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The Book of Joshua – Part 7: Fame and Fear of the Sword Wielded by the Elect of God will go Globally – Joshua 6:18-27

[Study Aired April 1, 2023]

We concluded Part 6 in the Study of Joshua 6:1-17, with the Lord through Joshua detailing the events for Israel to take the ‘moon-city’ of Jericho. Joshua finishes the Lord’s directive by commanding the Israelites to not take anything the Lord has forbidden into the camp of Israel.

Jos 6:18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 
Jos 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD. 
Jos 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 
Jos 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. 
Jos 6:22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 
Jos 6:23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 
Jos 6:24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 
Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Jos 6:26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. 
Jos 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country. 

The Body of the Study:

Jos 6:18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 
Jos 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
Jos 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

In verses 17 and 18, the Lord announces every detail of Jericho being cursed other than Rahab, whose minimal faith saved her and her household, including the base metals iron and brass and the precious metals silver and gold alone from Jericho. He reinforces his doctrine that only those who obey his commands will be accepted; he will never suffer a hint of corruption (accursed thing) by his people, Israel subverting his laws in letter and spiritually for the Body of Christ.

The Lord is telling the Israelites and us to take His commands seriously and not permit a little trifling doctrinal leaven or seemingly innocuous thing to rule in our lives. An accursed thing also is H2764 origin H2763 – meaning, to ban, destroy utterly anything that festers corruption from sound doctrine and is to be immediately destroyed from within the Temple that we are.

Israel is in its infancy of being the Lord’s first wife, so base metals such as brass (copper) and iron identify that infancy to be purified by them keeping all the Commandants of their Lord. Since the Israelites were commanded to keep the silver of Jericho, it represents the Lord’s word, and the preservation of Jericho’s gold re-smelted epitomises the expected perfection in the individual.

Hag 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Psa 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 

Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 
Psa 50:11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 
Psa 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

Why can Israel take the base metals and silver and gold on this occasion, yet the Lord went to extraordinary lengths in Deuteronomy 6–9, hammering home to not take anything an Israelite deems precious from the nations to be utterly destroyed, including silver and gold? What we do with those items corrupts His spirit in the Temple we are.

Silver represents God’s unadulterated redemptive word as we transform into gold, the most precious of all metals, and represents their fullness in Him. They are nothing of their own as metals, nor is the molded image of idols anything unless they are considered worthy of worship. For the Body of Christ, it is similar to eating unclean meats or taking up deadly things such as symbolic poisonous snakes or drinking symbolically poisonous fluid representing “accursed” doctrine. Infant Israel had to be taught the physical lesson for us to learn spiritually; she had to listen closely to what her Lord said, even if it did seem a contradictory parable.

Deu 12:32 All the things I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.

Eze 16:14 And thy [Israel and us in the flesh] renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. 
Eze 16:15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. 
Eze 16:16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, 
Eze 16:18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. 
Eze 16:19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
Eze 16:21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them? 
Eze 16:22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

Mar 16:17 And miraculous signs will follow to those believing these things: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak new tongues; 
Mar 16:18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well.

As such, Joshua 6:18 says you surely shall keep clear of the cursed thing, lest you make yourselves cursed when you take of the cursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. For Christ’s Body, we do not look upon a cursed thing to lust after it because once lust is dwelt upon, we toy with the idea that the ‘little leaven’ of an accursed thing can’t hurt us and could amplify the inherent curse by taking that doctrine to our friends and family. To the spiritual church that rightly divides the word of God, normally, the accursed thing wouldn’t have an effect. However, for unspiritual Israel, the natural or physical law had to precede its spiritual application for our learning.

God’s Church came out of the harlot, Israel, and had her silver, gold, bronze and iron vessels taken from Jericho and resmelted to his modified use. The fiery purification of the accursed thing by refining its gold and making it into the purity of His image is the only process that will satisfy the Lord. That process is a perfect example of us, a figurative Rahab harlot being changed into His Wife eagerly consenting to her Lord’s judgments. First, Israel in the flesh is on a predetermined path, unconsciously in the future returning to being one immense Whore (Rev 17:1-18).

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 
Isa 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 

In taking these metals from Jericho and recasting the innocuous metal in the refining fire, Old Israel is unwittingly prophesying the future event for the spiritual Israel of God symbolically as their refinements through fiery trials.

Jos 6:21 And they completely destroyed all in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. 

The spiritual man is likewise overjoyed with a figurative “great shout” at the ram’s horns being blown within, with the walls protecting his idols of the heart falling flat, entering and leaving nothing that breathes alive. He likewise goes straight up into his city within. During the Resurrection to life, he learns to go through the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem, whose foundation and gate are built in him by his Lord.

Eph 2:19 Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
Eph 2:20 and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Eph 2:21 in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord; 
Eph 2:22 in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they who do His commandments, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie.

Joh 10:1 Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter into the sheepfold by the door, but going up by another way, that one is a thief and a robber. 
Joh 10:2 But he who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

Jos 6:22 And Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring the woman out from there, and all that she has, as you swore to her. 
Jos 6:23 And the young men who were spies went in and brought Rahab out, and her father and her mother, and her brothers, and all that she had. And they brought out all her kindred and set them outside the camp of Israel.

Rahab and her family were undoubtedly not ready for such a climactic and devastating exhibition from the God of Israel, with the entire walls surrounding the city thunderously collapsing. Undestroyed was one remnant of the wall standing prominently alone as a tower. From that perspective, Rahab and the Shulamite in the Song of Solomon share a commonality. Both found peace in the eyes of God by being a tower within a wall.

Rahab symbolised the Bride of Christ while living in and amid sin, while the Shulamite was a wall that symbolically couldn’t be breached by sin. Within the walls of both women resolutely stood their breasts, denoting their gender and, particularly beneath, their faithful hearts.

With the tower of one breast, Rahab typifies unity with the budding old carnal Israel and Jerusalem going before future spiritual Israel with the two breasts (witness) of the Shulamite embedded in the wall of the Heavenly Jerusalem above.

Son 8:8 We have a little sister, and she has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 
Son 8:9 If she is a wall, we will build on her a palace of silver; and if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. 
Son 8:10 I was a wall, and my breasts like towers; then I was in His eyes as one finding peace.

Towers in a city wall were strong fortifications, often on the corners of the city walls or astride the city’s gates, and added a buttress-like strength to better withstand the mighty boulder-throwing engines of the enemy. (Tower: G4444 – 1. a tower. 2. a fortified structure rising to a considerable height to repel a hostile attack or to enable a watchman to see in every direction). In defence, they, too, were prominent points commanding a wide view of the enemy’s positions for the defendants to respond with their engine’s projectiles and arrows. Because of the embedded tower’s structural strength, they were often the only edifice under siege left standing ~ so, too, is a woman’s heart magnified beneath her peaceful ‘towers’, especially spiritually for the Church.

Similarly, in the flesh, all women are highly aware of their relative beauty, and their hearts reject the lecherous boulders and arrows from the leering attentions of presumptuous suitors. So, too, is the Body of Christ fiercely watchful for lewd doctrines striking her spiritual heart.

As seen in the Song of Solomon study series, apart from a woman’s overall feminine shape, the heart beneath her breasts spiritually, for us, is emphasised figuratively by twin towers defending the word of God most fiercely. Whereas the peaceful city of Jerusalem is represented by the Shulamite, our dear harlot sister, Rahab, figured as only one tower remaining in the wall of Jericho, she represented. Rahab and Jericho saw what the Lord did for the Israelites. This frightened woman holding on with a little faith to not be destroyed desires to be one flesh with Israel, her saviour, her carnal Christs. 

Psa 61:2 From the end of the earth will I [Rahab and we] cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psa 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 
Psa 61:4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. 

Oba 1:20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. 
Oba 1:21 And saviours [plural – Christs] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

The young men did as they had pledged for Rahab and her entire household, just as the Christs will do for the entire world in the Resurrection to Judgment, saving the Camp of Israel and those outside the Camp.

While in the nation of Israel, Rahab, her family and her descendants were considered unclean until Christ’s death; hence, she and her family were set apart outside the Camp with the mixed multitude. Since Jericho was burnt, Rahab is a type of sin offering outside the Camp.

As was the Commandments of Moses:

Num 5:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Num 5:2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead: [Rahab was influentially defiled by Jericho’s dead]
Num 5:3 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. 
Num 5:4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

Lev 4:21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.

Jos 6:24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. 

The idols we subconsciously believe will save us by the power of our might, is us chasing the wind and utter vanity; they are nothing. They shall be soundly burnt and purified, and we fashioned into the Lord’s image.

Isa 44:9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 
Isa 44:10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? 
Isa 44:11 Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. 

Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Jos 6:26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. 

The fact that Rahab and her household dwelt in Israel “unto this day”, again is a testament to their descendants, the entire world being eventually saved. 

The Bride of Christ, the spiritual messengers who have spied out their inheritance (Christ), is likewise hidden by Him on a rooftop in the figurative walls of Old Jerusalem, the Babylonish system whose walls fall flat, leaving Christ, our tower for us to see our enemies within, from all directions.

2Sa 22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. 
2Sa 22:51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.

The last half of Joshua 6:26 seems incongruous with the first half ~ And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. Any man who rebuilds Jericho will be cursed, yet, in the same breath, the builder is laying a foundation in his firstborn and establishing the youngest in the city’s gates.

The ‘tel’ or ‘tal’ (mound of dirt and debris) formed by people subsequently rebuilding time and again upon an ancient city’s foundation is starkly seen today on Jericho’s site. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jericho+archaeological+dig

What can we learn from any who dares reconstruct Jericho? Of course, King Ahab would go to any lengths to do the opposite of what the Lord says.

1Ki 16:30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. 
1Ki 16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
1Ki 16:32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 
1Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 
1Ki 16:34 In his days did Hiel [khee-ale] the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub [saw-gab], according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.

Ironically, the name Abiram (H48  Phonetic ab-ee-rawm – Definition: Abiram = my father is exalted or (the) Exalted one is (my) father 1. Origin H7311 – 1. to rise, rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted a Reubenite, son of Eliab in exodus) 2. son of Hiel the Bethelite who worked to rebuild Jericho) is synonymous with a rebellious father; he was the son of Eliab from the tribe of Reuben (Num 16:1). Abiram and his brother Dathan were kingpins in Korah’s rebellion and were swallowed up by the earth. 

The second man named Abiram in Joshua 6:26 prophetically alludes is his father, Hiel. Hiel relaid the foundations of Jericho at the cost of eldest son Abiram’s life fulfilling the first part of 1 Kings 16:34, and Hiel setting up the gates of Jericho cost the life of his youngest son, Segub (saw-gab). The tragic irony of the meaning of Segub’s name cascades self-exultation within the family since his name means H7687 – exalted, and origin H7682 – 1. to be high, be inaccessibly high a. (Qal) 1. to be (too) high (for capture) 2. to be high (of prosperity).

For the Body of Christ’s spiritual learning, we had better take His word seriously; no matter how many decades or thousands of years pass, His word endures. Unless the Lord lays the foundation of the Heavenly Jerusalem within, and we enter through the straight gate, we die with Old Jerusalem to be raised in the refining Lake of Fire.

1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

1Co 3:9 For of God we are fellow-workers, a field of God, and you are a building of God.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let every man be careful how he builds on it.
1Co 3:11 For any other foundation can no one lay than the one being laid, who is Jesus Christ. 
1Co 3:12 And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, 
1Co 3:13 each one’s work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one’s work as to what kind it is. 
1Co 3:14 If anyone’s work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If anyone’s work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire. 
1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 
1Co 3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are. 

Mat 7:13 Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. 
Mat 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Just as Hiel rebuilt Jericho on its destroyed foundations, our symbolic elder son dies if we try to spiritually rebuild Old Jerusalem on even part of its former foundations since Old Jerusalem represents the rejected anointed Woman in the wilderness; we metaphorically return to Babylon.

Rom 9:12 it was said to her [Rebekah], “The elder [Esau] shall serve the younger [Jacob].” 
Rom 9:13 As it is written, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”

If the elected anointed in the Body of Christ, representing the younger son, likewise spiritually (who would dare physically?) attempts to build a gate for Christ to enter the bondage of Old Jerusalem (symbolically Jericho), like Segub (saw-gab), we will die to be raised in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Sarcastically, Babylon’s Ishtar Gate has been rebuilt to the grandeur of its originality and remains today ~ how fitting for an unwitting world.

Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and do not again be held with the yoke of bondage. 
Gal 5:2 Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 
Gal 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do all the Law, 
Gal 5:4 you who are justified by Law are deprived of all effect from Christ; you fell from grace. 
Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness out of faith.

Jos 6:27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country. 

Joshua represents the Body of Christ, and for the moment, their fame to the world is insignificant and laughable. They are covertly being dressed in pure white linen that the world sees metaphorically as sackcloth, whereas their Babylonian Christian brothers and sisters in the court outside the temple dance an unwitting naked deluded dance thinking they are now saved.

Rev 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 
Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
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. 
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed [particularly in the One Thousand Year Reign].

The two witnesses, the altar, the two olive trees and two candlesticks are one and the same Elect of God whose fame will go throughout the entire world at their hopeful First Resurrection to life. However, there will be a mighty turbulence of emotions see-sawing in every person outside the camp of the Lord, between joy and immense fear during the rule with the rod of iron in the One-Thousand Year Reign.

Rev 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them [The Elect], and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them [The rest of the world] which saw them.

Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. 

The nations will not come to worship with a willing spirit in the One-Thousand Year Reign, for they will worship from the fear of a fleshy heart.

Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: 
Isa 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. 

Indeed, the Elect’s fame will go worldwide and be a constant fearful name on the world’s lips and minds.

]]> The Book of Joshua – Part 2: Rahab Hides the Spies – Jos 2:1-24 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-joshua-part-2-rahab-hides-the-spies-jos-21-24/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-joshua-part-2-rahab-hides-the-spies-jos-21-24 Sun, 26 Feb 2023 01:31:31 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=27227 https://www.dropbox.com/s/5zxfb21ud4c5dvn/20230225-Study_GrantS-JoshuaPt2.m4a?raw=1

The Book of Joshua – Part 2: Rahab Hides the Spies – Jos 2:1-24 (MKJV)

[Study Aired February 25, 2023]

In Part 1 of the study into the book of Joshua, we saw Joshua established as the Lord’s fearless leader over Israel. The most patient and humble man (Num 12:3), Moses, suffered and contended with Israel’s endless complaints. He never thought it easier to dwell in the corner of a rooftop than with this brawling woman. Upon coming down from the mount with the commandments of the Lord and seeing the Israelites wild partying around their golden calf, Moses said, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Exo 32:32)

Under Joshua, young Israel crossed the Jordan River with the initial arousal of a righteous bride in the flush of building her house upon the foundation of her God.

Pro 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

The Lord’s young carnal bride is the same woman that died in the wilderness, starting afresh, doomed to repeat her elder half’s sins. For the Elect of God, coming out of Egypt reflects the fact Babylon doesn’t magically make our lusts disappear. Learning how to rout the giants from our land is a painfully slow learning process, duplicated from our predecessor’s experiences.

Israel, under Joshua, has a honeymoon phase of successes that, after his death, transforms into a seesaw of pouting resistance and, in word only, her agreement with her Lord. With tears from chastisement and a double mind, she maintains her pleasures of the flesh.

First, a series of miraculous wins over her enemies that to this day empower her pride.

Jos 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun [phonetically – noon] sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go look over the land, even Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab. And they stayed there. 
Jos 2:2 And the king of Jericho was told about it, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel came in here tonight, to search out the country. 
Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that have come to you, those who have entered into your house. For they have come to search out all the country.
Jos 2:4 And the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, Two men came to me, but I did not know from where they came. 
Jos 2:5 And it happened when it was dark, at the time of shutting the gate, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Go after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. 
Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up on the roof, and had hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. 
Jos 2:7 And the men went after them on the way to Jordan, to the fords. And when they who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 
Jos 2:8 And before they had laid down, she came up to them on the roof. 
Jos 2:9 And she said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that your terror has fallen on us, and that all those who live in the land faint because of you. 
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 
Jos 2:11 And we had heard, and our hearts melted, nor did any more spirit remain in any man, because of you. For Jehovah your God, He is God in Heaven above and in the earth beneath. 
Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear to me by Jehovah, since I have dealt with you in kindness, that you will also deal with kindness to my father’s house. And give me a true token, 
Jos 2:13 and shall save alive my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 
Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life shall be for yours, if you do not tell our business. And when Jehovah has given us the land, we will deal kindly and truly with you. 
Jos 2:15 Then she let them go down by a cord through the window. For her house was on the town wall, and she lived on the wall. 
Jos 2:16 And she said to them, Get up into the mountain lest the pursuers meet you. And hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned. And afterward you may go your way. 
Jos 2:17 And the men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath to you which you have made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall set this line of scarlet thread in the window from which you let us down. And you shall bring your father and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household, home to you. 
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, whoever shall go out of the doors of your house, his blood shall be on his head, and we will be blameless. And whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is on him. 
Jos 2:20 And if you tell our business, then we will be free of the oath which you have made us swear to you.
Jos 2:21 And she said, Let it be according to your word. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she set the scarlet line in the window. 
Jos 2:22 And they went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. And the pursuers looked for them throughout all the way, but did not find them. 
Jos 2:23 And the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. And they told him all that happened to them.
Jos 2:24 And they said to Joshua, Truly Jehovah has delivered all the land into our hands, for even all those who live in the country faint because of us.

Beginning the Study:

Jos 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Joshua’s name is rarely referred to simply as Joshua; he is broadly called “Joshua, son of Nun”. The origin of the name “Nun” means 1. (Niphal) continue, to increase, propagate 2. (Hiphil) continue, to increase, propagate. Indeed, during the honeymoon phase of Israel’s entry and conquering the Promised Land, their success after success elated them and their numbers and wealth rapidly increased.

As with Israel in the flesh, the Bride of Christ today has viewed her spiritual land of inheritance, Christ, and by his decree, nothing will subdue her arousal for Him. She has become her Lord’s wife with her harlot sister under her feet as she bathes in the fully encompassing brightness of the sun in Him.

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed [encompassed] with the sun, [Christ] and the moon [Jews who say they are Jews but do lie] under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

The Woman clothed in the sun came from the lesser light, the moon, who became a harlot still in the wilderness. The Woman clothed in the sun by her husband is one in him as they rule as one in the One Thousand-Year reign with both the moon and the earth under their feet.

Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

Under Joshua’s leadership, the children of Israel have yet to come into the fullness of her harlotry and become the rejected wife. For now, she is gung-ho, especially when the Lord proves His word by repeatedly going before them to consume their enemies ~ and we know from personal experience following amazing victories that banqueting, dancing, and intemperate merriment is the impulse.

Pro 15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

There was a “mixed multitude” who saw the Lord’s work with the Hebrews and who came out with her from Egypt (Exo 12:38). Those people are simply referred to as those “outside the camp”, even though they became part of the nation of Israel effectively grafted in through belief. 

Isa 54:5 For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is he who takes up your cause; he will be named the God of all the earth.

Though Israel knows her espousal to her Lord (Exod 19:1-25), she doesn’t know that she will be represented as the “moon”, as the Lord’s first wife, and would naturally be a bit mystified as having children as voluminously as the sand of the sea (Gen 22:17). For now, she will not suffer her historically distant brothers and sisters of the Promised Land to share in her inheritance. Yet, as we know from many years of study, the Lord’s church, His first wife, shares her inheritance and pollutes her land by sharing her husband’s ‘fair jewels’ of truth with her pagan brothers and sisters. The very first conquest of which is Jericho, whose name means H3391 ‘moon’.

Jos 2:2 And the king of Jericho was told about it, saying, Behold, men from the sons of Israel came in here tonight, to search out the country.

The Elect of God today are given by Him the eagerness of the Shulamite, graphically seen in the Song of Solomon, to seek Him with single-minded passion in our Babylonish night when our sisters are asleep to excitedly search out our land within.

Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The Elect of God is inspired to enquire that there is more to Christ than their dull-eyed Nicolaitan church leaders can teach, who are ruled by Satan, the king of Jericho. The Elect of God enthusiastically searches their country within, routing it of falsehoods to match the Lord’s spiritual land ~ the Sun of God. (No wonder the Lord’s word spiritually discerned is gobble-de-gook to the world)

Jos 2:3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that have come to you, those who have entered into your house. For they have come to search out all the country.

There is a dual meaning for Rahab: she is both the world and the Bride’s former self. Joshua’s two men (2 = witnesses) are the Bride of Christ before the resurrection to life and are about to save the world in the flesh from utter destruction, yet rule the figurative Rabab and her sisters dwelling safely from war in the One Thousand Year reign.

Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Joshua’s physical wars and rebuking of the nations afar off with the Lord’s command to “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong” (Joe 3:10) abruptly come to an end at the beginning of the One Thousand Year reign with the rod of iron. The rescuing of greater Zion, the elder sister of Babylonian Christianity, and the mixed multitude of the world begins with the end of that age, in which war, lies, and every other letting of spiritual blood will not be tolerated!

The one thousand-year rule is the beginning and preparation for Rahab being absorbed into Zion and then gradually on the Eighth Day saying, “come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”

Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Much more exciting symbolism surrounding Rahab in subsequent Joshua studies is attributed to her God-given ‘shady-lady’ entrepreneurial dealings, which will be revealed. Without blowing those wonderful disclosures here, the secondary shadow of Rahab is her representing the world being saved from utter destruction at the end of this age. She will live safely with her future sisters of Babylon in the one thousand-years, where figuratively, Joshua’s rulership and implementation of the rod of iron will establish all physical delights and health without one person being converted. Just like Israel in the wilderness under forced rulership of the Lord’s commands did not change their hearts.

Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and [this time] they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 

Jos 6:25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Jos 2:4 And the woman [Rahab] took the two men and hid them. And she said, [to the king of Jericho] Two men came to me, but I did not know from where they came. 

Gentile Christianity has likewise hidden the Lord’s Two Witnesses, His Body, in the walls of that great city (figuratively Jerusalem within) that had become a harlot while the witnesses spied out their inheritance. Neither does Gentile Christianity, let alone the world, know from where they suddenly appeared, especially with their modern surveillance where nothing escapes their knowledge.

Jos 2:5 And it happened when it was dark, at the time of shutting the gate, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Go after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. 

The spiritual shutting of the gate to the First Resurrection will likewise happen when the Beast powers turn on the Moon and utterly consume her with fire. The outlawing of Christianity is already stirring for that Great City called Sodom, Egypt and Babylon and her imminent destruction. Speaking the word of God will be an indictable act where new people attempting to know Christ will grope in the dark and be unable to find the “two men” no matter how eagerly they are pursued to gain knowledge or to kill.

The one thousand-year rulership under the rod of iron is the Seventh Day, where Christ and His Christs perform no heart-changing work. The gates of understanding are shut; thus, no man can come in or out.

Neh 13:17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 
Neh 13:18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 
Neh 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

On the Eighth Day, the walls of Jericho, Babylon and Egypt are flattened; the gates are effectively opened, and everyone symbolically dies in the Lake of Fire, the resurrection to judgment, and are spiritually circumcised on the Eighth Day.

Lev 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 

Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 

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.

At the end of the Seventh Day, Gog and Magog, surrounding the camp of the Elect of God, will not “overtake them”. 

The earth, represented by Rahab, helped the Lord’s servants. She kept them above herself in the heavens of the rooftop under flax so that if it caught fire, no smell of smoke would be on their clothes, nor would the fire hurt them, for they have learned to be comfortable in the fire. They are not in Jericho to warn that city but to bring forth judgment.

Jos 2:6 But she had brought them up on the roof, and had hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. 

Part of the reason for hiding the spies under the flax “laid in order” was to cause their pursuers to see the orderly pile of flax as having not been disturbed, which would give away their hiding place. God gives a distinct order in proclaiming the truth and church operations in the Body of Christ, whereas chaos reigns in Gentile Christianity.

The Wife of Christ is given white robes made of linen, and we know linen is cloth woven from flax. In its raw “natural” symbolism, the spies hiding under the flax are the precursor for their much later successors being clothed in spiritual linen.

The Lord loves order. The Shulamite’s teeth (The Bride of Christ’s perfect consumption of truth) are twins and perfectly set in her beauty.

Act 21:24 taking these, be purified with them, and be at expense on them, that they may shave the head. And all shall know that all what they have been told about you is nothing, but you yourself walk orderly, keeping the Law.

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

1Co 15:22 for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruit; afterward those of Christ at His coming.

Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and let us exult, and we will give glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb came, and His wife prepared herself.
Rev 19:8 And it was given to her that she be clothed in fine linen, pure and bright; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

Jos 2:7 And the men went after them on the way to Jordan, to the fords. And when they who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 

Mat 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 
Mat 12:16 And charged them [Rahab] that they should not make him known:
Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Mat 12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles [eventually] trust.

Jos 2:8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 
Jos 2:9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

Psa 2:8 Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. 
Psa 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. 

Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

The forthcoming sacking of Jericho at the Lord’s hands, typified by most of the biblical cities of the Promised Land and their demise, represents the ultimate end-time destruction of Babylon.

Isa 13:4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
Isa 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 
Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 
Isa 13:7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
Isa 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Jos 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 
Jos 2:13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Rahab’s request of the two spies to remember to save her and her family is reflected in Joseph saving his father Jacob’s house during the famine. Joseph’s “token” H226 means a sign, signal, distinguishing mark, and remembrance. A “true token” is a faithful and reliable signal. Benjamin was effectively a token for the reliable bringing forth of Jacob’s household to Egypt and their salvation in the coming famine. 

Likewise, when the death angel passed through Egypt and slew all the firstborn, a faithful and reliable signal, a token of blood, was placed on the lintel over the door so that death passed over the Hebrew’s homes. 

The origin of the word “blood” (H1826) means to be silent, to be still. Rahab assured the spies that she would be silent if the city’s guards questioned her about the spy’s whereabouts. When Israel came to crush Jericho, the spies saw Rahab’s “scarlet” sign of concealed and dual meaning (red being a harlot’s sign) hanging in the window of her home in the walls of Jericho. The invading army of Israel would effectively “pass over” destroying her home and thus saving her life. 

Exo 12:12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 
Exo 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Jos 2:14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 
Jos 2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 

Just as the Shulamite represents the New Heavenly Jerusalem, with her embedded towers symbolising her breasts, Rahab is pictured as a type of Old Jerusalem. She lives upon the walls of her city, Jericho, where her breasts were bruised by her many suitors, just as the Saints of the Lord had their breasts bruised by our many suitors in Babylonian Christianity, represented by Oholah and Oholibah. The Body of Christ came out of and is the daughter of “one mother”, Babylon the Great, though she is represented as two; Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem above.

Eze 23:1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 
Eze 23:2 Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:
Eze 23:3 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 
Eze 23:4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah. 
Eze 23:5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours.

Progressively and with increasing astonishment, we shall see that Rahab represents the woman we once were.

Jos 2:16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 
Jos 2:17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Jos 2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 
Jos 2:19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

Verses 16-19 reveal to us that we are forewarned of the coming destruction of our old man within. The only way to survive is to flee to the mount of the Lord.

Psa 11:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

“Three days”, mentioned 63 times in scripture, is powerfully significant in that it means a process for the completion of judgment; and for the Elect of God, particularly its spiritual completion. We flee to and wait on the mountains of our Lord for our perfection for three symbolic days for the destruction of our flesh until the hoped resurrection to life, just as Christ did at His death. Afterward, we will “go your [our] way” with Him to rule with the iron rod on the Seventh Day.

Christ is our “scarlet thread” by the blood of His death upon the cross. We figuratively escape our pursuers by that sturdy rope from Jericho’s walls as we flee Babylon and are in the three-day process of being saved on the mount of our Lord (Isa 2:1-5)

The words of Moses were powerfully in the minds of the two spies; they warned Rahab that she had better be true to her oath. Otherwise, she would perish with the rest of Jericho since the two spies were dedicated to keeping their side of the oath.

Num 30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

For God’s people today, however,

Jas 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

If it is our Lord’s will, we, too, will be saved from the coming destruction of Babylon both within and, hopefully, physically.

When destruction comes to Jericho, the two spies require Rahab’s entire household to be in her house to be protected by the sign of the scarlet thread. The scarlet “thread” is a cord strong enough to at least hold the weight of one man; however, viewed from a distance, it would appear as a thread. The fact that Rahab’s home was the only structure left following the destruction of the entire walls of Jericho was outstanding in its own right. Rahab’s home would have thus become a tower, not too figuratively dissimilar to the Shulamite’s two breasts pictured as towers embedded in the walls of Jerusalem, the city she represented (Son 8:10). Rahab’s symbolic one breast, the seat of her emotions, represents unity, and Rahab’s faith in what the Lord of Israel was doing in that nation, unified her identity with them. Rahab’s faith through belief by her works justified her salvation from the coming demolition. For the Church today, that unity is the Lord singularly focused on the apple of His eye, His Bride, with one chain around her neck, likewise identifying her being saved by the scarlet blood of the cross. (Zec 2:8. Son 4:9)

Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Heb 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Having gone into Jericho, the spies can symbolise them coming out the window of the city’s womb of Jericho, the “moon” (church) on a scarlet thread, symbolic of Israel, the firstborn; yet, at this point, the coming unwitting rejected wife of God.

Likewise, the Church of the firstborn is coming out of Babylon’s womb on the scarlet thread of Christ’s blood to be killed daily inside Jerusalem. Jericho, Tyre, Ethiopia, Babylon, and Old Jerusalem are one and the same, and they being the elder, serve the younger New Heavenly Jerusalem above who, like Christ, walk in truth today and tomorrow in the death of the old man.

Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying to Him, Go out and depart from here, for Herod will kill you.
Luk 13:32 And He said to them, You go and tell that fox, Behold, today and tomorrow, I cast out demons and I complete cures, and the third day I will be finished.
Luk 13:33 Yet I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following. For it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34 Jerusalem! Jerusalem! the one killing the prophets, and stoning those having been sent to her; how often I desired to gather your children in the way a hen gathers her brood under the wings, and you did not desire it. 
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. And truly I say to you, You will not see Me until it come when you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jos 2:20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

The Elect of God doesn’t go around today forcing their God-given truths on Jericho. Today is not Jericho’s time to begin salvation. Noah’s and Rahab’s households symbolise the latter times “little flock” who go before their brothers and sisters of Jericho and Babylon, who are Gog and Magog, the entire world (Eze 38. Rev 20:7-10)

Jos 2:21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

The scarlet thread in Rahab, the harlot’s window, is significant with its connection to Rahab effectively putting forth her hand from the window’s womb of Jericho, and Zarah, the son born to Judah upon his adulterous affair with his daughter-in-law, putting forth his hand from Tamar’s womb unwittingly masquerading as the firstborn of the twins (reminiscent of Jacob grabbing Esau’s heel). In fact, Pharez was born last, sustaining the principle of the elder, Zarah, serving Pharez, the younger and that each man will be saved in his own order by the spiritually younger one.

Gen 38:30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah. H2226 – ‘a son of Reuel and grandson of Esau, one of the dukes of the Edomites’ Origin H2225 – ‘dawning, shining, rising’. The rising heavenly Jerusalem adorned for her husband (Rev 21:2)

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Christ is descended from Pharez and represents the Bride of Christ saved in the order the Lord ordained before her elder harlot sister Israel in the wilderness that is Old Jerusalem and Babylon are saved. 

Tremendous hope is generated for the weak of the world Lord’s Church today and their sins, as seen from Christ’s lineage coming through two harlots, Rahab and Judah’s miserably adulterous affair with Tamar, as seen in Matthew 1:1-17. The Body of Christ fully knows they have symbolically been Rahab and Tamar and have been adulterous Judah in the flesh and are now spiritual Judah.

Gen 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

The sceptre began with Abraham and ended with Christ through a long and torturous birth bringing forth the man-child, Christ.

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Jos 2:22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 

Similarly, the Gentile Christian church today, as we once did, searches for the Lord’s truth and finds it not.

Luk 8:10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others [Babylonian brothers and sisters of the rejected church] in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Jos 2:23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:
Jos 2:24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

The terror striking the inhabitants of Jericho is a similar dread in today’s world as they increasingly become aware that all is not well, reflected in the glaring putridness within. The world will tremble at the coming of the Lord and again at the resurrection to judgment.

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

]]> Awesome Hands – part 163: “He that believeth shall not make haste” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/awesome-hands-part-163-he-that-believeth-shall-not-make-haste/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=awesome-hands-part-163-he-that-believeth-shall-not-make-haste Thu, 09 Jan 2020 04:00:25 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=20055

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Awesome Hands – Part 163

“He that believeth shall not make haste”

January 6, 2020

The story of Jericho and the walls falling is probably one of the more well-known stories in the bible. It isn’t quite up there with the parting of the Red Sea, David and Goliath or baby Jesus being born, but it is still one of the more recognizable stories to the average Christian.

We now find ourselves looking at this story in the Awesome Hands series. Some of you may have heard similar details as what will be presented here today, while other details may be new. However, rest assured that if you do not see yourselves on both sides of the Jericho wall, then you have missed the point of the story.

The verses we will be covering today are found in chapter 6 of Joshua.

Jos 6:1  Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

The first verses set the tone for us by letting us know how one side of the battle is thinking and behaving. “Jericho” was “shut up” so that no one was entering or exiting. Let there be no mistaking that Jericho and the inhabitants knew exactly why Israel was here.

The people of Jericho hid behind their man-made walls, walls made with hands, with a defying spirit that knew they could wait out the invaders and besiegers of their city.

At the time, Jericho was one of the strongest fortresses of Canaan, and this city would have been needed in order for Israel to gain somewhere to fall back to when venturing into the rest of the promised land.

Yes, indeed, Jericho knew they were going to be attacked, but they were confident that they could and would prevail.

Jos 6:2  And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

On the side of Israel, Joshua was just told that the Lord has given Jericho into his hand; not that Jericho would be given at some later date, but that it was already a done deal.

This is very important to understanding how it is the Lord still works with us to this very day.

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

The Lord tells Joshua that He has given Jericho into the hand of Joshua, and all that needs to be done is trust in the Lord.

The trust in the Lord comes from doing the commandments of the Lord as it pertains to how to ultimately achieve the victory over Jericho.

Jos 6:3  And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
Jos 6:4  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
Jos 6:5  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

These instructions were short and sweet; at least in how they are recorded in the history of the scripture. Compass the city once a day for six days with the men of war, the priests blowing trumpets, with the ark of the covenant, and then go back to camp.

On the 7th day, compass the city seven times, have the priests make a long sound on the trumpets, wait for Joshua to give the command to shout, then shout and the wall will fall down.

With any good story, you have a good side and a bad side, a good guy and a bad guy. In this story, we indeed have the “good side” representing the people of God doing God’s will, and the “bad side” representing the inhabitants of Jericho also doing God’s will but not knowing this truth.

What we need to realize as the people of God, is that we have been on both sides of the walls of Jericho.

We have been the people of Jericho who stand behind our high and defensible walls, only to see those walls come down without a moment's notice. We have been these same people who trusted in their own strength to get through even the worst of times because we have “prepared” for bad times by building up our strong walls.

Yet, when we have the provider of the home fall ill suddenly, a death in the family that we didn’t see coming, the job go away that had been around for 20 years, an accident in a car that devastates the whole family, etc., we see our own walls of Jericho go down.

Maybe the walls of Jericho are the beliefs that have helped you get through some tough times that suddenly are challenged by the Lord because He presents a verse or two to you that shatters your beliefs in an instant.

Yes, we have all been inhabitants of Jericho. To such as these inhabitants of Jericho, these Israelites must have been looking very foolish marching around the outside of walls while blowing trumpets and then just going back to their camp.

Jos 6:6  And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:7  And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:8  And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
Jos 6:9  And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Jos 6:10  And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
Jos 6:11  So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

Just imagine for a minute the scenario these people were in. Remember, the Israelites were once slaves in Egypt, and they had been moving around the wilderness for 40 years while the Lord caused all those who had disobeyed Him to die during that time. Only Joshua and Caleb of the original group got to go into the promised land.

During this time, they did not suddenly gain an immense ability to conquer lands in warfare. Likewise, Jericho and the people there knew fully well what a high-walled city could do to those that tried to overtake it.

In those days, the city would have had to have been starved out or the invading army would have starved while trying to siege the city. Either way, Jericho’s people knew warfare.

Here are the armies of Israel marching around the walls. They could have attacked them at any time. Any invading army would know that if they retreated, the armies in the city would attack them in their backs as they fled.

Yet, we do not see any arrows flying or any stones being slung. There is almost a smugness that can be felt at what had to be contempt on the part of the inhabitants of Jericho.

I always think it is amazing that David is always seen as some immense underdog when he only had a sling in his possession to fight with.

I read a report once that did the math on how fast a skilled slinger could have slung a stone with the same type of sling David used, and it is equivalent to a .45 caliber pistol. Slings used for war were not what you picture today as someone pulling back a rubber band and projecting a projectile from it.

Slingers were VERY powerful if they were skilled.

Jdg 20:15  And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men.
Jdg 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.

1Ch 12:1  Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war.
1Ch 12:2  They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul's brethren of Benjamin.

So, given that there must have been ranged soldiers on those walls, they still didn’t attack Israel. This tells us that when we are under the protection of the Lord, your Head, not a hair on your head shall perish.

Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

On the side of Israel, they must have been given an immense amount of Faith and patience to continually go out day after day performing this same procession, and we know this because we are told it in sciprture.

Jos 6:12  And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:13  And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Jos 6:14  And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

These priests and soldiers must have had faith to continually do something that didn’t produce immediate fruit.

Hab 2:1  I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
Hab 2:2  And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Hab 2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

What we should be taking away from this story, among other things, is that the Lord is patient in His deliverance of us to the Faith He has given us. In other words, the Lord’s Word does not come back to Him void and just because it takes time to manifest itself does not mean that it will not manifest itself. Isn’t this what faith is all about?

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

(NIRV) Living by Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see.

Just because the wall didn’t come down on days one through six does not mean it will not come down.

Yet, the wall will fall when the time is complete.

Jos 6:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
Jos 6:16  And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

For me, this is written in a strange way in that we see in verse 16 that Joshua gives the command to shout, and then he starts a speech in verse 17.

In practical terms, I do not think he says “shout” and then gives these next directions during a big pause and then the people wait for him to finish before they shout.

The scripture sometimes is written in these ways to clarify what exactly is happening, but it is not necessarily in the order in which it is written here.

In verse 17, Joshua is recorded as giving more detailed instructions on the particulars of what will happen when the Israelites raid the city.

Jos 6:17  And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Jos 6:18  And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
Jos 6:19  But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

In Joshua 7, we read why the Israelites are told not to take of the accursed thing. It is like the rest of the sum of the Word. The Lord tells us NOT to do something knowing fully well we are going to do it.

Jos 6:20  So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
Jos 6:21  And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

Right about now, the inhabitants of Jericho are seeing the full might of the Lord. Indeed, His Word will not come back to Him void.

Likewise, as Christians, we, too, may be looked down on and made fun of, especially when we adhere to the Truth of the doctrine of the Christ, but we are told not to waver in our Faith.

1Co 1:17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

“For the preaching of the cross is ….. the POWER OF GOD.” What the majority of blind Christians do not see if that the power of the cross includes those who “pick up your cross and follow me”.

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.

Your cross is your life nailed to your cross alongside Jesus Christ, and that is the power of God. Yet, it is only in down-payment form that we get to experience the fullness of Christ in this life.

The walls that keep us from fully being slain by Christ will not totally be cast down until we breath our last breath, and even then, we pray to go on to perfection in the first resurrection.

Rest assured though, that just as the Lord promised salvation to Rahab and her household for helping the messengers of Joshua, we, too, are promised that we will be with Christ in the end.

Jos 6:23  And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred,  and left them without the camp of Israel.
Jos 6:24  And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
Jos 6:25  And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

When all was said and done, Rahab did receive the reward she was promised, just as we will.

]]> Awesome Hands – part 160: “Be strong and of a good courage” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/awesome-hands-part-160-be-strong-and-of-a-good-courage/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=awesome-hands-part-160-be-strong-and-of-a-good-courage Sun, 01 Dec 2019 01:01:25 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=19878

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Awesome Hands – part 160

“Be strong and of a good courage”

November 30, 2019

This awesome hands study marks the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one for the people of Israel.

With this mentioning of the word hand, we find ourselves reading about the death of Moses and the birth of Joshua of Nun leading the people of Israel into the promised land.

Being that we will be primarily reading out of Joshua today, I wanted to make sure we read the two times that hands are mentioned here at the end of Deuteronomy 34.

Deu 34:5  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deu 34:6  And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Deu 34:7  And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
Deu 34:8  And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
Deu 34:9  And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Deu 34:10  And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
Deu 34:11  In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,
Deu 34:12  And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel.

Moses was mourned for 30 days which tells us there is always a price for the flesh to be mourned. It isn’t something that we just suddenly get over when we discover that our old man is dying.

Obviously, Moses was physically dead, but in type and shadow we all do the same for the old lives we once lived when we finally come to realize what our calling truly entails - life coming forth from death.

The children of Israel could not go forth toward a land that flows with milk and honey until the old man died.

Before Moses died, there was the very important act of Moses making sure the children of Israel knew whom they should follow. Moses laid his hands on Joshua and the children of Israel hearkened unto him.

Notice though that this act was directed by the Lord because we are told that Joshua “did as the Lord commanded Moses.

This is nothing different than what we are told by Paul since he shows us the same pattern.

1Co 11:1  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Our next mentions of the word “hand” is found in Joshua 2. However, we must properly set the scene for what Israel is doing leading up to chapter 2.

Jos 1:2  Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Jos 1:3  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
Jos 1:4  From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
Jos 1:5  There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Jos 1:6  Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Jos 1:10  Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
Jos 1:11  Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

I think it is important to read chapter one because it shows us that the Lord prepares our steps way before we are ready to walk them.

We see the death of Moses, which was a heavy thing to endure for Israel, and now the Lord is sending the Israelites to the promised land.

In type, this is very telling for how it is the Lord deals with us. The “old man” Moses is mourned for 30 days. Jesus was “about 30” when His ministry started which started after He was baptized and went into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted of the devil.

Baptism is representative of the old man dying in this type and shadow.

Luk 3:21  Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Luk 3:22  And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Luk 3:23  And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Likewise, the Israelites are about to cross the river Jordan and be “baptized” in type and shadow.

Before they go into the land, Joshua sends two men to spy out the land.

A harlot named Rahab helps them by concocting a plan to help them survive this spy mission they are involved in. This story is better than any James Bond 007 movie you can watch today 😊

The next mentioning of the Hebrew word “yad” is not mentioned until verses 19 and 24, but this whole chapter is a really good read. So, we are going to read most of it and talk about the finer details throughout the rest of this study.

Jos 2:1  And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
Jos 2:2  And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
Jos 2:3  And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
Jos 2:4  And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
Jos 2:5  And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

Now, we have the king of Jericho sending for Rahab to find out where these spies are. It would be kind of hard to miss this huge gathering of people just across the river which could be on the march at any time.

Therefore, it is not a stretch to imagine that this king was having the Israelites watched to see what their next move was.

Notice that Rahab lies to the king and tells Jericho that she doesn’t know where these men are. Her life and her entire house are now in peril due to what is happening, and I am sure we can all imagine what it must have felt like to be in such distress.

On one side, you have the nation you live in demanding you tell them where the spies are that just lodged in your house, and on the other, you have two men representing what is about to be an invading army come to take over the land.

Indeed, Lord deliver me in my distresses is a relatable mindset here for Rahab!

Jos 2:6  But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
Jos 2:7  And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
Jos 2:8  And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

I can’t help but think of Matthew 10 when Jesus tells us to “fear not therefore”.  In Matthew 10, Jesus is telling His disciples that they will face persecution because He faced persecution among other things.

He tells them this so that they can understand, that as the master is, so are the followers.

Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

What Jesus is telling them is meant to comfort them because “the unknown” really bothers us mere mortals. We really struggle with the unknown in anything we are dealing with. We, as humans, struggle with the “what if’s” of life.

Jesus, knowing this about His disciples, tells them in Matthew 10 what will happen when you follow Him indeed. He also tells us what mindset to have.

You might be asking yourself how this relates to Rahab and the two spies? Well, the spies go into a strange land at the command of Joshua and they suddenly find themselves being very close to being caught very close to when they started spying out the land. Then, you have Rahab on the other side of the equation who is stuck behind a rock and hard place. I’d say they all had reason to be in distress. Their lives were all in immediate danger.

Yet, we are told by Jesus:

Mat 10:26  Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Mat 10:27  What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Now we find our harlot Rahab on a rooftop with the spies of the Lord, and we are about to hear her preach a little bit. We are going to hear her speak about what she knows to be truth starring her in the face.

Jos 2:9  And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
Jos 2:10  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Preach it sister, preach it. “For the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” is saying something coming from this harlot woman who is NOT an Israelite in the flesh.

Yet, she still knows what is happening and she is preparing for the inevitable day of the visitation of the Lord with His armies. What then is left to do? She prays.

Jos 2:12  Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
Jos 2:13  And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

Yes, she doesn’t pray to the Lord, I know. Yet, she prays to the spies right in front of her because this is what she is able to do. I’d say she is showing a lot of faith here. She is asking for a deal.

She is doing whatever it is that is needed to preserve her house in the face of what is sitting on her proverbial doorstep.

So yes, she prays to these two ambassadors for Israel. It is much like the centurion solder speaking with Jesus. Let us enter into the “village of comfort”, Capernaum.

Luk 7:1  Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
Luk 7:2  And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
Luk 7:3  And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
Luk 7:4  And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
Luk 7:5  For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
Luk 7:6  Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
Luk 7:7  Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
Luk 7:8  For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Luk 7:9  When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

See, harlot Rahab knows she is not anything special and she certainly knows that she is a part of the country that is being visited by the people of God.

She is about to be besieged, unlike the centurion soldier, but both scenarios find these people in one of the hardest to deal with distresses – imminent death.

One is on the rooftop, and one sends outside of his house to find the people of God. In both cases, these people go outside to find what they need to help those inside.

This is simply just an acknowledgment that what is needed is found outside their current households, countries and comfort zones. In other words, they need the Lord.

They acknowledge the current truth of the reality they are in and then they search out a way to remedy it with the help of the Lord.

Jos 2:14  And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
Jos 2:15  Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
Jos 2:16  And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

Again, we see a process being worked by the Lord. When we are looking for a prayer to be answered by the Lord, and we pray for it “according to thy will”, accepting whatever the will of the Lord is in the matter, then it will be answered accordingly. This should give us rest enough to be still and know God because He is in control.

The spies continue to prepare for what this “deal” entails.

Jos 2:17  And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Jos 2:18  Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.
Jos 2:19  And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
Jos 2:20  And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Jos 2:21  And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

We have to use a little imagination at this point and know that Rahab was then on a mission to inform all of her household what was about to transpire.

We don’t know if she went and told her family about what happened or if she simply cooked everyone a gigantic meal so that they were all under her roof that night.

However, she knew what the conditions of the deal were and when Israel goes about conquering this area, those people had to know to stay in the house or else they would be slain.

Above and beyond that, we do not know what she did in order for her house to be saved, but we know it was.

Jos 2:22  And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.
Jos 2:23  So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:
Jos 2:24  And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

We don’t find out later what happened to Rahab until chapter 6, but I will quote the verse here to let us know the result.

Jos 6:25  And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

The Lord alone is faithful. Thankfully, He imparts to us His faith so that we can joy in being faithful to the Lord also. Without faith we can not please Him; yet, He gives us that very faith to please Him.

Heb 11:6  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.

Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised 😉

Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Indeed, what more can I say than what the author of Hebrews says about faith?

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

And a few verses later:

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Yet, in all this Faith alone is dead. Isn’t that something? Does that sound blasphemous? Well, it isn’t blasphemous, and we just read a whole story with it in this example of Rahab.

Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24  Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

What then are the works that must accompany Faith? The “works” are many, but they are all the works of the “hands” of the Lord which has been talked about at length in the past so many studies in the awesome hands series.

2Th 1:10  When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
2Th 1:11  Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
2Th 1:12  That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1Pe 1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

It is easier said than done, as is with most things in this life, but loving God with all our heart, soul strength and mind, and loving out neighbor as ourselves goes hand and hand with unfeigned love of the brethren with a pure heart.

That is all that is needed to possess the work of faith with power, “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you”.

]]> Psalms Study – Psa 87:1-7 Rejoicing In Hope… https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/psalms-study-psa-871-7-rejoicing-in-hope/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=psalms-study-psa-871-7-rejoicing-in-hope Fri, 05 May 2017 17:11:39 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=13842 Psalms 87:1-7 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer” (Rom 12:12)

Psa 87:1 A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
Psa 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
Psa 87:5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.
Psa 87:6 The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.
Psa 87:7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

This week’s title reflects what God’s people are blessed to develop in their lives so that they can become “His foundation is in the holy mountains” spoken of in verse one.

In verse 2 we see Jacob as representing the elect who God loves (Mal 1:2, Rom 9:13), and has been/is being made the apple of His eye (Psa 17:8, Zec 2:8). Jacob or the elect are the “gate” that will lead to the salvation of the rest of the world (Oba 1:21) and God has set His love on us as a kind of first fruits so that this can be accomplished (Rom 11:16, Deu 18:4, Jas 1:18).

It is Zion whom God loves more than “all the dwellings of Jacob”, where these ‘dwellings’ represent the world out of which God’s people are called (Rev 18:4, Act 16:18, Eph 6:12). To confirm this point of where we all come from, God makes mention of “Rahab and Babylon” and of “Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia”, where we are born and originate.

From start to finish, this Psalm talks about the glorious work of the church, the body of Christ (Col 1:24), and how this “city of God” (Gal 4:26, Mat 5:14) will shine brightly for all the world to see, and it will give the world great pause “Selah” to stop and look and discern what God has done and how His righteousness was formed in this city (Mal 3:18, Jon 4:11, Eze 44:23, Mat 25:32).

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn, and the world will learn, is that God is the only one who can “establish her” (“her” being Zion). She is clothed in fine linen or the righteousness of the saints that God forms within “her”/us, through the purifying process that has been granted His people (Rev 19:8).

In this study we will look more closely at that purifying process and how our merciful Father brings us to a place of “rejoicing in hope; [and being] patient in tribulation; [and] continuing instant in prayer” (our title and Rom 12:12).

The “righteousness of the saints” is formed by the Master Potter, and here are some verses before we start our study that remind us of what it takes to form the “righteousness of the saints” which is “of the saints”.

First, let us look at how God has declared that “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints ” who are a many membered body (1Co 12:12), who have come to greatly fear and reverence God through this life which humbles us under His mighty hand (Psa 10:17, Jas 4:10).

Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Psa 89:7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

And here are more of the healthy signs of God working in His people, in the church, in the body “of the saints”:

Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, (dying daily to be raised in heavenly places 1Co 15:31, Eph 2:6).

1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

1Co 16:15 I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)

2Co 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (2Pe 3:18).

Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be (Eph 1:11) partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (2Ti 2:21, Rev 19:7).

Phm 1:7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother (Php 2:1-2).

Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand (1Th 5:17).

Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Rom 12:12).

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. [our blood, which is the word of God that is typified by the precious blood of Christ (1Pe 1:19), is being sanctified (Joh 17:17) as we are purified in this life of much tribulation, whereas Babylon — where we come from and are coming out of — is unstable and drunk on that “blood of the martyrs of Jesus” because all she can do at this time is wrap His words around the idols of her heart. We are sacrificed for the world and our witness of martyrdom of the true gospel of Jesus Christ which tells us to lay down our life is what makes the woman, the churches of this world, the woman drunken with the blood (Rev 11:3)].

Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. [the end result of the witness of the saints is spoken of in this verse where the camp is compassed Rev 20:9, and is also mentioned in this parallel verse found in (Rev 11:7).

Psa 87:1 A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains.

Our prayer for his saints is that we can continue to rejoice always in the Lord and know that it is through Christ that we can be “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer” (of Rom 12:12 and our title), and again I say rejoice as Paul says.

Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Straight away we are reminded that this song is a “song for the sons of Korah” which is where we come from, and where we must die and go into the earth (Num 16:1-3, Num 16:4-16, Num 16:17-34) in order to come out and become that holy seed that will become “His foundation in the holy moutains”.

I’ve separated these verses of Numbers 16 to show three distinct parts that demonstrate in the end that the world (within and without) does not want to be swallowed up by the earth as stated in (Num 16:34), which parallels (Exo 20:18-19):

Num 16:34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

Exo 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die [In other words, we would rather remain under the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9) than have to die daily and go on to perfection via the law of Christ (Gal 6:2)] (this is what keeps the world in that drunken spiritual state we talked about earlier)].

In the first three verses of Numbers 16 the heart of man is being revealed which is the wrong and faulty foundation that we all start off on and must be destroyed as this story will go on to demonstrate:

Num 16:1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
Num 16:2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then [why then] lift ye up yourselves above the congregation (Rev 12:5, Eph 2:6) of the LORD?

The answer to that type and shadow question, is that it is the Lord who raises us up for their sakes, and the patience and the faith of the saints is what is needed to endure until the end through Jesus Christ. It is in that raised up position that we can continue to be “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer”.

The next verses are critical to helping us understand what it is that makes the events that are unfolding in Moses’ life as a type and shadow of that which is “of the saints”, and that is stated in verse 28 where Moses says “Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works”: Hereby we know that we are of the Lord because we believe that we must live by every word of God and go into the ‘earth, earth, earth’ of (Jer 22:29) like Korah and then, by the grace and faith of Jesus Christ, “come out of her my people” (Eph 2:8).

Num 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
Num 16:29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
Num 16:30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
Num 16:31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
Num 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

The third section of Numbers chapter 16 parallels what we talked about in our last study where two distinct groups are discussed in the parable of the ten virgins. God shows us that there is a separation taking place between the congregation and Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in this instance (Num 16:24), and the imagery and use of censers is used to make this point evident regarding the parable of the ten virgins.

There is judgment that leads to death, and there is judgment that leads to life, and God shows us through all these stories that it is not enough to have the words of life as honey in the mouth (Eze 3:3-5), or coals (Isa 6:6) just sitting in that censer not kindled, rather they must be heated, burning and destroying everything that breathes within us which is contrary to sound doctrine. The heated coals are the same as the bitterness that must be in the belly of all of God’s people to give us those bowels of mercy which unite us with the same mind of Christ (Rev 10:10, Php 2:1).

Num 16:17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
Num 16:18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
Num 16:19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
Num 16:20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Num 16:21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
Num 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
Num 16:23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Num 16:25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Num 16:26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
Num 16:27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
Num 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works (1Co 11:19); for I have not done them of mine own mind.
Num 16:29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. (to die the common death is to die in our sins (Joh 8:24), and to die the death to which God calls the elect is to come out of the earth, earth, earth by dying daily – Jer 22:29, 1Co 15:31).
Num 16:30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. (The “new thing” is the day of our visitation; the judgment that comes upon all those with whom the Lord is working in this age – Luk 19:44.)
Num 16:31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
Num 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Num 16:34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

I took some time with verse 1 to demonstrate what God is doing to create a foundation through the body of Christ that is a hidden foundation from the world and one that will one day manifest to all the world in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye (1Co 15:52, Isa 66:8, Oba 1:21).

The fear of the Lord is something God is developing within us, and if He loves us in this age (Rom 9:13), we will inevitably be experiencing that love in the form of chastening and scourging (Heb 12:6, Heb 6:4-9). It is that chastening and scourging which keeps us on the narrow path of knowing that it is His righteousness alone which can accomplish the work within us and does build the true foundation which is being laid for all the world with Christ as the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20).

We read in Ezekiel (Eze 18:24) the witness to the verses in Hebrews 6:4-9 that are there for God’s people to be admonished and to heed in this age. Again, if God loves us, He is seeing to it we are drinking that cup of judgment of which we must be partakers if we are going to go on to perfection on the third day (Eze 18:24 in them shall he die the common death we spoke of Joh 8:24, Pro 24:16, Luk 13:32).

Eze 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.

This is a humbling declaration of what God is able to do through His people as we go from glory to glory as His city set on a hill (2Co 3:18 ASV, Mat 5:14).

2Co 3:16 But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. (ASV)

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

Having faces which are unveiled is symbolic language that tells us we no longer establish our own righteousness through the law, but rather through Jesus Christ (Rom 10:3, 1Ti 1:9, Gal 6:2).

Psa 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

In this verse we are reminded from where we come and how it is by the grace of God that we are born there and then able to come out of her my people [Rahab-Babylon-Philistia-Tyre-Ethiopia] and endure until the end as the “not many noble” brethren, the weak of the world (2Co 6:17, 1Co 1:26) God uses to show that this is a work which is being accomplished, all to the glory of God (Rom 11:36) who is working all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11).

RahabH7294 (Jos 2:1-4). We are hidden in Babylon who is likened to a harlot while we are in the court, and God does not forget her kindnesses (Heb 11:31). The two men who spy the land represent Christ or the two witnesses or Joshua and Caleb, and the dream is one (Gen 41:25), as we all must go into Babylon to come out of her, which represents the world of sin within our members, that Christ himself had to come out of and why we are told that God’s son comes out of Egypt (1Jn 4:17, Hos 11:1).

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

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

BabylonH894 We must go into Babylon to ‘come out of her my people’, and Babylon represents the world which we come out of (2Co 6:17).

PhilistiaH6429 (Isa 14:29). We are being told in Isa 14:29 that God is going to raise seraphim (Rev 4:8) out of those who start off with Satan being their father.

Isa 14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

Rev 4:8 And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.

TyreH6865 (Zec 9:3-4) Tyre is where we become rich in the word but cannot properly discern the true gospel, as we make merchandise of our brothers at this time, buying and selling the truth as we try to make disciples by our own power in the sea of humanity, not truly fishers of men yet. We live out the parable of the rich young ruler in Tyre who cannot sell all that he thinks he has and come and follow Christ (Rev 18:11-13, Mat 19:21).

EthiopiaH3568 Cush – (Gen 10:8, Isa 11:11)

Gen 10:8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people (Jdg 1:12), that shall remain, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Ethiopia is connected to Egypt which is connected to Babylon, and Isaiah is a token or sign against Egypt and Ethiopia, walking three years naked and barefoot, who witnessed to the fact that God saw Egypt and Ethiopia as being spiritually unclothed.

In Isa 11:11 we are reminded of the process that we all must go through to be twice plucked upH3568 (Jdg 1:12) before we can truly come to know the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Isa 20:3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

Isa 20:5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

Psa 87:5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.

Psa 87:5 Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was bornH3205 in her; And the Most High himself will establish her. (ASV)

We are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be a little flock that is holy and without blemish before him in love (Eph 1:4, Luk 12:32). God has already determined that we be “born in her”, “Zion”, and boasting therefore is excluded by the law of faith which makes what God has determined possible (Rom 3:27, Heb 12:2). It is “the Highest Himself [who] shall establish (Exo 23:20, Gen 41:32, Isa 62:7, 1Ch 16:30) her”.

“BornH3205 in her” is used 526 times in the KJV with that sense of being born or begotten, and is also very significantly noted three times as “midwife” in Gen 35:17, Gen 38:28 and Exo 1:16.

We understand the “travail” as painful, again confirming that it is not without the hope found in the title of our study (Rom 12:12) and so many other verses that are meant to coach and encourage us along that narrow Way (Joh 16:21).

Psa 87:6 The LORD shall count, when he writeth upH3789 the people, that this man was born there. Selah.

All our days are numbered or counted and written in His book (Psa 139:16), and “he writeth upH3789 the people” and is doing this to witness to the world the workmanship of His hands (Eph 2:10).

Here are some verses that describe what God has written up for His people:

Job 13:26 For thou writestH3789 bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

Deu 31:22 Moses therefore wroteH3789 this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

Hab 2:2 And the LORD answered me, and said, WriteH3789 the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

Pro 7:3 Bind them upon thy fingers, writeH3789 them upon the table of thine heart.

Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and writeH3789 it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Psa 87:7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springsH4599 are in thee.

God reassures us that this body is well equipped with each joint supplying what is needed to accomplish the work that He has set before us (Eph 4:16). There are “singers as the players on instruments” and that speaks of a mindset of rejoicing and being thankful for this high calling in the Lord (Php 3:14).

The “springs”H4599 that God calls us to are spoken of in type and shadow in the old covenant as the fountainsH4599 of the deep that are broken up in (Gen 7:11), as we are bruised and broken for the world so that it can become as it was in the days of Noah, with the entire earth being flooded by those springs or fountains (Mat 24:37, Hab 2:14) that will bring forth the living waters that will fill the earth and be a starting point of baptism just as the Israelites of old came under the cloud of witness, or like John the baptist who baptized with water and then the Lord with fire (Heb 12:1, 1Co 10:2).

H4599
– Definition:
1. spring
– Origin: from H5869 as a denominative in the sense of a spring) – TWOT entry: 1613a
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine
– Strong’s: From H5869 (as a denominative in the sense of a spring); a fountain (also collectively) figuratively a source (of satisfaction): – fountain spring well.

Total KJV Occurrences: 23

•fountain, 9
Lev_11:36; Jos_15:9; Psa_74:15; Psa_114:8; Pro_25:26; Son_4:12; Son_4:15; Hos_13:15; Joe_3:18

•fountains, 7
Gen_7:11; Gen_8:2; 1Ki_18:5; 2Ch_32:4; Pro_5:16; Pro_8:24; Isa_41:18

•springs, 2
Psa_87:7; Psa_104:10

•well, 2
Jos_18:15; Psa_84:6

•wells, 3
2Ki_3:19; 2Ki_3:25; Isa_12:3

The world will once again come under that cloud of witness which will rule with a rod of iron (Rev 2:27); a people who will be prepared through that experience for the great white throne judgment in the lake of fire that will save all mankind (Rev 20:15, 1Co 15:22)…

Isa 12:3 … Rom_12:12
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wellsH4599 of salvation. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer…

 

[Questions or comments can be directed to the author at anthocul@sympatico.ca]

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