The Number Six, Part 3 – Incomplete Mankind

[Study Aired January 23, 2026]

God’s goal for mankind is to have this number 66 lived within us (mankind will live by every word of God) This 2X3 witness (2) and process (3) happening on both the first and the second Adam is the one event that is common to all men mentioned in Ecclesiastes 9:2.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Notice that we are not told that ‘all things come alike to all at the same time.’ Neither does Ecclesiastes 9:2 say ‘all things take the same time.’ Those in the first resurrection, signified by the birth of the manchild, are being judged in this age, and will therefore be raised up from the dead in that “blessed and holy first resurrection.”

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 [who are not in the first resurrection and who do not reign with Christ a thousand years] lived not again until the thousand years were finished [“The rest of the dead” are signified by the time required to purify the mother when she brings forth a maidchild]. 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 first 6 in the 66 days of the purification of the woman who brings forth a maid child is the marred Adam who is marred in the hand of the potter and in need of becoming a new creation. The only way this purification process of blood from a woman who gives birth to a maid child can be completed is to have the second Adam, Christ, conquer the first Adam (6) who is a beast who cannot make war with his flesh without Christ within that flesh.

Two sixes are mentioned for the purification process of the birth of a maid child showing that it is accomplished by the witness of the holy spirit working within each individual but also to demonstrate that this judgment is the double judgment God decrees is upon the maid child as opposed to the man child. Scripture declares we cannot make war with the beast, which we are, until our blood, which is a symbol of our words, is purified by His blood, which blood (Christ’s blood) is a symbol of the words of God which all men of all time must eventually live by.

We can see that the number 33 represents Christ and the elect easily enough. However, it may be a little less obvious to see that 66 represents the unfaithful wife of Christ, and what the unfaithful wife of Christ (the Church) has to do to be purified and inherit eternal life is all that is mentioned in these verses of Leviticus 12.

Lev 12:5  But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.

She is unclean for two weeks showing that the unfaithful wife of Christ must go through two parts to go onto perfection. The first part of her purification, the first week of separation, signifies the time spent in the churches of Babylon by those who are not being judged in this life. ‘What we sow that shall we also reap’ applies to both the elect and to those who are not elect in this present time.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Those who believe of the great harlot mother in this present time they can eat of her false doctrines and with their unfaithful mother they can wipe their mouth and say, “I have done no wickedness… I sit a queen and shall see no sorrow” will spend a second week being “judged according to their works” and being purified in the lake of fire.

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
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 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [whosoever was not given a part in “the resurrection of life… the blessed and holy first resurrection one thousand years earlier, Rev 20:4-6] was cast into the lake of fire.

This great harlot and her daughters require a second week of the same fiery purification endured by the manchild. It will simply require twice as much time for her and her daughters to be purified:

Lev 12:5  But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith, and the goal or prize of the mark of the high calling for the elect is to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection which is a pure gift given to the very “few [who] first trusted in Christ”:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated [destined to be first] according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Since “all things come alike to all” (Ecc 9:2) that would mean that there is a process of judgment within those first two weeks of the maid child which are crammed into one week of “fiery trials” for the man child, and as such we see judgment is on the house of God now.

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? [Judgment will be finished at the great white throne judgment, (Rev 20:11-15)]
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? [They will be judged according to their works in the lake of fire]

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [The “blessed and holy… first resurrection”, (Rev 20:4-6)]

This gets into the seventy week’s prophecy in Daniel which talks about Christ being cut off in the middle of the week. The two witnesses who represent the elect finish Christ’s ministry or the three and a half year witness which is only able to be accomplished with Christ in them. Christ’s ministry is three and a half years, and the two witnesses complete the week of Christ’s ministry which was halted in midflight. The completed ministry of Christ is therefore only a week (man child) and not two weeks as it is for the maid child.

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

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

Lev 12:6  And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

The lamb of the first year is needed for both the son and the daughter, which is another way of saying all of mankind are reconciled by his blood.

Being forgiven again is only part of the process. We must fill up in our bodies “that which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ in [our] flesh for His body’s sake which is the church.”

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:

Christ’s Adamic flesh is tied to the woman, as is our flesh. However, only Christ was able to escape the vanity of flesh by way of the holy spirit, and until the gift of the holy spirit was given on Pentecost our faith was yet in vain.

1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Christ was resurrected and will save all mankind in their appointed time. Our sins are forgiven as the woman, the church (the body of Christ), however we are in the process of being saved.

In other words, being saved is not just to have our sins forgiven, but also to have our nature changed as we go from glory to glory to the eventual first resurrection where our Lord now resides in His own fullness, and in earnest within everyone who has Christ within them.

Lev 12:7  Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [the mere down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [the “blessed and holy first resurrection, (Rev 20:4-6)], unto the praise of his glory.

The issue of blood from which the woman must be cleansed is the process of growing in grace and knowledge as we have all of our false doctrines rooted out of us. In other words, our blood is purified by being washed with the word of God.

Lev 12:8  And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.

These many divergent sacrifices, which are needed in this shadow of old, represent degrees of getting dominion over sin in our life today, and as the sin is conquered by Christ within us our comprehension will increase in matters of the spirit.

1Co 10:11  Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. (ASV)

1Pe 1:12  To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angel desire to look into. (ASV)

God is the one who orchestrates the whole procedure, creating the sin within us and bringing us to the point where we can confess our sins. By His goodness we are led to repentance and offer up the needed sacrifice, which in the case of this story in Leviticus is a shadow of our recognizing that Christ’s life was taken for our sins. We may understand that Christ died for our sins, but as we are given to grow to understand the deeper purpose of Christ’s life within us we will bring greater offerings unto the altar of God which is the cross that we are all called to carry.

When we bare each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [Psa 107:1-31] leadeth thee to repentance?

Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

With all that has been said to this point, let’s now examine some of the shadows and types in God’s word, which should reveal the significance of the number six as we compare line upon line and precept upon precept.

Isa 28:15  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

There is a negative and positive side to virtually every word in scripture, so before we are through with this study, I hope to show a few examples of the positive and negative use of the number six. Here is a list of some events which will hopefully strike us as revealing the true significance of the number six whether that would be in the negative or positive view of the number.

The more important exercise in understanding the number six is seeing its close connection to incomplete mankind and to Christ and the church which can then allow us to more deeply appreciate everywhere else in God’s word where the number or multiple of that number is mentioned.

A good exercise is to just do a search for the number six in e-Sword, and you could study the number six until the cows come home. Here are some examples of that.

The last two kings of Israel “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” They both reigned eleven years: 6 + 5 = 11 which shows that the number eleven carries with it the mark of the beast 6 and 5 for grace and faith which is how all men will be saved and brought to the foundation of Jesus Christ (number 12).

2Ki 23:36  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

2Ch 36:5  Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

2Ki 24:18  Zedekiah [was] twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

2Ch 36:11  Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
2Ch 36:12  And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God, [and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of the LORD.
2Ch 36:13 (a) And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.

Leah, who was Jacob’s first wife, signifying our old man, bore Jacob six sons and was rejected of him as a type of our flesh being put off.

When Jacob brought his family down into Egypt after finding out that his son Joseph was still alive, it says that:

Gen 46:26  All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

When the Israelites left Egypt, there were 600,000 men besides children:

Exo 12:37  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.

 When Pharoah pursued, there were 600 chosen chariots:

Exo 14:7  And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

All of this was pertaining to the flesh.

In the book of Chronicles when Samuel is talking about Solomon when his empire was at its greatest, we are told that the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year, was 666 talents of gold:

1Ki 10:14  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

This tells us that his empire had gotten as great as it was going to be and had apostatized from obedience to the Lord.

Goliath had a fellow giant with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

1Ch 20:5  And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.
1Ch 20:6  And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.

Goliath, himself, was 6 cubits high, and his spear’s head was 600 shekels of iron.

1Sa 17:4  And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

1Sa 17:7  And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

Nebuchadnezzar’s “image of gold” was 60 cubits high and six cubits wide:

Dan 3:1  Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

This is a negative use of the number 6.

The Israelites had to gather their food for six days in the wilderness, and then they rested on the Sabbath which was a type of our entering into the rest that God provides from the true manna from heaven, Jesus Christ:

Exo 16:21  And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
Exo 16:22  And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
Exo 16:23  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
Exo 16:24  And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
Exo 16:25  And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.

A Hebrew servant served for six years and was then set free:

Exo 21:2  If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

There are many other stories and combinations of the number 6, both negative and positive, which can be very instructive in learning the mind of Christ.

The number 6 in God’s word reveals how all flesh, including Christ’s flesh, is sinful flesh and tied to the earth which is an incomplete but necessary part of the Lord’s creation. I hope we are able to more clearly see the connection between the number 6 to the earth, the church, mankind and Christ himself.

Your brother in Christ,
Tony Cullen

[Tony can be reached for comments or questions at: anthocul@sympatico.ca]

The Number Six-Part 1- Incomplete Mankind

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Revelation 20:7-10 When the 1,000 Years are Expired, Part 1

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.

Introduction

In our last study we learned that Satan was placed under house arrest for “a thousand years” and was not permitted to deceive the nations during that time. This week we will see that “when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”

As always we are reminded that these are not words only for those who will some day be living on this earth “when the thousand years are expired”, but that “this generation will not pass before all these things shall be fulfilled” (Mat 24:34), and that two thousand years ago we were told, “Keep the things written therein, for the time is at hand.”

Rev 1:3  Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

With all of this in mind, let’s go to Matthew 24, and observe how Christ’s prophecy for “this generation” parallels this portion of this revelation of Jesus Christ within us.

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [ it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mat 24:25  Behold, I have told you before.
Mat 24:26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.
Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors.
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.
Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

“My words shall not pass away.” It is Christ Himself who tells all His disciples of all time, “this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” It is Christ Himself who tells us “My words will never pass away”, and it is Christ Himself who tells us that this includes “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Notice how this all accords with “the supper of the great God” in Revelation 19.

Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [ men, both] free and bond, both small and great.

Here in Revelation 19 we see an angel inviting the fowls of the heaven to eat the flesh of horses and them that ride on them at the supper of the great God, and here in Matthew 24 Christ is telling us that “the eagles will be gathered together wheresoever the carcase is.” “The dream is one” (Gen 41:25).

Since Christ tells us…

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

… and then He tells us:

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.

When we put Matthew 24:34-35 together with Revelation 1:3, 22:6-7 and 18-19, what does this tell us concerning this period called “a thousand years”? Here are those verses in Revelation:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Our permissive spirit always asks ‘which things written in this book are we to keep’, hoping to somehow avoid “keeping [all] the things written therein.” ‘Surely’, reasons our natural mind, ‘the things written therein (Rev 1:3) and the sayings of the prophecy of this book (Rev 22:6-7), do not include the seven last plagues, or this thousand years of being reigned over by God’s elect, or this thing called the lake of fire. Surely God is not saying that all men live by even these words!’

Well, if that is the case, then all these verses are bald face lies:

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

These words are all true, they have “never passed away”, and the reason “all things present and to come are ours” is because the words of Christ are themselves Christ, who in Truth “is, was and will be… the Word of God.”

That being said, however, the elect do not experience the actual lake of fire, which “is the second death” because we are assured:

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.

And…

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The elect ARE found in the book of life, so they are not cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire, which is the second death, has no power over them and cannot hurt the Lord’s elect:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Not that we don’t experience ‘fiery trials’ during our life in the flesh, but the experience called the ‘lake of fire’ is for those whose names were not found in the book of life.

What does all of this tell us about this period called “a thousand years”?

Is “a thousand years” literal?

This is a “signified” book:

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

However, it is a period of time, and that is what it signifies. It does not signify the Lord’s creatures or their actions, good or bad. It signifies a literal period of time.

The first thing we need to establish is the Biblical and spiritual signification of the number ‘one thousand.’ One thousand is ten to the third power; 10 x 10 x 10. We have seen in our earlier studies on the spiritual meaning of numbers in scripture that the number 10 is the Biblical symbol for our flesh at its worst and at its very best. God enumerated exactly ten nations in Canaan which He would give to Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. It was Joseph’s ten brothers who sold him into Egypt. There were ten plagues upon Egypt which brought Pharaoh, the Biblical type of our sinful flesh, to let Israel leave Egypt. God gave Israel the ten commandments in the wilderness to govern their actions in bodies of flesh. There were ten rebellions while in the wilderness by Israel against their own savior. One thousand is this number ten, the number of our flesh, to the third power. Ten is our flesh, and three is the number of the process of our judgment. As such, one thousand years is the spiritual symbol for the judgment of our flesh at its very best.

Spiritual Significance of the Number Ten

Numbers in Scripture: Three – the Process of Spiritual Completion Through Judgment

What do we find when God judges our flesh at its zenith? What we discover is that flesh, at its zenith, at its very best, is still corruption and rebellion against a pure, spiritual heavenly Father and His Christ.

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

So that is what all these verses concerning God’s sovereignty in “all things, things present and things to come” is telling us. They are declaring to us that God is working in our lives, and what He is telling us is that this “thousand years” is part of that “one event to all men.” What these verses are telling us is that “the time is at hand for us to keep [this] thousand years.” What they are telling us is that the phrase “a thousand years” signifies and is used by the holy spirit in this prophecy as a symbol of something “which must shortly be done” in our lives, and which we all will “shortly… keep” and do “for the time is at hand.”

What exactly is the spiritual significance of this thing called “a thousand years” or in theological jargon, “the millennium?” What takes place during this time when our flesh is being brought to its zenith, just before its destruction.

The first thing we need to realize concerning this symbol is what it is not. It is not a time when God will save this world. Rather, it is the time that sets up our flesh, and all flesh, for its own destruction. For God to be saving anyone, He has, throughout His Word revealed that being an overcomer requires “the wicked one… the tempter” to be overcome, as our Lord overcame him.

Mar 1:12  And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Mar 1:13  And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him [that is] from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him [that is] from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

It is only through the fiery trials from the Adversary himself, that the Christ is tried. There is no such opportunity during the thousand years because Satan is hedged out of those lives during this time. When we begin to mature, “think it not strange concerning the fiery trials” which we must encounter to overcome the wicked one. He is released upon us at this time, and he will overcome us, before we are resurrected with our Lord and called up to heaven to sit with Him in His Father’s throne.

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

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.

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Only after all this has been done “in the same hour… a great earthquake” takes place within us, and we are then qualified to be “seated with Christ in the heavens.” This earthquake is the time of the destruction of our flesh so we can be “saved by fire” through that very destruction and through that death.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Here is the account of that destruction of all flesh and the institution of the lake of fire which will be used by God to show mercy to, and to “save by fire”, all men, excluding those who were chosen to be God’s elect as they have already gone through their fire. Their fire is NOT the lake of fire, but what Peter calls our ‘fiery trials’; the fire being the purification by God’s word.

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.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

There is no “lake of fire” for us who are being judged at this time, as our experience is called fiery trials, and it behooves us to follow a ‘pattern of sound words’.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
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?

“For the time is come” means “because the time is come that through suffering as a Christian, judgment must begin at the house of God.” There will be no “suffering as a Christian” taking place during the “thousand years”, and there will be no “judgment beginning at the house of God” during the thousand years, because Satan will be imprisoned, under the seal and the chain of the word of God. He will be under house arrest, in the bottomless pit, or abussos, of the carnal mind of our flesh. This is true also for the lake of fire as Satan himself is being purified in the lake of fire, so he is not doing the work he does now as an adversary in our lives. None of the necessary principles, ingredients or elements needed to produce or purify overcomers in this age is in place during the thousand-year reign nor in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death. During the thousand-year reign there is no “wicked one [to] overcome.” The “wicked one” is imprisoned in the so-called ‘bottomless pit’ during the thousand-year reign:

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Being an ‘overcomer’ is an essential factor for qualifying for having a part in the first resurrection and ruling with Christ over the nations of this world for a thousand years.

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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

Therefore, since those who live in bodies of flesh and blood during the thousand-year reign cannot possibly be in the one and only “blessed and holy… first resurrection” of life which occurs at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of “our Lord and His Christ.” Everyone who lives in bodies of flesh and blood during that time will be raised up at “the resurrection of judgment… white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death.”

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; [At the beginning of the thousand year reign, (Rev 20:6)] and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Greek: ‘krisis’, judgment]

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [“the resurrection of life” a thousand years earlier] was cast into the lake of fire.

The only part the elect have in the thousand-year reign is rulership with Christ. They are not ruled over with a rod of iron for a thousand years. The words which the spirit uses to distinguish those in the resurrection of life from those in the resurrection of judgment should be the words we use also.

Here is a list of the phrases used by the holy spirit to make clear this distinction:

1) “Resurrection of life” at the beginning of the thousand year reign versus “resurrection of judgment” at the “great white throne judgment” (Joh 5:28-29, Rev 20:11)

 2) “Judgment… now” versus “white throne judgment” after one-thousand year reign (1Pe 4:17 and Rev 20:11)

3) “Numbered 144,000” versus “a great multitude which no man could number” (Rev 7:4 and Rev 7:9

4) “A manchild who was to rule the nations” versus “The woman [who] fled into the wilderness” (Rev 12:5 and Rev 12:14)

5) “The dead which die in the Lord” versus “gathering the clusters of the vine of the earth” (Rev14:13, Rev 14:18)

6) “They that are called to the marriage supper of The Lamb” versus “the supper of the great God” (Rev19:9. Rev 19:17).

7) “They that have part in the blessed and holy first resurrection” versus “whosoever was not found written in the book of life”.

The righteous overcomers are always mentioned first. It is they who are raised first because they are dying first and being judged first. Their resurrection is separated by a thousand years from the resurrection of judgment of those who are not dying in this present age and who are not being judged in this present age.

In our next study we will discover when physical Israel will be saved and we will see why the Lord had to rule the world for a thousand years before releasing Satan to deceive the world again.

Rev 4:6-7 The Four Beasts – Part 2B

In our last study we covered the first two of five differences between the descriptions of the four beasts of Ezekiel one and Ezekiel 10. In this study we will cover the last three of those differences.

Third Difference:

The feet of the cherubims are described in chapter 1, but are not mentioned in chapter 10.

Eze 1:7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.

Doesn’t “feet like brass” sound familiar?

Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Rev 1:14 His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

What the copper feet, both of these creatures and of Christ, reveal to us is that Christ and these “four living creatures” have one and the same experience walking in bodies of sinful flesh. It is a fiery experience, and it is experienced in sinful flesh, typified by copper as the best the flesh has to offer. That is the spiritual significance of the best of the base metals, copper. That is the spiritual significance of “feet of fine brass as if they burned in a furnace.”

For an in depth study of the spiritual significance of copper read this link:

Metals: Copper Part 1/

It is of utmost spiritual significance that the only copper in the tabernacle of Moses was the sockets which supported the pillars in the door of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is the first room of the tabernacle, which housed the golden candlestick, the table of showbread, and the golden altar.

Exo 26:36 And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.
Exo 26:37 And thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold: and thou shalt cast five sockets of brass for them.

We all must become familiar with the things of the sanctuary before we can be the cherubims which shadow the throne of God and do and perform the work of that throne. As we come into the holy place, called the sanctuary, we must first pass through the door to the first of the two rooms of the tabernacle called ‘the holy place.’ The copper sockets supporting the pillars of the door of the tabernacle signify the fact that we all come to God by coming out of the earth, where we were all dust to begin with. We have to be copper before we can become gold, just as we have to be the first Adam with “all that is in the world” before we can become Christ and “the things of the heavens themselves.” The only way to God is through the ‘five golden pillars, standing on sockets of brass in the house of God.’ Knowing this makes this promise much more meaningful:

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

Fourth Difference:

The fact that the wings are joined together is mentioned in chapter 1, but not in chapter 10.

Eze 1:9  Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.

The very mention of wings reveals that the spirit is involved in this revelation. Wings are peculiar only to the fowls of the air, and Christ Himself tells us that the fowls of the air represent the spirit world – be it the dove which represents the holy spirit or the evil spirits which devour the seed planted in the soil of our souls. The wings being “joined on to another” is telling us that these ‘cherubims’ and the saints who they signify are “of one mind and one spirit” as we will see when we discuss the spiritual significance of the sound of the wings being as the voice of God.

Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Mat 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

While these “wings… joined one to another” are not specifically mentioned in the tenth chapter, the spiritual significance of this phenomenon is mentioned in chapter 10 when we are told:

Eze 10:5 And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.

“The sound of [their] wings… as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaks” is an incredible spiritual concept. For “their wings [to be] joined one to another,” as they are in flight, these “living creatures” must of necessity be “of one mind and of one judgment”; a concept completely foreign to the churches of Babylon and to the mind of the natural man. Yet that is what we are told of these four living creatures. Now, who in the New Testament are commanded to be “of one mind?”

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

2Co 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

1Pe 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Here we have eight verses of scripture commanding us to “be of one mind… one spirit… the same mind”. That is the spiritual significance of “Their wings were joined one to another… the sound of the cherubims’ wings was… as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.” These “wings joined one to another” signify the spiritual mind which belongs to all those who are these cherubims:

Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Fifth Difference:

The fifth thing mentioned in chapter 1 which is not mentioned in chapter 10 is the fact that there is a rainbow around the throne of God.

Eze 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Eze 1:27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
Eze 1:28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

The colors of the rainbow are first mentioned here and in Genesis 9, where we read:

Gen 9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Gen 9:10 And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Gen 9:12 And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Gen 9:14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Gen 9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen 9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Gen 9:17 And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

The not too subtle reminder in promising not to destroy all flesh with water, is that God has indeed destroyed all flesh in the past, and He is quite capable of doing so in the future. The fact that the promise is “the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” is actually a warning that there are other means at God’s disposal with which he will destroy all flesh. The destruction of all flesh is essential to the destruction of death. If there were not two resurrections, we could conclude that the kingdom of God within us is the fullness of that kingdom. However, there are two resurrections. The first is “the resurrection of life” which is the ‘blessed and holy firstfruits’, and the second resurrection is the “resurrection to judgment” which will include all others who have ever lived and who were not given to have a part in the “blessed and holy… first resurrection” at the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ and His Christ:

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 [first] resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the [second] resurrection of damnation. [G2920: krisis, judgment, “great white throne… judgment/ lake of fire/ second death]

This second resurrection will accomplish the destruction of both death itself and the destruction of Satan himself.

1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things [including Satan and his angels] unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

The only way to destroy death is to destroy all flesh. If flesh is being perpetuated, death is being perpetuated, and Satan is still ruling over death. However, Satan will himself be destroyed, and then death will also be destroyed. It is through death that salvation comes to all of God’s creation:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The rainbow, whether it is “in the cloud” or “around the throne,” both are in the clouds.

Eze 1:4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness [was] about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

The clouds typify “so great a cloud of witnesses.”

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

The “great cloud” of Ezekiel 1 and the “great cloud” of Hebrews 12 are the same “cloud of witnesses” in whom God dwells and in whom is the “throne of God.” It is by the clouds the Lord rules this earth:

Job 36:29  Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?
Job 36:30  Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Job 36:31  For by them [the clouds] judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.
Job 36:32  With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints [the clouds] shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

The rainbow in the cloud reminds us that God rules both on earth and is heaven. Both Joseph and the daughters of the king wore coats of many colors as a sign of the rulership they were given.

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 37:7 For, behold, we [were] binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

2Sa 13:18 And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.
2Sa 13:19  And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.

God’s elect are to be a nation of kings and priests, and are to be seated with Christ in His father’s throne in the heavens where that “bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain” is located:

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

The Lord’s throne appears as the brightness of that rainbow.

Eph 2:6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms— all because we are one with Christ Jesus.(NLT)

Let’s now quickly review the five characteristics of chapter 1 which are not mentioned in chapter 10.

The fact that Ezekiel saw this vision of the Lord’s throne, which ‘throne’ is our hearts and minds, coming out of the north signifies the judgment which we endure now and will administer in the thousand years and the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/ second death:

2Th 2:4  Who [our old man] opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [“which ye are” (1Co 3:16)] shewing himself that he is God [On God’s throne].

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

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 [who are not reigning with Christ during the thousand years] 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.

2) The fact that these “four living creatures have the likeness of a man” tells us that these four living creatures are just who they tell us they are in Revelation 5.

Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

3) Christ’s feet and the feet of His Christ are both of fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. They are the same ‘feet of brass’ found on these four living creatures. Brass feet are the symbol of our walk in these ‘clay vessels which are marred in the hand of the Potter” (Jer 18:4). The fact that the only copper found in the tabernacle of Moses, is the sockets which support the five gold covered pillars through which all who enter the tabernacle must pass signifies that God’s elect, like Christ, become the door to salvation for all men of all time. The brass sockets of that door remind us of our earthy origins and the fact that God is calling light out of darkness, and this fact:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
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.

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

The only copper found in the tabernacle of Moses is the sockets which support the five pillars through which all who enter the tabernacle must pass, reminding us of our earthy origins and the fact that God is calling light out of darkness, and the fact that “that is not first which is spiritual but that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual” (1Co 15:44). The feet of these cherubims and Christ’s feet are both said to be copper. We walk upon our feet, and we saw that the walk of Christ and the walk of these four living creatures has both been in bodies of sinful flesh, “vessels of clay… marred in the hand of the Potter.” Copper being the best of the base metals, is not seen in the tabernacle of God except as the feet or “sockets” of the pillars which comprise the door to the tabernacle through which all must pass. No one comes to God except through this door, and Christ is that door. In Him we, too, are that door with five pillars standing on sockets of brass, or more correctly copper.

4) We saw that the spiritual significance of “their wings were joined one to another” is telling us that these creatures and those whom they typify, are of absolute necessity “of the same mind.” Having “wings” tells us that there is a spirit in these “four living creatures.” It tells us that the spirit in them is “one spirit.” Anything less is disastrous and will lead to spiritual death.

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Php 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

5) Finally, we saw that the rainbow in the clouds mentioned in chapter one is the sign of the power and rulership of God both in heaven and on earth.

Job 36:31  For by them [the clouds] judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.

Psa 76:8 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,

Coats of “many colors” were worn both by Joseph and by the daughters of the king because they were rulers.

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.

Sa 13:18  And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

In our next study we will see more of the spiritual significance of the wings of these four living creatures. We will see two examples which will demonstrate for us that when the wings of these creatures are “lifted up from the earth”, God’s elect are elevated into the heavens and proclaim heavenly words from the mouth of God. That will be but one of many of the similarities between these two chapters. That is what we will examine next week as we see the things which both chapters have in common.  This is all “a door opened in heaven,” to show us “the patterns of the heavenly things themselves.”

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in [our] heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

Hi Mike,

I have a question about one of your studies, here’s the link:

Here’s the part I wanted to ask you about. It’s about a quarter of the way down the page:

Being judged while in “a natural body” is much to be preferred to being judged in a “spiritual body” in the “resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29)

Why should a person desire to be judged in a weak, fleshly, corruptible vessel of clay as opposed to a body of spirit?

Thanks for your help with this, Mike, and I’ll look forward to hearing from you.

your brother,

C____

Hi C____,

You ask:

Why should a person desire to be judged in a weak, fleshly, corruptible vessel of clay as opposed to a body of spirit?”

I will just cut and paste what is in that study explaining the great advantage to being judged now in this life rather than being judged as a spirit in the lake of fire:

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.

Now I will include the verses in Peter which I quote immediately following the statement you quoted and which provoked your question. Here they both are beginning with the statement you quoted:

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

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

“The righteous” are those “who first trusted in Christ” of Eph 1:12-14. The “mark of the prize of the high calling” is “the… blessed and holy… first resurrection”. It is very immature to aspire to be in the “cursed… second death… lake of fire… white throne judgement”. Everyone in the second death/lake of fire/white throne judgment is “raised a spirit”, but all who are raised in that resurrection are raised to “the resurrection of judgment”. That is the answer to Peter’s question. After telling us that “judgment must begin at the house of God” he poses the question, “Where shall the ungodly and sinner appear”, and the answer is, “They will appear at the great white throne judgment/second death/ lake of fire, to have to endure in spirit the same “groaning and travailing in pain together” which they have already experienced in this life, but without the blessing of being judged in these corruptible clay vessels, as the Lord’s “first fruits” are “in this present time”.”

Look at how Paul shows us we are blessed if we are suffering and being judged “in this present time” in weak corruptible vessels of clay:

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 [“The firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” – Rev 14:4].
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn [first resurrection] among many brethren [second death/lake of fire/great white throne judgment].

Who in their right mind wants to “groan and travail in pain… in this present time” just to have to do it all again in “the second death/lake of fire/great white throne… resurrection of judgment”.

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand [“The resurrection of judgment” – Joh 5:28-29], Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting [eonian] fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Read that study on Isa 32:1-8 again, and when you do, remember there are just two resurrections for mankind. The first is at the very beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ, and the only other resurrection is “when the thousand years are expired” (Rev 20:7).

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.

Here is what Christ had to say of those two resurrections:

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 [“the first resurrection, Rev 20 1-6], unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil [the resurrection which occurs only after the “short season” of rebellion which follows the thousand year reign of Christ and His elect who were all judged while in corruptible vessels of clay “in this present time”], unto the resurrection of damnation [judgment].

The scriptures reveal this about both of these two resurrections:

Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
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 [“They that be wise…”].

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 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.

So there it is. Those who are judged at “this present time” are “blessed to have part in the first resurrection… and are not hurt of the second death/lake of fire”.

That is the whole point of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The workers who were hired last and got paid first represent those who will be in the first resurrection.

Mat 20:1  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Mat 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Mat 20:5  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Mat 20:7  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

“Few are chosen” only in “this present time”, and it is they who are “blessed and holy and are given part in the first resurrection” (Rev 20:1-6).

I hope this answers your question:

“Why should a person desire to be judged in a weak, fleshly, corruptible vessel of clay as opposed to a body of spirit?”

Your brother who is, Lord willing, being judged in “this present time” (Rom 8:18),

Mike

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

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

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

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

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

Here is another way of describing these "princes":

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is how Christ repeats the message of this verse:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

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

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

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

This was the spiritual state of the church in Corinth:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The law of Moses:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was all foretold by the Lord Himself:

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

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

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

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

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

This brings us to our next verse here in Isaiah:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So it is to this very day:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do All Go Through the Lake of Fire?

Mike,

I hear people, especially church folks, yell at the top of their lungs that they are saved. How can one be saved if one is still sinning? And to be totally cleaned, don’t we all have to go through the “Lake of Fire?” The Bible tells us that all sin. Please clear this up for me.

F____

Hi F______,

I challenge anyone to show me where anyone is already saved.

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

It is in the Greek ‘aorist’ tense, and it is what we would call the present progressive.

This is always the case in the Greek when it comes to our present spiritual standing. In the first three chapters of Revelation we are told that “he that overcometh…” will I give to “eat of the tree of life” etc.

The only thing offered to those who are not overcomers in this age is death. Salvation in the first resurrection is only offered to “he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”

If we don’t ‘endure to the end, we won’t be saved.

When it comes to the phrase ‘lake of fire,’ we are never to apply this phraseology to the overcomers.

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The second death is ‘the lake of fire,’ and the lake of fire “is for the devil and his angels:”

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:

We really need to keep these phrases scriptural. We endure a “fiery trial.”

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:

Yet we are promised that we will not be hurt of the second death, which is the lake of fire.

It is indeed the very same fire, but it really is important to maintain a “pattern of sound words.”

I hope I have cleared this up for you.

Your brother,

Mike

On the other hand, this is what I was told by four apostatized elders:

“The Holy Spirit has inspired John to label the raising of the “rest of the dead” to life after 1,000 years as the FIRST RESURRECTION. How can that be if the Elect were ordinally raised 1,000 years earlier and we call that the first resurrection? We have a major discrepancy in our doctrine teaching there are TWO resurrections. This is a consequence of not applying ALL the words of the prophecy of Revelation to us the Elect in this age. There is only ONE Resurrection that comes in two parts (the coming of Christ) via the down payment and the fullness when the rest of the dead (the Gentiles within and without us) are raised. This is perfectly in harmony once we dig deep and examine it which I hope this multitude of counsellors will now do.” [End of quote]

This is teaching us that “we which have the firstfruits of the spirit” and who are promised that if we overcome we will not be hurt of the second death”, that we will after all, be hurt of the second death, but we will be the first to experience the second death. I think that represents that false doctrine accurately. Here is a direct quote from the paper Partakers of the Second Death: “…all men will experience the purifying fire of the one event of the second death.”

Of course, the truth is that if we are the first to fall into the ground and die, then there is no requirement to be hurt of the second death in order to live by every word of God.

Yes, it is true. I did teach this false doctrine for several years, and along with the other faithful elders, we were all used by the Lord to do so, just as Peter, Paul and John and all of the apostles were used of the Lord to tell the Jews that they must live under the law of Moses. This teaching was extant from the day of Pentecost when the holy spirit was first given to men until Paul’s letters from his Roman prison many years later. For decades the apostles taught that the Jews must live under the law of Moses, and then they did a 180 degree turn in their doctrine. That happened because the Lord opened their eyes to see that what He had already shown them was really the truth; which truth was there really is “no difference” between [the Jews and the Gentiles (Acts 15:9)].

Act 15:8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Act 15:11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

After pointing out that God “put no difference between [the Jews and the Gentiles], and after making it clear that “neither our fathers nor we were able to bear [the law of Moses]”, Peter and Paul still agreed to place a big difference between the Jews and the Gentiles with the letter to the Gentiles which the apostles and elders sent out to the Gentile Christians following this Jerusalem conference about that very subject. James recalls what they had all agreed to decades later when Paul is apprehended of the Jews in Jerusalem:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

All the apostles kept the law of Moses up until after Paul was put in prison, and the scriptures were opened up more to his heavens, and he wrote these words:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We are the temple of God, and when the second death is through, there will be no physical temple for those who are hurt of the second death because then God will be all in all, and Christ and His Christ will be the city and the temple:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

There will be an outward physical and natural judgment of the great whore – all the religions of the world – in preparation for the wedding supper of the Lamb at the beginning of the millennium. We know this is true because we are told:

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

There is an order to the Lord’s plan, and He cares not that some teach “if you see it as ordinal, then you can, and you will fail to see the spiritual inward application.” Nothing is further from the truth. The beasts around the throne have eyes before and behind as well as within;

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

So the truth is the opposite – if all you see is inward, then your spiritual vision will be distorted because:

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

God’s true and faithful elect can see what has happened in the past, they can see what is before them, and they can see within at this very moment. Those who know the voice of Christ therefore know that when the great whore is judged outwardly, her outward judgment takes place before the marriage supper of the Lamb just prior to the thousand years. Those who are granted to be His wife are those who will bring forth His children through the birth pains of the second death which destroys death and brings all men to God Who will then be “all in all”:

Rev 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
Rev 19:2  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Rev 19:3  And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Rev 19:4  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
Rev 19:5  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.

So what is the very next thing in the Lord’s plan? That might be hard to discern if you think it is a sin to say your Father loves you more than He loves those He casts into the lake of fire/second death. Nevertheless, this is what we are told happens next in the revealed order of the predestined events of the Lord’s plan for the redemption of all men. The Lord needs a wife through whom to produce many children, so we are told in the very next verse:

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

During the thousand-year period, the world is being reigned over by the Lord and His wife, and Satan is put in prison for a thousand years. None of this pertains to those in the second death. No one in the second death will reign over the kingdoms of the world for a thousand years. Will they come up through great tribulation and make their robes white in the blood of the Lamb? Of course, they will. There is no other name whereby men can be saved. But living by every word does not change the fact that this “great multitude which no man can number” will never be the “144,000 firstfruits unto God and the Lamb.” This is what the Lord meant when He told the rich man:

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Lazarus’s rewards cannot be given to the rich man, and the rich man’s torment and curses cannot hurt Lazarus. That is the tenor of all scripture, and even if I were a part of teaching otherwise, it will not change this message which is found throughout both the Old and the New testaments:

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7  The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: [Gideon’s army]

Christ reaffirms it in the New Testament in these words:

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Now let’s continue reading what happens after the great whore is destroyed:

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.
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

What happens after the “marriage supper of the Lamb” to His wife, who we are told is those who rule with Christ a thousand years? The statement in Revelation 19:9 “Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” is the same as:

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.

This is what happens after the thousand years which is the marriage supper of the Lamb and His wife making herself ready to bring forth much fruit through the judgment pains of all those who will be hurt of the second death:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

“The armies in heaven…clothed in fine linen” are “the righteousness of saints” of this earlier verse:

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.

In other words, the bride of Christ is the armies in heaven, and the thousand years is over, because we are told, “He does judge and make war.”

We are told there is another “supper”, but this ‘supper’ is not called “the marriage supper of the Lamb” because He is not marrying His bride in this supper. His bride are the “few” who overcome the wicked one and who overcome the weaknesses of the flesh. This supper is not for the blessed few, rather it is for “all men”. This ‘supper’ is not at the beginning of the thousand years; it is at the end, and it includes “all men”:

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

The “fowls that fly in the midst of heaven” are Satan and his angels who have been restrained from deceiving the nations for a thousand years. They have now been released from their millennial prison and go forth to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth. They have been given dust to eat, and they are now having a feast at “the supper of the great God.”

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.

What does Satan do when he is “loosed a little season”?

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.

This is the supper of the great God. By deceiving mankind, the devil and his angels are “eat[ing] the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great”, and this is what happens when Satan has mankind for his nourishment at “the supper of the great God.”

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.

All flesh is destroyed from the face of the earth at this point, and the stage is now set to begin to bring all men of all time to be at one with God, bringing in the final revelation of God being “all in all” as Paul reveals in:

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

Where in any prophecy of scripture does “all things come alike to all” require those who have been judged to “come forth to the resurrection of judgment?” Where does “all things come alike to all” require that the gulf between Lazarus and the rich man be bridged by a total distortion of ‘all things come alike to all?’ Why cannot ‘all things come alike to all/living by every word’ mean that all men die to their old man, and yet not require that those whose dying “first begins at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17) also “experience the purifying fire of the second death?” According to Christ ‘all things come alike to all’ does not require those whose death first begins at the house of God to also experience a second death because:

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Let’s continue to see what the Lord has revealed to us as He received it from His Father, concerning what His Father is doing:

Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

This is simply what Christ’s Father has made known to Him concerning how He is working with His creatures:

Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

This supper is for “the fowls that fly in the heavens.” Matthew 13 reveals these ‘fowls’ to be “the devil” and his angels. They are not yet in the lake of fire:

Mat 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

It is “the wicked one” and his angels, his “fowls”, who are invited to “eat the flesh” of “all men both free and bond, both small and great.” At this supper there is no mention of being at a marriage supper. There is no mention of being arrayed in white linen, clean and white, and there is no mention of a millennial rule. All those things are unique to “the marriage supper of the Lamb” which takes place at the beginning of the millennium a thousand years earlier.

“The supper of the great God” is the deception by Satan of all the nations in the four quarters of the earth. That deception ends with all flesh being destroyed from this planet, and then the beast and the false prophet and all the religions of this world will be cast into the lake of fire/second death as the Lord begins His process of destroying death through “the second death”. The second death IS the resurrection to judgment. That judgment will take place at the feet of those who were the very first to die to their old man and then be judged “now, in this life”:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

I did not write the words “in this world”, but there they are. “This world” does not exist in the lake of fire, and those in the lake of fire will not bring forth “much fruit” as do those who “hate [their] lives in this world.”

Christ also talks about:

Mar 10:30  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world [G165 aion] to come eternal life.

The lake of fire/second death is not “in this time”, and there are no “ages to come” after the all in all, which is the fruit of the second death.

Chapter 19 tells us that there is a marriage supper of the few chosen “in this world”, and it also tells us there is another “supper of the great God” which encompasses:

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

I have no problem imagining the flack the apostles received when they changed their doctrine, because that is exactly what we are experiencing now. Phygellus, Hermogenes, Alexander the coppersmith and Hymenaeus worked very hard to make certain that everyone knew that Peter, Paul and John had all changed their doctrine, and they did all in their power to make that change appear as apostasy from the doctrine of Christ.

The apostle John, for example, was now calling the Passover “a feast of the Jews”.

Joh 5:1  After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Joh 6:4  And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

He did the same with the feast of tabernacles, distancing himself from any Christians who were still under the law of Moses:

Joh 7:2  Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.

On the other hand, Peter was doing all in his power to minimize the damage of this 180 degree change in doctrine by vouching for Paul’s apostleship:

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

The error of the wicked was not the fact the apostles had changed their doctrine to align better with the scriptures. “The error of the wicked” was and is those who do not want to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, and who want our emphasis to be on making our calling less special and less significant than it is, and making the curse of the second death less of a loss and a curse than it is by telling us that ‘we must all experience the one event of the purging fire of the second death’.

Of course, that flies in the face of the promise made to those who overcome in this age:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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.

I have a question for anyone who thinks that living by every word entails being hurt of the second death. My question is, “Where does John say (to quote that heretical belief) the Holy Spirit has inspired John to label the raising of the “rest of the dead” to life after the thousand years as “the FIRST RESURRECTION”? Where did the holy spirit inspire John to say that??”

The answer, of course, is that the holy spirit inspired John to say no such thing, and anyone who knows the voice of Christ will not hear His voice in that statement because that statement simply is not true. This is where those dissidents get that patently false doctrine:

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 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.

These false teachers have taken Revelation 20:5 and contorted it to make it mean ‘the thousand years were finished and THIS is the first resurrection.’ Wow! They go on to make the statement that the rest of the dead live not again to be sins yet within the lives of the faithful elect overcomers which must yet be purged in the second death. Again, wow! Is that the voice of Jesus Christ who says:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The ERV (and other versions) has included the necessary parentheses.

Rev 20:5 (The other dead people did not live again until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead.

The very next verse explains that those in the first resurrection are the rulers during the thousand years which ‘rulers’ were also mentioned in verse 4:

Let’s just leave verse 5 out and see what constitutes “the first resurrection”:

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 20:6  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.

It is the rulers who reign with Christ a thousand years who constitute the first resurrection. “The rest of the dead” are the exact opposite of “the first resurrection” because we are told they do not live again until after the thousand years are finished, and “the rest of the dead” will then be raised up to “shame and everlasting contempt, [and] the resurrection of damnation”:

Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
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.

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 [Greek: judgment].

‘The resurrection to life and the resurrection to judgment’ are the only two resurrections mentioned for mankind in scripture. One is at the beginning of the millennium, and the other is at the end of the short season of rebellion following the millennium. All men of all time are raised up from their graves in these two resurrections.

So ‘the rest of the dead’ of Revelation 20:5 is speaking of anyone who is not ruling and reigning with Christ after the first resurrection. These verses have literally nothing at all to do with my new man with sins still in him. Those who are reigning with Christ a thousand years have been perfected and have no sins remaining in them. These verses have nothing to do with my new man either. They are referring to two groups of people – those in the first resurrection and ‘the rest of the dead’. What this verse reveals is that those in the first resurrection were the first to spiritually die to their old man as the scriptures so amply demonstrate.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

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

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

Revelation 20:5 says ‘the rest of the dead’. So those in the first resurrection were the first to die, even though you will not find the phrase ‘first death’ anywhere in scripture. Neither will you find the phrase ‘second resurrection’, but we know there is a second resurrection simply because we do find the phrase “the first resurrection”. In the same way we know there was a group of people who died to their carnal mind while yet in bodies of flesh and blood, and who overcame the wicked one while still in bodies of flesh. They did all this first, and that is why they will not be hurt of the second death any more than those in the first resurrection can cross the gulf the Lord has placed between them and those in the first resurrection. Let’s read it with our own eyes:

Luk 16:19  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: [“Have we not done many wonderful works in your name?”]
Luk 16:20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luk 16:27  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
Luk 16:28  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luk 16:29  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Teaching anything which says that gulf can be bridged is denying what Christ teaches us here in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. If we teach that we must be hurt of the second death, we deny these words and minimize the blessings of our birthright when we are clearly informed that there is a thousand-year reign of Christ and all of His firstborn ‘Lazaruses’ between the two resurrections. Where in these words of Christ is this false doctrine of Lazarus experiencing the rich man’s curses or the rich man experiencing Lazarus’s rewards? Is not the exact opposite the emphasis of this parable?

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

The first workers in the parable of the workers in the Lord’s vineyard were given life, but they did not receive life first. The fact the eleventh-hour workers received the same pay for just one hour of labor reveals the favor shown them by “the Lord of the vineyard”. In other parables we are informed that those same favored workers in the Lord’s vineyard will also be given rulership over the rest of mankind which will not be in the resurrection to life:

Luk 19:16  Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17  And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

These words capture the essential message of all of Christ’s parables concerning the kingdom of God, both within us and when “the kingdoms of this world…become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.”

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Again I ask, “Where is the gospel of the mixing of administrations to be found? Where are we ever told that those in the first resurrection will be hurt of the second death? Where is the gospel of rulership in the kingdom by those who are cast into the lake of fire?” The obvious answer is that it is not to be found. Joseph’s brothers, in type, were saved by the Lord’s Christ, Joseph, but they were never and will never be given dominion over the kingdoms of this world. Neither was Joseph ever tormented by his brothers after they bowed down to him. This doctrine teaches that we must experience the second death. Not just death, but ‘the second death’, and that belief is dispelled in the story of Joseph who experienced all of his suffering before any of his brothers, just as Lazarus experienced his sufferings before the rich man, placing a great unbridgeable gulf between the two of them.

In calling our time of being ‘carnal babes in Christ’ our ‘millennium’ in the past, I misspoke just as the apostles telling the Jews they must keep the law of Moses were wrong.

In calling our fiery experiences our ‘lake of fire’, we again did not use a pattern of sound words (2Ti 1:13). The physical millennium does not typify what we physically live out in this age. We will be spirit beings ruling over a physical earth during the millennium. The revelation of the physical millennium in the book of Revelation does not typify physical fiery trials we endure in this age. Ruling during that time will prepare us for our work with “the rest of the dead” during the “lake of fire [which] is the second death.” The rest of the dead are any and all who were not in the blessed and holy first resurrection.

For us to call the millennium a type of our time as a carnal babe in Christ is to call the antitype the type. The antitype is the fulfillment of the type. The first Adam is the last Adam in that Christ lived in the flesh, and that Adam is in Christ.

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

Christ is the last Adam. Our experience of having Satan hedged out of our lives just before Christ comes and crushes us to powder is the physical reality of the time when we will, as spirits, rule over the kingdoms of this world during the millennium, not the reverse.

Those who are “hurt of the second death…lake of fire” will never rule over the physical kingdoms of this world, and they will never overcome the wicked one, and they will never judge the beast who worships the dragon because the dragon is right there with them being purified by the fire of the second death/lake of fire. The first Adam is not the last Adam even though Christ is the first and the last. Christ is only the first Adam in the sense He is the Creator of Adam and because all things “live and move and have their being” in Him. Satan himself was created by Christ, but that does not make Christ Satan.

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

I know this recent division is all of God, and it is for His purpose that we, as the apostles did, have seen a more perfect way. This is a very good time to emphasize Peter’s rhetorical questions:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

If the righteous are scarcely saved by the ‘fiery trials’ of this time of being judged in bodies of flesh and being tempted by Satan, neither of which are even a factor in the lake of fire, “what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” and “where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear”? Why is Peter even bothering to pose this question in two different ways if “all things come alike to all” means we must all endure the purging fire of the second death?

The answer is that those who do not overcome “in this time” will not appear in the first resurrection. They will not be resurrected to life, nor will they be ruling with Christ nor turning many to righteousness and shining as the stars in the firmament. They will not be the bride/wife bringing forth much fruit being the means by which Christ will show forth the excellent riches of His grace toward us because the lake of fire/second death ends the eons.

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

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats [Greek: thronos]: and upon the seats [Greek: thronos] I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Peter’s point in posing that question twice is to make us take note that the resurrection of the wicked is a far inferior resurrection to that of those who get paid first, those who overcome the wicked one, and those who rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years enthroned with Christ wearing “on their heads crowns of gold”.

There will be no ‘thrones or crowns’ at the ‘all in all’ because Christ gives the kingdom back to His Father at that time.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

All men of all time since the first man Adam will be brought to repentance by the goodness of God to be in a position to receive the “age-during” judgment of God which is “according to truth” (Isa 26:9; 1Co 3:13-15; Heb 9:27; Rev 20:11-15):

Rom 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Rom 2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

We all first “treasurest up unto [our]self wrath” according to “the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph 2:2-3). However, no one is appointed to eternal wrath, whether we are “the children of light” or those who walk in spiritual darkness at this point in time (1Th 5:5-11):

Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds.

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our temporary existence and deeds in the flesh are what death and sin symbolize, and this is the “experience of evil” as part of the “one event” which “comes alike to all” (Mat 4:4; 1Co 3:21-22; Rev 1:1-3). We all will be brought to spiritual glorification eventually, but we first need to endure this humbling process before we are raised from this earthly death to be judged and given God’s righteousness (Rom 8:1-8; Ecc 1:13; 1Co 15:22-28):

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

Those who are given spiritual understanding and the life of Christ in this age also receive the knowledge of the futility of this death experience in flesh, and that there is no eternal reward for flesh or carnality:

Ecc 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

This resurrection from the death realm is given to a few who now experience an “earnest” or downpayment” of the resurrected life of Christ “until the redemption of the purchased possession” is fulfilled in its full splendour in the first resurrection (Rev 20:4-6):

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.

In our discussion on the theme of spiritual glorification, Joseph is used in the book of Genesis as a type of those who have gone through this whole process, as even he was finally brought out of slavery and the earthly Egyptian prison to be given rulership over Egypt. This all typifies the rulership over the flesh and also all earthly strongholds of deception and lies:

Gen 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

The seven years of great plenty which Joseph informed the Pharaoh about according to his two dreams, is a symbol of the period of physical rule of God’s elect on the earth which precedes the second resurrection:

Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

The second resurrection will be for the second group which will be raised up, and they will have their carnality and earthiness still ruling them. They will be in spiritual bodies which differ from that of the elect at that stage. Those who are raised in spirit in the second resurrection will still have “the glory of the terrestrial”:

1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

Here is how John describes Jesus in spiritual glory when Jesus revealed the glory of the Father (the “one glory of the Sun”) to John on the isle of Patmos (“place of my killing” or “place of my dying”):

Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

John was in his time of judgment (“on the Lord’s day”), and he “fell at [Jesus’] feet as dead.” Jesus had to raise John in order to introduce Him and reveal His works in John (Rev 1:10; Luk 17:20-21):

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Joseph’s brothers also fell before him on the ground when they could not recognize him or see what he was busy doing to them (Gen 42:7-9). This again typifies the flesh’s inability to recognize or understand spiritual things, even the judgment of God (1Co 2:14; Gal 5:17):

Gen 44:14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

Joseph also had to wait for the right moment to reveal himself to his brothers and his whole family eventually. Joseph is a type of Christ whom God will use to bring all together, which is the reconciliatory role the elect of God is playing in this whole process of uniting all in the Christ in order to bring all to the Father (1Co 15:22-28):

Eph 1:9 (YLT) having made known to us the secret of His will, according to His good pleasure, that He purposed in Himself,
Eph 1:10 (YLT) in regard to the dispensation of the fulness of the times, to bring into one the whole in the Christ, both the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth–in him.

The “bring[ing] into one the whole in the Christ” is not a quick thing, even as Joseph’s brothers will also find out after this time of initial torment before revealing himself. For approximately twenty-two years Joseph’s whereabouts were unknown to these brothers, and they could not even bother. To their father, Jacob, Joseph was dead, which also emphasizes how the brothers felt about Joseph when they hated him and sold him into slavery (Gen 37:4-5; 1Jn 3:15). Joseph’s revealing himself to them is therefore a resurrection from the dead, and they indeed were “troubled at his presence”:

Gen 45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
Gen 45:2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
Gen 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing [ploughing] nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

God has indeed, through His elect, “preserved…a posterity in the earth” whereby He will bring His salvation to all in the generation of the first Adam. This posterity supplies the ploughing and the planting of seeds for the harvest of the new spiritual generation of God. The elect cannot be seen until their time of glorification is fulfilled. Even when the world wants to ‘see’ Jesus, this was His answer:

Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

God sends His elect before the rest of humanity to be this posterity to prepare the earth and to be the “corn of wheat…in the earth” – to die to self and bring forth “much fruit”. Joseph’s words to his brothers bring this calling of God’s elect to the fore even in the book of Genesis:

Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

For the brothers who sold Joseph into slavery the words “be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither” will take a long time to find their fulfillment because humanity was given a false spirit to convince them that they are responsible for things that they do according to their fabled “free” will. Seventeen years later, at the death of their old man, typified by the death of their father, Jacob, Joseph had to repeat the purpose of God with him and their role in all of this, as designed by God:

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

It is only through the merciful process of judgment that we can eventually submit to the truth that God is the only Creator of all good and all evil, and that He works all things after the counsel of His own will to eventually bring spiritual perfection, even all in Adam (1Co 15:22-28):

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

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

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:

We all know how hard it is for mankind to give up on its earthly and carnal concepts (like “free” will or “free moral agency”). It is only through severe judgment and the scourging judgment of God that we learn how evil and silly our carnal mind is (Isa 26:9). It is only through much tribulation that we enter into the righteous temple of God and are united with the family of God (Act 14:22; Heb 12:6; Rev 15:8). This is what Joseph’s brothers are learning the hard way:

Pro 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

There are still several years ahead of these brothers of Joseph and all God’s carnal-minded creatures while they all come to terms with these truths. They will learn, as with the rest of the family, that God is the sole provider of all creatures, and He controls all thoughts and actions, even as all the provisions Joseph prepared for his family typify:

Gen 45:9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
Gen 45:10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
Gen 45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.
Gen 45:12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
Gen 45:13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.
Gen 45:14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
Gen 45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

The Pharaoh was also informed about this reunification of the family of Joseph:

Gen 45:16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.
Gen 45:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
Gen 45:18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
Gen 45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
Gen 45:20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Gen 45:21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

The Pharaoh also confirmed the words of Joseph to his brothers, even as the Father gives Jesus the spiritual words and life to share with His creation (Joh 6:63):

Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

To confirm his words of forgiveness and reconciliation, Joseph gave his brothers changes of raiment, but Benjamin is favoured once again:

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

Although God indeed forgives all in Christ as typified here also by the giving of new raiment to all Joseph’s brothers, Benjamin is shown favour above the rest as he typifies the elect who are first taken through a process (indicated by the number three) of redemption (silver) and being given grace through faith (the number five) before the rest of creation. God’s elect is given this position because of the role they will play in “the restitution of all things” through Jesus Christ (Act 3:20-21):

Gen 45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.
Gen 45:24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

We are redeemed and reconciled by the good things of God’s spiritual provisions in Christ (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14):

Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.

When the sons told Jacob about Joseph and his position, he initially did not have the faith to receive the good news:

Gen 45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
Gen 45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.

Like Jacob, who was first told the lies about Joseph when the ten brothers sold him as a slave, we are all first told the lies about Jesus, and we are first presented with the false gospel. This reminds of the words of apostle Paul to the carnal Corinthian brethren for whom the preaching of “another Jesus” and “another gospel” were much more popular to believe, even as this is the same today when we naturally submit to “another spirit” than to the spirit of truth (2Th 2:10-12):

2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

The provisions of Joseph restored his faith, even as the real Jesus’ spiritual provisions for His whole creation will eventually be accepted by all when the life-giving spirit of God is given to them as well:

Gen 45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

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

The Salvation of All
The Lake of Fire in Genesis
The Purpose of This Lake of Fire of The Elect
With What Kind of Body are The Wicked Raised?
Is Conversion Difficult for Those in The Lake of Fire?
Numbers in Scripture

Hello Mike,

I was recently watching a television program where a woman gave birth to a premature baby, but the baby died just one minute after being born. After watching that, I wanted to know if that child will ever know who his/ her birth mother was. So my question is, do children who pass away at the hospital get to know who their birth parents were? Even though it is a sad thing for the parents to go through that, I do know it is God’s will, and it is surely for the BETTER even though it may not seem that way to our natural man.

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

Ecc 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Let me know, Mike. I really would like to know this.

Your brother In Christ,

Y____

Hi Y____,

Just as the masses of humanity will not, at this time, believe in Christ so that we can be Christ’s firstfruit, elect believers, so too, has this child been sacrificed in this age for our sakes.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

So we should have no doubt that this little child, who died only moments after being born, will certainly receive the mercy of God and will come to know and love his parents for this simple reason:

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

It is all “for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God”.

While we naturally value this physical life, God sees it as the necessary evil that it is, and is in the process of bringing it all to its well deserved end, bringing salvation and the destruction of death to everyone.

The verses you quoted are so very appropriate at this moment:

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

I hope these few verses have helped to clear this up for you.

You remain in my prayers.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Sir,

I’ve just come across this idea when searching for alternative interpretation of the afterlife for those who did not accept God because, to me, it just didn’t seem just that God should punish those who choose not to serve him since they had no choice in their existence. It is not like we signed a contract before our creation that required us to use our life for him or suffer, and now we are going against that contract. That doesn’t seem right to me, if you understand what I’m saying. So I’m trying to understand what it means.

What does it mean if the elect are the Lake of Fire? How does that work? Surely this isn’t literal, so what is it symbolizing? The Bible describes wailing and gnashing of teeth in several places. What is the purpose of this lake of fire (elect) that it causes such pain?

A____

Hi A____,

Thank you for your question. You are certainly on the right track when you are given to notice that we were not asked if we wanted to be created in these “marred” vessels of clay.

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

The apostle Paul explains what it means to be “marred in the hand of the Potter” in these verses:

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
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.

How did this “law of sin” get “in my members”? Here is who is responsible for that “marred condition:

Jas 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

So God has created us in a marred condition and of a marred composition. We are born with a carnal mind which cannot be subject to Him or His laws:

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

What has God done? Has He made us in this marred condition for the purpose of watching us writhe for all eternity in literal flames of literal fire because we “are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”?

No, that is not what the scriptures teach. The words translated as forever, or eternity, or forever and ever, are always without exception either the Greek word aion or its adjective form aionios or the word ‘ad‘ which has the same ‘a’ root. They are all dealing with a period of time having a definite beginning and a definite end, and those Greek words have nothing to do with eternity, which has no beginning and no end.

We are indeed promised “immortality” which means we will not ever be subject to death, but the scriptures nowhere teach anything about endless torment, as we have all heard in the churches of ‘Babylon’, a Biblical word for the church system which hates the true doctrines of scripture.

1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

This “immortality” is, via “fiery trials”, promised to all who are in Adam and not just to some:

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

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

So there is the Biblical definition of fiery trials. It is Christ’s sufferings which is just another way of saying His Words, because Christ suffered because of His words and His doctrines, as God’s true prophets always have:

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

You asked me:

What does it mean if the elect are the Lake of Fire? How does that work? Surely this isn’t literal, so what is it symbolizing? The Bible describes wailing and gnashing of teeth in several places. What is the purpose of this lake of fire (elect) that it causes such pain?

Here is what the Word of God is, and what it does when it is in the mouth of God’s elect:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

“… Saved, yet so as by fire”. There it is! Oh yes, there is “wailing and gnashing of teeth”, but through that painful experience of being judged by the words of God, we will in the end, be “saved, yet so as by fire”.

Now who is it with those fiery words in their mouths? Who is it who is comfortable in those spiritual ‘flames’ which “try every man’s works [and] yet so as by fire… saves… every man”?

Here are the only people who are not hurt of the flames that come out of their own mouths:

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

The Hebrew word translated ‘everlasting’ here is ‘olawn‘, and it is then translated as ‘aion‘ when the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament:

Psa 105:10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting [Hebrew: olawm] covenant:

Heb 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting [Greek: aionios] covenant,

We are plainly told that the Potter, God Himself, created all men in a marred, carnal-minded condition, by which we are by nature banished from our own Creator.

King David put this condition in which we find ourselves in these words:

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

Then we are also plainly told that God has devised a means by which His banished be not expelled from Him:

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

We are also plainly told that even though our works are “wood, hay and stubble,” we will be “saved, yet so as by fire”.

To answer your questions, God’s words are the fire of the lake of fire, which is those in whose mouths those fiery words are. The story of Joseph’s brothers being caused by God to bow before him and being judged by him is the Old Testament type and shadow of how that works. They are the type of those who sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver (Joseph was sold by his brothers for twenty pieces of silver), and who will come up in the second resurrection to be judged of God by His words, which are the “fire” of the “the lake of fire” and of “Gehenna fire”.

It is the fact that we are all “saved, yet so as by fire”, that makes this “lake of fire” also a “white throne… judgment”.

Here is what judges those who are in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”, as well as those who are judged at the “white throne… judgment”:

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Joseph’s brothers were in “outer darkness… [experiencing] weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth”. It was through Joseph’s words that they were made aware that nothing they did was of themselves, but it was all a work of God:

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

So it is with all men. Yes, we do sell our Lord and crucify Him, and yet “It is not I that do it… but God” (Rom 7:17 and 20).

God has devised fiery trials to save those who are “first… the house of God” (1Pe 4: 12 and 17) who will be in the first resurrection and will rule with Him over the nations of this world for a thousand years, and then He will use those few whom He calls a “lake of fire” as the means to deliver His banished at an event which He calls the “great white throne… judgment”.

This ‘judgment’ will be the destruction of death, and this is what is accomplished at any judgment of God:

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.

Here is a link which will help you to better understand the words ‘olawm‘ and ‘aion‘.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

You said: “That Day is HERE!! It is not in some distant past or future. Jesus isn’t coming back… Yahshua is already HERE!!” Yes, the salvation of God (Yahshua) is inward… the Kingdom of God comes without observation. It is IN your midst… the Christ in you.

I agree it is symbolic. The book of Revelation is signified. It is symbolic in words (metaphor) and signified (the meaning of) in numbers. None of it in the strict sense is literal. There is no literal thousand year (365 days) rule by the elect. Thousand is a signified number. Year is a symbol metaphor. The book of Revelation is the unveiling of the Salvation of God … in his anointing (Jesus Christ) to his elect and the many are called (the rest of humanity).

The elect are the first fruits, the 144 thousand, the bride of Christ, the few are chosen .. etc…144 is a not an arbitrary number that is symbolized. It signifies (the meaning of) the reality. Just as the 4 beasts with 6 wings and the 12 elders number are not arbitrary either. They are signified in 144….4×6=24…24×6=144.. that is not a coincidences or a symbol. To understand what Revelation is signifying in symbols and numbers the Sums of God’s word must be understood.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding calculate the number of the beast: for it is the number of man; and his number is Six hundred threescore six.

Numbers aren’t symbols (word metaphors) … they signify. 144 thousand is not the “number”quantity of elect. It is THEIR number quality. As I said before 144 thousand is the sum of the Fibonacci sequence Fn12/ Fn13=0.618….

Phi (the Golden ratio) is its ratio (relationship) to 1..(God the Father AND God the Son are BOTH “1”) 1:0.618… its reciprocal 1:1.618….. they are the same ratio to “1”….. it is the ONLY number that is in a perfect ratio to “1” out of ALL the infinite numbers beside 1.

Phi derives its name from the Greek letter which is also a number that is equal to 500. phi=500… Phi=500 500+500=1,000..

That is God signifying his word. EVERYTHING has a very specific PERFECT meaning.144 thousand the first fruits is God signifying making man “mature in a perfect relationship with his creation and it’s ALL signified by the sums.

phi/ Phi is the thousand year reign… it is NOT a literal thousand years or even symbolic (a metaphor).. it is TRUTH being signified with numbers. What is that reigning? It is God making us Priests and Kings in The Kingdom of God. What and where is that Kingdom? In OUR MIDST. We will become Kings and Priests in the Kingdom of God WITHIN US (Christ in you)… not other people. All will be resurrected. The overcomers overcome the mark of the beast… a signified number.. 666.. the number of the beast of man. Fn3/ Fn4=.666(2/3)… even though it is close to phi, it is not 618. The many will and have not overcome 666, but the elect will – first as the first- fruits.

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

And said: “I think you already agree that these are words we keep inwardly, but I just want to be sure we are never led to believe that they have no outward, or future application. Of course they are both. They apply in every sense and in every tense. If that were not so, then there would be no need for two separate resurrections divided by a “thousand year” reign of God’s elect over “the kingdoms of this world”.”

Yes, OVER the kingdom of this world. The kingdom of this world are BECOME the Kingdom of our Lord.

Yes, the first fruits are the first to “grow” to maturity of Christ in you. They will obtain the first resurrection.. that is the first fruits. Of course there is also what the scriptures don’t say… what exactly the resurrection is. Revelation is a symbolic book of symbols and signifiers. It is NOT literal. It would be false to assume we know what this resurrection life is beyond it being in the spirit.

The many believe it is a resurrected perfect flesh and blood body. Some an illusion of flesh that is a spirit body. Some a combination of both .. and everything else under the sun, but for sure NO one has been resurrected (perfected) EXCEPT Yahshua the firstborn of the dead.

Yes, there is a resurrection and Yahshua was the first resurrected, but what is the resurrection? The scriptures say we are to no longer know Yahshua after the flesh. He said he would not leave the disciples comfortless and will return to indwell them. That sheds a little more light, however the picture is not completely drawn except it has happened to Yahshua and WILL happen to others.

Is the religious world waiting for a fleshly return of Jesus… yes. Yet the scriptures say he has already returned. Are any resurrected from the dead… no… no one had attained 1:1.618 in the flesh EXCEPT Yahshua. That is a matured relationship with the Father. Yahshua returned to the Father to the relationship before he was incarnate.. Fn1= The Father… Fn2= The Son.. Fn1=1… Fn2=1…..1:1.. PERFECT UNION. The Father and Son are “1”.

Christ returned to us in spirit (Christ in you) to make us “1” with the Father also however … we are NOT THE only begotten Son. Only The Only Begotten is in Perfect Union ratio… we will be in perfect ratio of Phi…1:0.618… then 1:1.618… and so on and so on… infinitely… the Phi ratio is an irrational number and is infinite and never reach 618… which signifies we will infinitely be growing closer in relationship to God. It truly is a journey, not a destination.

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.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Yes, the “judgment” is salvation… crucifixion of the flesh of the beast of man’s imperfection… the mark of the beast 666. Salvation is the equation that is Summed in resurrection… no one except Yahshua has been resurrected from the beast flesh of 666 to 618. Of course all of Revelation is symbolic words and signified numbers. If there is no literal Lake of fire there is no literal thousand year even if it’s called a symbol.

Quoting you: “2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. These words are written by the same apostle who tells us that we are to count ourselves as already risen, because he knew of the is, was, and will be, character of God’s Word.”

Paul was differentiating between what they believed as Jews to the reality of salvation. Yes … is, was, will be are symbols for the equation. The basis Isa 1+1=2… 1/2=.5 …. 1+2=3… 2/3 =.666 … etc… it is how everything grows and is summed. The equation is already summed… it is done… man is experiencing the equation (salvation) in … is, was will be… past, present, future1+1=2… That is what was signified to John and why it was repeated so many times.

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

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

So Christ has returned and is now ruling over the kingdoms of this world in earnest, within us, and we are to count ourselves as dead and risen with Him in earnest, but not as already having received the redemption of the purchased possession.”

yes. the kingdom of God is within our midst.. he never said it would be fully formed yet. The earnest”down payment” is the process of salvation. This all takes Yahshua (God’s salvation) already BEING here. The Christ in you being formed. Again the false religious connotation is Jesus the man (flesh or spirit) is going to return to earth… the planet … overthrow the earthy rulers … set up a benevolent ruler Kingdom with priest and kings as his ambassadors for a thousand years. That just isn’t true. Christ is being formed in US… the temple of God, and we will be priests and kings ruling over that Kingdom of our heavens.

The Unveiling of Yahsua is full of surprises. Sometimes I felt like I’ve awoke from a long sleep and am only remembering my dreams. The deep things of God are unlimited. Every unveiling is a new experience; that sometimes seems like an old one but with more clarity. I know what I say is not easy to hear. It was not easy to hear for me either. God has made many things clearer to me through your writing.

The bottom line is God has written his word in and on everything. There is nothing left to chance. The scriptures are inspired by God and written in words AND numbers. The two- edged sword. The words are types and shadows (real history that are types and shadows of what is to be), parables and symbolic metaphor the numbers signify. The hidden mystery (not mysticism) is the signifying. There are outward signifiers like the numbers I was talking of. However the deeper things of God is the infinite complex equation that everything (including the scriptures and especially the scriptures) Sum to. The biggest lesson I have learned is nothing is as it seems at first. Numbers were just conventions to confuse me in a class I failed. However The depth of God’s wisdom is so deep we don’t need to seek it (and can’t unless we are drawn).. it will come to us just when we need it and can hear it… God bless you all.

R____

Hi R____,

Thank you for your reply. My purpose in directing your attention to the fact that there are two resurrections which are separated by a symbolic one thousand years, was to point out that while the number 1000 is indeed symbolic of how long God will take to bring all flesh to an end, so death can be “destroyed” and the aions can come to their predestined end, the destruction of death is not possible as long as flesh continues to be produced. It seems from what I am understanding of your teaching here…:

“yes, the kingdom of God is within our midst. He never said it would be fully formed yet. The earnest “down payment” is the process of salvation. This all takes Yahshua (God’s salvation) already BEING here. The Christ in you being formed. Again the false religious connotation is Jesus the man (flesh or spirit) is going to return to earth… the planet … overthrow the earthy rulers … set up a benevolent ruler Kingdom with priest and kings as his ambassadors for a thousand years. That just isn’t true. Christ is being formed in US… the temple of God, and we will be priests and kings ruling over that Kingdom of our heavens.”

… that you did not grasp the significance of having two separate resurrections. So I want you to tell me, how do you account for the resurrection of “Sodom and Samaria”? How can people who died never having a chance to have “Christ in you the hope of glory” be given life if indeed as you say here:

“the false religious connotation is Jesus the man (flesh or spirit) is going to return to earth… the planet … overthrow the earthy rulers … set up a benevolent ruler Kingdom with priests and kings as his ambassadors for a thousand years. That just isn’t true. Christ is being formed in US… the temple of God and we will be priest and Kings ruling over that Kingdom of our heavens.”

The scriptures simply do not agree with you. Yes, Christ is being formed in His elect now, but that does not address this revelation:

Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

This verse does not give us a date so we can know exactly what length of time “a thousand years” signifies, but it does, just like the book of Revelation, give us the order of those events.

That order is:

1) the resurrection of those who are in Christ, “at his coming”. It is not “already past”, but is an event which is future to the time before the “thousand years”.

2) A thousand years, when the kingdoms of this world will be ruled by the overcomers of this age, and

3) a period of time “when the thousand years are finished” in which Satan will be released again and again permitted to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth, and cause them to “encompass the camp of the saints” who have been ruling them with a rod of iron for “a thousand years”, followed by

4) fire coming down from God out of heaven and devouring “the nations in the four quarters of the earth, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea”, followed by “a great white throne… judgment”, followed by

5) the destruction of death and the grave in the lake of fire. Contrary to what you are trying to tell us, this is what the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the holy spirit, tells us:

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The subject of these verses is “the dead in Christ”, and we are told that when “the Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, those who are “dead in Christ shall rise first” and that any who happen to still be in the flesh when that happens will be “changed… in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye”, and will ascend into the heavens to be with Christ.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

These verses certainly include the changes we experience when we are converted and “know no man after the flesh, [ and] henceforth know… [ Christ] no longer after the flesh”. But these words tell us plainly that some of us will still be in bodies of flesh when Christ returns, before the thousand years begins, and they tell us plainly that those who are “dead in Christ” will be raised up from the dead at that time. The fact that we are to no longer “know Christ after the flesh” does not equate to having no future literal return of Christ to receive those overcomers who have died in His faith, to rule with Him a thousand years. Now we go to the second event which we are plainly told follows the resurrection of those who are “dead in Christ” and which follows the change that occurs in those who are in Christ but have not yet died.

Here is what we are told of those people:

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

This is not a reward given while we are “keeping His Words to the end” but afterward, when “Christ Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout… and we which are alive and remain are caught up to meet Him in the air, at the beginning of “a thousand years” of “ruling the nations with a rod of iron. That is the reward which is promised for “overcoming and keeping [ His] works unto the end”. That is not the reward given while keeping His works.

I could go through the period of time that follows that symbolic thousand year reign, when Satan is released to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth, I could ask you why Satan is released if Christ is in us and this is all being fulfilled only in us now and will not have a literal consummation, as you indicate. I could repeat that those nations “encompass the camp of the saints” giving God the “occasion” he is seeking to destroy all flesh, and thereby destroy death and the grave. I could ask you how “death and the grave can ever be destroyed, and how God can ever be “all in all” if flesh continues to be produced upon this earth, and that ever- present flesh continues to grow old and die?

It is in light of all of these truths which are plainly stated in Rev 20 that Paul informs us of these words:

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

Christ reigns only “till He [ the Father] has put all things under His [ Christ’s] feet. After that, Christ “subjects Himself to Him [ the Father] who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

So contrary to what you are trying to teach, there is a consummation of the ages, “Then comes the end”, when all men of all ages will be raised up from the dead, given to know Christ and be judged just as we are being judged in this age. The only difference is that they will be “raised a spiritual body” to be judged along with “the devil and His angels”.

Now let’s look again at your words:

… yes, the kingdom of God is within our midst.. he never said it would be fully formed yet. The earnest”down payment” is the process of salvation. This all takes Yahshua (God’s salvation ) already BEING here. The Christ in you being formed. Again the false religious connotation is Jesus the man (flesh or spirit) is going to return to earth… the planet … overthrow the earthy rulers … set up a benevolent ruler Kingdom with priest and kings as his ambassadors for a thousand years. That just isn’t true. Christ is being formed in US… the temple of God, and we will be priests and kings ruling over that Kingdom of our heavens.

Now let’s compare your words to our Lord’s inspired words:

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

If this is not literal carnal nations, then why is a “rod of iron” needed? If as you say, there is no period of time when those who overcome and keep Christ’s works to the end are rewarded with rulership over the nations for learning to rule the nations within themselves in this age, then why are we told that Christ’s reign is only until He has put all enemies under His feet? Your doctrine has no end to death or the grave in sight.

Again why are we told, symbolically, how long will they who “overcome and keep [ Christ’s works unto the end”, be ruling? Is that rule, as you are telling us, already present within us only, and with no end in sight? Or is there an order to both resurrections, and are they, as the scriptures plainly teach, divided by a certain symbolic period of time that symbolizes a period of time, and not something else? Here again is what the scriptures teach:

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. [ Because they had “kept His works unto the end” [Rev 2:27].
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.
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 [ the eons of the eons].
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

So, if all of this is only here and now, and there is no thousand years and no ruling of the elect during that time as the scriptures plainly teach, then why are we given all of this order of the sequence of all of these events which lead to the destruction of death, and the judgment of “the dead small and great”, and of those who never knew Christ in past ages? Your doctrine completely ignores those multitudes. How does your doctrine bring salvation to Sodom, or for that matter to anyone before Christ? Doesn’t the lake of fire, which comes on the scene “when the thousand years are expired” and Satan has been released to deceive the nations, accomplish that goal? Here is why Satan is released:

Jdg 14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

The Philistines signify those who are in the promised land without benefit of circumcision. They signify our uncircumcised flesh. They signify “the nations in the four quarters of the earth” who “compass the camp of the saints” who have been ruling them with a rod of iron for a thousand years, and God is seeking an occasion against all flesh, to bring it to its predestined destruction. So we are plainly told that Satan’s release “when the thousand years are expired… was of the Lord”:

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.

This signifies the destruction of all flesh. This is the death of death and the destruction of the grave. Now all that is left is to save all men of all time from death, and the channel for that work is God’s elect who have fire in their mouths:

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

So what is the very next thing we are told:

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.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The destruction of all flesh is signified by the destruction of the sea out of which the beast arises in Rev 13:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

And what is the very next verse of scripture, after we are told of the function of the lake of fire? It is this verse which informs us of a very interesting fact concerning the “new earth”.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea [ no more flesh].

I hope this helps you to see that there is a Biblical order to when all of these things all happen, and I hope you can see that God’s elect, who “overcome and keep His works to the end” in this age, are the “blessed and holy” channel through which the rest of mankind will be brought to know God and His Son, “when the thousand years” of their reign “is expired”. They will do this as that “lake of fire” which will cleanse and purify the masses of unbelievers who have lived in this age and all the masses of humanity who have ever lived in all the ages before Christ.

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

God’s elect are His channel for the salvation of all men of all time, but that will happen only “when the thousand years are finished” and we, as that “lake of fire”, are used of God to destroy all flesh, and to thus bring an end to all death and an end to the grave.

I will repeat these verses for your consideration:

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

You admit that there is a future “first resurrection”:

“Yes, there is a resurrection, and Yahshua was the first resurrected, but what is the resurrection?”

But you deny that there is a second resurrection which is separated from the first resurrection by a thousand years of the rulership of those who have “kept [ Christ’s] works unto the end” as their reward for doing so. In so doing you ignore the need for the salvation of all who lived before Christ came to live His life in us, and you don’t deal with the need for the salvation of all those who do not come to know Christ since His coming in a body of flesh and blood.

Please consider all these scriptures I have taken the time to share with you. If you still think as you have said: “Jesus the man (flesh or spirit) is going to return to earth… the planet … overthrow the earthy rulers … set up a benevolent ruler Kingdom with priest and kings as his ambassadors for a thousand years. That just isn’t true. Christ is being formed in US… the temple of God and we will be priest and Kings ruling over that Kingdom of our heavens”, then we will just have believe that our safety is revealed through God’s word in His multitude of counselors:

Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people [ you and me] fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Pro 15:22 Without counsel purposes [ yours and mine] are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war [ in the heavens of you and me]: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

That phrase “in the multitude of counselors” is in the scriptures three times, and it signifies how we are to judge our doctrines so they do not cause us to longer fall, or be disappointed when we are waging spiritual warfare. You say that I cannot offend you, and I am very pleased to hear that. But you said that immediately after quoting what I had pointed out about what we are given in this life being only “the earnest of the spirit” and not “the redemption of the purchased possession”. Your doctrine is telling us that what we have now is the redemption of the purchased possession, and the things which are promised to those who “keep [ Christ’s] works unto the end” are all here and now because Christ is in us here and now. That is simply not what “until the redemption of the purchased possession” means. I will quote those verses again, for your consideration:

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.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Your concerned, but loving brother in Christ,

Mike>