The Book of Joel – Chapter 2:12-17, Part 2

“Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” – Rev 2:16

[Study Aired Aug 3 2024]

Return to the Lord

Joe 2:12  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 
Joe 2:13  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 
Joe 2:14  Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 
Joe 2:15  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 
Joe 2:16  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 
Joe 2:17  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 

Introduction

In our previous Study, Part 1 of Joel, Chapter 2, we clearly see that the dark and gloomy “Day of the Lord” dawns rapidly through Christ, our rising ‘sun’ in our spiritual understanding. So happy are we for that understanding and the beginning of the spiritual creation of the New Adam within, we gamble like calves released from the stall of Babylonian Christianity’s mouldy hay to be fed in Christ’s ‘stall’ of strong meat.

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings [a fine sunny dawn of Christ symbolised by an eagle-shaped-wing of high golden cirrus cloud in the east of former gloomy darkness]; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Mal 4:3  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

By our Lord’s spirit, we now see that the great and dreadful Day of the Lord is an incredibly glorious death of our old man; it exceedingly emboldens us to endure the trials and tribulations given to chastise us and bless our Husband with our ravishing responses to him. We “turn” to worship our Lord with our Body, the very Body of his Bride who delights in his instant and eternal arousal for her devotedness to his righteousness, just as Hosea desired his wife, Gomer, even in weak corruptible flesh to return and honour him.

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 

Significations:

Return to the Lord

Joe 2:12  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 
Joe 2:13  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 

We studied the acceptable fast our Lord requires in Joel Part 1, Chapter 2, for your revision ~ so. What can we extrapolate from the opening verses of Joel Chapter 2?

The key term in this study is the word “turn,” which comes from the Hebrew 7725, representing 1. to return, turn back a. (Qal) 1. to turn back, return 1a. It is strongly associated with the term “again”, expressed 215 times, “turn away” 57 times and returning “back 62 times, and all are identified with going back negatively or positively. Hence, the active intent of Christ through Joel and the term, “turn”, is to repent.

In the study of Hosea, we initially saw that we were like Gomer, a whore to our Lord while in the wilderness of Babylon. Hosea would have loved his wife to turn to him with all of her heart had she been given to study the reasoning for her waywardness revealed by the fast our Lord ascribed to us in Isaiah 58. Upon Christ-given deep introspection, the Gomer that we have been has seen our humiliating condition of flirting with the churches of the world and, with tears, repents. God loves the sinner and more for his heartfelt repentance, even if she is an inveterate Oholah (representing greater Israel) or the younger sister representing the more treacherous of the two sisters of whoredoms, Oholibah (typifying Judah, the Priests, and particularly the Lord’s Elect).

Jer 3:6-15  The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding [H4878 – 1. turning away, turning back, apostasy, backsliding] Israel [Oholah] hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
Jer 3:7  And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah [Oholibah, the incipient Elect of God] saw it. 
Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah [Oholibah – the embryonic Bride of Christ] feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 
Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness [1. voice, sound, noise a. voice b. sound (of an instrument) 2. lightness, frivolity – colloquially; my body to do what I want with it] of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah [Oholibah/Elect] hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified [Conscience accusing and excusing through her pride] herself more than treacherous Judah.

See in verses 10 and 11 that Israel is “backsliding”; however, Judah representing the priesthood is worse since they held the oracles and testaments of God and didn’t diligently teach them and are thus “treacherous” and most humiliatingly, equal to the heathen Moabites, our flesh! (Eze 25:8  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen)

Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel [Collectively inclusive of Judah], saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family [Rejoin Israel/Oholah with her sister, Judah/Oholibah], and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 

That “turning” to Christ is him reclothing us with his garments since we, in Joel 2:2, have deeply regretted our whoredoms with the fasting by ripping our ‘figleaf’ self-styled clothing revealing a naked heart before our Husband, Christ.

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 
Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

A carnal wife seeking a deeper emotional connection with her Husband typically wants him and his world to revolve around her, when ‘nature tells us’ that the moon whom she represents, captured by the earth’s gravitational force of humanity, both revolves around the sun, meaning, Christ and our Father. Upon being given to realize her accursed resistance by airily dismissing her physical husband’s desire for her, she now gloriously gives her husband ‘all her heart’ and symbolically, physically, and spiritually worships her husband, depicting the receipt of every good and unimaginable gift from Christ, her Husband.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we [The Elect in this age since the cross] should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

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

Scripture symbolically and infers literally that the Earth and our solar system came from our Sun, “the Father of [spiritual] lights”, representing God. Man is represented by the Earth, and he is made from its dust, and the Woman came out of the man (the Earth 1 Cor 11:8-12) and is represented as the Moon, inferring that it all came from God, symbolised by the Sun. (funny how the pagans were given some semicorrelating connections by worshipping the Sun] However, Eve’s curse keeps a wife at arm’s length (personifying the centrifugal force from the Earth) from having the unity she yearns for and vexingly can’t, unwittingly, without the holy spirit, attain. Interestingly, science has detected the Moon, ironically, steadily moving away from the Earth, her figuratively ‘fleshy husband’ as harlots do. Yet, possibly literally and guaranteed spiritually, heaven and Earth will melt with the fervent heat of God’s fiery word to be unified as the Sun.

Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

That generation that will not pass away is only fulfilled in the Lord’s Elect given to “be wise” in the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. When all of Christ’s words are fulfilled in them, it is their heavens and earth of the Old Adam within that passes away as they are gradually transformed into Christ, as bright as the literal sun. Following them fully passing away at the First Resurrection, then comes those remaining in fleshy bodies in the One Thousand Year reign with the rod of iron will physically pass away.

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

Joe 2:14  Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 

It is the Elect of God, the Lord’s Bride in this age since the cross who alone is given to know that they will “return and repent”. They leave behind them a mighty spiritual meat and drink legacy to follow in the Resurrection to Judgement, the Lake of Fire for their brothers, sisters, and Satan and his angels to be utterly consumed in that furnace and come forth purified as fine gold.

Joe 2:15  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 

It is “today” that the Bride only fully hears her Husband’s voice (Heb 3:15), the trumpet announcing his coming. She is the solemn assembly. She, like her Husband, is the Trumpet and has learned to fast in daily spiritual reflections of her tardily aroused ways to “turn” and revolve around him, draw in closer [as opposed to the literal Moon representing Babylonian Christianity, drawing away], and passionately receive her Husband’s “kisses” (Son 1:2), and he, hers.

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
Rev 1:10  I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day [“Today” as we hear His voice], and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches [Spiritually one Church, the Bride of Christ] which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

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

The one Bride, comprising the seven churches of Asia and representing individual Elect out of every tribe and nation in Israel, is gathered and sanctified. She has been at the breast of her harlot mother and likewise walked the streets and broad ways in her lewd trade of worshipping many other Jesus [2 Cor 11:3]. She is being remade from a new lump of clay into a beautiful young Bride raised spiritually on her Lord’s wine, fat and best cuts of meat of her Husband’s word while righteously walking the streets of the New Heavenly Jerusalem within seeking her Lord.

Joe 2:16  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 

The Bride of Christ has come out of her closet since the cross. Even as her brothers and sisters in Babylon were likewise given to search diligently the scriptures to find Christ, it is only the Bride who found Him in her night visions. She is given powerful curiosity to desire and seek her Husband with her entire body and mind, her Lord’s spirit and excitedly ‘return to her Lord’.

Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

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

Son 3:1  By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
Son 3:2  I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
Son 3:3  The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
Son 3:4  It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 
Son 3:5  I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

Joe 2:17  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 

Internally, with deep regret, the Bride ‘turned’ and remembered that she had wept for Tamuz, the like lusts Solomon never deprived himself while worshipping another Jesus under his altar! ( Tammuz = sprout of life). 1. a Sumerian deity of food or vegetation [shepherd] and every other young and powerful god-like man, as did Oholah and Oholibah (Eze 23)). Our heart of the figurative ‘Tammaus’ we were where we sought a deep emotional connection, unconsciously elevating ourselves as an Inanna-like goddess (Inanna – the same as pagan Ishtar, queen of heaven), the goddess of love and war, and accentuated sexuality. She is represented as the younger sister, Oholibah, who devoted her ‘whole body and mind’ to her lovers in the neighbouring tribes rather than to her Lord and Husband.

Astaroth H6252 = star n pr f deity 1. false Goddesses in the Canaanite religion, usually related to a fertility cult. ‘1. ewe, flock, increase, young’ representing our disappearing false flocks and doctrines of Babylonian Christianity.

Eze 8:12  Then said he unto me [Ezekiel], Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? [As opposed to the Bride’s God-given revelatory night visions] for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth [His people].
Eze 8:13  He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
Eze 8:14  Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north [judgement comes from the north]; and, behold, there sat women [Israel] weeping for Tammuz. 

In contrast, it is now the Bride of Christ who is the Priest on the Temple porch within, where she weeps in repentance before her husband, Christ, her true spiritual ‘altar’. Her tears of regret for her former ways are turned into overjoyed gladness for him not sparing her chastisements since she is given to know that Christ is her inheritance and husband, immutably removing her reproach. In the meantime, her sisters remaining in Babylon staunchly believe that they are the Lord’s chosen bride ruling her husband in Zionist religions and governments of the world today.

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Unwittingly, Babylonian Christianity is in lockstep with their slave-master ‘Jews who are not Jews’ who, unconsciously to Christians, violently believe that Christ is an imposter who deserved the painful death of the cross and delight in mocking his resurrection and Lordship. Yet, those Christians, like silly doves (Hos 7:11) and ‘filthy dreamers’ (Jude 1:8-10), fawn on circumcision since they resolutely believe the physical Jews are God’s “chosen”.

Joh 4:22  Ye [Mainstream Babylonian Christianity] worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the [Spiritual Christ-led] Jews. 
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 

Psa 115:2  Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? [… we, unwittingly, the 10 horns just ‘fact-checked’ and destroyed this Jesus myth!]
Psa 115:3  But our God is in the heavens [within]: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psa 115:4  Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psa 115:5  They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
Psa 115:6  They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
Psa 115:7  They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
Psa 115:8  They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Psa 115:9  O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back [a turning in the negative], my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Since the cross, the Bride of Christ has been phenomenally brightened by her Husband’s revelations in understanding her treacherous nature in denying Him his espousal dues. And so, the act of repentance is critically central to ‘returning to the Lord’.

Subsequently, and next week (always Lord willing), we shall see that his Bride is his workmanship, having deliberately designed her slow belly desire for him. Temporarily in heartfelt pity, he weeps for her unavoidable condition even as he rejoices with the Wife of his youth as he pours out his spirit. Lord, bring on more powerfully that day!

[Study Aired May 6, 2021]

Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 

 

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 

 

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

 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 

 

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 

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

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. [1Co 14:3]

 

Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

 

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

 

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

 

[Buy of me gold, white raiment and anoint your eyes as opposed to doing what is written in Isaiah 4:1 that speaks of our former conversation.]

 

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent [Heb 12:6]

 

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 

Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace

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

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

 

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it [Rev 3:18, 1Pe 1:7].

Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Luk 6:44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 

 

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

 

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

 

[A seed that dies and is baptized into His death hidden in the earth, the church, the body of Christ (Rom 6:3 , Joh 12:24).]

 

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

 

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

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

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain [Luk 12:15-21].

1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: [Mat 6:32-33] for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 

Luk 12:16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 

Luk 12:17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 

Luk 12:18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 

Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 

Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee [1Ti 6:7]: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

Luk 12:21  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

Php 1:7  Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

 

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

2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 

2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 

2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 

 

Php 1:23  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 

 

1Co 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 

 

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 

 

Mar 14:30  And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. 

Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 

Mat 26:35  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. 

 

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

 

Mar 14:50  And they all forsook him, and fled. 

 

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 

 

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

2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 

Joh 18:9  That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 

Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 

Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

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. 

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

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

Rom 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be [Gal 3:16].

Rom 4:19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 

Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 

Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 

Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 

Rom 4:23  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 

Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 

Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Mat 9:17  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 

 

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

 

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

 

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. 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession [Rev 3:11].

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  

Pro 24:21  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: 

Pro 24:22  For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

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

Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 

Eph 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him [Php 3:3].

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 

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

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 

 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: [don’t be “carried about with divers and strange doctrines“], but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

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

 

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

 

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

Jer 7:1-17 Part 1, Pray Not for This People

[Study Aired April 11, 2021]

Jer 7:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 7:2  Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
Jer 7:3  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Jer 7:4  Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
Jer 7:5  For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
Jer 7:6  If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
Jer 7:7  Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
Jer 7:8  Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Jer 7:9  Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
Jer 7:10  And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
Jer 7:11  Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
Jer 7:12  But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
Jer 7:13  And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
Jer 7:14  Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
Jer 7:15  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Jer 7:16  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
Jer 7:17  Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Both John the Baptist and Christ addressed their words directly to those who had no eyes to see or ears to hear:

Mat 3:7  But when he [“John the Baptist” (vs 1)] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Christ repeated this same charge against the religious leaders of His day who had just accused Him of casting out devils “by Beelzebub”:

Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

“The damnation of hell” here is not the death of the old man which produces “the resurrection of life”. The Greek word translated as ‘hell’ here in Matthew 23 is G1067 (gehenna) which is, according to Christ, “the resurrection to damnation”:

Joh 5:27  And hath given him [Christ and His Christ] authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation  [G2920: krisis, judgment].

Here in John 5:29 we have the only two resurrections mentioned anywhere in scripture. The first one is to life, and the last one is to judgment.

How can we be sure that “the damnation of hell”, better translated as “the judgment of gehenna”, is “the resurrection of damnation”? We can know this for certain because of what Christ says in:

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

This “separating of the sheep” who are told “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom” takes place at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ as we are told in:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy [“Ye blessed of My Father” (Mat 25:34)] 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.

There we have it. There is a “blessed… first resurrection” with the reward of a “glorious… crown of life”, for those who “die in the Lord” in “this present time”. It is only those who first “die in the Lord” in “this present time”, and are being judged at “this present time” (Rom 8:18), who are given that “blessed and holy [reward of] having part in the first resurrection”:

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

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

To those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear these verses reveal there are two deaths, two judgments and two resurrections. The first death is a “blessed… death” (Rev 14:13) with a symbolic thousand-year reign dividing the first death from “the second death” (Rev 20:5-6), and there are two resurrections, the one preceding the other, with a symbolic thousand years dividing those two resurrections (Rev 20:5-6). There are two judgments. The first judgment is “[now] on the house of God… [in] this present time”, and the second is the “great white throne… judgment” which takes place “when the thousand years are finished” (Rev 20:5 and 11). These scriptures very clearly say “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord… [and are being judged in] this present time”, and they tell us that the ‘goats’ who die in this present time are “ye cursed” who will be raised up in “the resurrection of judgment” which occurs only “when the thousand years are finished” (Rev 20:5):

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920: krisis, judgment].

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

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

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
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.

The separation of two resurrections by a symbolic thousand years is not clearly revealed in the gospels. “The resurrection of life and… the resurrection of judgment” are both named in John 5:29.  The thousand-year reign, separating the two resurrections is revealed in the twentieth chapter of the book of Revelation.

Matthew 25:31-41 does reveal that “the throne of His glory” continues throughout the rewarding of the sheep at the first resurrection. It continues throughout the judgment of the cursed goats in the lake of fire.

Those who are being judged in this present time are raised up in “the first resurrection”. This is the resurrection which Christ called “the resurrection of life” (Joh 5:29, Rev 20:6). It follows that since there are only two resurrections in scripture, and since it is only the ‘sheep’ who are given a kingdom at the first resurrection, which takes place at the beginning of the thousand-year reign, then it must be “the goats”, who consist of any and all the rest of mankind who are not in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”. It is “the goats” who will be raised from the dead in the great white throne judgment, many of whom will be told “depart from me, ye cursed, into eonian fire prepared for the devil and his angels”.

“Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see [the] things which [we] see, and have not seen them” (Mat 13:17):

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

These “prophets and righteous men” will also have to wait until the white throne judgment to see and hear the things we are already privileged to see and hear. We can be sure this is the case because we are told that “he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than… John [the Baptist], and we are told that no Old Testament prophet was greater than John:

Luk 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

“He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than [John]”, excludes John from ruling with Christ in His thousand-year reign.

“The word… from the Lord” here in Jeremiah 7 is the same ‘Lord’ with the same message we are given in Matthew 25 concerning the judgment of the same people. Jeremiah was just several hundred years earlier:

Jer 7:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 7:2  Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

As we will see here is Jeremiah 7, the Lord is separating the sheep from the goats. The “sheep” are the “one from a nation and two from a family” which we read about earlier in this prophecy:

Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

Throughout scripture, ‘Zion” typifies the Lord’s elect. It typifies “the sheep” who are separated from the goats, given a kingdom and called “ye blessed of My Father” and who will then become the “saviors” of all the rest of mankind:

Psa 74:2  Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.

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

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

On the other hand, we quote Jeremiah 22:29 quite often to demonstrate that the word ‘earth’ symbolizes the Lord’s own people who are estranged from Him through their sins and transgressions. Here is the Lord pleading with His own estranged people:

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

Knowing that the ‘earth’ symbolizes the Lord’s own people who love to wear His name but despise having to wear His apparel or eat His food (Isa 4:1), helps us to understand who the second beast of Revelation 13 is:

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

A beast that appears to be a lamb but speaks as a dragon is the same as a whore who wants her Husband’s name but refuses to wear His apparel or eat His bread, the bread of life:

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

These “seven women” who will not eat the Lord’s bread or wear His apparel are the symbols of the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3. Those seven churches, with all their sins and transgressions, just like the seven women of Isaiah 4, think they are “rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing” (Rev 3:17). The Truth is that they “are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”, and they are the whore in the wilderness of Revelation 17-18.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

No whore thinks of herself in those terms. This is how you and I, the Lord’s own whoring people, think before we are dragged out of her:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

That is a perfect inspired description of how we as the beast that ‘comes up out of the earth… [which looks] like a lamb… [but] speaks as a dragon’ thinks of himself. We are filled with self-righteous pride, and it is all by the Lord’s design and “after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11):

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

This beast that comes up out of the earth is the “earth, earth, earth” of Jeremiah 22:29, and just see to whom this entire chapter is specifically addressed:

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

That is right! The ‘earth’ is the symbol for the Lord’s own special people who are called by His name but will not wear His apparel nor eat His bread. Now let’s put this introduction of chapter 22 right beside the introduction to this seventh chapter:

Jer 7:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 7:2  Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

The only difference is not really a difference at all. Chapter 22 adds “the king of Judah, that sits upon the throne of David”, but both chapters are addressed to “thy people who enter by these gates”. Inasmuch as “King David” typifies and represents the people over whom the Lord has made Him ruler, these two chapters are addressed to the same people. They are addressed primarily to you and me, and they are also addressed to all who claim to be “in Christ… to take away [their] shame”.

Now notice that the message to us is the same in both chapters:

Jer 7:3  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Jer 7:4  Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

“The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these” is using the Lord’s name to take away our reproach, while committing blatant adultery and teaching false doctrines which directly contradict the doctrines of our own Husband, but the Lord will always have a remnant who will come out of this world, and will come out of Babylon.

Jer 7:5  For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
Jer 7:6  If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

Compare these words to chapter 22:

Jer 22:3  Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
Jer 22:4  For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

“Executing judgment between a man and his neighbor” here in chapter 7 is the same as “executing judgment and righteousness” in chapter 22.

However, we must also notice the big “For if…” in both chapters. It is always “If ye do this thing… then…” I will bless you:

Jer 7:7  Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

Jer 22:4  For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

Our salvation is not contingent upon our good works, but it is contingent upon the workmanship of Christ who has “created us unto good works”, and that is simply what the scriptures teach:

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

We simply cannot read verses 8-9 and not read the next verse. To do so is “rebellion [which] is as the sin of witchcraft”. To stop here and make a doctrine of ‘no works… Christs did it all for us on the cross’ is exactly what King Saul did when he brought King Agag and the best of the cattle back to offer them to the Lord after the Lord had told him to kill everything that breathed. King Saul cherry picked the Word of God, and he feared the people more than he feared the Lord. Like the seven adulterous women of Isaiah 4:1 he thought he had the right to obey the Lord as He saw fit, and if his way of serving the Lord meant that he would have to ignore some of the Lord’s words, then so be it. That fearful and rebellious spirit cost him the kingdom, and that rebellious spirit will also cost us the kingdom.

Here now is the next verse:

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We really can tell a tree by its fruits:

Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

All the Lord’s spiritual blessings will be preceded by obedience to His Words. He does not tolerate any spirit of disobedience or rebellion. The only way we will know the Lord is if we seek Him with our whole heart:

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

To the Lord, making light of His word and disobeying Him by picking for ourselves which of His Words we will keep and obey is nothing less than “rebellion [and it] is as the sin of witchcraft and Idolatry”, and it will rob us of our crown of life. This is what Samuel told King Saul when King Saul attempted to justify his fear of the people and his rebellion against the commandment of the Lord:

1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

A prime example of this idolatrous spirit is when we say we are obedient to the Lord even as we blatantly disobey His commandments concerning how we are to keep false teachings and the sins of witchcraft, rebellion, and idolatry out of our midst. The story of how King Saul attempted to twist the Lord’s words to his own liking is the same message the Lord has for us in Ezekiel 14:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

We have all had idols of our hearts, but that was before we were “enlightened and had tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and had tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.” If the Lord deceives us after experiencing all those blessings, then these are His words concerning all such men:

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; [They “find no place of repentance” (Heb 12:17)] 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 [in the lake of fire].

We will stop here for now, and next week we will pick up our study of this commandment, “Pray not for this people”. In our next study we will discuss the spiritual significance of why this commandment is repeated three times in this prophecy of Jeremiah.

Here are those three scriptures for your consideration until next week:

Jer 7:16  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.

Alleged Contradictions In Scripture

Part 2 – Does God Need To Repent of Evil?

Exo 32:14  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

1Sa 15:29  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

Introduction

If “the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people”, how can He then tell us “He is not a man that He should repent”? In the very same 15th chapter of 1Samuel we are told:

1Sa 15:35  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

This is but one of many examples of how God’s Word is written for the very purpose of blinding the eyes of those who are not chosen by God in this age to believe in Christ and abide in His Words. There is a very clear answer to this and every apparent contradiction in scripture, but it requires Christ’s faith within us to withstand the onslaught of attacks against the word of God.

Before we answer this oft repeated accusation against the Word of God, I want to let you know that I have been asked over and over, maybe by some of you, ‘How can I present the Truth in a way that my family and friends cannot deny it or fail to see it?’ I think that by now we have all come to know that there is no way you or I can make a blind man to see, especially when he has been intentionally blinded by Christ Himself, which is one of the very reasons Christ came into this world:

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

It is obvious that the Lord is not attempting to convert the world at this time. At this time He has sent an evil spirit “that they which see might be made blind [to] the things of the spirit”. It is not because men are not physically intelligent. Some of the world’s most intelligent people are atheists or agnostics for this very reason:

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The words, “Because they are spiritually discerned” makes “the natural man”, religious or secular, furious with resentment. They will always retort with something like, “Oh, so you think you have some kind of superior knowledge?” just as Joseph’s brothers responded to his dreams of ruling over them. The Pharisees certainly did not believe that some son of a carpenter, Christ, was closer to God than they. So they certainly did not think of themselves as being blind. To those Pharisees, Christ’s miracles were nothing more than the dreams of the dreamer of Deu 13:

Deu 13:1  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 
Deu 13:2  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 
Deu 13:4  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Deu 13:5  And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

We read of Christ’s miracles, and we think those people were incredibly blind to fail to see who Christ was. But the truth be known, you and I would have been right there with that mob crying out “Crucify Him” were it not for the grace of God.

This is what Christ Himself told His own disciples:

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:45  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Once again the Word is given to us in a manner which serves to hide the Truth being conveyed to us. You are blessed to know that the word ‘draw’ is much better translated as ‘drag’, and that what we are being told is that ‘no man can come to [Christ] except the Father drag him’. Not even the Concordant Version has the word ‘drag’ here in this critically important verse of scripture. I have a lot of translations, and I could not find a single translation, not Rotherhams, not Young’s Literal Translation, and none of the literal translations have the word ‘drag’. They all have the word ‘draw’, leaving the impression that Christ subtly draws us to Himself, like a man courting a woman.  The Song of Solomon certainly has a place in our experience with our Lord as our husband, but that part of our experience comes only after our old man has been dragged to the guillotine of the fiery Word of God and decapitated as David decapitated Goliath.Just as in the days when Christ was on this earth, the vast majority of His disciples cannot receive His fiery, purging words which treat this body of flesh as if it “profited nothing”, and “they [go] back and walk no longer with Him”:

Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Joh 6:59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Joh 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Joh 6:61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 

This purging and pruning of the Lord’s flock has been taking place in every generation, and it is being accentuated as this age comes to an end. A perverted doctrine of “love, love, love”, with no thought or care for the Biblical definition of what Godly love entails (1Jo 5:2-3], will not profit those who think it is possible to love God without being obedient to His Word. Christ’s own faith is required to please God, and anyone who does not believe that scripture in the Word of God simply has not yet been given the faith to do so. That person “cannot come to [Christ] except the spirit drag 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.

“He that comes to God must believe that He is, [but] faith… is the gift of God”, so that whether we believe or do not believe, it is a work that God is working in us “both to will and to do of His good pleasure”. It just happens to please him, at this time, to be in the process of blinding those who think they see and that includes almost every person on this earth (Joh 9:39 and Rev 12:9).

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

The faith, or the lack of faith, are both a work of the God who “works all things after the counsel of His own will”.

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

What an incredible statement! Whether we have the faith to see and understand the words of Christ, or whether we have no faith and He has come to blind us, both are a work which He is performing “after the counsel of His own will”:

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 
Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 
Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 

Here is verse 10 in the ACV version:

Eph 1:10  for an administration of the fullness of the times. To gather together all things in the Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth,

If we are given to believe that God has predestined us to “sonship” (uihothesia – G5206), “the Christ”, for an administration of ‘the fulness of times, to gather together all things in (us), the Christ… the church, the fulness of Him who fills all in all’, then we have been given that faith, and most people will think you and I are on a delusional ego trip, just as Joseph’s brothers thought of him when he, as a type of us, was given dreams of rulership. There were many reasons why Joseph was hated of his brothers, and one of those reasons was the same reason you and I are hated of our fellow ‘Christians’.

This is the Old Testament shadow of “an administration of the fullness of the times. To gather together all things in the Christ…”:

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 

These verses are also the Old Testament shadow of what Christ tells us in Mat 10:

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

Our heavenly Father has favored us to know Him and His Word. Our Christian brothers do not know the Christ we know, nor do they know His Word, and they hate us simply because we speak the truth. That is the reason Christ was so hated:

Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Joh 8:46  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Joh 8:47  He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Joh 8:55  Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

Gal 4:16  Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

But Matthew 10:22 tells us we will “be hated of all men”, and that is exactly what has happened in every generation since Christ. But that hatred is getting progressively “worse and worse” leading up to “the redemption of the purchased possession”:

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

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

The entire Bible is now regarded as mere myth by both government and the vast majority of professing Christian laymen and ministers. The day has now arrived when these words have become an outward reality:

Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

People have been predicting the imminent return of Christ from the day He ascended up from His disciples into the clouds (Act 1:9). Because it has been so long and because so many predictions have been proven to be false prophecies by false prophets, many Christians have begun to think exactly as the apostle Peter predicted they would:

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

It is true that it has been a long time since the fathers fell asleep, but what should that tell us, if Christ is within us? Should we therefore assume it is still going to be a long time before “the promise of His coming” to give us “the redemption of the purchased possession”? Or should we not rather live as if “Christ is at hand”? This is what the holy spirit tells us:

Mar 1:14  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

That is the mindset of Christ and of His Christ. Rather than teach that there are many years yet before the kingdom of God arrives, this is how you and I ought to be living our lives:

Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

The Christ of Christ does not make false prophecies simply because they never “think above what is written”. But this is written, and it would behoove us to give heed to these words:

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 

On Thursday Salon.com made this report concerning the free reign of Satanism in a country that has rejected God and has completely lost its way:

“A Satanist member identified only as Mary Doe was denied an abortion at a Planned Parenthood office last month because of the restrictions, and the Satanic Temple sued the state last month seeking a religious exemption.

“Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves [says] the “informed consent” materials don’t just require women to comply with certain religious viewpoints, but also — in the case of Satanists — to contradict their own belief that women can decide for themselves.

“The question of when life begins is absolutely a religious opinion, and the state has no business proselytizing religious beliefs,” Greaves said.”

If the supreme court of the United States rules in favor of same-sex marriages (two of the justices have already officiated gay weddings), and if this satanist lawsuit goes to the supreme court, it will be consistent with that decision to permit abortions on demand. And why would either the satanists or the supreme court be influenced by a group of “worthless (spiritual) shepherds” who teach that most of those aborted babies will probably end up burning in hell for all eternity if they were not aborted?

That is why God told Zechariah to play the part of a worthless shepherd:

Zec 11:15  Then the LORD said to me, “Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd.
Zec 11:16  This will illustrate how I will give this nation a shepherd who will not care for the sheep that are threatened by death, nor look after the young, nor heal the injured, nor feed the healthy. Instead, this shepherd will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear off their hooves.
Zec 11:17  Doom is certain for this worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will cut his arm and pierce his right eye! His arm will become useless, and his right eye completely blind!” (NLT)

“The worthless shepherd” is “the mother of harlots” who “sits on many waters” which we are told are the many peoples of this world, who are becoming weary of her rulership and who are, as we speak, turning their backs on her and will very soon “hate her and burn her with fire”:

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

These are words which ‘are written’ and they are words for which the Lord will not repent:

Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 25:33  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

“The slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth… I have purposed it and will not repent”, and yet we read earlier:

Exo 32:14  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. 

Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. 

Jer 26:12  Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
Jer 26:13  Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. 
Jer 26:14  As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.

How can God tell us “I… will not repent…[I am] not a man that [I] should repent”, and in the same breath, in the same chapter just six verses apart tell us “it repented the Lord that He had made Saul king over Israel”?

1Sa 15:29  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

1Sa 15:35  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

While it will mean nothing to the natural man whom God has given a mind to reject His Word, let’s nevertheless look at what Strong’s has to say about the definition of this word which is translated as ‘repent’ in the King James Version of the scriptures, and see if perhaps there is no contradiction here at all:

H5162
נחם
nâcham
naw-kham’
A primitive root; properly to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, that is, (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself): – comfort (self), ease [one’s self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

And now look at how it is most often translated:

H5162
נחם
nâcham
Total KJV Occurrences: 109
comfort, 34
Gen_5:29, Gen_27:42, Gen_37:35, 2Sa_10:2, 1Ch_7:22, 1Ch_19:2 (2), Job_2:11, Job_7:13, Job_21:34, Psa_23:4, Psa_71:21, Psa_119:50, Psa_119:76, Psa_119:82, Isa_22:4, Isa_40:1 (2), Isa_51:3 (2), Isa_51:19, Isa_57:6, Isa_61:2, Isa_66:13, Jer_16:7, Jer_31:13, Lam_1:2, Lam_1:17, Lam_1:21, Lam_2:13, Eze_14:23, Eze_16:54, Zec_1:17, Zec_10:2
comforted, 20
Gen_24:67, Gen_37:35, Gen_38:12, Gen_50:21, Rth_2:13, 2Sa_12:24, 2Sa_13:39, Job_42:11, Psa_77:2, Psa_86:17, Psa_119:52, Isa_49:13, Isa_52:9, Isa_54:11, Isa_66:13, Jer_31:15, Eze_5:13, Eze_14:22, Eze_31:16, Eze_32:31
repent, 19
Exo_13:17, Exo_32:12, Num_23:19, Deu_32:36, 1Sa_15:29 (2), Job_42:6, Psa_90:13, Psa_110:4, Psa_135:14, Jer_4:28, Jer_18:8, Jer_18:10, Jer_26:3, Jer_26:13, Jer_42:10, Joe_2:14 (2), Jon_3:9
repented, 17
Gen_6:6, Exo_32:14, Jdg_2:18, Jdg_21:6, Jdg_21:15, 1Sa_15:35, 2Sa_24:16, 1Ch_21:15, Psa_106:45, Jer_8:6, Jer_20:16, Jer_31:19 (2), Amo_7:3, Amo_7:6, Jon_3:10, Zec_8:14
comforters, 5
2Sa_10:3, 1Ch_19:3, Job_16:2, Psa_69:20, Nah_3:7
comforter, 3
Ecc_4:1, Lam_1:9, Lam_1:16
comforteth, 3
Job_29:25, Isa_66:12-13 (2)
repenteth, 3
Gen_6:7, 1Sa_15:11, Joe_2:13
comfortedst, 1
Isa_12:1
ease, 1
Isa_1:24
receive, 1
Isa_57:6
repentest, 1
Jon_4:2
repenting, 1
Jer_15:6

Of the 109 time this Hebrew word appears, 67 times it is translated with some form of the word ‘comfort’.  The first time this word appears in scripture is in Gen 5 where we read:

Gen 5:28  And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
Gen 5:29  And he called his name Noah [H5146, Hebrew: Noach], saying, This same shall comfort [H5162, nacham] us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

The name ‘Noah’ is a form of the word which is elsewhere translated as repent, but ‘repent’ is not the primary meaning of this word. ‘Comfort’ is the primary meaning, and while repentance brings us comfort, comfort does not necessarily bring us to repentance. God comforted himself after rejecting Saul, but He did not repent of giving us a type of how the first Adam is rejected for the last Adam. It was God who ordained that Abel replace Cain, that Isaac replace Ishmael, that Jacob replace Esau, that Rachel replace Leah, and that Joseph replace Reuben. All things are being done “after the counsel of His own will, and He has given us all of those Old Testament types, as shadows of how our old man must be sacrificed for the sake of establishing our new man as His elect.

It all adheres to the Biblical principle:

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

“The first man Adam… is earthy”, and without Christ will always act earthy. This is ordained of God for the very purpose of demonstrating for all men why “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”. The reason why is that “corruption cannot inherit incorruption”, and flesh and blood are corruption. Flesh and blood not only act corrupt, flesh and blood act in a corrupt way simply because flesh and blood are “corruption” in which God cannot take comfort:

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

The spirit equates flesh and blood with corruption. It does not equate flesh and blood with acting in a corrupt way. Flesh and blood are “corruption” and can act in no other way except the spirit of God drag it to His mind and His actions.

Here is one last verse which demonstrates the primary meaning of the Hebrew word ‘nacham‘:

Isa 57:5  Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?
Isa 57:6  Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort [H5162, nacham, the same word translated as ‘repent’ in 1Sa 15:35] in these?

Knowing that the primary meaning of the Hebrew word ‘nacham‘, is ‘comfort’, and that its secondary meaning is ‘repent’, let’s go back to 1 Samuel 15 and look at what we are really being told in verses 29 and 35:

1Sa 15:29  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

1Sa 15:35  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

The Lord had to destroy the first man Adam, and He comforted Himself in knowing that the last Adam would be a living spirit even in King Saul in time. That is the same message we are being given in these words:

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 
Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa 53:9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

God ‘creates evil’ (Isa 45:7), and ‘He makes wicked men for the day of evil’ (Pro 16:4), for the express purpose of demonstrating that ‘He made men as “brute beasts [who were] made to be taken and destroyed’. These words apply to all of us, even to the flesh and blood of Christ Himself. “The new man” in every man is “His seed”, and the fruit of His offering of His bruised life.

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

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

Knowing this is all true it is clear that God does not need to repent of the evil He brings upon us via the evil spirits He sends to work the evil which He creates to accomplish His plan and His purpose. God is our Creator, and as such He has every right to do with His creation as He sees fit. This is revealed to us in the very next chapter of 1 Samuel (1Sa 16:14). But it is equally clear that if God is to make clear to His creation the depth of evil, He must tell us that He comforts Himself when He “endures with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction”:

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

The replacing of King Saul with King David, was not ‘plan B’ for God. King Saul was raised up for the very purpose of being “taken and destroyed”:

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose [“as (a) brute beast, made to be taken and destroyed”] have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump [Both ‘Adams’ are “in earthen vessels” – Col 1:27] to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction [our old man]: 
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy [our new man], which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 

P.S.  Just today (Friday, June 26, 2015) the supreme court has indeed ruled that marriage is to be accepted legally as including same-sex marriages. This outwardly is a great earthquake, and its destructive power will soon become evident. This is just one of the many signs of the times in which we live.

Mat 16:2  He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3  And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 

It is now illegal to refuse to serve those who want us to partake of this perverse lifestyle. As of this day it is now illegal for a florist to refuse to cater a same sex marriage, for a baker to refuse to cater a same sex marriage, or for a student to profess his or her faith in the Word of God. As of today it is now illegal to teach your children that homosexuality is an abomination to God. God has placed it in the power of the wild beast to carry out His purpose of replacing the great whore with His faithful wife, the new man/spiritual body, and the beast has once again demonstrated that He hates the woman (that great whore, Babylon) who has had the hegemony over him for so long. He is now in the process of burning her with fire, and it will take the miraculous hand of our heavenly Father to take us up to His throne and protect His elect when His great wrath and destruction comes upon the great whore.

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