“The glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter” Part 3

(Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God) (Pro 25:17-28)

[Study Aired February 5, 2026]

Pro 25:17  Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
Pro 25:18  A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
Pro 25:19  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
Pro 25:20  As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
Pro 25:21  If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Pro 25:22  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
Pro 25:23  The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
Pro 25:24  It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.
Pro 25:25  As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Pro 25:26  A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
Pro 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
Pro 25:28  He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

For the most part this last section of Proverbs 25 is talking about the interactions that we have with others in this life, and the examples given reveal that our walk is our conversation and way of life at all times, whether in fellowship or at work, wherever the Lord has us we are called to “Know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God”, which is the temple that we are, going with us wherever the Lord leads us (Rom 8:14-16).

God is with us always, and so we are always from His perspective, raised in heavenly places together and therefore in the house of God. The world thinks the house of God is a place we build for God, however we know what the scriptures say regarding the things that we build versus the things that God is building within us (1Ch 29:13-15, Isa 66:1-2, Psa 127:1, Eph 2:6).

1Ch 29:13  Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
1Ch 29:14  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
1Ch 29:15  For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

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

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

Pro 25:17  Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.

Our “neighbour’s house” represents their temple, where they’re working out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12-13), or where they’re living and moving and have their being in Christ (Act 17:22-28) unaware that God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). Paul’s approach was a gift from God as he was given the wisdom and discretion to know how to approach the men of Athens.

Act 17:22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Act 17:23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Act 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
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.

We have no dominion over the measure of faith the Lord has given anyone (2Co 1:24, 1Jn 5:4, Rev 14:11-12), and this proverb implies that when we don’t remove our foot from someone else’s temple we can inadvertently come across as wanting to have dominion over their faith. As always, it takes God’s spirit, His discretion and wisdom, to know the right balance in all things, both with those who are unconverted, and those who are superstitious as these Athenians were. The more we grow in the mind of Christ the better equipped we will be in knowing when to remove our foot from our neighbour’s house, and when to speak, and when not to speak (1Ti 4:16, Pro 26:4-5).

When we see that everything is dependent on the faith of Christ working within us (Php 2:12-13), the discretion we show when we witness to others, will be manifest in how we “Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.”(Luk 9:5, Tit 3:10, 2Jn 1:9-11)

2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Pro 25:18  A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Not withdrawing our foot at the appointed Godly time turns our witness into a “a false witness against his neighbour”. We are at that point becoming like Peter, “a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow” when using the word of God without discretion and cutting off the ear of those ‘other servants’ and thinking we are doing some great service (Luk 22:49-51). Thankfully God can repair the damaged ear for another day.

Luk 22:49  When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?
Luk 22:50  And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.
Luk 22:51  And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

Pro 25:19  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

We are of the generation who have no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3) and do not know even Christ after the flesh (2Co 5:16).

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.(“whose praise is not of men, but of God” Rom 2:28-29)

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

We are not looking to men any longer for deliverance in time of trouble, but rather are telling each other to ‘follow me as I follow Christ’, as we look to the Lord together, and resolve our differences through the multitude of counsellors, which is the way that God has ordained that we resolve conflict in the body of Christ.

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

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

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

The unfaithful man is you and me, our flesh, and it is Christ alone who can be Christ, and so we try the spirits in every situation to discern God’s will in any matter (1Jn 4:1), and in doing this we will do away with our trusting in the flesh which is akin to trusting in a “broken tooth, and a foot out of joint”.

You can’t eat spiritual food with a broken spiritual approach, and we can’t walk a Godly walk if we are leaning unto our own understanding, upon a foot out of joint, which is what all flesh is in God’s sight (Rom 3:10). When we acknowledge and accept our out-of-joint hip, and leg, or foot, or whatever physical infirmity God has placed upon us (2Co 12:8-10), we are then given His power to overcome by recognizing how to put our confidence in God alone.

2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Pro 25:20  As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

This is an admonition to know how to behave ourselves in the house of mourning, which is what the house of God is (Ecc 7:2). The garment we take away from others is their spirit of mourning that is needful and necessary for the time that that person is being exercised with the blueness of that wound that is actually bringing healing (Pro 20:30).

There is  right way to comfort each other is what this proverb is explaining, and as we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2Pe 3:18), we will grow in becoming greater comforters as a result of the comfort that God gives us in our times of sorrow (2Co 1:3-4). With Christ’s mind growing in us we will not take away others’ comfort in cold weather, and with the best of intentions sing songs to an heavy heart, whose hearts’ heaviness does not need that song at that time.

Imagine coming up to someone in their hour of great grief and saying, “oh you’ll be okay, you can get over this”, no, that’s singing a song at the wrong time, putting vinegar in baking soda (nitre) so to speak. Lord willing we will always be given greater sensitivity toward each other and learn by God’s hand how to be the proper comforters that He can turn us into, knowing that the affliction of the widow is really a parable that speaks of the entire body of Christ’s need to be sensitive to one another’s dying daily mourning process that we are going through.

Pro 25:21  If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Pro 25:22  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

In one instance if an enemy is having a change of heart, and bringing forth fruit meet unto repentance, they will have a hunger for the word of God, “If thine enemy be hungry”. We don’t turn away our enemy like the church wanted to turn Saul of Tarsus away, but by God changing our hearts, we are then able to give them bread to eat: and if they are thirsty, we give them water to drink: both symbols of the word of God.

God’s elect will be giving bread and water for a thousand years to the world who end up rebelling against the camp of the saints. Our love toward the world is being demonstrated by those actions of giving food and drink, sometimes very physically, or with the word of God, just as Christ loved us while we were yet in our sins (Rom 5:6-10).

Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

In feeding our enemies we have obeyed God’s command to love our enemy, and those very actions may be the turning point for them to acknowledge that God is indeed in this place. Your kindness and love toward your enemy heaps coals upon their head, coals being the word of God that end up destroying the enemy’s false doctrines in his head, if God will permit this (1Pe 4:7-8, Heb 6:3).

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

The reward will come from the LORD, “and the LORD shall reward thee”, for such ordained actions and is explained this way in the books of Jude and James (Jud 1:23-24, Jas 5:19-20).

Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Jas 5:19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins [that is our reward, that is our joy 1Th 2:19-20].

Pro 25:23  The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.

Pro 25:23 A north wind travails forth a downpour, And a clandestine tongue makes a menacing face.” (CLV),
Pro 25:23 As surely as rain blows in from the north, anger is caused by cruel words.  (CEV)

Judgement comes from the north (Jer 50:41, Psa 75:6-7), and its wind comes with driving rain that physically hurts and stings. The wind and rain in this instance typifies the damaging use of God’s word that results in unmerciful judgement, using cruel words instead of a “soft answer” (Pro 15:1, Pro 25:15).

Pro 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Pro 25:15  By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

Positively, when God receives us we are received through his chastening judgement (Heb 12:6) that comes from the north and brings with it spiritual increase from God (1Co 3:6).

Psa 75:6  For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Psa 75:7  But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.(Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28)

Pro 12:18  There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

Pro 15:2  The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

A backbiting tongue is a tongue that speaks maliciously or slanderously about someone. It is a sure way to create discord in the body of Christ and something that God considers an abomination (Pro 6:16-19)

Pro 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18  An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19  A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 25:24  It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

The brawling woman in a wide house is clearly Babylon, whose ecumenical house is very broad or wide and not the narrow way that is only achieved by our communion in the upper room (Luk 22:12), the housetop where we are raised in heavenly places and resting on the corner stone Jesus Christ who God drags us to so that we can achieve that blessed spiritual rest in Him (Joh 6:44, Heb 4:10-11).

Luk 22:12  And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.(1Co 10:16)

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

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Pro 25:25  As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

The far country is the heavenly places that we are now blessed to be together in (Mat 25:14), and ultimately the fullness of the country that we seek is going to be realized in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye (1Co 15:52). The “good news” is the gospel of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is now within, and one day going to be revealed to all the world both within and without (Rev 11:15).

Mat 25:14  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

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.

Pro 25:26  A righteous man falling downH4131 before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

It’s true these things ought not to be so (Jas 3:10-11), but we live by every word of God and therefore we are going to stumble or fall seven times in the wilderness (Pro 24:16) and bring forth the bitter waters of Marah (Exo 15:22-23) that need to be made sweet by the body and blood of Christ (Mar 8:24, Exo 15:25).

Jas 3:10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Jas 3:11  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Exo 15:23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Exo 15:24  And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Exo 15:26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. [this is how the waters can be made sweet within the body of Christ via the holy spirit that washes and cleanses the bride of Christ and delivers us from all our spiritual diseases].

Our prayer is that God will hold us up in His ways.

Psa 17:5  Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slipH4131 not.

The second encampment of the Israelites was ElimH362, which symbolically represents a witness of where God is taking the elect spiritually in this life as we ‘come out of her my people’ (Exo 15:27).

H362 ‘êylim BDB Definition:
Elim = “palms”
1) second encampment of the Israelites after the Exodus
Part of Speech: noun proper locative
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: plural of H352 (From the same as H193; properly strength; hence anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree: – mighty (man) lintel oak post ram tree.)

Exo 15:27  And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

Pro 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
Pro 25:28  He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

In last week’s study we reviewed verse 16, “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it”, which speaks about the measure of faith that we need, and being grateful for what God supplies, knowing that He knows our needs and is teaching us to be content whether we have a little or a lot (2Co 8:15, Exo 16:18, Rom 12:3, Php 4:12). Honey is the symbol for the word of God (Rev 10:10), and we are to eat such as is sufficient for us, operating in the measure of faith that the Lord gives us, lest we find ourselves with this spirit of wanting more honey to glorify our own selves in those things which God says we are to receive in the right measure (Rom 12:3-4).

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

God will always provide what each joint needs to supply in love (Eph 4:16), so that we learn how a many-membered body works together for the church to grow (1Co 12:18), in order that we may “know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15, Joh 13:35).

Together we are learning how to rule over our own individual houses, by the grace of God that teaches us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:12).

Having no rule over our spirit is another way of saying the Lord is not working in our heavens, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”. God’s elect are called to learn to hold fast to the crown of life that God has given unto each of us who love His daily appearing in our heavens, an appearing, or visitation, that gives us the ability to have rule over our spirits, and proper spiritual defenses, the “walls” that keep us safe (Rev 3:11-12, 2Ti 4:8).

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Pro 10:15-32 “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city”

[Study Aired February 13, 2025]

This section of proverbs talks a lot about the mouth and the lips, so I thought it would be instructive to start off with these two contrasting verses, (Mal 2:7, Mat 15:8), that show us the negative and positive application of these words.

Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Little and by little the lips of the elect are being purified (Exo 23:30, Isa 6:7), so that we can lay up treasure in heaven in a “strong city” (Eph 4:26, Heb 11:10) that represents Christ and His christ, where “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Mat 6:19-20, Rev 21:23-27). This is the foundation of good works that we talked about last week that God’s elect are blessed to lay up, as we present our whole lives as living sacrifices unto God (Mal 3:10, Mat 6:33).

Christ is our strong city who enriches our lives with the tree of life, or the book of life, within us. Here are some verses, (Gen 3:24, Pro 3:18, Pro 11:30, Pro 13:12 , Pro 15:4), that demonstrate how we can become spiritually wealthy in the Lord who is “a tree of life”; and the rest of these proverbs in chapter ten reveal the blessing of being God’s elect, with the life of Christ within them now, and what powerful promises and hope we have as a result of God’s mercy being shown to us in this age (Rom 11:31-32) via the relationship that we have with our Father and Christ, “At that day” (Joh 14:20, Joh 17:3).

Pro 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

As long as we are in these earthen vessels, these proverbs will serve to show us the light and dark side of the pillar within us, admonishing us and keeping us spiritually alive and quickened (Joh 6:63) as we are given to rightly divide the message that will “give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Pro 1:4).

Pro 10:15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

A “city” in God’s word represents ‘a church’, and the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Heb 12:23) is where “the rich man’s wealth” is found, the rich man being Christ who is the head of the church that is “his strong city”. We are of course talking about spiritual riches that come in the form of the words of eternal life that Christ gives freely to those who thirst for them (Joh 6:68, Joh 7:37-38).

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.[Mat 5:6]

One day all the world will hunger and thirst for righteousness, and will be brought to acknowledge their own blindness and spiritual poverty that currently has the churches of this world thinking they are rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing (Rev 3:17-18).

Pro 10:16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

Our labour in this life must tend to the life of Christ within each of us (Col 1:27), and if Christ is in us, our love and concern for one another will grow and be reflected in the communion and discipleship we’ve been called to continue in through this life (1Co 10:16-17, Joh 13:35, Joh 8:31-32).

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

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The “fruit of the wicked” needs to be rooted and burnt out of us. The self-centered man in me does not come to serve his body, but looks only to my needs and not the needs of others (Php 2:3-8). That is “the fruit of the wicked to sin”, which is rich toward itself and not sacrificial toward others (Luk 21:1-4, Luk 12:16-21, Mat 25:40, Mat 25:45).

Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Luk 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
Luk 21:2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

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

It is the witness of “two mites” that are put into the treasury (in Luk 21:2 above) that represent the life of Christ within us who is the only one who can give us the power (Php 2:12-13, Rev 11:3) to be presented as living sacrifices [witnesses] who lay down our lives for one and other (Rom 12:1-2, Heb 12:1-2) . The poor widow’s gift is symbolically being laid up in heaven (Mat 6:20-21), whereas the self-righteous many wonderful works that we do in the earth without acknowledging the hand of God in all, is the treasure that is in fact buried in the treasuries of the earth to bear witness against us, where we receive our reward of men in this age (Mat 7:22, Mat 25:25, Mat 25:18, Mat 25:24-30, Mat 6:2).

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is (2Co 4:7), there will your heart [Eze 36:26] be also.

Mat 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? [“Strong delusion”] and in thy name done many wonderful works? [“hid thy talent in the earth”]

Pro 10:17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

Last week we talked about the importance of laying up store, and this proverb is another admonition for us to not grow weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not. Our labours in the Lord are not in vain and the way of life is to keep instruction, and we find our safety in the body of Christ through the counsel that God provides as spiritual meat in due season through the church (Eph 3:10) [“He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction”].

God willing, He will give us that hunger and thirst for righteousness that can come from him alone (Mat 5:6), so that we remain intreatable like a humble child (Jas 3:17, Mat 18:3) not refusing the reproof that God gives every son whom He loves and receives in this life (Pro 10:17). These verses below show the result of being one who receives reproof, or one who becomes hardened through not receiving God’s reproof.

positive reactions to reproof:

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Pro 15:31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

negative reactions to reproof:

Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Pro 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.

both negative and positive reactions to reproof:

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Pro 13:18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

Pro 15:5 A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Pro 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Pro 17:10 A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.

Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

This last verse regarding ‘reproof’ reminds us that “all the promises of God in him are yea” (2Co 1:20), and are all profitable unto the one that God is working with in this age:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Pro 10:18 He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.

God sees our hearts, and we are deluding ourselves if we think otherwise [like Adam and Eve trying to hide from God in the garden of Eden]. Hiding hatred is akin to having a root of bitterness that goes unexamined. God must grant us to be introspective and examine ourselves that no root of bitterness, toward God or man exists in our heavens (Eph 4:31, Heb 12:15)

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

We lie to ourselves when we don’t see the need to go to our brother ‘between you and him alone’, or if we refuse to confess our faults when we’ve done wrong to someone. Lying lips have to be purged by God in this life if we are going to be profitable servants who don’t slander. ‘Slander’ is the exact opposite of covering each other’s sins, and such foolish behavior is destructive and hated of our Father (Pro 6:16, Pro 6:19)

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Pro 10:19  When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise. (NET)

Another couple of verses that correlate with this proverb are these: (Ecc 5:2, 1Co 14:19, Mat 23:12).

Ecc 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God (When words abound, transgression is inevitable): for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few (he that refraineth his lips is wise).

1Co 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased (When words abound, transgression is inevitable); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (he that refraineth his lips is wise).

Pro 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

A repentant heart, a contrite and broken heart (Isa 66:2), is someone who has a tongue of “choice silver” because of the fiery process of repentance that they have endured making it possible for living waters to spring forth from their bellies, symbolized by the “five words” spoken with the understanding mind of Christ (1Co 14:19). God is producing rivers of living waters through each joint that supplies, as He works in our lives and destroys the heart of the wicked that is of “little worth” within us (1Co 3:17) as it defiles the temple of God.

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Pro 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Many are called, but few are chosen to have our initially defiled lips purified in this age so that in time the purified bride of Christ will “feed many”. In order for this to happen, the fool within me who thinks he can obtain the kingdom by my own might and power, by my own wisdom, must be destroyed daily so that the living waters can spring forth via the power of God (1Co 2:3-6).

Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

The spiritual blessing of the Lord enriches our life and leads to a liberty that cannot be produced in Babylon where we are promised liberty but it is never found because of our inability at that time to be led of the spirit of God, where there will be true liberty (2Pe 2:19-20, Rom 8:14-15, 2Co 3:17).

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.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

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

“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it”, because He has promised that He will meet our every need (Rom 5:10) via the riches that God supplies through Christ (Php 4:19).

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

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

Pro 10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

The wisdom of Christ within the body of Christ keeps us from the mischievous spirits of this world where we once ran to the same excess (Eph 2:1-5) following the pulls of our foolish flesh which we must still continue to keep under all our days in order to be a man of understanding who has wisdom and knows how to make war against the powers and principalities we wrestle against by God’s power within us (Eph 6:12, Zec 4:6).

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

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

Pro 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

Perfect love casts out fear (Rom 5:1-4, 1Jn 4:18), and it is a curse to have debilitating fear in this life. Scripture shows us that victory over fear is a gift from God who sheds his love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5-6).

He does not always take away the circumstances that may cause us to start to fear, but when we pray and come boldly before the throne of God, “the desire of the righteous shall be granted”. That desire to overcome fear is something God will grant His children and freely give to us, as we boldly face our fears and conquer them through Christ (Rom 8:28, Rom 8:32). That carnal Adamic fear is replaced with a Godly fear of our Creator, and with such a spirit within us, we are as Christ was (1Jn 4:17) and we are heard of God (Heb 5:7).

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Pro 10:25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

It takes the Lord raising the storm in our life (Psa 107:24-25, Eph 2:10), “the whirlwind^H5492 that does pass”, to create the foundation of Christ in our hearts and minds, “but the righteous is an everlasting foundation” (Mat 16:18).

Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

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

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

Whirlwind H5492 sûphâh soo-faw’
From H5486; a hurricane: – Red Sea, storm, tempest, whirlwind, Red sea.
Total KJV occurrences: 16

Pro 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

Both experiences of vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes are indicators of what the sluggard produces spiritually. Both ingredients are irritants, one to the teeth and the other to the eyes. Vinegar  symbolizes the word of God that has been improperly stored, not preserved correctly by the slothful man in me who forgets God’s words of reproof and cannot produce spiritual meat in due season (wine gone bad). Smoke is produced more abundantly when a fire is not kindled properly, which produces an unclean environment, just like a wick that has not been trimmed (Mat 25:7). Christ sends our first man Adam into the wilderness and this is all we can produce at first, vinegar and smoke, until the Lord gives us power to do otherwise.

Here’s an interesting translation from the [CAB] version: Pro 10:26 As a sour grape is hurtful to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so iniquity hurts those that practice it.

It is the iniquity in our lives which is self-righteousness that causes us to produce these types of fruit, vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, that reveal that it is our works being manifested and not the power of God that preserves us (Php 3:9, 1Co 2:5).

Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Pro 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

God is going to preserve His saints by doing a quick work in the body of Christ. The quick work is the destruction of our old man in this life, “the years of the wicked shall be shortened”. The result of this adamic destruction in this age is that our days will be prolonged because of our fear of God working in our lives so that we can be heard of our Father, we can be judged in this age, we can be dragged to Christ, and we can inherit the Kingdom and be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17).

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

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

Our hope of glory is in Christ (Col 1:27), and we understand that our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts (Jer 17:9) shall perish and not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50). This is “The hope of the righteous” that makes us ‘glad’.

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

Pro 10:29 The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

If we truly believe that Christ is our righteousness, our strength, our wealth, then the workers of iniquity, which is self-righteousness will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming into our lives (2Th 2:8). God must grant us that we decrease and that our Lord increase, and if He is building that spiritual house within us in this age, that is what is going to happen (Joh 3:30, Psa 127:1).

Pro 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

This proverb confirms that there is no rapture, as we’re reminded the “righteous shall never be removed” however the wicked shall not inherit the earth. Inwardly this is the main point for God’s elect today, as we are called to notice the foundation of Christ’s life being formed within the body of Christ that shall never be removed (Mat 16:18, Mat 24:40-42).

Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Pro 10:31 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

Christ has to cut out the froward tongue in our lives if we are going to become just stewards of His word who bring forth wisdom. It’s not just our tongue that must be cut out (Mat 5:29-30), but anything that is going to hinder our reaching the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Php 3:14) that awaits those who have respect unto the recompense of the reward and demonstrate that respect by holding “fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Heb 10:23).

Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

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

Pro 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

We are naturally froward unless God is humbling us by the life of Christ within us who makes it possible for us to be accepted of our Father (Eph 1:6), through the judgement and trials that humble us. Christ is the one who delivers us daily from our otherwise froward spirit, humbling our hearts through affliction, persecution, tribulation and suffering so that His power can rest upon us and we can be found with His righteousness in our lives and not our own (Php 3:9). That is the narrow way God’s elect have been called unto that is found through a lifetime of judgement (1Pe 4:16-19) which will produce great spiritual riches within the body of Christ, [“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city” (Psa 19:13-14)].

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

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:

Psa 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Amen!

The Book of Romans, Part 1 – Introduction

[Study Aired June 13, 2023]

Roman 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Roman 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Roman 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Roman 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Roman 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Roman 1:6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
Roman 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Roman 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

The book of Romans is one of thirteen letters written by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament of the Bible. Considered one of the most important writings in the Bible, it presents a comprehensive and systematic explanation of the gospel message.

Thirteen is a significant number in scripture meaning “Rebellion” which Paul deals with in his writings.

Romans 13:1-2 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Titus 3:1-2 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

Ephesians 6:5-6 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul warns us to not rebel against the world. We are commanded to live a peaceable life as much as possible.

Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

The Roman letter addresses the believers in Rome, both Jewish and Gentile Christians, and it covers a wide range of topics. Here is a summary of the key themes I plan to review for the study series of Romans:

God’s Righteous Judgment

Paul discusses God’s righteous judgment. He highlights that those who persist in unrepentant hearts treasure up wrath for themselves. God will give to each person according to their deeds.

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

Sin and Justification

Paul highlights the universal problem of sin. He emphasizes that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, have fallen short of God’s glory and are in need of salvation. Paul explains that righteousness and justification cannot be obtained through men’s efforts or adherence to the law, but rather through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Salvation by Faith

Paul emphasizes that salvation is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ. He emphasizes that faith in Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection is the means by which individuals are justified and reconciled to God. This salvation is a gift of God, received by faith apart from works.

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

The Role of the Law

Paul addresses the relationship between faith and the law of the Jews. He explains that the law was given to reveal sin and highlight the need for a Savior. He emphasizes that no one can be justified by following the law alone, as salvation comes through faith in Christ.

Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.

The Power of the holy spirit

Paul teaches about the transformative work of the holy spirit in the lives of believers. He explains that through the indwelling of the spirit, believers are empowered to live a new life, free from the bondage of sin and able to bear spiritual fruit.

Romans 8:9-11 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

God’s Sovereign Plan

Paul delves into God’s redemptive plan for both Jews and Gentiles. He explains that God has not rejected His people, the Jews, but has extended salvation to the Gentiles as well. He emphasizes that God’s plan is based on His mercy, and that all believers, regardless of their background, are part of God’s people.

Romans 3:29-30 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Living a Transformed Life

Paul provides practical instructions for living, including loving one another, submitting to governing authorities, and exercising spiritual gifts within the church. He emphasizes the importance of unity among believers.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.

The Importance of Love

Paul emphasizes the significance of love in our lives. He encourages us to love one another and fulfill the law through acts of love.

Romans 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The book of Romans addresses fundamental topics such as sin, salvation, justification, the law, the holy spirit, and God’s redemptive plan. Romans presents a thorough understanding of these subjects, emphasizing the transformative power of faith in Jesus Christ. Through its teachings, the book provides a detailed perspective on the core principles of Christ’s doctrines.

Highlighting the faith of Abraham as an example of justification by faith and not by works. Paul emphasizes that the promise of God’s grace and righteousness extends to all who have faith, whether they are of the law (Jews) or of the faith of Abraham (Gentiles). It emphasizes Abraham’s unwavering faith in God’s promises, despite the impossible circumstances. The following passage shows that Abraham’s righteousness was not based on his own works but was imputed to him through his faith in God’s ability to fulfill His promises.

Romans 4:16-22 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, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Here are our verses for review.

Roman 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Roman 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Roman 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

In these verses, Paul introduces himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and an apostle who has been set apart for the proclamation of the gospel of God. He emphasizes that the gospel he proclaims is not a novel idea but a fulfillment of the promises made by God through His prophets in the holy scriptures. Specifically, Paul highlights the significance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world as a descendant of David.

2 Samuel 7:12-13 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee [David], which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever.

These verses speak of God’s promise to David that his descendant will establish an eternal kingdom. It foreshadows the lineage of Jesus, who was a descendant of David and would fulfill this promise.

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

This prophecy in Isaiah foretells the birth of a child who will be called Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” It points to the miraculous birth of Christ, who would come into the world as the Son of God.

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

This verse shows that a ruler will come from Bethlehem. It signifies the birthplace and the Christ, who would be the ruler of Israel and whose existence is ages of the ages.

These Old Testament verses help to establish the connection between the promises made by God’s prophets and the fulfillment of those promises in Jesus Christ, who descended from David according to the flesh. They highlight the divine plan that was foretold in the scriptures and now unfolded in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Roman 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Roman 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Roman 1:6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
Roman 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Roman 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

In these verses, Paul continues to establish the foundation of his message in the book of Romans. He declares that Jesus Christ has been revealed as the Son of God with power through His resurrection from the dead. This resurrection confirms His divine nature and authority, demonstrating that He is the Son of God. Paul acknowledges that it is through Jesus Christ that believers have received grace and apostleship. This grace empowers them to live in obedience to the faith and to carry out the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to all nations. He addresses the believers in Rome, affirming that they are among those who have been called by Jesus Christ. Paul recognizes them as beloved by God and called to be saints, offering them grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He expresses gratitude to God for the reputation of their faith, which has become well-known throughout the world.

Acts 13:33: God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

Psalms 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

This verse affirms that Jesus Christ, through His resurrection, has been declared and confirmed as the Son of God. It refers to the fulfillment of the prophecy in the second psalm, emphasizing the divine declaration of Jesus’ Sonship through His resurrection.

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

This verse emphasizes the concept of grace and its significance in salvation. It reinforces the idea that believers receive grace from God, not as a result of their own efforts, but as a gift. It aligns with Paul’s statement that believers have received grace through Jesus Christ.

The gift of grace is freely give but it is through chastening.

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

Romans 8:28-30 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. 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. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

The verses in Romans shed light on the remarkable reality of being summoned by Jesus Christ. They emphasize that those whom God foreknew and predestined, He also called and justified. These passages reveal God’s active involvement in reaching out to believers, initiating the call, and securing their justification. They provide the assurance that God is the one who takes the lead in dragging people to Himself and ensuring their ultimate glorification.

Here are the verses for our next study.

Rom 1:9  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 
Rom 1:10  Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. 
Rom 1:11  For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 
Rom 1:12  That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. 
Rom 1:13  Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 
Rom 1:14  I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 
Rom 1:15  So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 
Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 
Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

2Ki 24:1-20  “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth” – (Mat 23:35)

[Study Aired May 4, 2023]

2Ki 24:1  In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 
2Ki 24:2  And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
2Ki 24:3  Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 
2Ki 24:4  And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. 
2Ki 24:5  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 
2Ki 24:6  So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 24:7  And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 
2Ki 24:8  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2Ki 24:9  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 
2Ki 24:10  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 
2Ki 24:11  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
2Ki 24:12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
2Ki 24:13  And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 
2Ki 24:14  And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 
2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 
2Ki 24:17  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 
2Ki 24:18  Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2Ki 24:19  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 
2Ki 24:20  For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

This chapter of 2 Kings discusses how Judah is taken into captivity, and it typifies for God’s elect the severity of God’s wrath upon our Adamic nature (Rom 11:21-22) that is identified by Christ as being guilty of “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Mat 23:35). It is through God’s goodness we are being judged and led to repentance (Rom 2:4), and it takes these seven plagues poured out upon us today, spoken of in Revelation 15:8, to have Christ enter our temple (1Co 3:16, Col 1:27). It is cleansed through a sanctification process (Joh 17:17) that washes us from our sins and iniquities by the flesh and blood of Christ (Joh 6:55) making it possible for us to go on to perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32). Christ never sinned but identifies with this process of overcoming and is the author and finisher of it in each member of the body of Christ (Heb 12:1-2, Rom 12:1-2, Rom 5:10).

Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 

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

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, [2Co 3:18] and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled [“his goodness“].

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

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The final destruction of all flesh with Gog and Magog is the physical natural event that precedes the final destruction of all carnal thinking in the lake of fire, which is the time when those “seven plagues” will be poured out on all of humanity (Rom 1:20). The spiritually carnal minds of humanity will reason in glorified bodies (1Co 15:40) that they have done many wonderful works (Mat 7:22) and are not worthy of a judgment unto condemnation. Like all yet unconverted minds it is impossible to behold “the goodness and severity of God” and equate that goodness with a good work which requires God’s “forbearance and longsuffering” until we go through the process of judgment being accomplished by grace through faith (Col 1:27, Rom 8:9, Eph 2:8). That relationship of knowing Him in the spirit (Act 9:5) and no longer after the flesh comes at a miraculous appointed time (Joh 14:20), each man in his own order (1Co 15:23-24).

The main and hope-filled message to be taken from this chapter in 2 Kings is that if we are bound to the altar (Psa 118:27), God will receive His sons and cleanse our temples with a forbearing and longsuffering spirit that will do whatever it takes to wipe away the refuge of lies in our heavens (Heb 12:26-29, Rom 5:10). God sees clearly where we are in our spiritual growth and knows those things that are yet binding us to the earth. He has the power to destroy those things (Heb 12:27) and keep us bound to the altar (Joh 8:36).

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

We are admonished to not despise this process of overcoming this marred vessel that is being made anew as we die daily (Jer 18:4), which process is very graphically typified for us with the nation of Judah with all its failing kings and backsliding spirit that ultimately brings God’s great wrath upon the nation. When we seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness (Mat 6:33), we are tried by our Father who is a consuming fire, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom [by seeking it first (Mat 6:33)] which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.” God sets the stage for all our battles in life and provides the strength we need through Christ to go through the fiery trials, which is the grace [favor upon His children] that produces a new vessel which can “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Num 14:9). We need only acknowledge our sins in that process (Psa 32:5, Jer 3:13-14).

Psa 32:5  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:  

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

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

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

We are blessed to progressively come to understand the depth of the guiltiness that is in all flesh revealed in what we do, or have done, in our life “between the temple and the altar” knowing that it is only Christ who can give us the power to overcome our wretchedness (Rom 7:24) to then turn back and see how we have been dragged to Him through the power of God’s holy spirit (Rev 1:12). That increase in our walk only comes through suffering with the body of Christ as we learn to bear each other’s burdens in this life (1Co 10:16, Gal 6:2) and gain a deeper and more profound respect for the recompence of the reward obtained through that communion into which we have been called (1Co 10:16). The question is how is this all done and accomplished, and the answer is by His faith that must be tried (1Pe 1:7, Rom 3:27) in order that we may endure to the end through Christ, typified by Moses in the wilderness of his day who esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward [Paul’s version of the same point (Php 3:8)]”  (1Pe 4:17, 1Co 11:32, Joh 6:44, 1Co 3:6, Heb 11:26-27). The reward of eternal life is what gives us such great incentive in this life as we lose our adamic life for His name’s sake, knowing that our fear of God is essential if we are going to be saved and heard in this life (Heb 5:7, Luk 12:5, Heb 11:7).

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Those who are raised in the second resurrection will go through a process of judgment, typified by what society will physically experience during the thousand-year reign of God’s saints, and every soul will come to that Gog and Magog moment in their hearts (Rev 20:8) where once the truth is known, the carnal knee-jerk reaction will be to contend with God, as we all did, and say “Why have you formed me this way, why am I guilty to this degree?” “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” [Mat 23:35, Rom 9:20].

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

2Ki 24:1  In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. 
2Ki 24:2  And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
2Ki 24:3  Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; 
2Ki 24:4  And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. 
2Ki 24:5  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 

In this opening verse we read, “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up” and  Jehoiakim “became his servant three years” representing how we must go through a process of judgment in the earth in Babylon, where we are of our father the devil, typified by Nebuchadnezzar whom we serve and who is God’s servant (Jer 27:6). When we come to our senses, we do what Jehoiakim did, “he turned and rebelled against him“, which is what the Israelites did when they forsook Egypt. We are witnessing with these verses an event that typifies for us how Christ in us gives us the ability to break out of the bondage of sin (Heb 11:27, Joh 8:36). This is only the start of that process for Judah whose rebellion against their taskmaster “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” is a short-lived victory as “the LORD sent against him [Jehoiakim] bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.“

God is intent on making the point to us that what we sow we are going to reap (Gal 6:7), which is why we read, “Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did“, and this is the section of our study where the title is based (Mat 23:35) which verse reads “And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.” Filling Jerusalem with the innocent blood that the LORD would not pardon is telling us that the Lord gives our old man no quarter as it cannot inherit the kingdom of God. However, if we are blessed to acknowledge that we are the man who is guilty of all, chief of sinners, then this captivity Judah is about to go into can be seen as a positive event for the new man that will be born out of all that suffering (2Ti 2:12). Filling Jerusalem with innocent blood is the same as what is being said in (Mat 23:35).

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

Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

2Ki 24:6  So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 
2Ki 24:7  And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 

These verses demonstrate the hold the devil has on this world (2Co 4:4). Jehoiakim is dead, and spiritual death continues to reign through his son Jehoiachin. Satan has gained dominion over the land, which land typifies our bodies as expressed with this verse 7: “And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.” Taking control of the rivers is symbolic of taking control of what can bring life, and in the negative sense Satan can bring forth life and do signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible he would deceive the very elect (Mat 24:24).

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

2Ki 24:8  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta^H5179, the daughter of Elnathan^H494 of Jerusalem.
2Ki 24:9  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 

The death of Jehoiakim is not a deadly wound (Rev 13:3) as evidenced by the same spirit and ideology becoming manifest in: “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months” (vs 8). It is in Jerusalem where he reigns, which represents where God’s people come from and from where all these events are unfolding. God is showing us that we are beasts (Ecc 3:18, Jer 10:14) and that the best we can give God is copper [Nehushta^H5179 [2Ki 18:4)] regarding our process of judgment at that time in the court symbolized by the “three months” Jehoiachin reigned in Jerusalem. We judge in the court while we are in the court, symbolized by the age of Jehoiachin when he began to reign. However, that judgment proves to not be just in the end because we don’t yet see that we are ‘the man’ and bring nothing to the altar (1+8=9) (Joh 7:24, Joh 5:30, 2Sa 12:5-7).

2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan^H5180.

Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

2Sa 12:5  And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. [David’s judgements that are just and good in and of themselves]
2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 

H5179 nechûshtâ’ nekh-oosh-taw’

From H5178; copper; Nechushta, an Israelitess: – Nehushta.

H5178 nechôsheth nekh-o’-sheth

For H5154; copper; hence, something made of that metal, that is, coin, a fetter; figuratively base (as compared with gold or silver): – brasen, brass, chain, copper, fetter (of brass), filthiness, steel.

2Ki 24:10  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 
2Ki 24:11  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

In order to learn to judge justly, we must go through heavy trials, fiery trials (1Pe 4:12) which perfect the mind of Christ in us, giving us the ability to discern good and evil (Heb 5:14). So the judgment that has taken place thus far in life of Jehoiachin has not produced good fruit, good judgment, and God has caused Jehoiachin to err, and the sins of the fathers are now visiting the nation of Judah as God proclaims these words: “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.” It is typifying the fiery trials we must go through in order to enter into the temple of God (Rev 15:8).

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. 

2Ki 24:12  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
2Ki 24:13  And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

All these details of the nation of Judah going into captivity are symbolized by these verses in the book of Revelation (Rev 18:11-18) and remind us that God is talking about what we have experienced, or are experiencing, and enduring through the grace and faith of Jesus Christ who is saving us through taking us into captivity out of which He will ultimately bring us. Being taken  “in the eighth year of his reign” into captivity is how the new man is formed, which is what the number eight symbolizes. It is the riches of the temple taken away that represent the word of God which must be purified within us through our trials for a season (1Pe 1:6-7, 2Co 4:8-12, Rev 2:10).

Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 
Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 
2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

2Ki 24:14  And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
2Ki 24:15  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki 24:16  And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

The word “all” is repeated over and over, 6 times [the number of man], to remind us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and the “ten thousand captives” represent that flesh which has to be put off before we can inherit eternal life.

What has to go is all that is corrupt within us

“all Jerusalem” meaning all false doctrine, and false religion that God’s people leave.
“all the princes” those things and people that we have trusted in our flesh (Mic 7:5).
“all the mighty men of valour” the vanity of our flesh that is passing and those who we would trust in the flesh.
“all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained” coming behind in no gift and being yet carnal (1Co 1:7, 1Co 3:3-4) was the time when we trusted in all the “craftsmen and smiths” within us. None of that can remain and must go into captivity as well to be purified.
“all the men of might” represents the strength of our flesh God tells us is passing and vain. Moses’ natural strength was with him even at 120 years of age, and typifies for us the only strength that we should desire and that is the life of Christ through whom we can endure all things [12×10] as He gives us the power to put off our carnal hearts (Deu 34:7, Rom 2:29).
“all that were strong and apt for war” This group represents any pursuit in the flesh that is put before God. So if we labor to be rich instead of seeking the kingdom of God first (Mat 6:33), we are demonstrating a spirit that is “apt for war” explained this way in the book of James, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas 4:1-4).

Finally when we read “And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon” we are reminded of Christ’s words that tell us unless you are willing to give up all of these relationships, including your own life, ‘you are not worthy to be My disciples’ (Luk 14:26-27). God takes away our dependance on the natural little by little (Exo 23:29-30) until we become confident that there really is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:36-39). That painful process takes a lifetime, but God is faithful to start and finish this work in us through Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2, Php 1:6).

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Luk 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

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

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

This statement, “And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon” tells us that there is no power in the earth that can save us except Christ in whom we are accepted and trust (Rom 5:10, Act 4:12). Those powers and principalities in our heavens are represented by “all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war” of which God will use via the king of Babylon, who represents Satan, to buffet those powers that represent our own self-righteous sins of iniquity which will chasten us (Jer 2:19) so that we are humbled under God’s mighty hand in this age (2Co 12:7, 1Co 5:5, 1Pe 5:6). Christ is far higher than those powers and principalities and uses them to humble us in this life (Eph 1:21).

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

There is a hope-filled verse tucked in the midst of all this destruction and death which reads, “none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land” (2Ki 24:14), and is repeated in 2 Kings 25:12, both groups representing the elect of God who are saved and remain at the expense of losing our lives, typified by the captivity of Judah. In chapter 25 of 2 Kings, the death of Zedekiah typifies our man of sin who must be destroyed. We lose our lives for each other by becoming vinedressers and husbandmen, symbols that reflect God the father who is the husbandman and Christ who is the vine and God’s elect who are the vinedressers (Joh 14:20). By God’s grace we become of a poor and contrite spirit (Isa 66:2) “the poorest sort of the people of the land” so that we can ‘occupy until He comes’ (Luk 19:13).

2Ki 25:12  But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

Luk 19:13  And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

2Ki 24:17  And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 
2Ki 24:18  Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 
2Ki 24:19  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 
2Ki 24:20  For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Notice who is calling the shots once again and that is “the king of Babylon” who typifies the god of this world, and what he is doing is positioning the basest of men in rulership which is what God has given him to do (Dan 4:17). The “king of Babylon” is in charge however all the things that he has accomplished has been “through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence“

Mattaniah whose name was changed by the king of Babylon to Zedekiah is the negative example of being given a new name as opposed to the new name God gives the elect and that is hidden from the world (Rev 2:17, Rev 3:12).

Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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

Zedekiah being age “twenty one” and the amount of time that he ruled “eleven years” and his mother’s name “Hamutal^H2537” are all significant details that reveal that this king represents our transient flesh which is passing and unable to establish proper governance without Christ as our head. Because we know the demise of Zedekiah is coming, the two and the one in this case witness to the fact that the day of the Lord, in type and shadow, is coming upon this evil king who represents the man of perdition in our own hearts and minds. The eleven years [“The Ruin and Disintegration of the Perfection of the Flesh”] tells us no foundation [12] in Christ was going to be established with this king whose life, like ours, is like a vapor or dew that passes in the morning which is what Hamutal’s name means.

H2537 chămûṭal    chămı̂yṭal kham-oo-tal’, kham-ee-tal’

From H2524 and H2919; father in law of dew; Chamutal or Chamital, an Israelitess: – Hamutal.

Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

This last verse sets the stage for the last chapter of the book of kings revealing how God’s anger is a righteous anger that is against sin and always ready and wakeful over His word (Jer 1:12) to carry out His judgments upon our sinful condition that He created marred this way for His purpose of bringing us to see our need for a relationship with Him and Christ.

Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

We are told, “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth” to encourage us to know that God can take our marred condition and make something new and great via this process of judgment, “For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”

Isa 49:18-26 Kings Shall bow Down to Thee with Their Face Toward the Earth - Discussion

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Isa 49:18-26 Kings Shall Bow Down to Thee with Their Face Toward the Earth

Isa 49:18  Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
Isa 49:19  For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
Isa 49:20  The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
Isa 49:21  Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
Isa 49:22  Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Isa 49:23  And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Isa 49:24  Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
Isa 49:25  But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Isa 49:26  And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

This prophecy is the word of the Lord to each of us as His elect. Its primary application is within us. It is the new man and his knowledge of Christ and his Father who is taken captive by our “mighty… old man”. Our new man is “the prey and lawful captive” of our carnal-minded “old man” and his “father the devil” (Joh 8:44). Throughout this prophecy of Isaiah, the Lord is telling us as His elect that in spite of our weak, earthly composition and our sinful and rebellious nature, and the fact that we have turned our backs on Him, He will not do the same to those whom He has placed in spiritual “mount Sion” and whom He has chosen to be His “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

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

As always, we need to be reminded that these words are, at this time, only for those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear the things of the spirit:

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, 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.

Isaiah foretold this spiritual condition, which Christ tells us is the same spirit which to this very day afflicts the multitudes who come to Him:

Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto [the multitudes] 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 [the multitudes] 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 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Being blind and deaf is our natural, dark, lost condition to which the Lord has first appointed us all, as we were told in the last five verses of our previous study:

Isa 49:13  Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 
Isa 49:14  But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 
Isa 49:16  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Isa 49:17  Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

The Lord has given us “exceeding great and precious promises” to such an extent that Paul declares:

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.

Peter says this of what we have been given already:

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

There are many such “great and precious promises” to which Peter refers. Here is but one example:

Isa 43:4  Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. 
Isa 43:5  Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Isa 43:6  I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Isa 43:7  Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isa 43:8  Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. [Mat 13:10-15]

In Matthew 13 Christ had just told the multitudes who had come to Him a parable, which is known as ‘the parable of the sower’. Here is that parable:

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 
Mat 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Mat 13:5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
Mat 13:6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
Mat 13:7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 
Mat 13:8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The disciples then ask Christ why He is teaching in parables the multitudes who come to Him, and He gives them an amazing answer:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitude of verse 2] 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 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 

[Isa 43:8  Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.]

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

The parables are given, “Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Christ Himself is telling us He speaks to the multitudes who come to Him in parables so they will “Not understand… and [will] not perceive”.

The parables are serving their purpose until this very day, because any Sunday school teacher will tell you, “Christ spoke in parables to make His meaning clear to the agrarian people to whom He spoke.”

This is the exact opposite of the reason Christ gives us for why He spoke to the multitudes in parables. However, He did explain their meaning to His elect disciples:

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Mat 13:23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

We are indeed blessed to see and hear things which the “many prophets and righteous men… desired to see… and to hear… and have not heard them”:

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

In his first epistle, Peter also agrees with Paul that all these blessings come to us only through “much tribulation” and through “fiery trials”:

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

Our last study ended with the Lord causing us to feel rejected by the Lord just before He blesses us beyond our wildest dreams. It is a picture of the beginning of the death of our fleshly, earthly old man, followed by being resurrected into a new life as a new man with new promises and new blessings. Our study today continues with those “great and precious promises” of which we are now, in Christ and in earnest, the recipients.

Isa 49:18  Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
Isa 49:19  For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
Isa 49:20  The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

‘After you have lost the other' refers to the death and destruction of the children of our old man, “the kingdom of this world”, which is destroyed within us at “the brightness of His coming”. That blessed event is also called “war in [our] heavens” as the scriptures reveal:

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth [G2722, Greek: katecho, ‘restrains’] that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [G2722, Greek: katecho, ‘restrains’] will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

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

The next chapter of the revelation of Jesus Christ sets the stage for the day when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 
Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
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.

Every heresy which attempts to infect the body of Christ provokes this spiritual warfare within His body, and we, as “soldiers” of Christ, must engage in that inward war within the heavens of our hearts and minds. Having come out of Babylon we are said to have “lost” all the doctrines of the kingdom of Babylon. Those false doctrines are the tares sown in our heavens by what Christ called “an enemy”:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

This is speaking of “the kingdom of heaven”. It is Christ and His Christ who have “sown good seed in His field”. This parable is not about the kingdom of Babylon. The kingdom of Babylon is a field of nothing but tares. The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water has been taken away from that harlot system:

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Just as ‘Adam’ is both an evil “old man… the first man Adam”, before he begins to be destroyed by the brightness of the coming of Christ’ (2Th 2:8) and “made again another vessel” (Jer 18:4), so it is with ‘Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children’ and ‘Jerusalem above which is the mother of us all’:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

“Jerusalem which is above… which is the Mother of us all” is “all [who are] in Christ” and does not yet include “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, and those whose judgment is in “the lake of fire/second death” (Rev 20:14-15).

Yet the Lord Himself has ordained that “there must be heresies among [us]”:

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

These “heresies among [us]” are the children and doctrines of the enemy who comes at the appointed time “while men slept”. They come with the spirit of “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” to sow those tares in and among the good seed and among the truths of the kingdom of God within us, as the second parable of a sower in Matthew 13 demonstrates:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

The presence of these ‘tares’ among us are not at first apparent to any of us. Indeed, it is not until “the time of the harvest” that it becomes obvious to all who have eyes that see and ears that hear that there is no spiritual fruit at all upon these tares:

Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

While we all just naturally want to root out and pull up the tares immediately, that is not the mind of our Lord, and so we must live by His words and acknowledge that He has decreed “there must be heresies among [us] that they which are approved may be made manifest among [us]” as we have already noted:

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

Christ’s explanation of the parable of the tares ties that parable into our study today here in Isaiah 49 which refers to the ‘children’ we are given after we lose all the ‘children’ we had while we were in the Babylonian harlot system. Notice closely how Christ explains this second parable of the ‘sower’ and the meaning He gives us of the good seed sown by Christ and His Christ, as contrasted with the seed sown in the Lord’s field by an enemy.

Here us that second parable of a sower in its entirety:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 
Mat 13:28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

This is what Christ is telling us is the meaning of 'children' in this second parable of the sower:

Mat 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 
Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 

[Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.]

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [Greek G165: aion, eon, age]; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [Greek G165: aion, eon, age]. 
Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Who are these “men [who] slept” and gave the enemy the opportunity to sow the tares among the good seed the Lord had sown in His field? The Lord Himself tells us who they are:

Mat 25:1  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

I am chief of sinners, and I have been caught napping every time we have discovered heresies among us. We “all slumber and sleep”, but those who have “oil in their vessels” are those of us who know the voice of the True Shepherd even in the middle of the night, meaning in the middle of the false doctrines and lies
which ‘midnight’ and ‘lamps without oil’ symbolize.:

Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 
Mat 25:11  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 
Mat 25:13  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Is it not “foolish” to fall asleep when we are expecting the bridegroom at any moment? Of course, it is! It is especially humiliating when we do so twice:

Mar 14:32  And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
Mar 14:33  And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
Mar 14:34  And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
Mar 14:35  And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
Mar 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Mar 14:37  And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? 
Mar 14:38  Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. 
Mar 14:39  And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
Mar 14:40  And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.
Mar 14:41  And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Mar 14:42  Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

That is the same message of the parable of the ten virgins. We all let our Lord down by giving in to the need of our flesh to seek rest from our trials. The five wise virgins are ‘five’ because we are all “saved by grace through faith”, just as the five foolish virgins will also be saved. Both groups are what they are by the Lord’s sovereign decree and not because of anything they of themselves have done. Nevertheless, the five wise virgins are given to attend the marriage while the five foolish ones are told “I know you not”.

If we are not given to know the True Shepherd’s voice, it is because we have no oil in our lamps, because “the dream is one”, and the oil and the Shepherd’s voice are both the Word of God, His doctrines.

As we have demonstrated, His doctrines are His children and the doctrines of the enemy are the enemy’s children whom we have all been at our appointed time:

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

If and when we are given to come out of Babylon, we lose the doctrines and the children of Babylon. As that begins taking place within us, we are given far more understanding of the true mind of Christ and His doctrines as we lose the doctrines of the enemy:

Isa 49:21  Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

As we saw in the two parables of the two sowers, in the first parable the seed being sown by the sower is explained by none other than Christ Himself as “the Word”:

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Mat 13:23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Does anyone question that the sower in both parables is “the Son of man”?

Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 

But Christ Himself tells us:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

God Himself has ordained that His elect speak for Him, and for the sake of any doubters about that point, it is again none less than the Lord who makes that point perfectly clear:

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

The fact there are 40,000 different, conflicting Christian denominations does not change the fact that those who know the voice of the True Shepherd are all of one mind and one judgment:

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

Losing all those 40,000 children is the very point of this part of our study today. While the ‘seed’ sown by “the Son of Man” is explained as symbolizing “the Word” in the first parable of the sower in Matthew 13, that very same seed is explained as representing “the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children  of the wicked one; [and] the enemy that sowed them is the devil…”

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [Greek G165: aion, eon, age]; and the reapers are the angels.

As Joseph told the Pharaoh, “the dream is one” and “the children of the kingdom [and] the children of the wicked one” are both the doctrines of their respective ‘fathers’, “the Son of Man” being the Father of the children of the kingdom, and “the devil” being the father of “the children of the wicked one”.

This gives us the knowledge we need to understand the last few verses of this 49th chapter of Isaiah:

Isa 49:22  Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Isa 49:23  And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

The “two hundred thousand, thousand” lies and false doctrines will be destroyed, and all those who subscribed to those false lying doctrines will bow down before the feet of those who know the Lord and His Christ:

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

These words accord with the two parables of the sower which demonstrate that “the children of the kingdom” are those who “keep the word of [Christ’s] patience”. While all the “children of the wicked one” were his “prey” now being taken from “the wicked one”, who is “the devil”, and are now through the agency of “the Lord’s Christ”, His “firstfruits… very elect”, being given to “the children of the kingdom who will also become the agency of their deliverance, just as they have been the agency of all “who have believed on [Christ] through their words” until this very day (Joh 17:20):

Isa 49:24  Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
Isa 49:25  But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Isa 49:26  And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Inwardly these words must be fulfilled within the lives of each of God’s elect in “this present time”. Dispensationally, these words will be fulfilled in “all flesh… [in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death] and all flesh shall know that… the Lord is [our] Saviour and [our] redeemer the mighty One of Jacob”.

We are “the prey… and lawful captives of the mighty… wicked one… the devil” who are being “delivered… in this present time” to show to others the mercy we have been shown in “this present time”:

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

While we wait upon the Lord to be used in that way, we are the Lord’s special “jewels”, and we are under His protection as “the apple of His eye”.

Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.

Zec 2:8 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

At the appointed time everyone will know who loved and obeyed the Lord and who actually spat upon Him and His commandments:

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

That is the message the Lord is giving us in this 49th chapter of Isaiah.

Here now are the verses for our next study which will be in Isaiah 50:

Isa 50:1  Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
Isa 50:2  Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
Isa 50:3  I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
Isa 50:4  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Isa 50:5  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

Psa 118:24  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psa 118:25  Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Psa 118:26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Psa 118:28  Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
Psa 118:29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

There are many scriptures in this Psalm and throughout God’s word that declare that “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation”, and in this particular Psalm we are being encouraged to see the careful and perfectly designed process that God is causing to unfold to save His children as were brought to be convinced that He can “save now” and “bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar“.

We are called to have a blessed assurance of what God has promised He will do through us as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1), who are being sacrificed as Christ was for the world (Joh 3:16) laying up a good foundation of works through Christ which will assure our hearts that we are in fact His workmanship in this age, whose good pleasure it is to give us the kingdom .

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

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. [Rom 14:23]
1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. [Rom 8:16]

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come [the times to come (Mat 24:7, Luk 17:28)], that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Tit 3:14  And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.

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

Here is a list of some of the words in this Psalm alone which point to the assurance we have in Christ who declares we can and will drink the cup of His suffering which symbolizes our filling “up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” It is those sufferings that help produce the good works which God says are foundational to our calling, and those works are accomplished “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” and that power is represented by  the “horns of the altar” (Mar 10:39, Col 1:24, Zec 4:6).

• I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place
• The LORD is on my side
• The LORD taketh my part
• All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them
• but the LORD helped me.
• The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation
• the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
• Open to me the gates of righteousness
• bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar

The more we confirm these promises of being able to overcome by His power in this age, the better. We are being raised in earnest today (Eph 2:6) by his power (Php 3:10-12, Joh 11:25-26) hopeful we will one day experience the fullness of that resurrection in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye (1Co 15:52). The fruit which is born as a result of being steadfast and going through much tribulation in this age (2Pe 3:18, Act 14:22) is described in these following verses (Eph 3:16-21).

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection [Joh 11:25-26], and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

[Paul is striving for the mark of the prize of the high calling [the first resurrection] (Php 3:14) and understands that he has been “apprehended of Christ Jesus” for that purpose and is following after him with a steadfast spirit in hopes that he may obtain to that blessed and holy first resurrection knowing this can be accomplished by continuing in the faith and going through much tribulation (Act 14:22). He clearly shows us by what he is saying in these verses above that he understands that boasting is excluded by the law of faith as he strives or follows after that he “may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Rev 20:6, Rom 3:27)]

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

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Verses that speak of giving thanks and praise for the salvation promised:

• O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever
• The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
• The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: [because] the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
• I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation
• Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD

God’s mercy is shown to His elect by binding “the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar” being expressed by Paul with these words [“I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus“]

• Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever
• Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever
• Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever
• O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever

Psa 118:24  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Another way that this verse is expressed is found in Psalm 107:26-32 where we learn what the meaning of “the day which the LORD hath made” is, and how blessed we are to be judged first, today, in this day of the Lord or “day which the LORD hath made“.

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Act 26:23  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

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

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess [for our old man], a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Zep 1:15  That day is a day of wrath [against our old man], a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

It takes God’s strong judgment against our flesh to bring us to a place of rejoicing and being glad as expressed in these verses:

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

Tit 2:12  Teaching^G3811 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth^G3811, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

We are learning of God’s power through the things which we suffer, not by avoiding the trials, but rather by being perfected through them, and that leads to our rejoicing as we learn through these experiences of judgment and suffering that He is faithful and that we can commit our souls to Him as unto a faithful creator.

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

Psa 118:14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
Psa 118:15  The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

Psa 118:18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Psa 118:19  Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:

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

Here is Peter’s and Paul’s inspired conclusion in regard to all suffering:

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

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit [meaning if the spirit is not in you, you will NOT be raised up until the second resurrection] of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. [Rom 8:9]

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

Rom 8:12  Therefore [because of God’s spirit working in our heavens], brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. [Rom 6:11]

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
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.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

[Not everyone has this hope today within them:  Col 1:27, Rom 8:25, Rom 8:9, Mat 22:14]

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

Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? [Heb 11:25-27]

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; [type of being dead to sin and alive in Christ  (Rom 6:11)]
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. [type of being saved by hope which we don’t see (Rom 8:24)]

Psa 118:25  Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

“Save now“, judge me now is what we are being told, also expressed this way from King David who is a type of the elect:

Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you [Col 1:27, Rom 8:9], except ye be reprobates?

Psa 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

The words “O LORD: O LORD” in Psalm 118:25 are uttered twice to remind us of the witness that it is only through Christ our Lord that we can find true “prosperity” which God sends our way. Christ is sent to us, and we are prospered so that we can be sent as He was to bring spiritual prosperity to others.

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

Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Psa 118:26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

We can only bless people when we come “in the name of the LORD“, and it is through Christ alone that we can come in obedience to the commandments of God, not just keeping His words but being doers of his word.

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

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

God is sending us forth as the body of Christ for this express purpose of blessing and not cursing and overcoming evil with good as Christ did.

Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

We bless people as one body coming “out of the house of the LORD” as we witness His discipleship in working together as one body with many members.

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

Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

1Co 12:14  For the body is not one member, but many.

Joh 14:2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Unless the veil is ripped, we won’t see the light about which is being spoken in this verse which the LORD has shown us. The veil is flesh (Heb 10:20, Exo 27:21), and the flesh is the body of Christ (Eph 5:30, Col 1:24) and this veil is torn little by little (Exo 23:30) or from glory to glory (2Co 3:7-18, Psa 84:7) to bring us to understand, declare and be persuaded that “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation” and that nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:39).

“God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light”, and He is also the one who binds the “sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar” as explained in Exodus 29:1-46. The last three verses of Exodus 29 reveal that the purpose behind all these sacrifices being offered is to “sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar” which represent to the body of Christ that is being prepared for the world as a living sacrifice (1Co 3:16). The sanctification of the priest is accomplished through the sacrifices being offered that represent our giving our whole life in service to God. The altar represents the cross of Christ which we bear for each other as those whom He has made kings and priests (2Co 1:22, Gal 6:2, Rev 1:6).

Exo 29:44  And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office.
Exo 29:45  And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
Exo 29:46  And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.

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

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

God is the one who gives us the power through Christ to “bind the sacrifice“, and it takes the three-fold cord process of maturing through judgment in the church [Christ’s body] to make the bride ready. It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom in earnest today, and He knows the plans He has for us and where all this sacrifice is leading. So we have great reason to be glad and rejoice today, right NOW! “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”

Mar 3:27  No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Ecc 4:12  And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Eph 3:13  Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

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

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

Psa 118:28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.

Let us rejoice, let us be glad, let us not fear, and above all these things let us “give honour to him” as His little sealed remnant who have been blessed to receive of His incredible mercy and kindness in this age.

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

We acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives, and the spirit bears witness that we are His children (Rom 8:16) who are blessed to declare “Thou artmy God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee“. God gives us the power through Christ to overcome, and therefore we say “The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation” for He is the reason we can believe, and he is our helper (Heb 13:6, Psa 54:4) who helps us build up the body of Christ in love (Joh 14:12, Joh 14:26, Eph 4:16).

Psa 118:29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

A most fitting way to end this Psalm is to give thanks for the undeserved mercy which He has extended to the weak of the world who are first called and chosen to be sanctified and made “meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work”.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Those good works could never be accomplished unless we were (being) sanctified by our Lord (Joh 17:17, Joh 16:13) and as we have seen, it is “Aaron and his sons” who are first sanctified, an event which typifies these words: “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7).

Isa 36:1-11 On Whom do You Trust? - Discussion

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Isa 36:1-11 On Whom Do You Trust?

Isa 36:1  Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:2  And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
Isa 36:3  Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Isa 36:4  And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Isa 36:5  I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Isa 36:6  Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
Isa 36:7  But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
Isa 36:8  Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Isa 36:9  How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Isa 36:10  And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Isa 36:11  Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

Chapters 36-38 tell us that Hezekiah was one of the best kings of Judah, and in these three chapters of Isaiah we are informed of his mistakes and his successes. We are also informed of how he trusted the Lord to deliver him and his people from the hand of the king of Assyria. "All these things happened unto [Judah], and they are written for our admonition..." (1Co 10:11). In these three chapters we will learn how we first fail to trust in the Lord for our safety. Then eventually, if and when the Lord wills, we learn to depend on Him even in the face of the very worst circumstances.

To learn these lessons we must first look back to Hezekiah's father's way of dealing with the threatening Assyrians, who are the same people as the people of Babylon. Hezekiah's father was Ahaz, and Ahaz was not a good king, and he did not trust in the Lord at all. This is what Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, did when he was facing an invasion by Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel:

2Ki 16:1  In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 16:2  Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
2Ki 16:3  But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
2Ki 16:4  And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
2Ki 16:5  Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
2Ki 16:6  At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
2Ki 16:10  And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
2Ki 16:11  And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

Contemplate how pleased the Lord is with us when we show the confidence in Him which Ahaz shows to the king of Assyria, telling him "I am your son: come up and save me..."

2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

I cannot help but wonder how different things would have been had Ahaz shown the same faith in the Lord that he had in the powers of this world and of this age. But trusting in the Lord was not written in Ahaz's book. So let's continue with this story  and see what we can learn:

2Ki 16:12  And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
2Ki 16:13  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
2Ki 16:14  And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
2Ki 16:15  And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16  Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:19  Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 16:20  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Just like King Saul before him when he returned from the slaughter of Amelek, King Ahaz was determined to serve the Lord wearing his own clothes and eating his own food (Isa 4:1). He just wanted to use the Lord's name to take away the shame of completely denying the name of the Lord before all. Such a complete denial will come in time, but it must come slowly so as to sweep away as many of the people as possible.

Hezekiah was not a perfect man, but he was far more faithful to the Lord than was his father, Ahaz. According to the first verse of this book of Isaiah, Hezekiah is the last king of Judah under whom Isaiah prophesied:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

So it is in the reign of the last of these four kings, the reign of Hezekiah, that our story begins:

Isa 36:1  Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:2  And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.

More details concerning what is written about King Hezekiah "for our admonition" (1Co 10:11) are to be found in the book of 2nd Kings 18. Here we learn that as a type of us, Hezekiah's faith in the Lord wavered in the face of the armies of Assyria. His lack of faith causes him to repent of his rebellion against the king of Assyria, and to pay a huge fine for doing so.

2Kings 18 also tells us that Sennacherib had actually sent two other captains with Rabshakeh. He sent them from Lachish because he himself was at that moment besieging Lachish:

2Ki 18:1  Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 18:2  Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
2Ki 18:3  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
2Ki 18:5  He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6  For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7  And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8  He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2Ki 18:9  And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
2Ki 18:10  And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
2Ki 18:11  And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
2Ki 18:12  Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
2Ki 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16  At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

We will continue on to the next verse in this chapter in just a moment, but first let's consider what we just read. These are words of very high praise for Hezekiah within us. As the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia within us, the Lord first tells us that He is aware of what positive things we have done. He has not yet spoken anything negative about Hezekiah. But we are told to "hear what the spirit says to [all] the churches", and we are also to listen to all the spirit has to say concerning King Hezekiah within us. To begin with, it is all very positive:

2Ki 18:3  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. [Meaning "a copper thing"]
2Ki 18:5  He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6  For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8  He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

So it is with all seven of the churches of Asia (Revelation 2-3). The Lord first tells us what we do that is right before He tells us that our persistent sins nullify all our 'righteousnesses':

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

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

"He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." In the same breath we are told "the Lord was with him... and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not, [and] he smote the Philistines..." Wow! what faith Hezekiah had in the Lord's strength to protect him and to prosper him. He did not allow the sin of his father, Ahaz, to be his example to follow. Under siege from the northern kingdom of Israel, allied with Syria, Ahaz had voluntarily placed himself under the sovereignty and protection of the King of Assyria, and had given the Lord's treasures as a gift to him. He had even changed the construction of "the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria". Hezekiah, unlike his father, depended solely on the Lord to deliver him from the king of Assyria. At least he did so at first, and then after he stumbles, he again depends on the Lord.

Here again is what his father, Ahaz, did to protect himself when under siege:

2Ki 16:7  So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8  And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 16:9  And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

2Ki 16:17  And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
2Ki 16:18  And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

Ahaz placed his faith in the king of Assyria. In other words, it was in the lies of Babylon, telling us the Lord's words cannot be trusted and the Lord answered Ahaz "according to the multitude of his idols" (Eze 14:1-9).

On the other hand, Hezekiah at first rebelled against his father's faithlessness, and he rebelled against depending upon Babylon and the Assyrians for his strength and for his protection.

It is only "through much tribulation" (Act 14:22), and only through "suffering with the Lord" (Rom 8:17 and 2Ti 2:12), that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. For that very reason the Lord shows us this fiery trial of Hezekiah's faith. Let us now go back and continue reading in 2nd Kings 18, and resume where we left off:

2Ki 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2Ki 18:14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

This is where we learn the meaning of "fiery trials" (1Pe 4:12), that "all things [really do] come alike to all" (Ecc 9:2). We will now learn through Hezekiah's example "that it is only through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Act 14:22), and this is where we learn that it is the "trial of [our] faith" which is precious to God (1Pe 1:7), and that Hezekiah, as a type of us, at first "falls seven times" (Pro 24:16) before returning to the Lord and again depending solely upon Him for his protection from all the powers of Babylon which seek to destroy us.

Whenever we think we will never be so foolish as those before us we are shown that Hezekiah repeats the very same sins of his father, just as Isaac repeated the sin of his father Abraham in denying his wife (Gen 12:19 and 26:7):

2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
2Ki 18:16  At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

As our old man demonstrates time after time, he is never satisfied with our momentary submission. Our submission must be completely either to the Lord or to the adversary. Neither will tolerate half-hearted, double-minded service as the scriptures make so very clear:

Luk 16:13  No servant 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 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

With this principle in mind, notice how the king of Assyria shows his appreciation for the gift of repentance Hezekiah had sent him asking for his mercy. This is in the very next verse demonstrating for us how the adversary shows us his 'mercy' upon us, if we are the Lord's elect:

2Ki 18:17  And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

The king of Assyria, gladly took Hezekiah up on his offer to cave in and submit to him and obey his commandments, and he laid a heavy burden upon Hezekiah which Hezekiah was willing to pay, and yet Hezekiah's submission made absolutely no difference at all. Submitting to the lies of Babylon must be supported by even more lies, and those lies with even more lies. In time it becomes clear that there is no end to Babylon's demands upon us. But at the appointed time, if it is written in our books to be in the first resurrection, we will be crushed to powder and given to repent in this age and return to serving the Lord, and we will again rebel against the lies of Babylon, as did Hezekiah::

Isa 36:3  Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
Isa 36:4  And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Isa 36:5  I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Isa 36:6  Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

This is the message of Rabshakeh, the message of Babylon, to each of us:

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

You and I are "His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven". When anyone demands of us that we submit to their lies then it is they who are fulfilling these verses.

"Pharaoh king of Egypt" is our own flesh and our own will, which cannot make war against our beast and his father the devil (Joh 8:44). The adversary falsely accuses us of depending upon our own flesh to deliver us from their lies.

The Lord's elect are acutely aware that our enemy is much more than just our flesh. When we read: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood" we understand that this is like saying "it was not this man or his parents that sinned" (Joh 9:3). Of course that man sinned and so did His parents, and of course the carnal mind is enmity against God (Rom 8:7), but there is much more to the purpose for that man being born blind, and there is much more to our struggle than just our flesh and our carnal mind:

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

Here are some of the words of "the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] spiritual wickedness in high places" to the new man within us:

Isa 36:7  But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

Even when we are obedient to the Lord, the adversary is gifted at accusing us of being disobedient to the Lord. Hezekiah, as a type of us, was being obedient in refusing to let the people offer their offering just wheresoever they chose to do so. So also our obedience is cast as blasphemy against the Lord and as Lording it over the Lord's flock. But the truth remains that we are commanded to worship nowhere but at Jerusalem:

Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: [1Co 3:16]
Deu 12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
Deu 12:7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
Deu 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

The Lord's "Jerusalem" is now His body, and it is with His body alone we are now to worship, and certainly not with the false doctrines and lies of Korah and the false doctrines and lies of Babylon.

The adversary's spokesperson continues with his attempt to intimidate us:

Isa 36:8  Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Isa 36:9  How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

The first thing the adversary will do is to shout at us, and I quote word for word: "You have got to believe what we are saying, or you will be cast into the lake of fire."

Then "the rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] spiritual wickedness in high places" even claim to be speaking for the Lord Himself:

Isa 36:10  And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Isa 36:11  Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

The adversary will always claim to be speaking for the Lord and indeed the Lord has told us this about the spiritual wickedness in our heavens:

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Babylon and the Assyrians within us are our rebellious old man who really is indeed "the people of [the Lord's] wrath". Those who have 'examined themselves' in this life, and have 'judged themselves' in this life (1Co 11:31), and "have overcome the wicked one" in this life (1Jo 2:13-14), know that they have been the first to "fall into the ground and die" (Joh 12:24-25), and that they are "the first to trust in Christ" in this life (Eph 1:12); these know that they "shall not be hurt of the second death/lake of fire", and need never fear rejecting any and all of the lies of Rabshakeh, and the lies of Babylon.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

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

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

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil [meaning in this life, because the devil is not a factor during the thousand years, Rev 20:1] shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh ["the wicked one"] shall not be hurt of the second death.

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

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue to learn more about how we are to wage this life and death spiritual warfare "against spiritual wickedness in the heavens" of our hearts and our minds.

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 36:12  But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
Isa 36:13  Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Isa 36:14  Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
Isa 36:15  Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isa 36:16  Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
Isa 36:17  Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
Isa 36:18  Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Isa 36:19  Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Isa 36:20  Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
Isa 36:21  But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Isa 36:22  Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 50 Discussion

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Isa 10:20-26 Mine... Indignation Shall Cease... In Their Destruction

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Isa 10:22  For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
Isa 10:23  For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
Isa 10:24  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.
Isa 10:25  For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
Isa 10:26  And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

We must remember that our study today concerns the revelation of the judgment of the king of Assyria, which is also the judgment of Babylon in its outward, future, 'will be' application. "As his rod was upon the sea" of the flesh of all men, so he will lift up his hand against the Lord's elect, just as the Egyptians lifted up their hands against God's people who had gone into Egypt to find refuge. This outward judgment of the king of Assyria, the king of Babylon, begins only after the Lord has "performed His whole work upon" us. When He has judged "great Babylon" within His own people, then the Lord will use us, "His Christ", to judge Babylon within others. That is the qualifier for this study:

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:

We have demonstrated that the kings of Assyria, Babylon, and Tyre, are one and all types of the religious, self-righteous second beast who rises up within all men.

Here is the king of Assyria as he is revealed in the book of Revelation:

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

The first beast comes "up out of the sea" (Rev 13:1), which we have demonstrated is the symbol of the flesh of all men (Psa 104:24-26 and Isa 27:1 and Isa 57:20). But the second beast does not rise up out of the sea. Instead he "com[es] up out of the earth" with two horns like a lamb, but speaking as a dragon, doing great wonders... in the sight of men, decieving them that dwell on the earth by the means of the miracles he has been given the power to do in the sight of the beast.

Later in the book of revelation this same second beast, who is empowered to 'work miracles before the beast' is also called "the false prophet":

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

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Because we have been granted to know that we, as part of mankind, must "live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Mat 4:4), we now know that "the revelation of Jesus Christ" includes the revelation of Him within us, and that the book of Revelation is a "signified" story of that revelation within those who are His.

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:

Knowing we are to live by the "signified... things written [herein]" gives us the ability to appreciate the knowledge that "the revelation of Jesus Christ" necessitates the judgment and utter destruction of the flesh of Christ Himself as well as "the stout heart of the king of Assyria" within every man, ourselves included as those whom Christ has sent to save this world.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

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 have demonstrated that this book of Revelation is rooted and grounded in the Old Testament prophecies, especially this prophecy of Isaiah. We now rejoice to know that "judgment must begin at [us] the house of God" (1Pe 4:17).

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

It is only the spiritually blind who deny that our sufferings make us "partakers of Christ's sufferings... for His body's sake, which is the church":

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

Paul's and our sufferings make us "partakers of Christ's sufferings... [which, like Christ's own sufferings was] for His body's sake, which is the church".

We have seen that the great harlot of Revelation 17-18 is none other than we ourselves, as the Lord's own unfaithful wife, while we are yet steeped in the deceptions of the doctrines of that great harlot and her "false prophet" who symbolize all the doctrines and the ministers of this great harlot system. We have been blessed to know that being in Babylon and being deceived by the false prophets of Babylon and worshipping the beast, receiving the mark of his name and enduring the day and night torment this experience produces is, in truth, simply exercising the patience of the saints and is keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, who endured the very same fiery trials which are an integral part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, all of which are also but a part of "the things written therein" (Rev 1:3). Let's read it with our own eyes which can, Lord willing, perceive:

Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. [And what is the holy spirit telling us?]
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Once again we discover that all we have been told to avoid and to deny and resist is in fact nothing less that "the patience of the saints... that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus", through which "fiery trials" "all men... all the world" must walk, each in his own appointed time:

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

"All the world" is qualified so we cannot miss just how all inclusive the holy spirit is in making that statement:

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Verse 18 is much better translated:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six. (CVL)

The Greek for the word 'a man' in the King James is 'anthropos', and there is no article in the Greek language. 666 is the number of mankind who was created on the 6th day along with all other beasts, and the scriptures make clear that mankind in indeed a beast, thereby forever associated with the number 6:

Gen 1:25  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Which means:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath [Hebrew: ruach - spirit]; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

The kingdom of this beast is portrayed in this chapter of Isaiah as the king of Assyria, and the Lord tells us He will use a "remnant of Israel" to judge the kingdom of the beast within all of mankind

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Isa 10:22  For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

"The remnant of Israel" is mentioned in all three of these verses. We will completely miss the meaning and significance of this "remnant of Israel" if we are intimidated by all the teachers of Babylon who have been blinded to the truth of these verses of scripture, make up the very essence of the gospel of Christ, who Himself began His ministry with these words:

Luk 4:24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luk 4:25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a [Gentile] woman that was a widow.
Luk 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the [Gentile] Syrian.

Christ was the very first of the hated so-called "replacement theologians". Here we have Him telling us what He intends to do with His ministry. And what was the reaction of those in Israel who are not part of "the remnant of Israel" who heard these words of Christ? Here is the reaction of those very people who grew up with Christ and His parents and His brothers and sisters:

Luk 4:28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

It was Christ Himself who first took His gospel to the Gentiles when He was received of the Samaritans via the testimony of the Samaritan woman who Christ met at the well in Samaria.

Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Joh 4:26  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Joh 4:27  And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
Joh 4:28  The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
Joh 4:29  Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Joh 4:30  Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

Joh 4:39  And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
Joh 4:40  So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
Joh 4:41  And many more believed because of his own word;
Joh 4:42  And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Christ and His gospel were preached and received by the Gentile Samaritans before He was received by His own family, His own city or His own country men. Again we see that Christ Himself was the original 'replacement theologian'!

Physical Israel was called the Lord's fig tree. It was Christ who symbolically cursed His own fig tree and pronounced upon it that His own physical nation would not bring forth fruit in this age:

Let's establish the Biblical significance of a fig tree:

Hos 9:10  I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Mat 21:19  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever [Greek: the aion]. And presently the fig tree withered away.

There were "many things [which Christ's disciples] could not bear" while He was yet in His physical body, the rejection of physical Israel being just one of those "many things".

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

But later He revealed "many things" to them; things like:

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.

The modern Pharisees utterly despise those verses of scripture. They read them, but they do not perceive what they are seeing. Of course that also causes them to be blinded from seeing these verses also:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, [Gentile Galatians] 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.

The holy spirit informs those with eyes to see that Hagar "answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children". Speaking to Gentile Galatians, Paul informs us "we are not the children of the bondwoman but of the free". This accords with this 'replacement theology' doctrine of the entire New Testament. This teaching is at the close of the previous chapter:

Gal 3:27  For as many of you [Gentile Galatians] as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

There it is! Paul, like Christ was one of the original "replacement theologians", and he went to great lengths to make this teaching clear when at last, in prison, he was shown that not even the letter from the apostles in Acts 15 was any longer in effect and that from this time forward, Christ is "making of twain one new man, so making peace":

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

Now we know that "the remnant of Israel" is speaking of "the Israel of God [which is] neither Jew nor Greek... for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus". Paul makes this statement in Galatians 6:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GW)

This is the 'Israel of God" of whom a remnant will fulfill this prophecy:

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Isa 10:22  For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.

As we saw earlier, the king of Assyria within us "stayed upon" his own strength, and his own wisdom, and it is this self-righteousness which necessitates his destruction at the hand of "the remnant of... the Israel of God".

Isa 10:13  For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
Isa 10:14  And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

"Yet a remnant of them [The elect, "the Israel of God"] shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness", because when God destroys anything, it is done "with righteousness", simply because He is love, and what He does is all done "for good to them that love [Him]".

This 'consumption' of our rebellious "first man Adam" was predestined from "before the world began". Therefore the destruction and "consumption" of the beast within all men is a work of His righteousness:

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

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

This brings us to our next verse, which accords with this revelation that all things are taking place just as they were predetermined to occur, all in accordance with the plan of God:

Isa 10:23  For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.
Isa 10:24  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.

We are told that the consumption is determined, and we are told that it is determined that the king of Assyria will smite us with his rod "after the manner of Egypt". It is commonly understood that the Egyptians soon forgot the blessing Joseph had been to Egypt, and they had enslaved Joseph's people:

Exo 1:8  Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Exo 1:9  And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
Exo 1:10  Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Our old man knows that Christ is mightier than our flesh, but our flesh has been given to enslave us to our own destructive ways. Our old man and his Babylonian harlot are merciless task masters who have no mercy, yet we "love to have it so":

Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

It is for this reason "few are chosen" out of the "many called". Christ is very honest and straight forward with us when He speaks to us about the calling He has placed upon us. He tells us "you shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of..." Right up front He tells us "[we] shall be hated of all men" including our very families:

Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

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.

It is the king of Assyria and the Babylonian system who are within our own old man. But that same spirit is also in our families and in this world, and it is the religious Babylonian system which the Lord will use to "chasten and scourge" His elect whom He is preparing as His instrument for the destruction of that very same Babylonian spirit and system. Only then will the Lord's anger cease.

Here is the answer to Isaiah's question, "...what will ye do in the end thereof?" (Isa 5:31):

Isa 10:25  For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
Isa 10:26  And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.

The destruction of the Babylonian system which so hates the doctrines of Christ will be accomplished "according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb". 'The rock of Oreb' is so called because it was there that "the Lord set every man's hand against his fellow", and it was there that Gideon slew the Midianite king, Oreb:

Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
Jdg 7:23  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.
Jdg 7:24  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
Jdg 7:25  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

King David implores the Lord to destroy the enemies of His elect in the same manner:

Psa 83:9  Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
Psa 83:10  Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.
Psa 83:11  Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
Psa 83:12  Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

The formula we are learning is that the Lord uses the doctrines of the kings of Assyria and Babylon to give Himself an occasion to destroy the kingdom of Babylon within His elect. Then He uses His elect to both judge this world and then to judge angels in the lake of fire:

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

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

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.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will learn that while the destruction of Babylon at the hands of God's elect, causes the anger of the Lord to cease, it also removes the yoke of the enslavement to our Egyptian and Babylonian taskmasters "because of the anointing" upon the Lord's anointed, His Christ.

In other words, the salvation of all men, even those in Babylon, will be accomplished by Christ via His Christ, His anointed:

Isa 10:27  And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isa 10:28  He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:
Isa 10:29  They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Isa 10:30  Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
Isa 10:31  Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
Isa 10:32  As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.
Isa 10:33  Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.
Isa 10:34  And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 25 Discussion

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Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory

What are "the seraphims"?

We spent our entire last study discussing why it was "in the year Uzziah died", that Isaiah was given to see the Lord's high and lifted up throne within His temple, which was filled with His train. We saw in our study that we are the Lord's temple and that Isaiah as a type of us, was given to see the Lord's throne in the year Uzziah died because Uzziah was a presumptuous king whose way produced a leprous king. As such Uzziah typifies our own leprous condition as the presumptuous, proud, self-righteous, rejected anointed of the Lord who we all are before we die to that old man of sin.

King David signifies God's "very elect", but he is preceded by King Saul who symbolizes the Lord's rejected anointed. This is what David said to King Saul while David, God 'very elect' was fleeing for his life from King Saul, God's rejected anointed:

1Sa 26:23  The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee [King Saul] into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed.

King Saul had been told that God had rejected him and would replace him because of presumptuously disobeying the Lord's commandment to destroy all that pertained to the enemy of Israel. King Saul did not want to give up his kingdom just because he had presumptuously rebelled against the Lords commandment. Our old man within us does not want give up his kingdom and die. He really does not want to lose his kingdom, and he will not willingly die.

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 

We saw in the story of presumptuous King Uzziah another example of the Lord's rejected anointed. King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy and was cast out of the temple by the Lord's faithful priests. The message we are being given here is that those who see the Lord's throne within His temple are only those 'priests' who do not tolerate the presumptuous false doctrines of all who do not "tremble at the word" of God. Those few 'priests' who are granted to oversee the Lord's temple must be able and willing to "try the spirits" and to say boldly with Christ and with His Christ, "We are of God, he that knows God hears us: he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error":

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

The message in those verses is the same as the doctrine of Christ when He told the established apostate church leaders of His day:

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

Those in whom the Lord dwells are His temple, and they are also those who make up His train, because His train is who He is, and this is who He tells us He is:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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. 

Christ knows God. It is He Himself who tells us that He is living His life in us. Therefore the 'Jesus of Nazareth' who Saul of Tarsus was persecuting can boldly say with Christ: "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." Those who know God also know and recognize who are those who are not speaking the words of God, because they "try the spirits to see whether they are of God", and if they find any who are not speaking the words of  Christ, then they flee from that prophet who is spreading that false spirit, that false doctrine.

Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Those who are the temple of God, those who make up His train, know His voice, and the verses about these 'seraphims' we are examining today typify those who know how to distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error, and like Christ and John, they do not hesitate to say "We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

The different symbols of God's elect

Those who "know God" are symbolized by the temple in which God dwells, they are symbolized by His train, and they are also symbolized by the seraphims, the cherubims and the four and twenty elders which are within His temple and are around His throne.

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

The books of Ezekiel and the book of Revelation speak of ' four living creatures' and 'four beasts' being around the throne of God:

Eze 1:4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 
Eze 1:6  And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 

These 'four faces' are the same 'four faces' of the same 'four living creatures' which are also called 'cherubims', both here in Ezekiel and in Revelation:

Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

In Ezekiel 10 these same "four living creatures" are called "cherubims":

Eze 10:1  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

Just as in Isaiah's vision of the seraphims, the visions of Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapters one and ten and in the book of Revelation, all concern what is on and about "the throne" of God.

Eze 1:26  And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

Eze 10:1  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 

It is in Revelation 5 that these "four beasts", as well as "the four and twenty elders", inform us whom they symbolize:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

That is both an inward and an outward promise:

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the [inward and outward] world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

I remember as a child hearing of these 'seraphims' in the sermons which were preached in the church, and I asked my father, who at that time seemed to me to know so much about the Bible, "What is the difference between the cherubims and the seraphims? Both are said to be located in the presence of God. Both are in or near the throne of God, both have six wings, and both say "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." Why", I asked my father, "is one called 'seraphims', and the other is called 'cherubims'???"

Let's notice what we read here in Isaiah six about these 'seraphims' which we are told are "Above... the throne". "Above it stood the seraphims..." This is not to be taken as the seraphims themselves being more prominent or being superior to the Lord's throne. The Hebrew word translated here as the English word 'above' is 'maal', H4605, and it is the same word translated as "on high" in this verse:

Exo 25:20  And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

So it is with these 'seraphims'. It is "the throne... the mercy seat" which is the center of the attention of these seraphims, and their entire existence centers "around the throne" just as do the 'cherubims' of Revelation 5.

Now let's notice how similar these words describing "the seraphims" here in Isaiah 6 are to what we are told about the "four beasts" in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come 

Both are "around the throne, [both have] six wings, [and both] say, Holy, holy, holy."

In seeking to know "the sum of [God's] word" (Psa 119:160) on this subject, going back to Ezekiel one, this is what we read of these exact same four beasts round about the throne of God in the book of Ezekiel:

Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Eze 1:7  And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet [was] like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
Eze 1:8  And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
Eze 1:9  Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Eze 1:10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

Each beast has with him an accompanying wheel, with which we are told:

Eze 1:14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. 
Eze 1:15  Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold, one wheel [was] upon the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.
Eze 1:16  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl. And those four had one likeness, and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. 
Eze 1:17  When they went, they went in their four directions. They did not turn when they went. 
Eze 1:18  As for their rims, they were high and fearful. And those four had their rims full of eyes round about. 
Eze 1:19  And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Eze 1:20  Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there the spirit was to go. And the wheels were lifted up beside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

All of that: "Wherever the spirit was to go, they went... for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels... a wheel within a wheel... running and returning as the appearance of a flash of lightning", has been interpreted so many different ways down through the years. Some who are not given spiritual eyes that see and spiritual ears that hear interpret "a wheel within a wheel [moving] as the appearance of a flash of lightning" to be some kind of a heavenly UFO operating as a gyroscope. Such speculations are as numerous as the individual imaginations of those who express their own interpretive speculation. A much more Biblical understanding of what we are being told here is this simple spiritual Truth:

Joh 14:20  In that day ye will know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Ezekiel one tells us of these four living creatures, "they had the likness of a man".

Eze 1:5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

But we are also told they each had four faces: "...they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle." Chapter ten reiterates that each cherubim had "four wings", but instead of the word "ox" we are told one of the faces was the face of a cherub:

Eze 10:14  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

What this tells us is that the face of a 'cherub' of chapter ten, is the same as the face of the 'ox' of chapter one. 'Wealth', we are told, ' is by the strength of the ox', and the ox was the ultimate sacrifice one could offer to God. That is very likely why Israel made a golden calf in the wilderness and why Jereboam made two golden calves, one in Dan, in the north of his kingdom, and one at Samaria, in the south of his kingdom, to entice Israel into idolatry and to keep them from returning to Jerusalem and the temple there.

In Ezekiel chapter ten we are also told that both the wheels which were by the cherubims as well as the cherubims themselves were "full of eyes..." and the cherubims having "the form of a man's hand under their wings" is reiterated in both chapters:

Eze 10:8  And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings. 
Eze 10:9  And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
Eze 10:10  And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. 
Eze 10:11  When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
Eze 10:12  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

These creatures are capable of looking all around in every direction within as well as looking all around in every direction without.  Here is the spirit full of eyes which is within these four creatures and their four wheels. Here is also the meaning of "a wheel within a wheel":

Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Christ in us is the mystery of  "a wheel within a wheel... full of eyes" within us. It is Christ who tells us so:

Joh 14:20  In that day ye will know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

When Christ is in us we are "full of eyes... [within and without], seven eyes... the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."

Eze 10:12  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.

Eze 10:20  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
Eze 10:21  Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
Eze 10:22  And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.

Christ and all in whom He dwells are single-minded in their obedience to His and our Father. "They [go] every one straight forward... [they] turn not to the right hand nor to the left":

Deu 5:32  Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

2Ch 34:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 

Pro 4:27  Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

If these "four creatures" are Christ in us, then we will "remove [our] feet from evil... in this present evil world", and in time we will be given spiritual bodies as "the redemption of the purchased possession" at the resurrection, then we will be capable of 'running and returning as the appearance of a flash of lightning':

Eze 1:14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Even now, through His Father's spirit, Christ is within His people the world over. "As He is, so are we in this world" (1Jo 4:17). In Him we, too, are where we are needed, and we are there, and we return "as the appearance of a flash of lightning".

1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

Why do the seraphims call to each other, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord?

Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

This is the spiritual meaning and the spiritual benefit of us telling each other that our holy Father is sovereign over all His creation, and that He is a loving heavenly Father who is working all things together for good after the counsel of His own will (Rom 8:28 and Eph 1:11). This is what that does for us.

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

The Lord Will Smite With A Scab The Crown of The Head of The Daughters of Zion

Isa 3:16  Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Isa 3:17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
Isa 3:19  The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
Isa 3:20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

In our last study we were given the contrast between what could be expected by the righteous and by the wicked:

Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Isa 3:11  Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

God has determined that His people will all first be spiritual daughters of spiritual harlots, who will lead His people astray and away from Him, before they become true to Him via the fiery trials which He ordained for us all before we were born and before any of our days were lived. He has every life written out for every person before any of us ever come to this earth:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

But a harlot is not faithful to her husband, and no harlot is subject to her husband’s leadership. If she were, she would not be a harlot. Yet it is out of this great harlot system, symbolized by both Egypt and Babylon, that God’s people must come. It is out of that system we are all delivered.

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

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

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

We are the Lord’s ‘Zion’, but first we are a harlot who will not submit to Him or His laws. And that is what we are being told in today’s study:

Isa 3:16  Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

The first thing to know about this harlot we all are, is that we do not realize what our spiritual condition is. At first we actually have ourselves convinced that we are without need of anything and without sin:

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

An adulterous woman always justifies her adultery. But that does not make her actions any the less unfaithful:

Pro 7:21  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Pro 7:22  He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
Pro 7:23  Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Spiritual adultery is typified by physical adultery for the very reason that it is so appealing to our flesh. “Her much fair speech” tells us that Christ died for our sins so we can continue in our sins. “Her much fair speech” appeals to our natural sheepish instinct to be accepted of our friends and families rather than to refuse to fight for God, family and country physically and take up our cross and fight for God, family and country spiritually. It is her “much fair speech” which tells us we are not following Christ if we do not keep the days, months, times and years of the traditions of men (Gal 4:9-19 and Col 2:8-17). It is the promises of much physical wealth if we tithe to her which is part of her “much fair speech” to which we have all yielded. It is her promise of being accepted of our families and communities which are “the flattering of her lips [and her] walking and mincing as she goes and making a tinkling with her feet”, because our “walk”, in scriptural terms, is our way of life. The doctrines of this adulterous harlot are ashamed of the doctrines of Christ. Her doctrines have us taking great pride in the very things that bring us to shame.

The apostle Paul warns us of the pull of the shameful doctrines of the “haughty daughters of Zion [who] walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes” in these words:

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 
Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

The false doctrines of the harlot daughters of Zion are labeled “the enemies of the cross of Christ”. That is the perfect description of the damning doctrine of “the substitutionary atonement”, which teaches that Christ died in our stead so you and I need not die. The teaching is that Christ did everything for us, and all we need to do is to accept His sacrifice in our stead. To teach that Christ must also die daily within us (1Co 15:31), that we, too, must die to this world, is twisted into salvation by our own works. It matters not that the scriptures tell us that the works of those in whom Christ dwells are to be accounted only as “His workmanship… not of [our] works”.

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

The false doctrine of “the substitutionary atonement of Christ” is a very alluring ‘tinkling… ornament’ indeed, but it is a lie which will rob us of our very salvation in this age, as these verses of scripture demonstrate:

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

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

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

We are just naturally repulsed by the doctrine of the cross of Christ in our own lives. It is ordained by God that we will first be a friend of this world, and we will first want to fit in with this world. That is what we all first do. In time though, we must be brought to see just how unfaithful we are by doing so because:

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

The revelation of Jesus Christ puts this same message in these terms:

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

We “know not that [we] are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”. Like Adam and Eve we are blind to our own nakedness until the time comes to be given eyes to see our own naked condition:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

But we are not at first interested in “gold tried in the fire [or] white raiment”, simply because we still don’t think we need anything. At this time we still believe that we are righteous in and of ourselves. Like self-righteous Job we think we have our own integrity, and we are not about to humble ourselves and confess that we are ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked’. At this point we are still clinging to what we suppose to be our own righteousness:

Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Just as the Lord dealt with Job, so He deals with his wayward wife:

“Their secret parts” means ‘their nakedness’. Nakedness is a spiritual word for the sins we commit as a result of believing the lies of the adversary and the great harlot and her daughters.

Gen 3:10  And he [Adam] said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

2Ch 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

Eze 23:29  And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

‘Smiting with a scab the crown of the head’ is the beginning of the revelation of our nakedness. It is chastening from our own Lord, and it is not accomplished at the snap of the fingers.  Being smitten “with a scab [on] the crown of the head” is just “the beginning of [the] sorrows” which are the predestined chastening of the kingdom of our rebellious old man who has  become “one flesh” with the great harlot and her daughters:

1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

Becoming disenchanted with the harlot with whom we have become “one flesh” is not something we do without first being put through the fiery trials which are necessary to bring us to want to become free of her hold upon us. As always we must endure the judgment of that permissive way of life. That experience is likened to fire throughout scripture:

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

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

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

“The day [which] shall [make] manifest… every man’s work… by fire” is the same ‘day’ spoken of in our next verse:

Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 

“That day” is the day of judgment which is even now upon those who are being judged in this age. “The day” and “that day” are spoken of throughout scripture referring to the time of the judgment of the kingdom of our old man inwardly and of the kingdoms of this world dispensationally and outwardly. That is the nature of the Word of God which speaks of things that are not as though they were (Rom 4:17). The “tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon” all draw our attention to the harlot and not to her husband whom she despises.

Speaking earlier to these very same “daughters of Zion”, addressing them as ‘Judah and Jerusalem’, Isaiah said this:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. 
Isa 1:7  Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

The Hebrew word ‘saharon‘ appears only three times in the Old Testament. Isaiah 3:18 is the only place ‘saharon‘ is translated “round tires”. The words “like the moon” are added by the translators.

H7720
שׂהרן
śahărôn
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
ornaments, 2
Jdg_8:21, Jdg_8:26
round tires, 1
Isa_3:18

Here are the two other entries of this Hebrew word ‘saharon‘ as they appear in Judges 8:

Jdg 8:21  Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments [H7720: saharon] that were on their camels’ necks.

Jdg 8:26  And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments [H7720: saharon], and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

Bravery

There is nothing ‘brave’ about these ‘ornaments’ which deceive and distract us. The Hebrew word ‘tiphara‘, which is translated ‘bravery’, appears 50 times in the Old Testament.

Here are the various ways this word is translated in the King James Version:

H8597
תּפארת  /  תּפארה
tiph’ârâh  /  tiph’ereth
Total KJV Occurrences: 50
glory, 22
1Ch_22:5, 1Ch_29:11, Psa_78:61, Psa_89:17, Pro_4:9, Pro_16:31, Pro_17:6, Pro_19:11, Pro_20:29, Isa_10:12 (2), Isa_20:5, Isa_46:13, Isa_60:7, Isa_60:19, Isa_62:3, Isa_63:15, Jer_13:11, Jer_13:18, Eze_24:25, Zec_12:7 (2)
beauty, 10
Exo_28:2, Exo_28:40, 2Ch_3:6, Psa_96:6, Isa_13:19, Isa_28:1, Isa_28:4-5 (2), Isa_44:13, Lam_2:1
beautiful, 6
Isa_52:1 (2), Isa_64:11, Jer_13:20, Jer_48:17, Eze_16:12, Eze_23:42
honour, 4
Deu_26:19, Jdg_4:9, Jer_33:8-9 (2)
fair, 3
Eze_16:17, Eze_16:39, Eze_23:26
glorious, 3
1Ch_29:13, Isa_63:12, Isa_63:14
bravery, 1
Isa_3:18
comely, 1
Isa_4:2

The words ‘glory’ and ‘glorious’ account for half of these entries and similar words account for all the rest, except for the word ‘bravery’ here in Isa 3:18. ‘Glory’ is the way it should be translated here in Isa 3:18. When we are told, “the Lord will take away the [‘tipharah‘ – glory] of their tinkling ornaments”, what we are being told is that God will manifest just how shameful these doctrines of this harlot are. These ornaments are symbols of all the lies which a harlot “with her much fair speech… [uses to] cause [us] to yield, [and] with the flattering of her lips [to] force [us]” to ignore the words of Truth (Pro 7:21). These ornaments are the “smooth things” we demand to hear from this harlot while we are under her spell.

This is what takes place within us, and this is what takes place outwardly in this world:

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

We are by nature “children who will not hear the law of the Lord”. Being “one flesh” with the harlot we naturally espouse her lies with the same zeal with which she expresses her lies. We do so because we “know not that [we] are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17).  We believe the lies she has told us, and therefore we are in total opposition to Christ and His doctrines. We willingly change, ‘Love thine enemies’ to ‘Fight for God, family, and country’. We just naturally change “You shall not do so unto the Lord your God” to ‘Christmas and Easter are not pagan because we keep them in honor to Christ’. We defend every type of perversion because the laws of the land dictate that we must, and we are more than willing to change “We ought to obey God rather than men” to ‘We ought to obey men rather than God’. Like the brazen harlot we are, we insist on keeping Christ’s name even as we continue to wear our lying harlot’s attire with all of its lying ornaments,  and we insist on eating our own lying food, rather than the truth of the ‘bread’ of the Word of God.

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

Our last two verses list even more of the lying ornaments which we just naturally prefer over the glory of the truth and the nourishment of the food and the covering of the garments of righteousness, which we are given by our Lord.

Joh 6:48  I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 
Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Our last two verses are in contrast with “the fine linen [which] is the righteousness of saints”:

Chains

The Hebrew word translated ‘chains’ is ‘netiyphah’, and it actually means:

H5188
נְטִיפָה
neṭı̂yphâh
net-ee-faw’
From H5197; a pendant for the ears (especially of pearls): – chain, collar.

It is from the word:

H5197
נָטַף
nâṭaph
naw-taf’
A primitive root; to ooze, that is, distil gradually; by implication to fall in drops; figuratively to speak by inspiration: – drop (-ping), prophesy (-et).

So the Hebrew word ‘netiyphah‘, is much more accurately translated as ‘a pendant for the ears’, instead of ‘chains’. But what is interesting is that the root of this Hebrew word, which means ‘pendant for the ear’, means to ‘drop… words’, in the form of prophecy.

Here is where ‘nataph‘, the root of the word ‘netiphah‘, appears in the Old Testament:

H5197
נטף
nâṭaph
Total KJV Occurrences: 20
drop, 7
Pro_5:3, Son_4:11, Eze_20:46, Eze_21:2, Joe_3:18, Amo_7:16, Amo_9:13
dropped, 5
Jdg_5:4 (2), Job_29:22, Psa_68:8, Son_5:5
prophesy, 5
Mic_2:5-6 (4), Mic_2:11, Zec_13:3
dropping, 1
Son_5:13
drops, 1
Job_36:27
prophet, 1
Mic_2:11

Here are just one of these verses which is representative of every one of these 20 listed verses:

Pro 5:3  For the lips of a strange woman drop [H5197: nataph] as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

That is how the words of a harlot ‘drop’, and this, in contrast, is what Christ and His bride think of the words which ‘drop’ from each others’ mouths:

Son 4:11  Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

The words of the harlot and the words of Christ both seem like “honeycomb”, depending upon whom we are given ears to hear.

One more verse will demonstrate what is the root meaning of this Hebrew word which means ‘ a  pendant for the ears’. In this verse is both ‘nataph‘ and its root word ‘naba‘:

Amo 7:16  Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy [H5012, ‘naba’, to prophesy] not against Israel, and drop [H5197, nataph] not thy word against the house of Isaac.

If we are given pendants for the ears of a harlot, her lies will “drop as honey comb” on our ears, bringing us death. If we are given pendants for the ears that hear the truths of Christ, then His words too, will “drop as honeycomb” upon our ears, bringing us life.

Bracelets

The Hebrew word for bracelets is:

H8285
שֵׁרָה
shêrâh
shay-raw’
From H8324 in its original sense of pressing; a wrist band (as compact or clasping): – bracelet.

So the symbol agrees with the translation, but when we look at the root, we are again given a much deeper understanding of the spiritual significance of the Hebrew word ‘sherah‘. The root from which this Hebrew word ‘sherah‘ comes is:

H8324
שָׁרַר
shârar
shaw-rar’
A primitive root; to be hostile (only active participle an opponent): – enemy.

Here are the entries for this root word for ‘bracelets’:

H8324
שׁרר
shârar
Total KJV Occurrences: 5
enemies, 5
Psa_5:8, Psa_27:11, Psa_54:5, Psa_56:2, Psa_59:10

It appears five times, and it is translated consistently as ‘enemies’. As with every word, both ‘sherah‘ and its root ‘sharar‘ have both a positive and a negative application.

This verse is typical of all five verses where this word is used:

Psa 5:8  Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies [H8324: sharar]; make thy way straight before my face.
Psa 5:9  For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

When the Lord is leading us” in [His] righteousness”, we are the enemy of the kingdom of our old man. But when our inward parts are “very wickedness, [our] throat is an open sepulcher”, and we are the enemy of the kingdom of God within us:

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

All of the ornaments we wear declare our spiritual state. If we use God’s ornaments to serve and honor the “idols of [our] hearts”, then God will answer us according to those idols (Eze 14:1-0). But if we come to Him and we come to His word with a broken and contrite heart, then He will give us pendants for ears that hear, and bracelets that will be Christ in us working His righteous works through our hands.

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

Mufflers

The Hebrew word for ‘mufflers’ is:

H7479
רַעֲלָה
ra‛ălâh
rah-al-aw’
Feminine of H7478; a long veil (as fluttering): – muffler.

Isaiah 3:19 is the only verse in all scripture where this word appears, but it is the feminine form of:

H7478
רַעַל
ra‛al
rah’-al
From H7477; a reeling (from intoxication): – trembling.

H7477
רָעַל
râ‛al
raw-al’
A primitive root; to reel, that is, (figuratively) to brandish: – terribly shake.
Total KJV occurrences: 1

These three words appear just one time each in scripture, but they all carry the meaning of fluttering, reeling, trembling, shaking terribly.

The destruction of Nineveh typifies the destruction of the kingdom of our old man. Nineveh is used of God to destroy the kingdom of our old man while we are living the life of a harlot in rebellion against Christ, our true husband. But Nineveh typifies the ten horns and the ten kings on the head of the seven-headed beast we all are before we are destroyed. As these ten kings, we fight against our Lord at His coming, and it is through the “terrible shaking” and the destruction of the kingdom of our old man that the kingdom of Christ and His Father are birthed within us:

Isa 2:19  And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 

Isa 2:21  To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 

The destruction of the kingdom of our old man is a shaking which is the worst shaking of our life. We cannot enter into the temple in heaven until we have experienced that great earthquake. It will never be equaled because it signals the end of that kingdom within us, just as the kingdoms of this world will also come to their end:

Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

That is the result of the coming of Christ to take away “the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers” of the idols and doctrines of our rebellious old man (Isa 3:19)

Bonnets

“Bonnets” are head coverings, and like ‘pendants for the ears’, they have both a negative and a positive application.

Here is the Hebrew word translated ‘bonnets’ here in Isa 3:20:

H6287
פְּאֵר
pe’êr
peh-ayr’
From H6286; an embellishment, that is, fancy head dress: – beauty, bonnet, goodly, ornament, tire.

Here are the entries for this word in the Old Testament:

H6287
פּאר
pe’êr
Total KJV Occurrences: 7
bonnets, 2
Isa_3:20, Eze_44:18
beauty, 1
Isa_61:3
goodly, 1
Exo_39:28
ornaments, 1
Isa_61:10
tire, 1
Eze_24:17
tires, 1
Eze_24:23

‘Tires’ and ‘bonnets’ are both headdresses. The only entry which is not translated as some sort of headdress is the word ‘beauty’ in Isa 61:3. More about Isa 61:3 later.

Here are an examples of the positive application of this Hebrew word ‘peer‘:

Exo 39:27  And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
Exo 39:28  And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly [H6287: peer] bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,

Eze 44:18  They [Aaron and his sons] shall have linen bonnets [H6287: peer] upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

“Anything that causes sweat” is anything that gives any credit to our flesh for anything. And that includes our sins.

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

We are not even capable of sinning against God without “[His] hand and [His] counsel… working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

The “fine linen [which] is the righteousness of saints”, does not “cause to sweat” because it is Christ’s faith and His righteousness, which works within us, and neither our faith nor our works are attributed to us or to our flesh:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. [“It is God which” causes us to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling”, verse 12]

Rev 19:8  And to her [the bride of Christ, us – 2Co 11:2] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

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

It was interesting to discover that an oft quoted verse of scripture is apparently not translated as accurately as it could be. As I pointed out earlier, the only time the Hebrew word ‘peer‘ H6287 is contrasted with ashes in this verse of Isaiah 61:

Isa 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty [H6287: peer – fancy or glorious head dress] for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Ornaments of the legs,

The Hebrew word for ‘ornaments of the legs’ is:

H6807
צְעָדָה
tse‛âdâh
tseh-aw-daw’
Feminine of H6806; a march; (concretely) an (ornamental) ankle chain: – going, ornament of the legs.

It is with our feet and our legs that we walk. Our walk is either in the service of our flesh, and therefore in the service of the adversary, or else it is in the service of Christ and His Father.

Here are the only three entries in scripture for this Hebrew word:

H6807
צעדה
tse‛âdâh
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
going, 2
2Sa_5:24, 1Ch_14:15
ornaments of the legs, 1
Isa_3:20

The two other places in scripture where this word is used, 2Sa 5:24, and 1Ch 14:15, are both telling the same story about David doing battle with the Philistines. The Philistines typify us in Babylon. We are in the land of promise without being baptized in either the Red Sea or the Jordan, and we are there without the benefit of being circumcised. David typifies Christ, “the Son of David” within us, battling against our old man and his kingdom.

Notice how this word translated “ornaments of the legs” is used in these two accounts of David warring against the Philistines:

2Sa 5:23  And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.
2Sa 5:24  And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going [H6807: tse‛âdâh] in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
2Sa 5:25  And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.

When our ‘goings’ are obedient to the Lord’s words, we, too, can ‘smite the Philistines”, and when they are not obedient, God will take away our ‘goings’.

As always, while it is a different Hebrew word in this verse, the message is always the same. Whether we are obedient or disobedient is actually a work of God within us:

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

The tablets

To deal with this symbol of “the tablets” as one of the many things the Lord is taking away from us as we “fall into the ground and die”, I am compelled to show you this entire verse with all the Strong’s numbers.

Isa 3:20  The bonnets,^H6287 and the ornaments of the legs,^H6807 and the headbands,^H7196 and the tablets,^{H1004 H5315} and the earrings,^H3908

Notice there are two numbers after the phase “and the tablets”. That phrase “the tablets” is another instance of a translation which is out of line with how these Hebrew words are generally translated.

The first number is 1004, and it has nothing to do with ‘tablets’, as we define that word in modern English.

Here is Strong’s definition of that word:

H1004
בַּיִת
bayith
bah’-yith
Probably from H1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.): – court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings. home[born], [winter]house (-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within (-out).
Total KJV occurrences: 2053

As you can see this word is very common throughout the Old Testament, and it is generally translated as ‘house’.  That is a far cry from the modern English word ‘tablets’. 

When we look at the root of this word, it means “to build”, and it is used to speak of building a family as well as a house. In fact the word ‘house’ in the Old Testament often refers to a family, as in “the house of David… the house of Saul”, etc.

Here is a verse in which this word ‘bayith‘ is translated two different ways in the same verse:

  1Ch 10:10  And they put his armour in the house [H1004: bayith] of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple [H1004: bayith] of Dagon.

Now let’s look at the definition of the second Hebrew word which has been translated with this single English word ‘tablets’:

H5315
נֶפֶשׁ
nephesh
neh’-fesh
From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): – any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
Total KJV occurrences: 753

As you can see this, too, is a very common word, and it is most commonly translated as ‘soul’, as in:

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [H5315: nephesh].

Putting these two Hebrew words together, what we are really being told is that God is taking away from our rebellious old man his very life and the clay house in which he dwells. All of it is in complete accord with these two sections of scripture:

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

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

There is no hope extended for our rebellious old man or for our physical bodies of flesh and blood. Millions of sermons to the contrary will not change the Truth of those two verses of scripture. That which is flesh is flesh, and that which is spirit is spirit, and while we are indeed sown a natural body, we are raised a spiritual body:

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

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

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

The earrings 

The word translated ‘earrings’ here in Isa 3:20 is the Hebrew word:

H3908
לַחַשׁ
lachash
lakh’-ash
From H3907; properly a whisper, that is, by implication (in a good sense) a private prayer, (in a bad one) an incantation; concretely an amulet: – charmed, earring, enchantment, orator, prayer.

Here is an example of this word ‘lachash’ in a good sense:

Isa 26:16  LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [H3908: lachash] when thy chastening was upon them.

Our verse we are ending with is an example of the negative application of this word ‘lachash‘. “The Lord will take away… the errings… [the incantations or the prayers we pray in opposition to our Lord while we are in Babylon.

Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away…
Isa 3:20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings [the incantations],

In short, the Lord is burning out all the wood, hay and stubble, and in doing so, He is bringing forth a new man who will, in the end, be in a glorified spiritual body.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
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.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.