[Study Aired April 13, 2023]

2Ki 23:1  And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:2  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
2Ki 23:3  And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
2Ki 23:4  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. 
2Ki 23:5  And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 
2Ki 23:6  And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. 
2Ki 23:7  And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
2Ki 23:8  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. 
2Ki 23:9  Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

In this section of the book of Kings, we will learn how corrupt Judah had become as a nation, and to what extent king Josiah, who is a type of Christ, was going to go to destroy all the idolatry and wicked practices that had become ingrained into their culture over the years.

For God’s elect this story typifies for us the order and progressive nature of judgment which is upon the body of Christ today (Luk 13:32). God is preparing the bride of our Lord through a process that is not going to be superficial but fiery in its nature (1Pe 4:12) so that the mind of Christ can be forged in each of His children, who will have their robes washed in the blood of the lamb first, before the rest of mankind (Rev 12:10-11, Heb 6:3, Jas 4:15). Another way to see this story is the judgment that God’s elect will bring upon the world after they have been judged and made ready in this life (Oba 1:21, 1Pe 4:17)

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death [Mat 16:25].
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them [Rev 19:7]. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Josiah typifies Christ, who in type and shadow is demonstrating to all of Judah what God wants all the world to hear: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” They will hear what the king has to say, and even conform to the changes that are brought about, but in the end the heart of the nation turns again to its idolatrous ways and another series of evil kings will follow after the reign of king Josiah [1Co 8:6, Eph 3:9, Php 3:9, 1Pe 1:5].

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

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God [Joh 14:20], who created all things by Jesus Christ:

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

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time [Rev 20:6].

It is when we hear the voice of the true Shepherd that we tear down the idols and wickedness within our own lives, typified by the actions king Josiah took upon the nation of Israel. His actions typify how “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” When Josiah follows through and is zealous for the Lord to clean the land of all of its idolatrous ways, he typifies for those who have God’s spirit what Christ is able to do within His people. We learn from the actions of this King that when we “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment,” the result of those actions is that the second commandment (Mar 12:31) will be fulfilled as well because of the wholeheartedness being expressed in keeping God’s commands which demonstrates our love toward Him and our neighbor (1Jn 5:2, 1Jn 4:20, Mat 5:44).

Mar 12:31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 

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;

2Ki 23:1  And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 
2Ki 23:2  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
2Ki 23:3  And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. 

These first three verses are a shadow of the time when Christ will come back to this earth during the thousand-year reign (Rev 20:4-5), gathering the elect from the four corners of the world (Mat 24:31, Rev 11:15) typified by this statement, “And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.“

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.

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.

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.

Josiah will go “into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great:” and he will  “read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.” Seeing these scriptures fulfilled in Christ’s time, found in Luke 4:21, did not change the hearts of the people any more than it did during this period with Josiah or during the thousand-year reign of the saints. No matter what measures are enforced to make “all the words of the book of the covenant” evident, without God’s power working in our lives, we will always come short and be found only with our own righteousness that can hear the word of God but not keep it in our hearts (Php 3:9). God always requires a witness to be given to the flesh that cannot fulfill His will without the power of God’s holy spirit as was the case with Peter (Mat 26:34). All of mankind will be shown in their appointed time and order that we can only read and hear the sayings of the prophecy (Rev 20:8), as opposed to God’s elect who will witness to the world that through Christ, who enters into our spiritual house, our temple (1Co 3:16), we can do all three – read, hear, and keep the sayings of the prophecy, which is to keep His commandments as we witness our love and discipleship to one another through Christ (Rev 1:3, 1Jn 5:2, Joh 13:35, Col 1:27-29).

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. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

When Christ returns the second time to this earth and is seen of all mankind, He will, like Josiah, stand by a pillar (Gal 2:9) which represents the elect bride of Christ. “And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.”

Gal 2:9  And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 

What will be required of the world is obedience and the keeping of God’s laws, and that law and order will be established, as typified with Josiah at this time in history. People will in turn learn of God’s righteousness we are being told because His judgments are in the earth (Isa 26:9). However, conversion is a miracle reserved for all of humanity in the lake of fire where those words and the witness of Christ will finally bring about the long-awaited later harvest that had its time of sowing seed during the thousand-year reign (Ecc 11:1, Isa 55:10-11, Jas 5:7-11).

Ecc 11:1  Cast thy bread upon the waters: [the bread is the word of God that has been cast upon humanity – (Php 1:15-19)] for thou shalt find it after many days.

Isa 55:10  For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: (1Co 3:6) 
Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

[…and has been doing just that from the foundation of the world – bringing the results that God wants to further His plan of salvation]

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 
Jas 5:9  Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. 
Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure (Rev 19:7). Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

2Ki 23:4  And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.

The cleansing process for the world begins with having God’s judgments in the earth (Isa 26:9, Jer 22:29) so that men can learn what is true righteousness before 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.

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

Knowing what is right and being able to carry out a life of obedience are two different things. Regardless, there is always order in the house of God when Christ is present, and that order is being typified with this statement of events that were unfolding with Judah at this time: “and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.” These were the commands king Josiah made of Hilkiah the high priest and represents the elect ruling over all the kingdoms of this world, including the religious kingdoms that are filled with idolatry and lies. We go outside the camp with Christ today (Heb 13:13-15) in order to have every idle word and action in our own lives burned up (Mat 12:36, 2Co 10:5-6), and if we are blessed to endure that process in this life, then we will begin the same process with the rest of the world, symbolized by this statement: “and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.“

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

2Ki 23:5  And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 

What Josiah put down at this time typifies for God’s elect what will be put down when they rule a thousand years under Christ. The basest of religious priests, “the idolatrous priests“, will be put down, and there will be an end to days, months, times and years, which days are connected to the celestials: “to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.“

The “idolatrous priests” represent the leaders of the churches of Babylon today and remind us that God can take the weak and base things of the world whom He ordained (Dan 4:17), and typify God’s elect (1Co 1:27) and have them [God’s elect, the weak of the world] become the true leaders of this world who will do away with all of these wicked practices that are in the earth until this day.

2Ki 23:6  And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.

Even the memory of the bones that carried out our former conversation in the earth (Eph 2:2) are witnessed against by taking “the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.” These actions of which we read in Malachi 4:1 are giving us the same message of how nothing of our past is to be kept, in order to become a new creation (2Co 5:17-18).

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

H842 The Grove ‘ăshêrâh    ‘ăshêyrâh ash-ay-raw’, ash-ay-raw’

From H833; happy; asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddess [of love]; also an image of the same: – grove. Compare H6253.

H6939 Kidron qidrôn kid-rone’  From H6937; dusky place; Kidron, a brook near Jerusalem: – Kidron.

H6937 qâdar kaw-dar’A primitive root; to be ashy, that is, dark colored; by implication to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments): – be black (-ish), be (make) dark (-en), X heavily, (cause to) mourn.

2Ki 23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.

This verse (2Ki 23:7) typifies the defilement of God’s word via the churches of Babylon whose Laodicean spirit (Rev 3:14) rules over the laity with a control that is likened unto the perversion of sodomy in (2Ki 23:7). The sodomites’ houses are “by the house of the LORD” which symbolizes the closeness of this perversion and the effect and hold it has on the churches of Babylon “where the women [churches] wove hangings for the grove.” ‘Weaving’ in this case is the negative example of its use and symbolizes the intricate pattern of lies that is hung upon the grove^H842 that is connected to a Phoenician goddess who symbolizes Mystery Babylon who is a spiritual whore in God’s eyes.

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

[Rev 3:14 and unto the angel of the church of the (people’s rights) write; these things saith the (truth) the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of god; (PNBkjv)]

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

2Ki 23:8  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. 

King Josiah’s actions symbolize for us today how we should feel about our former conversation in the churches of this world, who had promised us liberty but were not able to provide it having been bound to lies, false doctrine, and false worship (2Pe 2:19). We repent of being connected to those “weak and beggarly elements” (Gal 4:9) that had control over our heavens for so long. King Josiah’s actions demonstrate for us the zealous spirit we now have to cleanse the temple of God (Joh 2:15) from “Geba to Beersheba”, which is a distance of about 192 km (119 miles) [according to www.rome2rio.com/s/Beersheba/Geva] and “which were the northern and southern boundaries of the land of Judah” according to John Gill’s commentary]

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

Breaking “down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city” is also symbolic language that tells us Christ and the elect will take away the power from the rulers of this world which power is “on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city” as opposed to being the power of God that is on His right hand where the elect will rule as kings and priests under our Lord as fishers of men (Joh 21:6).

Joh 21:6  And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

2Ki 23:9  Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 

The priests were not converted at this time is what we are being told in this verse, but continued on in their traditions, not seeing the need to come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem which symbolizes the place where we lay down our life for Christ as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). Eating unleavened bread is just a show of our own righteousness and not a heart that is changed and displaying the fruits of sincerity and truth that unleavened bread represents (Amo 4:6-7, 1Co 5:8).

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

As mentioned at the start of the study there is a progressive nature to God’s judgment that is upon the body of Christ, and we will continue next week, Lord willing, to look at that order with the second part of this chapter which covers (2Ki 23:10-18).

Mr. Vinson,

I have been reading your website for a while now, and I have been tremendously blessed by it…thank you.

I have a question for you. When was Jesus glorified? Was it at His ascension? Was it at His resurrection? Some claim that Jesus, after His resurrection, was in His glorified body. John 7:39 says “up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 12:16 says “Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him.” I’m thinking that it was at his ascension because I think that the giving of the Spirit which is mentioned in John 7 is that which is spoken of in John 16:7 and Acts 2:33-36. “It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you.”

So…Christ could not send the Comforter until He departed and was reunited with the Father and His glory which He had with the Father before the world was. This would mean that whatever Christ’s form was between His resurrection and ascension, it was not in His glorified form or should I say Him in His full glory. It seems to me that orthodox Christianity uses the terms resurrection and glorification synonymously, and I don’t think that is correct, but to be honest with you I am having a hard time articulating why.

Obviously those who are raised in the second resurrection are not glorified (yet), so just because we are raised doesn’t automatically mean that we are glorified. Romans 8:17 says “The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him.” I guess I am just having a hard time wrapping my brain around what glorification actually is? What is the hope of glory? When was Christ glorified? When will we be glorified if we are His first fruits? Any help and clarity that you could offer would be sincerely appreciated.

Thank you,

M____

Hi M____,

Thank you for your question.

You ask: “When was Jesus glorified? Was it at His ascension? Was it at His resurrection? Some claim that Jesus, after His resurrection, was in His glorified body.”

Here are all the verses you reference in this e-mail as you struggle to understand this question. I have included a few verses before and after the verses you reference just to give some context, and I have emboldened some words so we can be sure to notice the point being made in that verse:

Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Joh 7:40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
Joh 7:41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
Joh 7:42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Joh 7:43 So there was a division among the people because of him.

Joh 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Joh 12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Joh 12:14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
Joh 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
Joh 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

Joh 16:4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Joh 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
Joh 16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Act 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Act 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Act 2:35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

You say “I guess I am just having a hard time wrapping my brain around what glorification actually is? When was Christ glorified? When will we be glorified if we are His first fruits?”

The first thing we need to acknowledge is that Christ was glorified before the holy spirit came on the day of Pentecost, because, as you point out:

Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The holy ghost could not be given until after Christ was glorified. Acts 2 tells us that Christ is now “by the right hand of God exalted… [and] that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Since the holy spirit had just been given to the 120 disciples assembled together, we know that Christ’s glorification had already taken place. There can be nothing more glorious than being “by the right hand of God exalted, and being made both Lord and Christ”. This was all accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ. There would have been no glorification without those two events.

It appears to me that you are confusing Christ’s glorification with the physical bodies in which He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection. Glorification is much more a matter of spiritual position than it is of physical composition or physical appearance. Being spirit, out of which the things that are seen are made, Christ was capable of appearing in any form He chose, and that is what we are told He did. Here are a few examples of the various forms in which He appeared after His resurrection and after His glorification “by the right hand of God”:

Joh 20:14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
Joh 20:15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

This is Mary Magdalene:

Joh 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Mary knew Christ very well. She knew both His voice and His face, yet “she supposed Him to be the gardener”. This may seem strange, but it is much easier to understand when we realize that Christ later that same day, did the same thing again, deliberately appearing “in another form”:

Luk 24:9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

Luk 24:12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
Luk 24:13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
Luk 24:14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
Luk 24:15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
Luk 24:16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
Luk 24:17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
Luk 24:18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
Luk 24:19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
Luk 24:20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
Luk 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
Luk 24:22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
Luk 24:23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
Luk 24:24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
Luk 24:25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Luk 24:26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luk 24:28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
Luk 24:29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
Luk 24:30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
Luk 24:31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
Luk 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Luk 24:33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,
Luk 24:34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
Luk 24:35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

The “two of them” of verse 13 refers back to “the eleven, and to all the rest” of verse 9. “The eleven and all the rest” refers to Christ’s most loyal followers who had assembled themselves together for consolation after His crucifixion. The point is that these people knew Christ very well and would easily have known Him had He not “appeared in another form”.

Mar 16:12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

Verse 33 of Luke 24 tells us “they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them”. At this time, Christ chose to appear to them all just as they had always known Him, and we are told in the very next verses:

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

“It is raised a spiritual body”, and Christ was just such a “raised… body”, yet in that state He was capable of appearing in any form He chose, and in this case He appeared as the Jesus they all knew… “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see”.

There is yet one more example of Christ appearing in “another form” which took place by the Sea of Galilee after the disciples had returned to their previous fishing employment:

Joh 21:1 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
Joh 21:2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
Joh 21:3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
Joh 21:4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Joh 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Joh 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
Joh 21:8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
Joh 21:9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.
Joh 21:10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Joh 21:11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
Joh 21:12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
Joh 21:13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
Joh 21:14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

Verse 6 tells us:

Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

“Them” included John “that disciple whom Jesus loved”, and even he did not know he was talking to Christ until the net was full of fish again, like it was when Christ first call James, Peter and John. Notice this incredible statement which concerns a man with whom these men had worked for the past three and a half years:

Joh 21:12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

The point Christ is making in appearing in different forms is that He is in His body, and He wants us to know that He considers those in whom He dwells to be “Jesus of Nazareth”.

Act 22:7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Saul, later to be renamed Paul, had been actively persecuting those in the church. Jesus had long been resurrected and glorified, but He asked Saul “why persecutest thou ME?” Christ was certainly glorified when He first appeared to the apostle Paul:

Act 9:3 And as he [Saul of Tarsus who became the apostle Paul] journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Here is what Paul had to say about the glory of the light that was Christ when He first appeared to him:

Act 22:11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

My point in showing you all of this is that Christ’s glory is the result of His suffering because He obeyed His Father. He shed His blood rather than deny the Words of His Father. That is the glory of our Lord, and in that glorified state He is capable of, and is even now appearing in any form which is suitable to the situation in which He places Himself. Even when He places Himself within us, His saints:

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The glory of Christ and His Father is “the things which are not seen”, by this world, just as Phillip could not “see the Father”, until Christ “opened the eyes… of his understanding”. So when Christ was glorified is not nearly as important as how He is glorified, because “the riches of [that] glory of His inheritance [is] in the saints” in whom He dwells.

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

The word ‘places’ is not in the Greek. We are even now “seated with Christ in the heavens [in] earnest [Eph 1:13-14].

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

This world did not and does not recognize the glorified Christ as yet. But to those who are granted the faith, they do see Him in that glorified state already, just as they have “seen Christ [and] have seen the Father” already:

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

I hope all these verses of scripture have helped you to to see more clearly what it is that makes Christ and His Father glorious, and that you are better able to understand that “seeing” Christ’s glory is not a physically blinding experience except for those who are completely opposed to Him, as was Saul of Tarsus. While the glory of that “light” caused Saul of Tarsus complete and total blindness, “the eyes of the understanding [of the apostle Paul were being] enlightened [to] know… the riches of the glory of [Christ’s] inheritance [which is] in the saints”.

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

It is my prayer that I have helped you see that the moment of Christ’s glorification is not nearly as important as understanding what is His glory, so you are given to believe that “the riches of the glory of His inheritance [is actually] in the saints”, that is, His glory is actually within you and me, if indeed we are His saints.

If indeed you are given to see this, then “flesh and blood has not shown this unto you but [our] Father which is in heaven”. On the other hand, if He has not given you eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God, then no matter how these spiritual truths are presented, you “cannot hear” them, and you will not understand them “because they are spiritually discerned”.

Mat 13:9 Who hath [been given] ears to hear, let him hear.
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.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

It is my prayer you have been given “ears that hear [and] eyes that see” the mystery of the glorification of Christ “in his saints”.

Your brother in that glorified Christ,

Mike

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Awesome Hands – part 38

“ The Son of the Right Hand”

As we walk out each day of our lives, we come to know that the will of God is that Christ increases and we decrease daily.

Before we come to that point of understanding however, we must first learn that God is working out a blessing on and for the new man He is growing up in Him and He must likewise work a blessing of death in the old man for this to happen.

Joh 3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

In the last study, we saw another example of how the Lord is calling His people unto Himself.

In the example of Joseph and the rest of the tribes of Israel (including their father), God places us in “Goshen” while we are in Egypt, so that we can increase and multiply.

Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

During this time of being in Egypt, God seeks out “men of activity” to accomplish the overseeing of the flock that is also in Egypt.

Indeed, we are “friends of the bridegroom” in this capacity, and we usher in the rest of the “bride of Christ” to the “marriage supper of the lamb”.

In the study today, we are going to glean what is represented in type and shadow of being the first wife versus the second wife, the church of the Living God versus the whore in the wilderness, the second son versus the first, the Spiritual versus the natural.

“Who are these”

Gen 48:1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Gen 48:2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
Gen 48:3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Gen 48:4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
Gen 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Gen 48:6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

At the start of chapter 48, we are going to be given a biblical principle that will remain and stretch out through the pages of the bible.

The concept we are reading about is that of the first and the second, the first and the last, the old and the new, so on and so forth.

Here are a few examples of what I am referencing and then we will compare them to what we see in Gen 48: 1-6.

Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

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

Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

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

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.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

Jacob mentions how the Almighty appears to him blessing Jacob and that God tells him his seed will be blessed. In other words, his seed was promised to be “given the land”.

In the last study, we saw how Jacob’s entire house was given the best land of Egypt, Goshen, which means “drawing near” to God. In all that God can do with mankind, this is by far a very blessed occurrence.

Now, we see Jacob telling Joseph that his two sons will be given inheritance with Israel as if they were Reuben and Simeon. However, what is significant about Reuben and Simeon?

The spiritual significance of what these two brothers represent is the order in which they are born and even the names they are given have significance.

Gen 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
Gen 29:33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.

Most of the church world believes that God wants the best for us personally but somehow we choose not to listen to God so he punishes us or afflicts us.

Leah (the first wife) certainly felt like she was being afflicted because Jacob loved Rachel more.

The truth is that God does NOT LOVE the old man which is represented by the first.

Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

Mal 1:1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Mal 1:2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
Mal 1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Simeon was born to Leah because she was “hated”, yet she is the eldest of two sisters.

Alas, there is a very plain biblical admonition for this. You shall be hated of all men “for His name’s sake,” not for your own names sake or the evil that is done to your flesh.

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

There is a difference for having evil brought to us because of something in the flesh i. e. Jacob preferred the beautiful Rachel versus of the lazy eyed Leah so she felt hated versus being hated for the name of Christ, which is a spiritual hatred of the doctrine of Christ.

1Pe 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Pe 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
1Pe 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

“Guiding his hands wittingly”

Gen 48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
Gen 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
Gen 48:9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Gen 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
Gen 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

Jacob continues to let Joseph know about where Rachel was buried because in chapter 37, the chapter is ended with Israel making Joseph swear an oath that he would not bury him in Egypt.

Gen 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Gen 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.
Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Gen 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
Gen 48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

The younger always receives the blessing from the “Angel”, who Christ is, because this is the pattern that the Lord has made clear from the beginning.

Abel over Cain, Rachel over Leah, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, David over Saul …. all are favored and blessed to show us the spiritual significance of the elder shall serve the younger.

This is because the “right hand blessing” that Israel bestows on Ephraim signifies the righteousness

and the strength and power of the Lord in working this and all things after the counsel of His own will.

Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

Psa 20:6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

Psa 48:10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

Psa 118:16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

The blessing that Jacob is imparting on Ephraim is the same blessing he was given over his brother Esau.

This is all to show us that the Lord works His will through the “hands” and “walks” of those that are His people by giving them His mind, His Word.

The “seed” we produce, that is our fruit of righteousness as the Lord gives it to us, will have this same blessing.

Exo 29:20 Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

Lev 8:23 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.
Lev 8:24 And he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.

Of course, the “ways of men” do not like how the Lord works His will.

Gen 48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

Jacob couldn’t even see Joseph’s sons, but the Lord had shown this same example to Jacob in his own life. So, Israel knew full well what he was doing.

Gen 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Gen 48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Gen 48:22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

It is easy to conclude that his was all as Israel had said it would be because Ephraim ends up having the largest tribe of his brothers, but the focus we have been seeing is that the younger will be given preference and dominion over the older.

The “seed of the promise” covenant that God made with Abraham and passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob still lives and is being passed onto Jacob’s seed.

This entire pattern is indicative that what comes naturally and in natural order has no bearing on what God is going to do with what comes AFTER the natural except in that there must be the natural FIRST so that the spiritual can come about.

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

The story of Gen 48 is there primarily to emphasis that “the seed of the promise” is being made to they who are of the “Jews in Spirit”.

Though the physical Jews came first, the spiritual Jews are being made “greater than the older,” a spiritual multitude of nations, the church of the Living God, the body of Christ.

In living out these historical events, the physical/ natural Jews cannot receive the promise that was not given to them.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Rom 9:9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
Rom 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Hi Mike,

I just though of something that I had sort of known before but just had some scriptures come to mind that confirm it, and I just wanted to share them with you. Satan is the left hand of God and Jesus is the right hand, and both work for God to do his work.

1Pe 3:22 Who [ Christ] is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Let me know what you think,
M____

Hi M____,

Thank you for your input here. You ask what I think, and I will tell you that I think you are right on target. I answered an e- mail this past week in which I referenced Job 1:11-12 as proof that scriptures themselves call the work of Satan’s hand is shown to be “Thy hand” or the hand of God. But I had not carried that thought through to the extent that you have done by putting these three verses together.
“The Lord”, or Yahweh, of Job 1:12, contrary to what is taught in orthodox Christianity, is actually Christ who was “seen and heard” by many in the Old Testament, but that in no way takes away from your point here. If Christ really is “at God’s right hand” and “the goats” are on Christ’s left hand, then it follows that Satan is on the left hand of both Christ and God as “Thy hand”, that is as God’s hand, to do such things as afflicting Job, troubling King Saul, tempting King David to number the people, being a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets, etc.

Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
2Sa 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
1Ch 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
1Ki 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

All of those examples are but types and shadows of the work of God’s hand in our own lives. Thank you for sharing this with me. I pray God will continue to bless you with such insights.

Your grateful brother in Christ,
Mike

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Revelation 5:1-3 – Who Can Open the Book? Part 1

Rev 5:1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

Introduction

There are three verses which have been especially helpful in keeping us on track in the study of this book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. The first verse reminds us that this book is signified and does not mean what it says, but it means what is signified. Every sign and every signification is interpreted by the Word of God and not by the speculations of men.

If you believe that the tails of the scorpions of Revelation 9:10 signify helicopter tail gunners, then you need to show a scripture to bear that out. Of course you will find no such thing because ‘the tail is the false prophet that prophesies lies.’

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

Here now, is the first scripture which will help  us to rightly divide the word of Truth (2Ti 2:15) as we strive to maintain a pattern of sound words (2Ti 1:13) in our study of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

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:

The second verse we have quoted so often reminds us that we actually live and “keep those things which are” signified in this book. It also reminds us that the time to do so is always “at hand” in every generation of those who read and understand that this book is to be lived and kept.

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.

The third verse, which we have also quoted often, reminds us of what and where heaven and the kingdom of God are. It reminds us that both the true heavens and the kingdom of God are within us and are not even concerned with a physical, geographical location. Both the words ‘heaven’ and the phrase “the kingdom of God” are primarily to be understood as “within you.” There are those who call such truths “merely platonic.” There are those who will say, “Everything to you is just spiritual”, belying their disdain for the unseen things of the spirit. However, to all who have been given to know and appreciate the “things of the spirit,” it is not “merely platonic;” the message of this book is rather, spiritual and and therefore eternal.

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.

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, [into us, Col 1:27], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

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

How little understood or believed are any of these verses. It takes a door being opened in heaven, and the opening of the little book, to give us eyes to see and ears to hear the things which are written therein and the ability to “keep those things written therein.”

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.

The Greek for the word ‘keep’ here in Revelation 1:3 is G5083, ‘tereo’, and it is the exact same Greek word the Lord used when telling the rich young ruler to ‘Keep the commandments if he wanted to inherit life eternal’:

Mat 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep [G5083: ‘tereo’] the commandments.

Do not listen to anyone who attempts to tell you that ‘tereo’ in Revelation 1:3 means to guard against keeping the things written therein, as some falsely affirm. Christ was not telling the man who asked Him what to do to inherit eternal life to ‘guard against keeping the commandments’. How absurd is such a false lying doctrine!

What is in the book that is in the right hand of Him that sits on the throne? This whole book of Revelation is in that book. It includes the first four chapters, as well as every word written concerning the opening of the seven seals. The seventh seal is the seven trumpets which are also within this book. The seventh trumpet is the seven vials, which are also in this book. It also includes all the chapters which do not seem to be part of these three categories.

If we continue to be guided by the three verses which have been our guide up to this point, then we must conclude that the book in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne is nothing more than another signification of something other than what we read of the things mentioned under these seven seals, trumpets and vials. We can be sure of this because of this verse.

2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture at all is becoming its own explanation. (CLV)

So this book has no hope of being unsealed without the rest of scripture explaining the symbols therein “line upon line and precept upon precept.”

Isa 28:13  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.
Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

We have all been scornful and doubting the Truth of God’s Word. This prophecy, which God calls ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ’, is the vital capstone to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and is therefore nothing less than a symbol of God’s fiery words which begin in Genesis 1:1 and end at Revelation 22:21.

The book of Revelation cannot be taken as a book which is not part of the whole of God’s Word. There could be no book of Revelation without the book of Genesis. While it may be few who are given to receive it, the Truth remains that all men must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

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.

“Live by every word” does not mean repeat every sinful act mentioned in scripture. What it means is that all men must believe what is written and obey the Lord’s words:

Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

‘Believing on Christ’ means “doing the things [He] says”:

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

Why is this book “in His right hand?”

Rev 5:1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

The “right hand” is the symbol of power throughout scripture.

Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

Mat 26:62  And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
Mat 26:63  But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Mat 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mar 14:61  But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
Mar 14:62  And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

We have already covered this in great detail when we covered verses 16, 17 and 20 of the first chapter of Revelation.

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.
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 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

The ‘right hand’, in its positive application, is “the right hand of God’s righteousness” and power as well as the negative symbol of the self-righteousness and power of the beast within us all.

Psa 48:10  According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

Isa 41:10  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark [in his “right hand”], or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

It is through the symbolic right ear, the right hand and the right foot that God carries out the words of this “book” in the lives of His “kings and priests” who He holds “in His right hand.”

Exo 29:20  Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

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

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

We have already seen that the seven angels of the seven churches, are the same angels who say…

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [“one of the seven angels”]. 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.

…and again:

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Who is our “fellowservant [who] keeps the sayings of this book?” It is, according to Christ and His apostles, every single brother you have who is ministering to His body in any capacity.

Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

Col 1:7  As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

Col 4:7  All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:

The seven angels are ‘seven’ simply to signify that they are all of God’s messengers “who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” in every generation since Christ. Yes, they, too, must “endure to the end” in order to be saved, but the truth is that those who do “endure to the end” are those who are “in the right hand” of Christ, who is “at the right hand of power” of His “Father which is in heaven.” Anything in or at the right hand of God is certain to have the power to fulfill and to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God… every man in his own order.” God’s words concerning “every man” are all “written in His book… before there were any of them”, whether they are His words for good or His words for evil. That is the very meaning of “working all things after the counsel of His own will.”

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.

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:

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

Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my embryo, And my days, all of them were written upon Your scroll [Your book]; The days were formed when there was not one of them.  (CLV)

What is written in the book in God’s right hand?

What the phrase “in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne” tells us is that the things God has written in His book will come to pass in the life of every man who reads and understands the things written therein. Since “every man [will] in his own order… live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” it should be clear to those with “eyes that see and ears that hear” that the book in the right hand of Him who sat upon the throne is merely the symbol of the judgment of our old man and the glorification of our new man.

Our judgment is revealed as the spiritual nourishment we are given in this “little book” which is first revealed in:

Eze 2:8 But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
Eze 2:9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
Eze 2:10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe [“Much tribulation (Act 14:22), and the “suffering of this present time” (Rom 8:18-19)].

There were no chapter breaks in the original Hebrew, and the narrative continues in the next chapter:

Eze 3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
Eze 3:4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them [“You must prophesy…” Rev 10:11].

This is the same symbolism of the persecution used by the holy spirit to signify our suffering in the book of Revelation. In the Book of Revelation ‘bitterbess in the belly’ is added to signify the rejection by this world which will come upon all who are given to follow in the footsteps of Christ:

Mat 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Rev 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Rev 10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings [The same commission given to us in Ezekiel 3:4].

The ‘bitterness in the belly’ includes the judgment and destruction of the kingdom of our old man, as well as the suffering we must endure as a faithful new man. The glory which will be revealed in “the manifested sons of God” will make the suffering of this present time unworthy of comparison:

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.

Both our old man and his destruction and our new man and his glorification are integral to the entire Revelation of Jesus Christ from His first mention as the first “Adam, the Son of God” in the beginning of the book of Genesis to “the last Adam… the Word” of the last verse of Revelation 22.

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

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.

We have a very hard time associating the first Adam with the last Adam. God has no such problem. He even calls the first Adam “the Son of God.” That is why we are told:

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

So “the book in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne” has within it “the revelation of Jesus Christ” as He is being revealed in the lives of His elect, “every man in His own order.” The revelation of Jesus Christ was not peculiar to the apostle John. Rather, it is common to all of God’s elect who “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Such was the case of both Paul and Peter, and such is the case of all of God’s elect. We must all come to understand what is written in “the book in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne:”

Gal 1:11  But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
Gal 1:12  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

What does “I neither received it of man” mean?

When Paul says, “I neither received it of man” is Paul telling us that he had no need for Ananias to come and tell him what God had in store for Him?

Act 9:10  And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for [one] called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12  And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting [his] hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

Is Paul saying that he had no need to hear from others what Christ had taught? Is that what “I neither received it of man” means? What an absurd conclusion! It was Paul himself who tells Timothy that he was “appointed a teacher of the Gentiles.”

2Ti 1:11  Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

It is this same apostle Paul who penned these inspired words of scripture:

1Co 12:28  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
1Co 12:29  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

… and this:

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

It was the apostle Paul who said:

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

So what does “I neither received it of man” mean? It means the same thing Christ meant when He told Peter that it was not flesh and blood, but His heavenly Father, who had revealed to Peter that Christ was the Son of God.

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Is Christ telling Peter that Christ Himself had never taught Peter a thing? What utter foolishness! How many times are we told that Christ “taught them?”

Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Mat 13:54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

Mar 2:13  And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

Mar 4:2  And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,

Christ’s doctrine is taught “by parables.” He has set in the church teachers who expound on those parables and types and shadows and patterns and signs and symbols. Those who do so in Truth will never be found guilty of “thinking above what is written,” but will use only the words already written to be the foundation of every word they speak and teach.

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

What then does “I neither received it of man” mean if men are indeed set in the church to teach? Here is what the scriptures mean when you see in them phrases like ‘of men… as men… [or] as a man.’ Look at how Christ and His apostles use these phrases:

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

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 9:7  Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
1Co 9:8  Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

So when we see the phrases ‘of men… as men… as a man… [or] any man’ and they are used in conjunction with teaching or understanding God’s Word, we can now rest assured that these phrases are speaking of men who “think above what is written”, and they never refer to those who base every word of their doctrine on the written scriptures which are profitable for instruction in righteousness.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

So when John says:

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Christ’s Words are the “Truth” John speaks of in this verse. Here is what Christ said of men who teach His truth:

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

It is obvious from the sum of God’s Word that those who think 1 John 2:27 negates any need for those who “do and teach… these commandments” are actually guilty of breaking Christ’s commandment to “do and teach these commandments” is “thinking above what is written” and will “be called least in the kingdom of heaven.”

The revelation of Jesus Christ is given to us by the symbolic “seven angels” or seven messengers of the seven churches of God. Those messengers, and all who support them, are those who “do and teach the commandments” of Christ and His Father.

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Rev 1:17 I Fell At His Feet As Dead

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:

Updated October 18, 2023

Introduction

Last week we saw that this whole revelation of Jesus Christ is really the living out of the admonition contained in the third verse of this chapter one:

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.

We saw all the scriptures which demonstrate that the “one on the throne” in chapter four is Christ, “by whom and for whom all things were created.” We also saw the expansion of Christ into “the Christ” when “the lamb” came and took the book out of Christ’s hand to open its seven seals and to “show these things” in this book to those who would be “keeping the things written therein.” In other words, Christ, which means God’s anointed, gave this book to His Christ, His anointed, who “fill up in [their bodies] what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ.” ‘The Christ’ is the seven angels of the seven churches who are all in the right hand of Christ and to whom this whole book is addressed and which seven angels open the seven seals, which include the seven trumpets of the seventh seal and the seven last plagues of the seventh trumpet, thus “show[ing] us these things.” Here again are the verses which make this clear:

1Co 12:12 For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the one body, being many, are one body, thus also is the Christ. (CLV)

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

So it is John and his “fellowservants” who keep the things written therein who will be “showing these things” to the seven churches. Here are the verses which tell us this is so:

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in 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.

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angels which showed John the judgment of the great whore of chapters 17-18]. 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.

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

The seven angels who show all this revelation of Jesus Christ to John, are telling John, and you and me, that they ARE his fellowservants, of John’s brothers, “and of them which keep the sayings of this book.” In other words, John is being told that he and his fellowsevants ARE these seven angels whose commission is to show these things to the seven churches.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.

Now we will learn that the only way to become John’s fellowservant and keep the sayings of this book and find our lives, is if we first forfeit our lives and are crucified with Christ and become dead at His feet. “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.” This verse of scripture is just a confirmation of all of these scriptures:

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.

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.

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For in that he died [and we “in Him” (vs 4)], he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth [and we “in Him” (vs 5)], he liveth unto God.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh [“We are His flesh” (Eph 5:30)] through death [“I die daily” (1Co 1:31) “I am crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20) “present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Rom 12:1)], to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

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;

So as we keep the things that are written therein, we must “fall at His feet as dead.” We are “at His feet” because we place ourselves, and our flesh, “under His feet” in the same sense as we are the earth under His feet as His footstool.

1Ch 28:2  Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:

It is an interesting thing to note that King David refers to God’s house of rest as also being His footstool. It is all Christ. What we are seeing is that the secret which has been hidden from the generations and from the eons is “Christ in us.”

Psa 99:5  Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

This is a privilege reserved for the overcomers and for those who “keep the things written therein.”

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.

We are both His temple, “the house of [His] rest” and “His footstool”, before whom our enemies will bow themselves to Christ.

That is what it means to “fall at His feet as dead.”

And he laid his right hand upon me

What does it mean to have Christ’s right hand laid upon us? We have just covered what is the symbolism of Christ’s right hand, and we saw that it was the symbol of His power, His righteousness and His salvation.

We saw that being held in Christ’s right hand is to be in His Father’s hand and to be in His power, favor and protection, just as Christ and those in Christ are protected by His Father.

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my [right] hand [Rom 1:20].
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

That is what is meant when we are told that the seven stars are in Christ’s right hand. What is meant by the right hand being laid upon us?

We saw last week the significance of Jacob laying his right hand upon Ephraim, when Joseph had arranged for His father’s right hand to be laid on Manasseh. What we learned from that event was that the physical ‘firstborn’ will be ruled over by the spiritual firstborn. That is the significance of the younger son being greater than the elder son. What we learned is that those on whom Christ lays His right hand will be the first to become “that which is spiritual” ahead of those who would appear to be the firstborn of God:

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.

That is what we are being told here. We are being told what Jacob told Joseph:

Gen 48:17  And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18  And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
Gen 48:19  And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

We are all like Joseph here and like Abraham when God revealed to Abraham that Abraham’s first born was not to be his heir. “O that Ishmael might live before thee” and “Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head” is the refrain of us all as we struggle to let go of the things of our flesh:

Gen 17:18  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

We cry out for the preservation of our flesh:

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

While the flesh serves a great and vital service to the man of the spirit, nevertheless, God has no covenant with the flesh. His covenant is with the risen new man, the man of promise, the man of the spirit who is symbolized by Isaac, not Ishmael.

Gen 17:20  And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21  But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

Both Ishmael and Esau developed into kingdoms with cities and kings, many hundreds of years before Jacob came up out of Egypt to establish the kingdom of Israel. This tells us that our flesh always prospers and matures into a “great nation” (Gen 17:20) long before our spiritual man even begins to mature, which places our spirit at the mercy of our flesh for a very long time. Jacob bowed down to Esau seven times, as he was returning to Canaan from Haran.

Gen 33:3  And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

Jacob also called Esau “My lord” seven times as he was returning to Canaan from Haran (Gen 32:4-5, 18, Gen 33:8, 13-15).

Gen 32:4  And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:

Gen 32:18  Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.

So it is within us. We cannot be the temple of both God’s truth and at the same time be the temple of the lies of Babylon. We all bow down to our flesh before we overcome it. Though the battle may seem to last a lifetime, only one man will, in the end, be our master:

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

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.

We thank God through “Jesus Christ our Lord” that by Him laying His right hand upon us, we are able to overcome Esau within us, and “No man will snatch us out of His hand.”

Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

It is knowing Christ that makes us “the son of the free woman.” It is Christ, and knowing Him, that makes us free:

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

We “cast out the bondwoman and her son” when we reject the heresies of the bondwoman and her son. That is when we are “made free” by the power of the Truth of the word of God. That is what is meant by “He laid his right hand upon me.” That is why Christ then tells us:

Saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Nothing relieves us of fear and anxiety like the deep realization that Christ is both the first and the last. Those are His words, not mine. It is Christ who tells us that He is both the first and the last. It is He who is, who was and who will be. He repeats this twelve times in this book of Revelation. That is just how important it is to understand this Truth.

Now if Christ is “the first and the last” as He claims, what does that say about these verses of scripture:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

The first is but a necessary shadow of the last. Is Christ telling us that He is both? What does “I am the first and the last” mean? What “I am the first and the last” means is this:

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

God created the heaven and the earth “in the beginning.” It so happens that the Hebrew Word for ‘beginning’ is ‘reshiyth.’ Here is how this word ‘reshiyth‘ is translated later in the book of Leviticus.

Lev 23:10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

The “sheaf of the firstfruits” is Christ, and the word here for firstfruits is ‘reshiyth.’ That is right; the word ‘beginning’ is also translated as firstfruits. Both are Christ. God created all things “in the beginning,” that is, God created all things “in Christ.” So when Paul tells the Pagan Athenians…

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.

…He is referring to Christ. It is “in the beginning…in the sheaf of the firstfruits…in Christ, that the whole creation lives and moves and has its being. Paul goes to great lengths to make that very point:

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

Christ was before Abraham was because He was before Adam.

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

“It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.” It should also please and comfort each of us to know that even the wicked are made for the day of evil, and that “all things (including the day of evil within each of us) work together for good to them that are called 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 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.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

So it is that when we come to see ourselves as dead at His feet, He will always lay his powerful right hand, the hand with the seven angels and the book with seven seals in it, and He will tell us ‘Yea though [you] walk through the valley of the shadow of death… fear not, I am the first and the last… fear no evil, for I am with you.’

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:

Conclusion

We have seen in this study that we must all “fall at Christ’s feet as dead.” We must all place ourselves under our Savior, and consider this physical life as being lost so we can find life in the spirit of Christ. We are to be “crucifed with Christ” and “fall into the ground and die” before we can hope to bring forth fruit. We must come to see ourselves as “dead to sin, but alive to righteousness,” before anyone will ever be caused to come and worship at our feet.

We have seen the spiritual significance of Christ laying his right hand upon us and making us to become, the “younger brother… that which is spiritual” which always comes after, and in the end rules over, “that which is natural.” We saw, too, that having Christ’s right hand laid upon us delivers us from the power of the Adversary to deceive and delude us.

Consequently, since we are at Christ’s feet as dead and since He has laid his right hand upon us, we can now see clearly that we have nothing to fear because He is the first and the last, and that even our sins and transgressions will all work to fulfill in us His predestined goal for our good.

Psa 74:16  The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.

Psa 80:17  Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

Psa 139:7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9  [If] I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Psa 139:11  If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

God has everything written in His book, and He tells us, “Fear not, I am the first and the last.”

Next study, Lord willing, we will cover verse 18, and maybe, because we have already covered so much here at the beginning of the book of Revelation, we might even cover more. Here is the rest of this first chapter:

Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Rev 1:19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Here are some very wise words from our beloved brother Steve Morris, which will assist us as we go forward in our studies here in the book of Revelation. Thank you, Steve, for sharing this study with all of us:

Little Words

Who in his mind has not probed the black water? – John Steinbeck, East of Eden

If you are like me, amazed by the intricacy with which God has woven the warp and woof of His creation, then read on. It is as if God beckons us to explore further, into the deep pools of the water of His word to give us opportunity to glorify Him in ever increasing ways.

I would like to examine for you four little words. They are all prepositions in the Greek language, none longer than three letters. To begin, let us look at Romans 11:36, a seemingly short and simple verse that encompasses the whole of the creation of God. In the KJV it is as follows:

“For of him and through him and to him are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen.”

A couple of introductory comments and then we can address the prepositions, which I have underlined for identification. First, the verb forms of ‘to be’ that are in italics are not actually words written in the Greek text but implied, and thus placed in the translation. Second, the phrase ‘all things’ is, in my opinion, an unfortunate translation into English because some people tend to differentiate what are things and what are not. There should be nothing left out of this idea so it would be best stated simply “all”.

Now, to the prepositions; as you can see I have identified them as the English words ‘of’, ‘through’ and ‘to’. I’ll make a little chart for you as sometimes it is easier to see relationships when they are illustrated.

English     Greek    Usage

OF	EK	SOURCE
THROUGH	DIA	AGENCY
TO	EIS	GOAL

Now remember, Paul is talking about “all” here in this verse. So, the source of all, the Greek word ‘ek’ (pronounced with a short ‘e’ as in ‘wet’) is translated here as ‘of.’ Sometimes ‘ek’ is translated ‘out of’ or ‘from’ which makes it clearer that God, who is the subject of this passage (referenced in verse 32), is the source of all. ‘Dia’ (pronounced ‘dee- ah’) is translated through and is clearly a statement of transition or agency, God being the one who effects all. ‘Eis’ (pronounced like ‘ice’) is translated ‘to’ but also as ‘into’ making God the ultimate goal of all which Paul says in 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.”

What I have just illustrated and described to you is a process. There are other verses in scripture which describe this process and can, God willing, help us get a better look at this process.

The next verse I want us to look at is Hebrews 2:10 “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, perfecting (aorist verb) the captain of their salvation through (‘dia‘) sufferings.” The ‘him’ of this verse is the same as in our starting verse in Romans, God the Father, and it echoes what we just saw. As we delve a little deeper into the sentence, this verse becomes quite interesting.

There are two ‘all things’ phrases and in the Greek they are practically identical, one following the other. The prepositions are the same, the word ‘dia,’ which we saw before translated as ‘through’ and expressing the idea of agency, like ‘water through a pipe.’ There is only one letter in each four Greek word phrase that is different in the two, and it is in the pronouns, both translated ‘whom’ in most Bible versions. To get really technical, one pronoun is genitive and the other accusative. The translators have chosen to translate the word ‘dia‘ in quite a few different ways: ‘by’, ‘for’, ‘on account of’, ‘because of’, and ‘through’. All of these express agency in some fashion. Because of the pronouns, I think Wuest’s translation is closest where “For whom” is literally “on account of whom,” that is, for whose sake all things exist. God is the final reason for all things. “By whom” is literally “through whose agency” all things came into being.

However one chooses to translate it, this sentence has two personalities in view; God the father and God the son. I find it instructive in that it helps me to see the dual agency (two ‘dias‘) that are involved in the creation of all.

Our next verse helps to make that point a little clearer: 1Co 8:6  “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” The phrases here are of (‘ek‘, out of) the Father and by (‘dia‘, through) the Lord Jesus Christ. The well known introduction to the Gospel of John in which the Word of God is introduced confirms Christ’s agency. Joh 1:3 “All things were made by (“dia“, through) him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

So far we have examined three prepositions in the process of the source, agency and goal of everything (all).  Now I want to introduce a final passage into this process which will bring in our fourth preposition; ‘en‘ (pronounced with a short ‘e’ sound) which can be translated as ‘in’, ‘by’ or ‘among’. It is the same word that starts off the Gospel of John: In (‘en‘) the beginning was the word”.

We are going to look at a passage from Colossians which I hope will serve to bring all this together. There are many prepositions in these six verses, and I am going to embolden and underline those at which I want us to look. There are seven of them.

Col 1:15-20 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by (‘en‘) him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by (‘dia‘) him, and for (‘eis‘) him: and he is before all things, and by (‘en‘) him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in (‘en‘) him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by (‘dia‘) him to reconcile all things unto himself; by (‘dia‘) him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Our subject in this entire passage is the Lord Jesus Christ. In these verses, we have described for us the participation that Christ had with the Father in the creation of all.

By way of reminder, we started out in Romans with God being the first cause, the source of all as well as the agency and goal of all things. Here in our verses in Colossians you can see the Lord Jesus Christ as the agent in the word ‘dia‘ (which we addressed earlier) emphasized three times and especially strongly at the end of the passage. You will also notice that our word for the goal of the creation of all, the Greek word ‘eis‘, is translated “for him” in this passage. These two statements echo what we have seen in the other passages, namely that Christ, along with the Father, is the agency of the creation of all, as well as the goal. In what we have seen however, the Father God Himself reserves the place as source, as the title ‘Father’ describes.

Now to the little Greek word ‘en‘. In the passage cited above, it is translated into two different English words; ‘by’ and ‘in’. The word itself has the primary idea of a fixed position in time, space or even state of being and as such is most frequently translated in the New Testament by the English words ‘among’ or ‘at.’ Those two English words adequately convey the idea of being in a fixed state, as in being stationary. The first two of the three occurrences of this word ‘en‘ are a reference to Christ the creator and the things He created. So if we apply the idea of a fixed place in time, space or state to Christ, we see the echo of Him who “is, was and will be”, the immutable and unchangeable God. Apply it to all He created and they are and remain in Him, the source of all that has been created.

The third occurrence of our word ‘en‘ is translated “it is pleasing that ‘ in‘ him should all the fullness dwell.” ‘In Him” is a fixed state of being, or to put it more Biblically, a place of rest. Christ ‘is, was and will be’ at rest in His Father, and His Father, the Godhead is at rest in Him. The time will come when the ‘all’ will be at rest in them.

Steve Morris

Hi Mike:       
Will the sheep be the called in the second resurrection?                       
Thanks so much, R____

Hi R____,
Thank you for your question. You ask:
“Will the sheep be the called in the second resurrection?”
The answer is, no. In ‘Bible- speak, the sheep will be placed on Christ’s right hand, and the goats are on His left hand.

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [ his] sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

In ‘Bible- speak’ the sheep are set at Christ’s right hand and inherit a kingdom. Who are we told are at Christ’s right hand? Who inherits a kingdom and rules with Christ?

Mat 22:44  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Yes, Christ is sitting at His Father’s right hand. But where are those who are in Christ?

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

There it is! “the church” is the fullness of Christ who is the fullness of His Father, and we are all therefore at the right hand of God, because we are seated with Christ in the heavens, even now. Let’s look again at verse 20:

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Where does that put those who are in Christ at this time?

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

So those who receive a kingdom to rule over are even now “seated with Christ… at the right hand of the Father, in the heavens.” Are those who receive this kingdom in the first resurrection, or are they in the second resurrection? What do the scriptures say?

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.

Christ told His apostles that He appointed them a kingdom just as His Father had appointed Him a kingdom:

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

Those who receive that kingdom are those in that blessed and holy first resurrection, who shall reign with Him a thousand years. Where are those people while in this flesh? They are seated with Christ in spirit at the Father’s right hand.
That is the sheep. All others are called “goats.”
I hope that helps you to see who God’s Word calls sheep and who God’s Word calls goats. Let me know if you still have a question.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike