increasing conformity to Christ’s image requires the gradual removal of all that is inconsistent with His character. Paul describes this putting off of the old nature: “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts… And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22,24). Similarly, he urges believers to “mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth” (Colossians 3:5), using language that suggests a putting to death of our fleshly nature. This putting off of the old and putting on of the new constitutes a fundamental aspect of our transformation into Christ’s image.

This developmental process fulfills God’s eternal purpose in creating us. He designed us to bear His image, a purpose temporarily marred by sin but restored through Christ. As we progress from faith to love, God accomplishes His original promise: “Let us make (be making) man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). In Christ, this original design finds its perfect expression and fulfillment. As Paul states, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him” (Colossians 2:9-10). Our completeness comes not through independent development but through union with Christ, whose perfect image gradually forms within us through the Spirit’s work.

Conclusion: The Ongoing Journey

Spiritual growth continues throughout our earthly journey. Even Paul, despite his spiritual maturity, acknowledged his ongoing development: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after… I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14). If an apostle recognized his need for continued growth, how much more should we maintain this humble perspective.

Our role in this growth process involves cooperation with God’s work rather than independent effort. We participate by yielding to His Spirit, studying His Word, engaging in prayer, and remaining connected to the body of Christ. As we do, God faithfully continues the work He began, developing spiritual qualities according to His perfect design.

The ultimate fulfillment of this growth process awaits Christ’s return: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This hope motivates our present participation in the growth process, knowing that one day our transformation will be complete.

As we reflect on the spiritual journey we’ve examined, we can trace God’s intentional pattern: faith provides the essential foundation, enabling us to trust God beyond what we can see. Through testing, this faith develops virtues like patience, knowledge, and self-control. These qualities prepare us for higher spiritual attributes—godliness, brotherly kindness, and ultimately love, which represents the fullest expression of Christ’s nature within us. Each stage builds upon and enhances the previous one, creating not just linear growth but multiplication of spiritual fruit.

Though obstacles like pride, neglect, worldliness, and carnality may hinder this development, God faithfully works through every circumstance to accomplish His purpose—conforming us to Christ’s image. As we understand this progressive nature of spiritual growth, we can more patiently cooperate with God’s work in our lives. Rather than becoming discouraged by our imperfections, we trust the One who promised, “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). The journey from faith to love unfolds according to His perfect wisdom and timing, accomplishing His eternal purpose in our lives.

“Exiles” in the Bible

[Study Aired September 26, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

For God’s people, “an exile” in His word typifies a point within a Christian’s life before they go without the camp with Christ to bear his reproach, filling “up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Heb 13:13-16, Col 1:24). Chapter 13 of Revelation is a chapter that reveals that not everyone is given this knowledge (1Co 8:7, Rev 13:18) to know that being beasts (Ecc 3:18) we must go into exile and come to see the mark of the beast as being something that is on all men, and that the only way to be reinstated with God and have that mark removed is through judgement (6.6.6. – see the studies on the spiritual significance of the number 3 and the number 6). We all must go into Babylonian captivity, but very few are blessed in this life to come out of it through God’s chastening grace that receives us in this life as His sons (Mat 22:14, Heb 12:6).

Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp [after we lose our first love and are brought into exile and then begin to come out of it by God’s grace], bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14 For here have we no continuing^{G3306[menō=abide, dwell, stay, endure, remain, tarry]} city (1Co 15:50), but we seek one to come [being freed from Babylonian exile and enduring to the end (Mat 24:13) in order to inherit a continuing city, Jerusalem above, the mother of us all, in the fullness of that inheritance which will occur at the first resurrection].
Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

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.
1Co 8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

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; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

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

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

Only God can give true spiritual increase, and all the planting and watering in the world does not change that truth (1Co 3:6), and so while we are in these earthen vessels we do water and plant abundantly in the churches of Babylon only to find out by God’s grace that these actions that are not accompanied with the understanding of God’s sovereignty and the faith of Christ are merely talents or seeds which are planted and watered in the earth and can’t be given any increase until an appointed time by God (Isa 55:11, Lev 26:4, Isa 58:8). The appointed time happens as a result of God’s goodness that leads us unto repentance through his chastening grace and judgement that teaches us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6).

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

This increase, or withholding of increase, is by design (2Th 2:5-8). God’s reason for doing this is to drive the point home to all of humanity, in time, that all the increase in our life comes from God alone, and all the good and evil done in life is orchestrated by our Sovereign Father who works all things according to the counsel of His own will (Isa 45:7, Eph 1:11).

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

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:

2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Very few are given that privilege and honour to lay up treasure in heaven as a result of the increase that God gives us in this age (Mat 22:14, Luk 10:20). The main contention the rest of the world will have in the second resurrection, is stated clearly in (Mat 7:22). We must be given power to give all glory to God, and to fully acknowledge in our hearts and minds that it is Christ who has been working all along within these marred vessels of clay both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, and in doing so we become witnesses of these things (Php 2:12-13, Luk 24:47-48).

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

Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written 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?

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

Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

It is God’s words that will judge those who are in the second resurrection, and it is God’s word that is judging the elect today (Joh 12:48, 1Pe 4:17). We don’t think of ourselves as having rejected God’s words and Christ, but when we don’t acknowledge his absolute sovereignty in all things we are rejecting His power and who He is within His creation, and this keeps the man of perdition on the throne, the beast that has his power from the dragon (Rev 13:4). That precise moment of judgement coming upon the world for thinking that they have free moral agency is typified by the events that have Joseph speaking to his brothers who will learn at the hand of Joseph that they do not have any power of themselves (Gen 45:5-7), and this event with Joseph and his brothers typifies for us the great white throne judgement of all the world by God’s elect. If we contrast what is said in the second resurrection by humanity (Mat 7:22) with the wonderful works of God (Psa 107:8-31) that we must give thanks to God for, and stop taking credit for any of the light and darkness that are in God’s total control (Isa 45:7), then we can begin to be freed by the son of God and become a new creation that acknowledges that we are His workmanship, that He does as He sees fit with (Rom 9:19-22), including putting us all in our appointed time into an spiritual exile.

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Psa 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 111:4  He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 

Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

In the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel we have a broad overview of how God has always intended to work with humanity, with each generation via the exiles that we all must experience, exiles that will all ultimately be used to bring all of His creation to him (1Co 15:28, 1Co 12:6). I say ‘exiles’ (plural) because this is a process just as there are many baptisms as we die daily and are buried into His death so we can be raised in the newness of life found in Christ (Rom 6:3-4, 1Co 15:31)

Mat 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Mat 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

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.

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.

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

It is after these three groups of fourteen generations are mentioned that the birth of Christ is spoken of in (Mat 1:18), and these are signified events (Rev 1:1) that point to the process of judgement [3 groups of 14 generations] that all generations must experience in order to be prepared to be born again (Mat 1:16-18, Col 1:27, Joh 3:3). There are 3 fourteens that add up to the number 42 and this number reminds us that it will be through the witness of God’s power [2] that the whole [4] of humanity will be saved by putting off our carnal Adamic fleshly minds represented by the number 6 [4+2=6] (Rev 13:16-18).

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; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

This mark of the beast spoken of in the book of Revelation represents how everyone who is born of flesh is immediately in a marred body of sin that God has created. God’s elect are that part of His workmanship who are being judged first (1Pe 4:17), and know that there is another fold that God is working with, but not to the point of overcoming in this life (Joh 10:16), and not to be preserved as the bride of Christ will be, but rather reserved unto the second resurrection to be judged then (1Co 15:31). God’s elect are part of a dying daily process that changes us to become a new creation as we come out of Babylonian exile, through much tribulation in this life (Mar 13:8, Act 14:22).

Mar 13:8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

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

It is only by God’s power that we can come out of her my people and experience a true liberty from sin that can only be found in Christ (2Co 3:17, Joh 8:36). Again, overcoming physical vices does not preclude that someone is laying up treasure in heaven, or that they have overcome the most insidious of all sins, which is the sin of self righteousness. That sin takes an ongoing miracle from God to overcome as we die daily (Php 3:9, 1Co 15:31).

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

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

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

Our sojourn as God’s elect requires our constant examination of ourselves, as God’s goodness leads us unto repentance (Rom 2:4) and we are washed by the blood of lamb of all of those iniquities which is the self righteousness that just naturally clings to us (2Co 13:5, 1Co 9:27, 1Co 15:31). God tells us to confess our faults and He will deliver us, and in order to keep us all humble as we are daily delivered, we are also told that, in the final analysis, our escape will be a narrow but a certain one (1Pe 4:17-19).

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?
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

The 3 sixes that make up the mark of the beast can also represent those three generations of human experience within us (14+14+14=42), as all things are ours (1Co 3:2) and there is one experience unto all men that we will go through at our appointed time in order to come to know our Lord through that judgement within all those generations. The blessed generation in this life is the one that is being judged today (1Pe 4:17) and coming to see that we are guilty of all the sins of the world and the death of the prophets and of Christ, from Abel to Zacharias (Mat 23:35). We cannot begin to come out of the exile God puts us in until we are given to acknowledge our current wretched miserable poor and blind condition of being in weak flesh (Rev 3:17), but if we are granted to acknowledge that we can’t see, then our Lord can begin to heal us and deliver us from our captors who we could never overcome except the Lord set us free (Joh 9:41, Joh 8:36, Rom 7:24-25).

Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

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

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

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

The bible is about two men, and we are God’s workmanship that have those two men wrestling within us (Eph 2:8-10, Gen 25:22, Rom 9:13, Eph 6:12). We must experience our own personal exile into Babylon to then come out of that exile, if it is God’s will to do that for us in this age (Heb 6:3). There are many micro and macro examples throughout God’s word of how our first man Adam must go in and come out of exile, and the goal in this mini series is to bring out a few key verses that speak to this point. Christ divested himself of the power that he had and was born into sinful flesh (Php 2:5-7, Psa 51:5) so we could escape our sinful condition through Him (2Co 5:20-21). Christ coming out of Egypt, as Israel did by way of Moses, is a shadow of how Christ is delivering the Israel of God first (Gal 6:16) by the power of God’s holy spirit (Hos 11:1).

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

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.

Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Christ had his own period in Egypt as a child where we read where Joseph was warned of an angel in a dream to take “the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him”. This departure to Egypt was typical of the exile that God’s elect go through in this life being hidden in Christ (Col 3:3, 1Jn 4:17) and kept from that wicked one Satan who wants to sift the manchild. Pharoah is a type of Satan who wanted to kill all the children two years and under, in order to kill Moses who represents Christ (Exo 1:22, Mat 2:16). The two years and under is the number of witness, and we are God’s witnesses with the spirit of God within us of these things, being hated of all the world (Rom 8:9, Col 1:27, Luk 24:48).

Luk 24:48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

We are those angels to each other that bring this sobering message that we will be hated by all men for his name’s sake (Mat 10:22), and along with that message we learn that the dream is one as we’re given an absolute hope (Rom 8:9, Col 1:27) and joy (1Th 1:6, Php 4:4) of knowing that we can be more than conquerors through Christ (Rom 8:31-37) who is the author and finisher of our faith and who God is dragging us to, delivering us from Babylonian exile (Heb 12:2, Joh 6:44).

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

Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

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

It is only by God’s sovereign power in our life that anyone of us can come out of her my people (2Co 6:17-18), and so perhaps the most important lesson we can take from this study is the truth that we serve a merciful and loving God who has always intended to perfect holiness within His creation, each man in His own order (1Co 15:23), through giving us an experience of evil to humble us thereby (Ecc 1:13) and ultimately receiving us through those experiences (Heb 12:6) that will bring us to trust in the living God (2Co 1:9) who has already written our books and declared the salvation of all souls from the very beginning (1Co 15:22, 1Ti 4:10, 1Jn 2:2). This process of judgement that is upon the elect is symbolized by the number 3, and so the 6.6.6. found in the book of Revelation tells us that all of human flesh must be judged in order to become a new creation in Christ. The only sign Christ gives the evil generation that we come to see by God’s grace as being ourselves, is the sign of Jonah, and it is only those who can acknowledge that they are that evil generation who were seeking a sign, who will be given the understanding of this parable of Christ, and every other parable, that reveals that many are called and few are chosen (Mat 20:16, Luk 10:24). Those who are chosen are being judged by Christ who is in the heart of our earth, earth, earth, three times mentioned in Jeremiah to remind us that we are going through a life-long process of judgement as God’s elect (Mat 12:39-40, Jer 22:29).

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

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

In the coming studies on exiles mentioned in the bible I have compiled a list of some of the more obvious and less obvious examples that have been given to us that I hope to break down and share in the coming weeks. Here is the current list of the studies we will look at in the coming weeks on what “exiles” in God’s word symbolizes for us today:

1: Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden of Eden

2: The first two times the word exile is used in the bible

3: Some occurrences of the word outcasts, exile, or exiles in God’s word

4: The most notable exiles of Egypt and Babylon

5: Events in the bible that typify how we must come out of exile by God’s power

6: Characters in the bible who typify the spiritual zeal and Godly strength needed from Him to endure through the exile and come out of it, going unto perfection in the blessed and holy first resurrection.

7: Christ’s own examples of preaching to the captives, setting us free with God’s word that heals us and brings liberty.

[Study Aired May 30, 2024]

In this section of Daniel we will look at some more detailed prophecies that have a natural fulfillment in history of which God’s elect are blessed to have eyes that see and ears that hear how this history points to a spiritual lesson that is received by those who are given to read, hear and keep the sayings of the prophecies throughout God’s word (Rev 1:3) from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.

The body of Christ can be edified by the outward fulfillment of historical verses which we study when we are given to understand the inward spiritual significance of those events. Our heavenly Father blesses us by revealing (Joh 16:17) how these verses apply to the judgment that is upon the kingdoms of our old man in this present age, and in doing that we mature and grow in the Lord (1Pe 4:17). 

Our prayer is that God will grant us to remain focused on this point, remembering that all the scriptures we read have been given by inspiration of God and become “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Ti 3:16), and that reproof and correction will drive away our fears so we can live out our lives considering ourselves dead to sin and alive through Christ (Rom 6:2). Today we are blessed to learn of His righteousness and of the kingdom of God which is His good pleasure to give to us (Luk 17:21, Luk 12:32, 1Jn 4:16-18).

Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 
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. 
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

With these things in mind, we’ll jump into the first verse of this study which introduces another type of the man-of-sin character we know represents the inward man of perdition who must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming that judges the elect first in this life (2Th 2:2-9). Christ was not dwelling in anyone at this time in history, and so the inward message to Daniel is a book that is sealed and hidden from him (Dan 12:4). However the elect’s perception of all these different characters we read of in history are always representing either a Christ-like figure or the first man Adam who has been appointed to death (Rom 6:3) or judgment (1Jn 4:17) which has only begun on the house of God today (1Pe 4:17, Heb 9:27).

Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 

Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 

2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [1Pe 4:17];
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming [1Pe 4:17]: 
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved [We come to love the truth because of His judgments upon us (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17)].

Dan 11:21  And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

I will start off this first verse by reading the history connected to this prophecy of Antiochus IV as a starting point to then look at the spiritual significance of this “vile person” who tried to “obtain the kingdom by flatteries.“

History

Antiochus IV, known as Antiochus Epiphanes: A Vile Person.
(Daniel 11:21) The vile person comes to power.

And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

In his place shall arise a vile person: The angel told Daniel that after the brief reign of the former king of the North, the next king would be a vile person. He would not be recognized as royalty, but shall take power by intrigue.
In his place: This was fulfilled in the successor of Seleucis III, named Antiochus IV. He did not come to the throne legitimately because it was strongly suspected that he murdered his older brother, the previous king. The other potential heir (the son of Seleucus III) was imprisoned in Rome.
He shall come in peaceably: Apart from the murder of his older brother, Antiochus IV didn’t use terror to gain power. He used flattery, smooth promises and intrigue.
“He flattered Eumenes, king of Pergamus, and Attalushis brother, and got their assistance. He flatteredthe Romans, and sent ambassadors to court their favour, and pay them the arrears of the tribute. He flattered the Syrians, and gained their concurrence.” (Clarke)

iii. Antiochus IV took the title Epiphanes, meaning illustrious. Others derisively called him Epimanes, meaning madman (Study Guide for Daniel 11 by David Guzik (blueletterbible.org)

The “vile person” in history, Antiochus Epiphanes, represents the vile man within me who needs to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. As we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-10, he needs to be revealed, and he is first revealed to those through whom God is working by Christ’s judgments in our lives (1Pe 4:17).

“b. In his place: This was fulfilled in the successor of Seleucis III, named Antiochus IV. He did not come to the throne legitimately because it was strongly suspected that he murdered his older brother, the previous king. The other potential heir (the son of Seleucus III) was imprisoned in Rome.“

One critically important spiritual point we can connect to “section b” of this history we just read, is that when we do not come to the throne of God legitimately, it is because we have murder in our hearts and have not passed from death to life (1Jn 3:14-17). A miracle must happen for this to happen, where by God’s goodness (Rom 2:4) we are brought to see that either ‘we have ought against another’ or ‘another has ought against us’ and we therefore need to ‘go to our brother between you and them alone’ to resolve this sinful condition (Mat 5:23-24, Mar 11:25-26, Mat 18:4, Mat 18:10, Mat 18:15).

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 
1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 

Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Mar 11:25  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar 11:26  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

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

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

It is a process of judgment upon our sinful flesh that must unfold over time, and so in the previous verse (Dan 11:20) we had already learned of Seleucus III who was Antiochus’ III eldest son and successor who would raise taxes taking actions that represent the bondage of sin that is brought upon us when we are yet subject to those powers and principalities of corrupt minds and leadership (Rom 6:16). The point being, there is a lineage to sin (Num 14:18, Exo 34:7) just as much as there is a typical lineage of righteousness which represents the true seed and lineage of Christ in the spirit that will overcome the corrupt lineage within us (Gal 3:16), through the church where the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s body (Mat 16:18). The history of which we read in God’s word is written in such a way that we can see the process of judgment that must unfold, by little and little (Exo 23:30), and so the death of one evil king is not enough to destroy the man of perdition, and all the other corrupt kings who must be destroyed tells us that we have that potential to be those corrupt kings every day, and therefore we must die daily to overcome those powers and principalities we wrestle against (1Co 15:31).

Num 14:18  The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Exo 34:7  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

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

Antiochus Epiphanes IV historically was considered a vile person, and as stated earlier, he represents one phase of the man of perdition in our lives who blinds us by smooth talking as Babylon does (Isa 30:10) saying “peace, peace when there is no peace”: “he shall come in peaceably.” We only have to look up the word “flatteries” in the bible (Psa 5:7-10, Psa 78:28-39) and look at the surrounding context to get an idea of what this corrupt king’s objective was in his day, which represents a part of  us that must be destroyed at an appointed time if our righteousness is going to exceed that of the Pharisees (Mat 5:20).

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Psa 5:7  But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. 
Psa 5:8  Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. 
Psa 5:9  For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
Psa 5:10  Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; [not relying on the safety that is in a multitude of counsellors (Pro 11:14, Pro 20:15, Pro 24:6, Pro 20:18)] cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Dan 11:22  And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. 
Dan 11:23  And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. 
Dan 11:24  He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
Dan 11:25  And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 
Dan 11:26  Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 
Dan 11:27  And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.

With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time. He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him. Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.

History

He shall act deceitfully: The angel told Daniel that the new king of the North (the vile personof Daniel 11:21) would attempt a deceitful covenant with the king of the South. This would fail, and there would be a great battle that would not change the balance of power.
He shall stir up his power: This was fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanes carried on the feud between the dynasties but pretended friendship and alliance to catch them off guard. Despite massive efforts and epic battles, Antiochus Epiphanes did not stand, and his army was swept away.
The defeat of Antiochus Epiphanes at his second campaign against Egypt was important, because Egypt beat Antiochus with the help of Rome. At the end of it all, Antiochus Epiphanes and his kingdom were under the dominion of Rome.
In a famous battle, the Roman Navy defeated the navy of Antiochus Epiphanes. After the battle, a Roman general drew a circle around Antiochus in the dirt and demanded to know if he would surrender and pay tribute to Rome — and demanded to know before he stepped out of the circle. From that point on there was no doubt: Antiochus Epiphanes took his orders from Rome and was under Roman dominion.

iii. Those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him: This was fulfilled in the treachery against Antiochus IV by his own counselors. [Study Guide for Daniel 11 by David Guzik (blueletterbible.org)]

“Section a” in the history portion of our study tells us that “the new king of the North (the vile person of Daniel 11:21) would attempt a deceitful covenant with the king of the South” and that this would fail and there would then be a great battle resulting in no change in the balance of power.  These events correspond with the spirit of our age where we read in 2 Timothy 3:3-6 that people would be “without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”  This is the spirit being revealed in these last few verses we’re looking at (Dan 11:22-27).

The overarching lesson is that all our efforts in the flesh, our own righteousnesses, will not succeed (“Antiochus Epiphanes did not stand, and his army was swept away“), and we must remember there was never any choice in the outcome of any of these inevitable outcomes (Eph 1:11) that were written for our sakes to demonstrate the sovereignty of God that declares from the beginning who it is that will be preserved for the first resurrection (Jud 1:1, 1Th 5:23) and who it is that will be reserved (2Pe 3:7, Jud 1:6, Jud 1:13) until the second resurrection (1Jn 2:19) to be judged at that time, as opposed to being judged in this age.

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:

Jud 1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 

Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. [Rom 11:20-22, Rom 2:4, 1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17]

Next week we will look at another section of these remaining verses in chapter 11 of Daniel:

Dan 11:28  Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. 
Dan 11:29  At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 
Dan 11:30  For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 
Dan 11:31  And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 
Dan 11:32  And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Dan 11:33  And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 
Dan 11:34  Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 
Dan 11:35  And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. 
Dan 11:36  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Dan 11:37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 
Dan 11:38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 
Dan 11:39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. 
Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 
Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 
Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 
Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 
Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 
Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

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

[Study Aired May 2, 2024]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

H2313 chiddeqel khid-deh’-kel

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

Total KJV occurrences: 2

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

H6578 perâth per-awth’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Uphaz^H210  ‘ûphâz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Study Aired June 18, 2020]

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. 

God’s elect will give the more earnest heed as the spiritual “seed of Abraham” to whom Christ and His body are likened  (Gal 3:16) being those who were first granted the grace and faith (1Jn 5:4) needed at this time in order to overcome and endure until the end.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed [‘Christ and his spiritual seed’] were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many [Mat 22:14]; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith [‘It is the few who overcome the world within today by losing our life through Christ‘].

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.  [We ought to give the more earnest heed to this “earnest of our inheritance” relationship with our Father and Christ (Joh 17:3).]

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now [Abraham and all the prophets of old for example, groaned and suffered for our sakes (Jas 5:11, 2Co 4:15)].
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.

[Eph 1:14 God’s elect are learning to give “more earnest heed” to this process of patiently possessing our souls “until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Luk 21:19)]

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

The opening verse of this last section of chapter two explains how those who are that holy seed, who are of that kingship and priesthood through Christ, typified by Abraham, are able to endure the temptations of this life and are being comforted by Christ in each other through God’s spirit which is able to “succour [comfort] them that are tempted” knowing that this temptation is promised to never be beyond what we can endure.

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

[He uses the body to accomplish this bearing through the law of Christ that is working in the members of those who are connected to the vine as a joint which supplies in love (Gal 6:2-3, Eph 4:16]

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

[A healthy body of Christ like a healthy tree supports the fruit at the various stages that it grows supporting it and contributing to that growth as a joint that supplies (Luk 6:43-45, Joh 15:5]

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

Christ’s body (Col 1:24) is to “give the more earnest heed” in regard to knowing that we must be armed with the mind and suffering of Christ (1Pe 4:1) in order to become those kings and priests who bring forth much fruit together alongside Christ who will give us the ability to identify with this verse: “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour [comfort] them that are tempted” (2Co 1:4). Those fiery trials through which we support each other are essential for bringing fruit unto maturation, and the trial of our faith is precious to God for what it works in the entire body which is learning to support and endure these fiery trials together (1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 4:12).

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

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

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

In this study we will do a small overview of what we have talked about already in Hebrews chapter one and two and how those previous verses have brought us to these very succinct words in the last three verses of chapter two describing who Christ was in type and shadow as Abraham and who He is today as our high priest and who we will ultimately become (1Jn 3:2) because of what our Lord is accomplishing within our Father’s workmanship today (Eph 2:8-10, Tit 3:8).

We ought to give the more earnest heed to what it means to be called to become kings and priests, rejoicing, praising, and thanking God for the blessing to which we have been called. That blessing is to bring forth much fruit (Joh 15:8) through much tribulation in this life leading to eternal life (Psa 68:3-5, Rom 6:22-23, Act 14:22).

Psa 68:3  But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
Psa 68:4  Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.
Psa 68:5  A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

Heb 2:16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 

God moved the prophets of old for our sakes as He inspired them to point to the reality of the One who was going to be born the saviour of humanity (Isa 9:6). Christ would be used to speak to us as our high priest, being the one “whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Heb 1:1-2). Chapter one of Hebrews sets the stage for how God is going to redeem mankind through our Lord who knows our form, who “made the worlds”, the physical world that typifies the workmanship we are in his hands (Eph 2:10). The Master Potter is able to take us in our marred condition and make us anew to the glory of God (Jer 18:4, Joh 15:8).

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days [‘the last days of our fleshly carnal minds that are being destroyed by the brightness of his coming‘] spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

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.

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

Christ did not come to earth so He could get comfortable with the idea of how it is to be a human for His own sake, “but he took on him the seed of Abraham” for our sake (2Co 4:15). We can so easily, in our fleshly thinking, separate ourselves from this momentous event in history when Christ was born of the virgin Mary, but that event was for our sakes and points to another momentous event. At the birth of the bride of Christ, typified by the birth of Jesus who is the head of the manchild [‘the bride’], who is later, on Pentecost, to be caught up into heaven (Isa 7:14, 2Co 11:2, Rev 14:4, Rev 12:5). The body of Christ is judged as those who go through this nine-month period of spiritual gestation in the church (1Pe 4:17), so we, like Christ, can be born again in an earnest relationship at first, becoming that seed of Christ, the children of God (1Jn 3:1) who are typified by the seed of Abraham (Gal 3:16, Rom 9:6-8, Rom 8:9).

Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

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

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. [Rom 8:14-16] These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Rom 9:6  Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Chapter one of Hebrews boldly tells us it is not only Christ who is going to “Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Heb 1:3, 13, Eph 2:6, Rev 4:10-11, Rev 3:9). Those who are being ministered to as Christ was when He was in this marred vessel of clay, who had to die daily and carry His cross just as He commanded His disciples to do, will also be there (Mat 16:24-26, 1Jn 4:17, Gal 2:20).

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins [Joh 17:17], sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb 1:13  But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

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

Rev 4:10  The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

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.

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. [Eph 2:6]
Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

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.

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.

Chapter one of Hebrews sets the stage to help us understand that we have an high priest who is identifying with us in our marred condition for a reason.  That reason is so that we can go through the suffering of this life, enduring all things through Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13), as we experience this hope of glory within (Col 1:27) which gives us the power to faithfully witness and overcome in this life (Rev 11:3). The inward enemies of the cross are naturally within us as a root of bitterness that could manifest if we don’t continue to diligently examine ourselves (Heb 12:15), and they are only overcome through Christ who gives us the power to bring every thought into subjection to Him (2Co 10:5) as we learn to patiently possess our souls sitting at His right hand where there is power to overcome and drink the cup we are called unto: “A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (2Ti 2:12, Joh 8:36, Psa 110:1, Mat 20:23).

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

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

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

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

Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

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. 

It behooved Christ not just to be born into the flesh “to be made like unto his brethren” but to be connected to the physical seed of Abraham for those who would one day identify with what the spiritual significance of being “made like unto his brethren” means (1Co 10:11). It was critical that Christ have all the same pulls of the flesh, being tempted in all diverse manner yet without sin for our sakes, but also critical that He experience the power of God, the spirit without measure (Joh 3:34), giving Him the ability to overcome all those pulls of the flesh demonstrating that the head of this spiritual lineage typified by Abraham could overcome and remain as a pure and unspotted lamb without blemish (Heb 4:15, 1Pe 1:9).

The “reconciliation for the sins of the people” is a statement connected not just to Abraham, but to Abraham’s seed and the type and shadow events which brought about the miraculous birth of Abraham’s son, Isaac (Gen 17:17). Each patriarch has his counterpart in the flesh as well to remind us that we will have to struggle against the powers and principalities over which God will give us power to prevail and overcome through Christ. The reconciliation process takes time, and it is a matter of supernaturally overcoming what we could never overcome except for the grace and faith God gives us through Christ.

Starting with Abraham and Lot [Abraham was a type of Christ who listened to God (Gen 22:2) whereas Lot went where his passions drove him (Gen 13:8-10)].

Isaac was the son of promise (Gal 4:28) as opposed to Ishmael whom Abraham lamented for not being able to “live before thee” (Gen 17:18). Isaac was presented a living sacrifice by his father, typifying our being dragged to Christ by our Father (Joh 6:44) who has made provision for us through Christ as the goat who is killed for all the sins of the world (Joh 1:29) within and without (Lev 16:7-10, Gen 22:13).

Jacob represents the body of Christ that perseveres and overcomes the flesh represented by Esau. The daily reward for not following our fleshly passions as we daily mortify the deeds of our flesh (Rom 8:13) is what it means to strive for the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Php 3:14). If we are granted the power to continue to overcome and forget what is behind us (Php 3:13, Luk 17:32), we will be partakers of those promises as typified by Jacob’s life. His name means “to follow, to be behind, to supplant, circumvent, assail, overreach”. Jacob’s new name was Israel, as we are the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), and Israel means “God prevails”^H3478 (Gen 32:28).

Abraham and Lot, Isaac and Ishmael (Gal 4:28), and Jacob and Esau (Gen 32:22-31, Gen 28:13-14) all serve to remind the body of Christ there is a process of spiritual completion unfolding in the lives of God’s children who are joint-heirs with Christ. The inheritance in type which was promised unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is something that can only be inherited through a lifetime of overcoming and enduring until the end through Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Rom 8:17-19, Act 14:22). To “make reconciliation for the sins of the people” will require a reconciliation process that will be administered by those who have first trusted God and suffered in this life (Eph 1:12) so we can rule in the next (2Ti 2:12).

Rom 8:17  And if children [spiritual children of Abraham typifying those who have God’s spirit within them (Rom 8:6-9)], then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Heb 2:18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. 

We need to ask ourselves again, “What good will any or all of this knowledge be to us if we don’t give the more earnest heed today?” Therefore “we ought to give the more earnest heed” means we ought to identify with Christ’s suffering, filling up what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake, the church, and not be surprised concerning the fiery trial which is to try us as though some strange thing happened to us (Col 1:24, 1Pe 4:12).

What a humbling and glorious thought all at the same time, to consider that God can and will strengthen, stablish and settle those He has called in this age to experience that humbling event under His mighty hand so that we can be exalted in due time! It is through the struggles, the process we have discussed, that we will be established in the Lord.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

2Th 2:16  Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
2Th 2:17  Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

2Th 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

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

We are humbled to know that we are as He is in this world (1Jn 4:17), and as such, these words in the book of Hebrews should apply just as much to the body of Christ as it did to Christ when He was in the flesh: “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted“. God is the one who is directing all the growth in the body of Christ (1Co 3:6), like the young child of twelve years old (Luk 2:40-42) who walked into the temple and was being established of His Father. So the body of Christ is also being established in the temple, being strengthened and settled so we can be the foundational government God will build upon Christ (Mat 16:18), a government that will know no end to the peace and increase that has been promised (Isa 9:6).

Luk 2:40  And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. [2Pe 3:18]
Luk 2:41  Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
Luk 2:42  And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

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

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.

[Study Aired April 23, 2020]

Psa 149:5  Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. 
Psa 149:6  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 
Psa 149:7  To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 
Psa 149:8  To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 
Psa 149:9  To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. 

God’s saints will be, and are, “joyful in glory” when we are partakers of that process of making the bitter waters sweet for the sake of the rest of the world. The bitter waters within us can only be made sweet by our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) being cast into the water that is described in Exodus chapter 15:22-26, as a tree that represents Christ.

Genesis chapter 30 describes the prosperity that came to Jacob by setting “rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink” (Exo 15:22-26, Gen 30:41-43). The physical prosperity God gave to Jacob is a type and shadow of the spiritual prosperity we have when God puts “none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee” of Exodus 15:26, and that will happen as a result of our diligently hearkening to the voice of the Lord, who is teaching us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust (Tit 2:12) as we learn obedience through a process of grace through faith that is typified by the “pilled white strakes” that were put on the rods (Isa 53:5, Heb 5:8, 1Jn 4:17).

When we see these two stories side by side, a clear message is given to God’s elect who are being received as God’s sons whom He loves and is maturing through the trials and tribulations of this life (Heb 12:6, Act 14:22).

Exo 15:24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Exo 15:26   And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Gen 30:41  And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
Gen 30:42  But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
Gen 30:43  And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

It’s more blessed to give than to receive (Act 20:35), and God has called us to this blessing to be part of those living waters, along with Christ, that will be sent out to heal the world (1Pe 3:9, Zec 14:8, Joh 20:21), with waters that have been purified through the stripes with which God bruises us; stripes that Christ endured for our sakes (Heb 4:15), and stripes that we “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ” with (Col 1:24) so the nations can be healed (Psa 103:3).  It pleases the Father that these branches which we are (Joh 15:5) go through what we go through not only so that we can be healed and saved, but so we can heal others and ultimately be used to save the world with our head, Jesus Christ, leading the way (Joh 15:2, 1Ti 4:16).

The Lord is dragging the body of Christ forward by grace through faith (Joh 6:44, Eph 2:8), as our Father writes a book of remembrance for the world that will witness of His greatness to finish what He has started in us through Christ (Heb 12:2, Php 1:6). The fruit of the work of the Lord within the body of Christ will be witnessed in our coming together often in a spirit of love, not forsaking the assembling of the brethren and communicating often to one another (Heb 10:25, Mal 3:16). That book God is writing is on our hearts and is a witness of His power (Zec 4:6). The extra oil we are blessed and privileged to buy comes from our savior, or physician, who heals us in this life and promises us that we will be able to endure until the end through Him.

God has ordained from the foundation of the world that the elect would cry out to Him in that we fear Him (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17) and understand that we can’t see or hear spiritually without that gift being given (Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5). Having those spiritual eyes and ears gives us the ability to understand and see the severity and goodness of God that has blinded those who say they do see, which is why their sin remains, even while He shows mercy to a small remnant of first fruits who are blessed to be those who are first given eyes to see and ears to hear so we can trust Him through this life of much tribulation which is used to help us put off our flesh (Mat 25:3-4, Rev 3:18, Mar 2:17, Mat 24:13, Joh 9:41).

The only way in which we will one day be those saviors who come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau is to have God’s mercy extended to us in this life (Rom 2:3-4), which is His goodness leading us to repentance so we can be cleansed and healed and blessed to be used to “execute upon them the judgment written”  (Oba 1:21).

Psa 149:5  Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. 

Let the saints be “joyful in glory” in the joy of knowing that we are going from “glory to glory” spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3:18. If we know our trials are of the Lord and that He is working all things according to the counsel of His will, then we can more easily give thanks to God for those wonderful works unto the children of men (Psa 107:27-32). It is when we suffer from having the veil ripped that we cease from sinning (1Pe 4:1) and can then go from obedience to obedience, which glorifies God because it is God who is giving us the power to do that (Php 4:13, Php 4:19).

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

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

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; [2Co 12:9]

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

Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Coming to that point of being thankful and rejoicing in the trials God gives us is a miracle that He has to bestow upon the elect, otherwise we would grow weary of his correction and because iniquity will abound we would be of the camp of those whose love [obedience to God’s commands – 1Jn 5:3, Joh 14:15] waxes cold because of the lack of spiritual increase not given.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. [Php 4:13]

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

God’s elect are called to witness that His mercy will prevail for them in this age and demonstrate His power which saves those whom He has predetermined from the foundation of the world to be His kind of first fruits (Jas 1:18, 1Co 1:26). There’s no greater increase God could give us than to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection, which is not something anyone can attain unless it is God’s will for that to happen. Here is a short list of some things that God “will do” (vs. 24) to make this happen.

1Th 5:19  Quench not the Spirit.
1Th 5:20  Despise not prophesyings.
1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:24  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings: [Lam 3:20-23].

Repentance and escaping the tribulation which we are to pray that we escape is connected to “their beds” in scripture and it is those who are granted to continue to repent in this age who will escape the great tribulation. Those who are given to see and know that they are not worthy and are unprofitable servants who have done that which was expected of them will also have repentant hearts, and minds that are examining themselves whether they be in the faith or not.

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Rev 2:22  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

Joh 1:27  He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

[John was not worthy to unloose the latchet of Christ’s shoes, and neither are we. John died pointing to Christ, still being found with his own righteousness and under the law, which is why he said “whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose”. On the other hand, God’s elect are blessed to have our walk washed in this life by Christ and to wash each other’s feet with Christ in us as our hope of glory (Col 1:27), which means we can be found with His righteousness and not our own (Rev 19:8) as we are washed and cleansed by His word that quickens us and gives us the ability to live by the spirit and not by the letter. Our feet can’t be washed unless the shoes come off, and John was symbolically saying ‘I can’t be washed while I’m under the law’, and unless we are granted to loose those bands of iniquity within us that the law was given so that “the offence might abound” (Rom 5:20), we can’t truly be inwardly washed by the word and see grace “much more abound” (Joh 13:14, Php 3:9, Joh 6:63, 2Co 3:6)].

Luk 17:10  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. [Rom 12:1]

God’s goodness will lead us to repentance, and we will trim our lamps and be given to use that space of time He gives us to see the need to buy gold tried in the fire, salve for our eyes and white raiment that we may be clothed and the shame of our nakedness do not appear (Rev 3:18, Rev 19:8).

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

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. [Php 3:9, 1Jn 5:4]

The process we go through, which is described in Revelation 3:18, is also called the patience and faith of the saints (Rev 14:12), and it is our version of that great tribulation which we will escape (Luk 21:36) by experiencing the seven last plagues poured out upon us now in this age, bringing us to “repent of their deeds” (Rev 15:8, Rev 2:22). We are called to discern the times in which we’re living, and if God wills this, we will be made ready as the bride of Christ. Foreseeing the evil that is coming on this earth happens by being granted to see the evil within ourselves today, and that is a humiliating process for our flesh.

Pro 22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the evil [Psa 19:7], and hideth himself [Col 3:3]: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Pro 22:4  By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.

Pro 27:12  A prudent man foreseeth the evil [Psa 19:7], and hideth himself [Col 3:3]; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

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

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

What this first verse of our study is saying is that we are joyful because we have been blessed to identify the man of sin in our lives within who is being destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming (2Th 2:8) as we grow in the patience and faith of the saints because of the judgment that God has upon us and is enabling us to endure (1Pe 4:17, Mat 20:23).

Psa 149:6  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 
Psa 149:7  To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 
Psa 149:8  To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 

The “twoedged sword” that is “in their hand” represents the word of God that is sharper than any twoedged sword and God willing not departing from our house (Heb 4:12, 2Sa 12:10). And the “high praises of God” that “be in their mouth” is the sacrifice of thanks giving that we offer to God continually for the wonderful workmanship in our heavens that is executing “vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people” within.

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

The judgment which is upon us is what we must continue to endure through Christ and not grow weary of His correction (1Pe 4:17, Pro 3:11) because it is that two-edged sword of correction which is His word that will heal us (Psa 107:20) and bring us unto maturity in the Lord just like a typical birth of a child where there are normally nine months which represent judgment that is accompanied with greater intensity and frequency of birth pangs as the day approaches (Joh 16:21-24). God has built these physical lessons into the child-bearing experience for our sakes, who are our brother’s keeper (Gen 4:9) helping each other bear the joyful burden (Gal 6:2-3, Luk 17:10) of knowing that we were called unto this blessing to be in the first resurrection together and called to know that our “heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (Rev 20:6, Mat 24:13).

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Luk 17:10  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

It is through the suffering and afflictions we must endure that God will “bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron“; meaning we will cease from sinning after we go through much tribulation, and the end result will be that those earthly kings within us will be destroyed (1Pe 4:1, 1Pe 4:17).

Psa 149:9  To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.

This last verse is the conclusion of the matter for those who are first judged in this life as God’s children. They will have “this honour” of executing “upon them the judgment written” and for that we ought to “Praise ye the LORD” who has made all of this possible through Jesus Christ.

What we need to do now as God’s children in order to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection is perfectly outlined in Ephesians 6:1-4.

Eph 6:1  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Eph 6:2  Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise
Eph 6:3  That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Eph 6:4  And, ye fathers [parents in the Lord], provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The reward for that obedience which God will accomplish in the hearts and minds of Christ’s bride is for us to be partakers of “the first commandment with promise”, which promise is described in this way: “that it may be well with thee, and you may live long on the earth.”

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. [“live long on the earth“]

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

Notice that it is during that symbolic thousand years that we reign on the earth that we will “execute upon them the judgment written” which is what the 1000 represents (10x10x10=1000).

When God’s judgments are in the earth men will learn righteousness, but we also must remember that the one thousand comes first for all men, and then the #1, which represents the day of the Lord, the time of true spiritual conversion, will come after.

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.

2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward [Rom 2:4], not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. [each man in his order – 1Co 15:22-23]

God has given the elect to be able to see the need for order, and how that applies to the resurrections and the judgment of all of mankind. That judgment begins with us as His firstfruits who will be saved first so that we can “execute upon them the judgment written“.

1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

In this study we will be looking at how God will prepare the resurrected masses to be made ready for that time of giving an accounting before God and the order of that judgment.

Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

I hope to use this time to encourage us as we’re reminded of the “precious and exceeding great promises” that have been granted to us and the great mercy that God will show to all men in time by bringing about judgment that will “turn away ungodliness from Jacob” and “take away their sins”.

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

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in;
Rom 11:26 and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28 As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.

How does God look at all flesh?

The sinful flesh of Adam, including Christ’s flesh, typifies what an unconverted resurrected spirit-being is in the eyes of our Father and Christ: they are, and all flesh is, spiritually dead in our Father’s eyes and not good.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

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

Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

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

In a resurrected and unconverted spirit body in which the world will be found in the second resurrection, the spiritually dead will be burying the dead, as history and all of the experiences of their own life and others will be brought into remembrance and gathered as bread for God’s purpose. They will still know Christ after the flesh at this point in the second resurrection, and the verses in the next section of our study should help explain how that process of judgment in the second resurrection can be likened unto a time when “all the fragments” will be gathered up so that “nothing be lost”.

Joh 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

Nourished and Judged

When the world is finally blessed to sit at the feet of Christ, that nourishing event will be the sweet that must precede the bitterness in our belly which comes after we receive His word. The parables that God gave us in Luke 9:14-17 and Mark 8:6-9 help us see how judgment will unfold and reveal a judgment which all of humanity will experience as they receive the words of Christ that must culminate in a bitter lake of fire experience.

Rev 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

Eze 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
Eze 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

Eze 3:14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.

Eze 3:27 But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

Luk 9:14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
Luk 9:15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
Luk 9:16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
Luk 9:17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

Mar 8:6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.
Mar 8:7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.
Mar 8:8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.
Mar 8:9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

There are about 5000 + 4000 people sitting = 9000 in these parables telling us this feeding of bread is talking about the process of judgment (one nine and three tens 9x10x10x10), and how our experience of evil in this life, and the giants within us, will be bread for us. There are twelve baskets gathered, because this is a foundational event that points to the salvation of all men that comes about through the grace and faith of Christ represented by “the five barley loaves”.

Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

Joh 6:13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

These parables of the multitude being fed at which we are looking in Luke 9 and Mark 8 typify that part of the process of judgment where Christ has us sit and be nourished with bread, “when the day began to wear away” “here in a desert place”, after having “been with me three days, and have nothing to eat” “here in the wilderness”, and all this is shown to us to be required in order to put an end to all carnal fleshly thought that cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor defile God’s kingdom.

Luk 9:11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.
Luk 9:12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.
Luk 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

Mar 8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,
Mar 8:2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:
Mar 8:3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.
Mar 8:4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?
Mar 8:5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

All our idle thoughts must be buried like a seed into the baptism of Christ’s death. Giving an accounting is only the beginning of that process of judgment, likened unto a seed dying and being buried, which is why Christ has us sitting and subject to him, listening to his words, the bread of life, sitting at his feet to receive “that good part”. That word or bread or seed being given to those who are sitting, will not return void but precedes that accounting or judgment which we, and all the world, must experience in the order God has ordained.

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

Mat 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Luk 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.

Luk 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Just as surely as feeding someone miraculously did not convert anyone, in the same way the giving to someone the bread of life miraculously in the second resurrection will not change anyone until the trial of their faith occurs in the lake of fire, where that abiding or continuing in His word will sanctify the soul who is being saved through that fiery baptismal process.

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word [in the lake of fire for all men in their order], then are ye my disciples indeed;

Luk 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight [Mat 25:5-8], and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

All men will be saved

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
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.

The group of five thousand and four thousand who were seated and being fed in these parables above also points to the process of the whole of humanity entering into the holy place, the holiest, through the court and the temple (Exo 26:30, 37), and the combined approximate amount of 9000 people reminds us that this entering into the temple is accomplished through judgment (9).

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Here is a excerpt from Mike Vinson which talks about those pillars in Exodus: 
from the study on the color blue, part 1.

3) The Vail Between The Holy Place And The Holy of Holies Was Also Blue, And Purple, And Scarlet.

Exo 26:30  And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.
Exo 26:31  And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:
Exo 26:32  And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks [shall be of] gold, upon the four sockets of silver.
Exo 26:33  And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.

4) The “Door of The Tent” Was Blue, And Purple, And Scarlet

The door is to be of “blue and purple and scarlet.” All three colors and the significance of all three colors are part of the process of entering through the vail into the presence of God.

Exo 26:36  And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

Now just as the spirit does in the book of Revelation, notice how the spirit begins in the holy of holies and “looks behind” to see what it took to get there:

Exo 26:34  And thou shalt put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.
Exo 26:35  And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side.
Exo 26:36  And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.
Exo 26:37  And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, [and] their hooks [shall be of] gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

A baptism by water and then a baptism by fire

Every man will be judged in his own order, and the dream is one in regard to how we all must live by every word and be judged by a baptism of water and then by a baptism of fire (Eph 5:26, Joh 6:63, 1Pe 4:12). The 4000 fed by Christ (Mar 8:9) tells us all the world will be initially baptized in water, and the 5000 fed by Christ in Luke 9:14 tells us that the second baptism is the one which converts us by grace and faith (Eph 2:8). It takes the two combined to complete the process of judgment on a spiritually carnal mind (9000 or 9x10x10x10=9000).

Lev 23:27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Jer 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

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:

Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

God’s elect go before the world, our sins are “open beforehand” “going before to judgment; “and some men they follow after” but every man will be judged in the order God has ordained. Hebrews speaks of a parable that reminds us of this point that there is a judgment or baptism by water that must precede the baptism of fire, and that we must be born of water and of spirit [a baptism by water and then a baptism by fire]. All this judgment or process of baptisms is for the express purpose of keeping everything out of the kingdom of God that could defile it.

1Ti 5:24 Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh [baptism by water] which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits [baptism by fire], and live? [Luk 12:5]
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

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

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

Let the dead bury the dead

As we said at the beginning of this study, in a resurrected and unconverted spirit body in which the world will be found in the second resurrection, the spiritually dead will be burying the dead.

Part of the process which God will use to bring all of humanity to understand that we are beasts who need to be judged and redeemed is to have the dead bury the dead.

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

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

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

That burying comes about by having mankind see and understand through the word of God, which will convict everyone in time, that we are the man with the mark of the beast on us who needs to give an accounting for our unconverted life and the actions that God caused us to take throughout that time.

2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

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; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Gen 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

That giving an account only comes about through judgment however, as Mike makes clear using these verses in an FAQ letter done some years ago explaining the difference between giving an accounting versus being held accountable.

I have gone to great lengths in the past to point out the fact that Joseph caused his brothers to GIVE an accounting of what they had done. That is all God wants you and me to do. Joseph did not HOLD his brothers ACCOUNTABLE; he simply brought them to see themselves as the instruments of evil God has created us all to be. We are all “marred in the Potter’s hand. What do we think that means the Potter’s hand has formed? It means the Potter has formed a sinning machine which He has designed for the very purpose of destruction so that the spirit can be saved in the day of the Lord.

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Christ told the steward, “Give an accounting of your stewardship…”

Luk 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Luk 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

And so we are again told:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest [to himself as well as others]: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

“All things come alike to all:”

Ecc 9:1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Next week, Lord willing, we will finish our study on the second Resurrection and tie all these thoughts together, ending with an email that helps give a good overview of all the points brought out this week and next.