Rev 11:7-14, Part 1 – The Beast Overcomes And Kills The 2 Witnesses

[Study Aired Nov 3, 2024]

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
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.
Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Introduction

The “beast… ascends out of the bottomless pit”, which is “the abussos”, G12, in the Greek. We have demonstrated that the bottomless pit signifies the abyss or the sea of flesh from which we are all drawn.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

This ‘abussos’ is the flesh and its desires which are within all men, including the flesh of the two witnesses. If that really is true, how then is it possible that the two witnesses can “ascend up out of the bottomless pit”, the ‘abussos’ and “rise up out of the sea… [G2281, ‘thalassa’], finish their testimony” and still be killed by “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit”? ‘Abussos’, and ‘thalassa’ are two Greek words for the same thing, the sea. We covered this subject of the bottomless pit in our study of Rev 9 and will not repeat that study here, except to reread that verse and to remind ourselves that the bottomless pit is in us all by nature, and the smoke from that pit darkens the sun and the air in every generation of mankind, including each of us in our own order.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

As we consider these verses here in Rev 11, we once again just naturally slip into the frame of mind of the natural man who can only see one event following another, chronologically, instead of seeing the words of God from a heavenly perspective as spiritual words, which are unchanging and always applicable in every generation of mankind.

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

What “I change not” means is that the words of God apply to every generation, so that “the beast [is] ascending out of the bottomless pit” in every generation of mankind. The bottomless pit within us is being destroyed by the brightness of the knowledge of Christ and His Words and doctrines coming into our hearts and minds. But as that ‘bottomless pit’ is destroyed within the two witnesses in every generation since Christ, it is also simultaneously being strengthened and perpetuated in the next generation of those who are even now rejecting that very same witness to the testimony of the words of Jesus Christ, as those words continue to proceed out of the mouth of the two witnesses of every generation. As an example of this, Christ was asked if Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah. Here is His answer:

Mat 17:10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Mat 17:12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Mat 17:13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

What it all amounts to is the simple fact that we all live the life of the first Adam, with all that is within him, and then in God’s own “predestinated” time and mercy, we will also live the life of the Second Adam, the life of Christ, with all that is in Him. What is so little understood is the fact that this is all accomplished within us and is expressed in prophecy in types and shadows, in signs and symbols and in parables. What is so little understood is that God’s elect are not exempt from one single word of God. “All things are ours…, it is near…, even at the door…, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled” is true in every man of God, in every generation of mankind (1Co 3:21-22; Mat 24:34-35), “each in his own order”:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

All men will die to their old man, but we will all experience that ‘death’… in [our] own order”.

Those who “die daily (1Co 15:31), offer [their] bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), [and are] crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20), in “this present time” (Rom 8:18), die first and will not “be hurt of the second death” (Rev 2:11), and ‘the second death will have no power over them’ (Rev 20:6) because they have already fulfilled that experience “in this present time”. Those who have died to their old man and all of his desires in this present time do so because they are given to be judged in this present time:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves [in this present time], we should not be judged [at the great white throne judgment].
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged [now in this present time], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world [to the great white throne judgment of all the rest of mankind].

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? [They will be judged at the great white throne/ lake of fire/ second death, judgment.]

That is why Christ tells us:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [in the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand year reign of “our Lord and His Christ”, Rev 11:15 and Rev 20:5-6]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920, ‘krisis’, judgment, the great white throne judgment of Rev 20:11].

These New Testament statements are based upon this revelation found throughout the Old Testament:

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

The apostles of Christ remained faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ to the end of their “course [Greek, aion – age] of this world”. But before they were made to be faithful, they too, “were by nature children of wrath, who denied him with an oath, and persecuted His disciples.”

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course [Greek, aion, age] of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Mat 26:73  And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Mat 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

“In time past you [and I] walked according to the age of this world”:

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.

But Christ did not die just for those who were alive in His days. He died for all men of all time, and He prayed specifically for all those who would hear the words of those who believed on Him through the testimony of His disciples:

Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

So Christ’s disciples endure from generation to generation, and in this manner the two witnesses endure from generation to generation.

But this “My Words shall not pass away” principle is also true for “the children of disobedience” who “are of their father the devil”, which is just another name for the beast that “ascends out of the bottomless pit”. In every generation he too, will ascend out of the bottomless pit and will be killing God’s two witnesses who are tormenting them that are upon the earth.

We must remember that those two witnesses are symbols of all who witness for Christ in every age of mankind. We need to remember that the great city wherein our Lord was crucified, is later in this book called “Babylon the great”, where the blood of all of the saints, meaning the blood of Christ, is found.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Rev 18:24  And in her [“Babylon the great, the mother of harlots”] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

“The blood of the prophets and saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” certainly includes Christ, and all those who are in Him. We are both those murderers first, and later we become those who are murdered and are killed by the harlot of chapters 17 and 18. So then “Babylon the great” is the type of God’s harlot church, and the symbols which explain all of this prophecy are all taken from the Old Testament scriptures concerning God’s own people as they turn themselves away from their own Lord.

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.

In the same chapter, only 8 verses later, we read:

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Still speaking of “the vision… concerning Judah and Jerusalem”, in this same chapter we read this.

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

These are words proceeding from the mouth of God which we must live by (Mat 4:4, Luk 4:4). Our flesh, in turn, by the grace of God, will then be ‘killed daily’, and will die daily (1Co 15:50), by the fire of the mouth of the two witnesses. That fire is, of course, the spirit, which is “the words which Christ speaks to us” (Jer 5:14 and Joh 6:63). Here is the result of that fire:

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

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

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

As we saw in our last study, the death of the ‘two witnesses’ was ‘read of, heard of, and kept’ by those who first read the sayings of the words of this prophecy in the day John put these words to paper and pen:

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
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.

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.

This entire 11th chapter is just a part of “those things which are written therein” which we must be read, hear and keep. All who are given the grace to do so will “keep the words of this prophecy for the time is at hand” to do so (Rev 1:3). This entire prophecy does nothing less than expand upon the words of the Lord’s prophecy of Mat 24, which makes the same point.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: )

Only if God grants us “eyes that see, and ears which [can] hear” that we are that beast within “the holy place”, and we are that “man of sin” who sets himself up as God within that “temple of God”, will we ever know what is meant by the words “whoso reads let him understand… for the time is at hand”.

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand: )

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come [the day of Christ’s coming to His temple within us], 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?

None of the apostles changed their doctrine from church to church. What Paul taught these Thessalonians “when he was yet with them” was that “you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you”, which is what he had also taught the Corinthians (1Co 3:16-17). This inward ‘temple of God’ is the same ‘temple’ Paul had in mind when he said this to these Thessalonian Christians:

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? [That “ye are the temple of God”]

Therefore these Thessalonians knew exactly what Paul meant by these words:

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth [our crucifixion by this world with Christ, and our resurrection with Christ] that he [the man of sin] might be revealed in his time.

Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. [When ‘the iniquity of our old man is full’ then Christ comes to destroy him]

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [Greek, withholds the coming of Christ] will let [will withhold the coming of Christ, as revealed in the next two verses], 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:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

“They that believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” is first our own ‘old man’. 2Th 2:6 is fulfilled in Rev 11, when the two witnesses are killed by “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit when their testimony is finished”. You and I have been that beast which is doing the killing of those witnesses, and you and I in turn become those two witnesses who will be killed by that beast.

In this case, our ‘death’ is not the “dying daily” death of our old man. In this story our death “in the street of the great city” is “the savor of death” which we are to “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit”. This is where you and I are at this very moment in the eyes and the nostrils of those in the great city of Babylon:

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be to God, Who always gives us a triumph in Christ, and is manifesting the odor of His knowledge through us in every place,
2Co 2:15 for we are a fragrance of Christ to God, in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing:
2Co 2:16 to these [those “in the street of that great city”], indeed, [we are] an odor of death for death, yet to those [in Christ we are] an odor of life for life. And for this who is competent?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking. (CLV)

It is “all [who are] in Adam [who suffer the curse of] strong delusion [and who] believe a lie”. “All in Adam includes you and I who have “in times past” been sent that “strong delusion and [have] believed the lies” of Babylon, and have spiritually killed God’s witnesses and left their dead bodies unburied “in the street of the great city… where also our Lord was crucified”.

Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

As we saw last week, we are “the earth”, and we are “those who dwell on the earth” and who rejoice and send gifts to one another to celebrate our liberty from having to hear the words of these men of God. But the rejoicing of our flesh over the man of the spirit is soon turned to sorrow when we witness our resurrection with Christ “in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound”.

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. (Eph 2:6)
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.

Here is why we rejoice at the death of God’s elect. Here is how we are sent the “strong delusion” which causes us all to rejoice at the death of the true witnesses of Christ. This is how God sends His wrath upon us while we are “abiding in His wrath”. This is the reason why we never realize that we are deceived until we “look behind” ourselves to see this great revelation:

Psa 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

So when we read [with understanding] about all the plagues of God’s wrath which are cast upon the earth in the seals, trumpets and vials, we now know how that is being done. “He casts upon us the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble by sending evil angels among them”.

But those evil angels do not appear to be evil angels:

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The symbols of these verses

So here are the symbols of verses 7-14:

1) The two witnesses finishing their testimony,
2) The beast ascending out of the bottomless pit making war against and
3) Killing Christ’s two witnesses,
4) Their dead bodies lying unburied,
5) In the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,
6) Where also our Lord was crucified,
7) The people, kindreds, tongues and nations,
8) See their dead bodies,
9) Three days and an half, and do not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10) Rather they rejoice over the death of Christ’s two witnesses, and send gifts one to another, celebrating the fact that these witnesses of Christ, who had been tormenting them, were at this time as good as dead, having no effect in the streets of the great city wherein also our Lord was crucified.
11) But after three and one half days, God’s witnesses are raised from their state of death,
12) Causing great fear to fall on those who see them.
13) At this point the two witnesses hear a voice from heaven telling them to “Come up here”, and so they
14) “Ascend up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies see that they have done so.
15) It is at this point that there is a great earthquake, and the entire event begins to be repeated again, as
16) A tenth part of the city falls and
17) Seven thousand men are killed in that earthquake, and the remnant are frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven.

Having established that these are words which are for those who are given to “understand what we read” (Mat 24:15), and having established that those who read and hear are to keep these words (Rev 1:3), we will now simply list each symbol and the scriptures which define how that symbol is to be understood and kept.

1) The two witnesses finishing their testimony, like all of these symbols and indeed all of God’s Word, is something which is always “near, even at the doors, and does not pass away”.

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

So it is we who first, by believing the doctrines of “many false prophets”…

2) … ascend out of the bottomless pit, within us, to make spiritual warfare with the truths which proceed from the mouths of God’s witnesses.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
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].

By simply withstanding the testimony of the two witnesses, which we all do while believing and teaching the doctrines of Babylon, we are thereby guilty of:

3) … killing God’s two witnesses. We need not kill any one literally, and the two witnesses are not literally two in number, neither do they need to be literally killed to “keep the things which are written therein”. Here is all that must take place literally for these verses to be spiritually lived out and spiritually kept by us all:

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

4) If we hate the doctrine of the Lord’s witnesses then we have murdered them and their dead bodies lie unburied, because at this time in our lives, the word of God, which commands us to love our enemies (Mat 5:44), and bury our dead (Deu 21:23), and to bless and curse not (Rom 12:14), means nothing at all to us in our self-righteous, rebellious condition. God’s commandments are all ignored in favor of gloating over our physical dominance over the witnesses of God’s Word , while we are in great Babylon. The phrases “their dead bodies shall lie in the street of that great city” and “shall not suffer their bodies to be put in graves”, are both a type and a shadow of rebellion against the commandments of God which requires these things of us. Burying our dead is spiritually the sign and symbol of forgiving our enemies. We use the English phrase to this very day, “Let’s bury the hatchet”, and we simply cannot, at first, do so.

Deu 21:22  And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Deu 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.

5) “In the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt” is the city of God within us which has spiritually rebelled against His rulership and His commandments and has become a harlot (Isa 1:21). Both ‘Sodom and Egypt’ typify each of us as we are smarting under the rulership of our first love.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. [Haters of The Truth, 1Jn 3:15, and those who bring us that Truth]

Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew and the son of Abraham’s own brother, typifies our own flesh before we become Abraham. Lot typifies us as we “pitch our tent toward Sodom” and eventually end up sitting in the gate of Sodom, judging Sodom, being grieved with the sins of Sodom, and attempting to save and improve a doomed city, which in the end we, having become Abraham, are forced to “come out of” and stand afar off and watch the smoke of spiritual Sodom arise from the fields of the plains. That is the spiritual significance of calling the city where our Lord was crucified, Sodom.

Gen 13:12  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Gen 19:28  And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

Isa 1:8  And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

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. [“Spiritually called Sodom and Egypt”, Rev 11:8]

As Israel, God’s first born Son, we cry out to be delivered from Egypt, but just as Lot had come out of the land of the Chaldeans just to “pitch his tent towards Sodom,” so too, as God’s Israel, we must come out of Egypt, just to end up rebelling against God “ten times” and wanting to return to Egypt.

Num 14:3  And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Num 14:4  And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

We are the ones described by these phrases: “Let us return to Egypt… and [you] have not listened to my voice… and burned incense to graven images”. That is the spiritual significance of God revealing to us that we are first “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt”. Here once again is what Isaiah said of Jerusalem in his day:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Notice that it does say… “the faithful city”, just as Christ says “They have received… the words you gave me” just before the apostles forsake Him and leave Him to suffer His fate on the cross:

Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee,

The point of all scripture is that all men are first unfaithful, before the Lord causes them to be faithful.

We will pause at this point and continue our study of these verses concerning the Lord’s faithful witnesses in our next scheduled meeting.

Isa 36:12-22 The Lord Will Surely Deliver Us - Discussion

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Isa 36:12-22 - The Lord Will Surely Deliver Us

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 adversary is "more subtle than any beast of the field", and he knows just how to attack us at our weakest point. When we seek to have him deal with our strongest assets, he makes it clear that he has no intention to show any mercy whatsoever:

Here is what Hezekiah's representatives, types of us, had requested of Rabshakeh, Sennacherib's captain:

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.

But our adversary knows the advantage of speaking our language, and using our own language to draw us away from our fear of the Lord. So he answers us in this way:

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?

The message of this verse is contained in these verses in the New Testament:

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

But Christ knew the heart of the adversary because He made him as he is, and he knew what the king of Assyria had done to Hezekiah after demanding tribute from Hezekiah. What the king of Assyria did, as we read last week, was to send Rabshakeh and a great host to destroy Jerusalem. That was how Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, expressed his gratitude for Hezekiah's submission, and the huge tribute he had placed upon Hezekiah. That is also how the adversary treats us every time we try to reason with him or seek to appease him in any way. Unlike Hezekiah who submitted to the tribute Sennacherib placed upon him, Christ did not for one moment succumb to the temptation to depend upon mankind for His welfare, and He immediately told the devil:

Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Christ was in the same situation Hezekiah was in when He stood before Pilate, and Pilate, in the spirit of Rabshakeh, made this statement to our Lord:

Joh 19:10  Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

We are told that Christ had cried out to His Father to deliver Him and He was heard in that He feared:

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;

Christ was heard and delivered from death while Pilate and the Jews who accused Christ are all dead and are all awaiting their resurrection to judgment.

The Lord wants us to have the same mind of Christ and put the things of the spirit before the ease and pleasures of our flesh. This is how we are to think as Christ:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. ["The Christ"]
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

These words are Christ who is also crying out to us a message promising to deliver us from our oppressors. His Words and His promises directly contradict every word of Rabshakeh:

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.

Rabshakeh is the captain of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. These words are blasphemous against the Lord, and they are an assault upon the Lord's people by others who know "the Jew's language". Speaking in an unintelligible language which "the people on the wall", meaning "the watchmen" of Israel, could not understand is the last thing in the world Rabshakeh intends to do. His very purpose is to draw away as many of Hezekiah's people to himself as he can. There is no man of God at this point, sent to tell them to submit themselves to the king of Babylon or to seek the peace of that city. That is not the message of these chapters of Isaiah. There is a time for that message, but the message of Isaiah 36 is that the Lord will deliver us from the king of Assyria and from all the powers of Babylon's lies and false doctrines. Rabshakeh is aware that Hezekiah is clearing out of the land all of the false prophets and ungodly high places in Judah, but he is appealing to the hearts of those who have had their idols taken from them and destroyed, and He is asking them to give up without a fight, as so many do and so many have done. We have just recently been told 'You have to believe what we are saying or you will end up in the second death'. Like Hezekiah we are purging out of our land the false doctrines such as there will be no thousand year reign, and therefore there will be no first resurrection preceding that thousand year reign, and that there will be no second death for the judgment of all those who are not partakers of the first resurrection. The priests of the high places were secretly teaching against everything being taught by those who were faithful to the Lord's commandment to worship only in Jerusalem. That commandment is applicable until this very day as it is applied to the church of the firstborn to which we are all still commanded to come and worship the Lord:

Heb 12:18  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19  And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20  (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

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.

"Come out to me... until I come and take you away" is like telling us we must pay a huge unbearable tribute if we do not wish to be destroyed, and as soon as the tribute is paid, Sennacherib still sends "Tartan, Rabsaris and Rabshakeh... with a great host" to destroy Jerusalem. It makes no difference at all if we and Hezekiah submit to the adversary. Rabshakeh will still demand more and will still rob us of our crown of life. Rabshakeh typifies our rebellious old man, who tells us we cannot make war with him, and at the same time we are told, and Rabshakeh admits, that he is intent upon our destruction.

Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our rebellious old man is a heartless taskmaster, and it is true that of ourselves we cannot make war with the beast, which we are by nature. It is a Biblical doctrine that we sin even when we don't want to do so:

Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

"It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me" is the power which Rabshakeh, speaking for Babylon within, has over us. The northern kingdom of Israel, allied with Syria against the Lord's people in Judah under Hezekiah, symbolizes our helplessness and our hopelessness in fighting against Babylon within us. Of ourselves the battle is lost before it begins, and it is all by God's design.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

The power of the beast within us, and Babylon's power over us, is derived from the great red dragon, that old serpent the devil, and Satan (Rev 12:9).

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?

That power is given to the serpent through the food he is given to eat. He is given 'dust' to eat, and that 'dust' is our flesh:

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

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.

Serpents do not literally "eat... dust". Serpents are carnivores, and without Christ in us, Satan really does spiritually have us for lunch day in and day out. Christ Himself, our own Creator, has placed within our members a law against which, as we read here in Romans 7, we really are helpless and hopeless except for what comes next here in Romans 7:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

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

...As well as these encouraging and edifying words of Truth:

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Our carnal nature is so sure of its dominion over us that it treats us with disdain and as the utter slaves to our flesh that we are by nature. However, just like Goliath, the lies of Assyria and Babylon do not have a chance against the stone that is targeted right at their very head, the father of all lies, "That old serpent the devil... and his angels".

So our flesh and its master tells us:

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?

Samaria is the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. In other words, Samaria symbolizes all those who were part of us only yesterday, and have now allied themselves with Syria, a Gentile nation like Sodom, the city the Lord had destroyed with fire back in Abraham's day.  The destruction of Samaria, Judah's and Hezekiah's own people at one time, is now being accomplished through Assyria, the same people as Babylon, and it is occasioned for this reason:

Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine [the Lord's] 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.

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.

The law of Moses typifies "the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2) just as the first man Adam typifies Christ, who is called "the last man, Adam":

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.

The physical northern kingdom of Israel, worshiping the idols of Jezebel, signifies each of us professing Christ and His doctrines while at the same time refusing to "hear them, nor do them". Hence, because of the idols of our hearts, we were 'Babylonians' at heart even before we are carried away into the great harlot Babylon and her daughter harlots. Spiritually we are all born into self-worship, so we just naturally "worship the beast", and the beast is just naturally drawn to the great harlot whose commission from God Himself is to seduce His people.

Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
Pro 7:14  I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
Pro 7:15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

We have all fallen for the lies of the great harlot, but by the mercies of God we are "coming out of her" (Rev 18:4), and by those same mercies we will not "crucify the Lord afresh and put Him to an open shame" by  falling prey to the lies of the great harlot.

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?

The fact that Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, and then Hezekiah himself had subjugated themselves to the king of Assyria and had voluntarily made themselves tributaries to his sovereignty demonstrates that "all men, small and great, rich and poor, free and bond" submit themselves to and worship the beast and his image; the religious beast whose deadly wound is healed (Rev 13:3) and who is now in bed with the great whore of Babylon. Hezekiah and Judah, in this historical event, symbolize the Lord's remnant who "come out of her" and declare their dependence upon the Lord and upon Him only.

Isa 36:21  But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

"Answer him not" is the king's commandment until this very day. Rabshakeh is the spokesman for the great whore, and this is what the Lord's remnant are commanded to this very day:

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh [in our flesh - vs 9]. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2Jn 1:8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
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.

Verse nine is just another way of repeating what this same apostle tells us in his first epistle:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Our faith and our heavens must endure a fiery trial and be purified of any and all wood, hay, and stubble before we will be accepted of God, who is doing all of this within us by the counsel of His own will.

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.

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

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.

The trial of our faith is revealed to us when we are faced with the demands of our flesh under whose sovereignty we have placed ourselves.

So we read:

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.

Rabshakeh and his master, the king of Assyria, are rich in the things of this age. They even have the gold and silver and treasures of the Lord's house, because we give it to them. Yet spiritually the king of Assyria is "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked", and as such Assyria and Babylon are the type and shadow of our own outwardly "rich man" whose treasures are not in heaven and are very corruptible. Our own personal "rich man" is anything within us which, like Rabshakeh, exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That is what will keep us out of the kingdom of God if we are not shown His mercy. Christ warns us against trusting in our own 'riches', our own understanding, and our own doctrines, and in the idols of our own heart as in this story about a young rich man who came to inquire of Christ:

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mat 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

The law of Moses serves as Rabshakeh, and as the king of Assryia to us. It essentially teaches that if we are physically rich, then we must be righteous, because that is the promise given to those who are obedient to the law. Paul informs us that the righteousness that is within the law "is not for a righteous man" (1Ti 1:9), and produces self righteousness (Php 3:6).

Rabshakeh was full of his own "law of the Gentiles" self righteousness, which comes from keeping the law:

Deu 7:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
Deu 7:13  And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Deu 7:14  Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
Deu 7:15  And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

We do not generally see ourselves as physically 'rich', and therefore this story seems to be targeted at some few rich Christians. But this section of scripture is really speaking to all of us when we possess huge idols of our own hearts which we value so much we are willing to appropriate the Lord's riches, His words and His doctrines, as cover for those idols of our heart. It is in that state of mind that we think we are "rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing". In that state of mind the Lord lays upon His elect "all sickness, and...the evil diseases of Egypt" as He drags us to Himself.

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

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:
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.

Because Christ's disciples were taught that being rich was the result of being obedient to God, they were dumbfounded when Christ told them that our riches keep us from knowing Him, and that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God:

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

Christ knew in advance what would be the impact of His words concerning how we esteem ourselves to be rich in His Truth, even when we are really "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked". Nevertheless, when He made this statement, He was speaking to and admonishing His own disciples. The rich young man was not even there at that time.

So He reveals just how any and all of us are saved:

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

It is only through Christ that any of us can "sell all [we] have", all our "idols of [our] hearts", and be converted into little children wanting to please their heavenly Father.

In spite of the false doctrine of some, the truth remains that Christ created us to be motivated by both pain for disobedience and by rewards for obedience, as Peter here demonstrates and as Christ reaffirms:

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration [G3824, paliggenesia] when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mat 19:30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Peter wants to know what is the reward for being faithful to Christ and His doctrines and Christ tells Peter that the reward is beyond his wildest dreams. In essence Christ tells Peter that it will be through him and all others who will remain faithful "to the end" "the whole house of Israel" will be saved (Eze 37:9)

Let's notice that in verse 28 Christ uses this word to let us know when we will receive our reward:

G3824
παλιγγενεσία
paliggenesia
pal-ing-ghen-es-ee'-ah
From G3825 and G1078; (spiritual) rebirth (the state or the act), that is, (figuratively) spiritual renovation; specifically Messianic restoration: - regeneration.
Total KJV occurrences: 2

This word appears but just two times in all of the scriptures. It is here in Mat 19 and again in Titus 3:

G3824
παλιγγενεσία
paliggenesia
Total KJV Occurrences: 2
regeneration, 2
Mat_19:28, Tit_3:5

Tit 3:4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration [G3824, paliggenesia], and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

When we put the words of God "line upon line and precept upon precept" we find that what Christ is promising Peter really is far beyond his wildest dreams, because the physical twelve tribes of Israel will be "obtain mercy... through [Peter's and our] mercy... [only] when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in":

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Rom 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
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.

The "as touching the election" here is the physical election of the physical nation of Israel, and not the spiritual election of the spiritual "Israel of God" of :

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. (GWV)

When will "the fulness of the Gentiles be come in"? We need not guess because we are given the timeline of these events:

Eze 16:48  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
Eze 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Eze 16:50  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
Eze 16:51  Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
Eze 16:52  Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
Eze 16:53  When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
Eze 16:54  That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Where is "the whole house of [physical] Israel" until the regeneration, the 'paliggenesia'?

Eze 37:9  Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
Eze 37:10  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Eze 37:11  Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

Should we not all tremble before the inspired words "when" and "then"? All we must do is believe what the scriptures tell us, and we will know the timeline of the salvation of physical Israel and all outward Jews. They will be redeemed "when Sodom... and Samaria" are redeemed, and "when your sisters Sodom and her daughters return to their former estate". "Return to your former estate" is simply speaking of being redeemed from our sinful state, and returning to our very Creator. In other words, outward Israel will be saved when all the rest of mankind returns to their Creator. That will be after Christ's elect are raised from the dead at the beginning of the thousand year reign, and only after the short season of rebellion which follows the thousand year reign of Christ and His resurrected elect. The Lord's mercy to them will come only through Peter and through all of us as His elect:

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.

And that is some of the blessings, "and the glory and the honor", which will be awarded all those who "give up all" as Peter put it, to follow Christ. After the thousand year reign, followed by a short season of rebellion, fire will come down from God out of heaven and will annihilate all flesh on the earth. That will be the beginning of the destruction of mankind's "last enemy [which] is death":

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

All those who are in the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand years had to first be judged, and their old man had to be destroyed outwardly (1Pe 4:17) by dying daily (1Co 15:31) and by presenting themselves as a "living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1) in the Lord's service and by being "crucified with Christ" (Gal 2:20). Only then will we be given "the crown of life" (Jas 1:12 and Rev 2:10-11) of being "kings and priests" (Rev 1:6 and Rev 5:10) in that "blessed and holy... first resurrection" (Rev 20:4-6). In that same order, meaning the natural must always precede the spiritual (1Co 15:44-46), all natural flesh must first be destroyed outwardly before the "manifested sons of God" (Rom 8:18-19), the rulers of the thousand year reign, can then begin to judge all of mankind from Adam to the end of the thousand year reign, spiritually and collectively as "Satan and his angels" in the second death/lake of fire/ white throne judgment:

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

So there it is. We are made to know of some of blessings and the rewards for those who overcome the fear of what Babylon can do to us, and who are granted to ignore all the words of the spirit of Rabshakeh, and are given to "cast down every thought which exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ" (2Co 10:5), and to depend solely upon the Lord's mercy for our salvation:

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

Here is how Paul feels about how the things we must suffer, compare to all the blessings to be bestowed upon us as the Lord's bride, His friends and His chosen "very elect":

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 [All mankind of all time] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they [of "the first resurrection" (vs 6)] 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.

There are but two resurrections, and Christ Himself makes that very clear:

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

As it turns out, "thy people" are actually Abraham's spiritual "one... seed", (Gal 3:16) who are "inward... Jews" (Rom 2:28-29), "in Christ... neither Jew nor Greek" (Gal 3:26-29)), and they are called "the Israel of God" (Gal 6:15-15). "Your people" are those who "have overcome the wicked one" in this age and who win "a crown of life" in this age (Rev 2:10-11), and have their names written in heaven (Luk 10:20 and Heb 12:23). It is "the firstborn [whose] names are written in heaven". It is most certainly not those to whom Christ will say "Depart from me you cursed, into everlasting fire... the lake of fire/second death... prepared for the devil and his angels":

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

Christ repeats this same message in John 5:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. (ASV)

The people involved in these two resurrections are separated by a "great gulf" which cannot be bridged.

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us [first resurrection] and you ["they that have done evil"... 2nd resurrection] there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

There is a thousand years of the Lord's elect ruling over the kingdoms of this world which separates these two resurrections. It is not possible to bridge that gulf and bring those who will be judged after the thousand years over into the first resurrection. Neither is it possible for those who are blessed of the Lord and given a kingdom, and who are given to take part in that "blessed and holy... first resurrection", to be hurt of the second death:

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom [Rev 11:15] prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

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

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

All of this is summarized in the first six verses of Revelation 20:

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.

The Lord is so gracious as to reveal even more of His work to us:

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

Then the very next thing revealed to us immediately following this ultimate deception and rebellion of "the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth" is:

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

When the book of life is opened at the great white throne, it will be revealed for all to see those whose names were written in that book and who will be judging angels in this "great white throne... resurrection to judgment".

Those whose names are written in the book of life are those "who first trusted in Christ" (Eph 1:12). They are also called "the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven". This is the group who were judged in this age and who died with Christ first and whose names will appear in that "book of life" at the great white throne judgment:

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

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

This concludes our study today on how we are to wage spiritual warfare.

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue our studies on this topic of spiritual warfare and we will see what Hezekiah, a type of who we are, did when He was confronted with the threats of Rabshakeh, the captain of Sennecharib, the king of Assyria.

These are our verses for our next study:

Isa 37:1  And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
Isa 37:2  And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
Isa 37:3  And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Isa 37:4  It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
Isa 37:5  So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
Isa 37:6  And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Isa 37:7  Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Isa 37:8  So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
Isa 37:9  And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
Isa 37:10  Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isa 37:11  Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
Isa 37:12  Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
Isa 37:13  Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

Hello all,

I need help understanding what is “their first estate” and “habitation” that the angels leave. I know that “angels” just means messengers, so this is referring to God’s elect.

Jdg 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting [ age- lasting] chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Thank you,

B____

Hi B____,

Thank you for your question. You ask:

Can you tell me what was “their first estate” and “habitation” that the angels left, that Jude refers to in this verse?:

Jdg 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting [ aionian] chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

To understand Jdg 1:6, you need to read 2Pe 2. Here are both with the surrounding verses:

Jdg 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jdg 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jdg 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting [ aionian] chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

The subject Jude is dealing with is “people… that believed not”, it is not spirits which are angels that rebelled against God’s rule, as many teach. Peter makes the same argument in slightly different words:

2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they [ false prophets] with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
2Pe 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

The sins of “the old world” are the same as the “false prophets” who are likened to “the angels that sinned”. The “false prophets” of 2Pe 2:1 equate with “the angels that sinned” of verse 4. Notice how the word ‘angel is used in these verses:

Num 20:14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
Num 20:15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
Num 20:16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:

Both the word “messengers” in verse 14, and the word “angel” in verse 16, are the one Hebrew word ‘malak’, meaning ‘a messenger’, Verse 14 is referring to human messengers, and verse 16 refers to a spirit messenger. The Greek equivalent is the Greek word ‘angelos’ which is found in the two verses we are considering, and it too, can mean either spirit of human messengers. In the case of the verses in 2Pe 2:4, and Jude1:6, it is definitely referring to men who “as Sodom and Gomorrah… went after strange flesh”. “The word ‘angels’ means ‘messenger’, and God’s ‘messengers’ to that “old world” were the descendants of Seth, who God gave Adam and Eve instead of “righteous Abel”, and to be His ambassadors, His messengers or ‘angels’ on this earth in that day.

Gen 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

That is why Seth was so named. Here is what the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia tells us about the name ‘Seth’.

“In Gen 4:25 the derivation of the name is given. Eve “called his name Seth: For, said she, God hath appointed (sha th) me another seed instead of Abel.”

So ‘Shath’, Seth, was “appointed… another seed instead of Abel”. It is his seed, as opposed to Cain’s seed, which is traced to Noah of whom we are told:

Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

The previous eight verses inform us:

Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God [ Seth’s descendants, “the angels that sinned, [ and] kept not their first estate” 2Pe 2:4 and Jdg 1:6] saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. [ Angels “neither marry nor are given in marriage”, Mat 22:30]
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

So while evil spirits are indeed awaiting judgment, that is not the subject of 2Pe 2:4 and Jdg 1:6. The subject is “the world that then was” and that world was made up of “all in Adam”, who is the father of all who are in “vessels of clay”, also known as bodies of ‘sinful flesh’.

Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

So that it is only “the first man Adam [ and] the last Adam”, who have no physical father. I hope all these verses make clear that “kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation” refers to God’s chosen people, before the flood, leaving their position as God’s habitation’, to corrupt their generations, by seeing “the daughters of men that they were fair; and [ taking] them wives of all which they chose”.

Exo 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

It was the children of Seth who were called “the sons of God” before the flood, just as Israel was called God son after the flood (Hos 11:1).

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

It was “the wickedness of [ men who had] kept not their first estate [ as God’s typical, ‘chosen people’, and had left their habitation” as His habitation, which caused God to cast them down to ‘tartaroo’ and reserve them to the day of judgment of ungodly men”.

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Now let’s look at 2 Peter one more time, and notice what it was that brought down God’s wrath upon mankind:

Jdg 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Jdg 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Whatever it was that these “angels” did, it was the same “as Sodom and Gormorrah, [ not ‘as spirits’], going after strange flesh”, and that is what is “set for an example [ for us] suffering the vengeance of aionian fire”.

Your brother in the Christ,

Mike

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In the last study, we have seen that the “Awesome Hands” of the Lord, as shown to us in the story of the flood, are there to rescue us from our history and the “world” that has been corrupted.

Once we are given salvation via the ark, the way out that the Lord has provided for us, we are then going to be nourished by and also devoured by the beasts that the Lord preserved with us while we were in the ark.

Praise the Lord that He has given us a dove to guide us, to bring into the ark so that we know what to do next. It is a process, but it is a sweet smelling savor to the Lord as He works out of us the things that the blood on our hands are required to happen.

God has made a covenant with us that says He will finish the work in us that He has founded in the Christ, since the foundation of the world.

In part 5, we will continue to look at the next scriptures dealing with God’s awesome hands working in our Way, Truth and Life with Jesus the Christ.

Lord willing, we see what the Lord has prepared for us at His altar as we see what we can learn from Abram and Lot’s departures from one another in Gen 13:9.

Abram’s livestock

Up until now, we have studied various examples of God’s “awesome hands” working in our lives. We started at the beginning with the first Adam and his wife Eve, and then we went out from the garden of Eden to later find ourselves in the story of Noah and the arc.

Now, we find ourselves in our next verse dealing with “hands” as they are mentioned in the OT, and we find ourselves in a very peculiar situation.

In Gen 13:9 we see:

Gen 13:9 –  Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

In order to set the tone for the study and the area where this verse is found, I want to take a few minutes and read the story as it leads in verse 13:9.

Gen 12:17 –  But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Gen 12:18 –  So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
Gen 12:19 –  Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.”
Gen 12:20 –  And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Right away, this should sound very similar to a story that happens to Israel as they are slaves in Egypt and we’ll study this story out to see if there are any similarities.

Earlier in this story, God tells Abram to leave Egypt and “go to the land that I will show you”.

Gen 12:1 –  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
Gen 12:2 –  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Gen 12:3 –  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God tells Abram to go to a land that He will show Abram by going away from his country, his kindred and his father’s house, but how do we initially see Abram live out what the Lord had said?

Gen 12:4 –  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Gen 12:5 –  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Gen 12:6 –  And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Gen 12:7 –  And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

Did anyone notice that God told Abram to go out from his country, kindred and father’s house? Well, Abram did but he took a little something- something along too …. his brother’s son.

This sounds very similar too what God tells Moses he must do, but Moses seems to always want to add a little something- something to God’s plan and commandments.

Of course, we all know it is completely the Lord’s will that is working it out that these men do this, but that is no different than Pharaoh being setup to have a hardened heart.

Still, we are going to live it out as the Lord has planned and we must see that our will, our “self “ is nothing if we are dead to our own works, dead to our own fleshly desires and rising daily in a newness of hope and faith in Him.

Now, what do Abram’s plans yield him as he travels into the land of Canaan? It is in this part of our walk that even though we think we are doing as the Lord commands, and we are according to His strong delusion, that we go away from the north [ judgment] and towards the south, the wilderness, the place where God will be with us in longsuffering because WE HAVE NO FAITH.

Gen 12:8 –  And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Gen 12:9 –  And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

So, why do I say this is when we have no faith? Well, we know from scripture that Abraham is the father of the faithful, but here we don’t see him acting faithful. In fact, he is so fearful of what is about to happen to him that he gets Sarai to lie about being his wife which in turn has God spook the Pharoah to “let my people go”.

Gen 12:10 –  And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
Gen 12:11 –  And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
Gen 12:12 –  Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Gen 12:13 –  Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

What does this all have to do with the hands of God and this study? Doesn’t it seem like Abram is being setup along with Sarai? Well, they are.

Isn’t that how we feel when we cry out and try everything we can do rid ourselves from “His wrath” though we don’t know that is truly what is happening until we can look back to it?

However, while we are going through it like Abram and Sarai are in this story we too try to continually take things into our own hands and help God along.

Gen 12:14 –  And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Gen 12:15 –  The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Gen 12:16 –  And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
Gen 12:17 –  And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
Gen 12:18 –  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
Gen 12:19 –  Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
Gen 12:20 –  And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

Our Lord is so patient and long suffering with us while we are in this wilderness. As soon as we “take actions into our own hands” due to lack of faith in the Lord, he blesses us still by having mercy on us and blessing us while we yet harm ourselves.

In Abrams case, the Lord has pharaoh bless Abram with all sorts of livestock and workers just in time to then send plagues on the pharaoh and his house. So, we are sent away out of Egypt and back into the wilderness and we take with us a RENEWED mind that we have done well because it went well with “our plan”. Lo, unto us the fools!

Remember, we are still heading south and away from judgment so that Lord tells us to remember His commandments, remember his judgments because they are a huge part of the promise as well.

Deu 8:11 –  Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Deu 8:12 –  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Deu 8:13 –  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Deu 8:14 –  Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Deu 8:15 –  Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Deu 8:16 –  Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Deu 8:17 –  And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Deu 8:18 –  But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

God made a covenant a long time ago with our father and it didn’t start with Abraham. It started from the foundation of the world which is what we have being talking about and building upon since we started this series.

We are Christ’s inheritance, so God has promised His Son a wonderful bride fit for Him. God the Father will continue establishing this covenant by proving and humbling us so that our latter end will be good.

Divide with Lot

Until this point we have been building up to the verse that this study is focused on, Gen 13:9. Now, we are getting close to what God is going to do about our disobedience.

He obviously has led us into this land, has given us the heart that doesn’t have faith yet but we still must continue to go through the motions of whatever He has planned for us and in this story of Abram and Sarai, we come now to being divided by Lot.

Our brother’s son, whom we were told to “go from your kindred” now must be given his portion too, because we always want to hold on to something that we have been delivered from initially.

Ultimately though, we must be separated from our “brethren”.

It is God who endures us with long suffering because the verses leading up to this whole story are about Noah and the nations created from those on the arc and them being of one language.

God then sees that we are going to be “of one language” and confounds the one language of the earth into multiple languages thus we eventually end up in this story today. Just as God confounded us and split us up in Babel, we too must have this happen again.

Continuing with verse 13:1 we see:

Gen 13:1 –  And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
Gen 13:2 –  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Gen 13:3 –  And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
Gen 13:4 –  Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Abram is simply being extremely blessed as the Lord continues to build the house of Abram and of Lot. Then, we see Abram make a full circle back around to the place He had been before.

Gen 13:5 –  And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
Gen 13:6 –  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
Gen 13:7 –  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
Gen 13:8 –  And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
Gen 13:9 –  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

There is so much growth for Abram during this time where Abram is doing exactly as God has planned…. being blessed immensely, that when he comes back around to where he started there is no longer room for both what Abram has accumulated while do as the Lord has commanded and also what has been built up from His BROTHERS HOUSE.

The wheat and the chaff truly must grow up together until the harvest when then the wheat can be separated without harm coming to the wheat AND ITS SEED.

What are we going to do we cry out, just as Abram says…. let’s get along…. we can have the best of both worlds. Let not my olds ways conflict with the new ways shown to me of the Lord…. surely, we can dwell together in peace, right?

We have SO LITTLE FAITH. We think we can do something, so we again go to Lot and try to work this thing out. What is actually about to happen is that we are going to let “our brethren”, our old man, call the shots.

Guess what, it’s going to backfire for us but according to the Lord’s plan and we are about to read how.

Gen 13:10 –  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
Gen 13:11 –  Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

See, our brother has always belonged in the east…. just where the Sun rises. Our brother has his purpose, but ours is to head west not east. Before that though, we will continue to stay separated and dwell where we are which is still west of Lot.

Gen 13:12 –  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Gen 13:13 –  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

So, we thought we would be slick and let our brother choose the way from which we would go, eh? Well, now we get to find out about the wrath of the Lord in full glory.

We are going to need to go down and see that our brethren are more inclined to look towards Sodom than they are towards the plain, and I mean that figuratively and literally in Lot’s case.

Before we do this though, we must receive yet another blessing of the Lord and this one is HUGE. We get control of everything we can see to the north, south, east and west.

Gen 13:14 –  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Gen 13:15 –  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16 –  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Gen 13:17 –  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Gen 13:18 –  Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Sodom and Gomorrah go to war

At this point, we are about to see a war happen, and it is going to be a big one. It is going to be such a big one that our brother Lot will be caught up in it and we will need to rescue him.

I’ll start in verse 14, but before that just know that this war is between 4 and 5 kings.

Gen 14:8 –  And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
Gen 14:9 –  With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

Here is how the story goes:

Gen 14:10 –  And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
Gen 14:11 –  And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
Gen 14:12 –  And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Gen 14:13 –  And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
Gen 14:14 –  And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
Gen 14:15 –  And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
Gen 14:16 –  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Abram, though all the things he has yet to be faithful in has been used to bring salvation to his brothers son, whom Abram calls his brethren, because of all the things God has done up to this point.

However, we are about to have a live changing event happen to us. We are about to see a High Priest of God and this event will forever direct the children of Israel in the OT and the future children of the promise of God.

On the scene comes Melchizedek, bringing BREAD and WINE. He brings grain and drink, not a sacrifice but something of the field, the earth…the church of God to us. Let’s see how the story plays itself out.

Gen 14:17 –  And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
Gen 14:18 –  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19 –  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 –  And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Gen 14:21 –  And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
Gen 14:22 –  And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
Gen 14:23 –  That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
Gen 14:24 –  Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

Melchizedek lets us know that what we have had happened to us was done because the Lord has given our enemies into our hands. In return, we “lift up our hands”. We now have the mindset that we will not take anything for this salvation ability that the Lord has blessed us with. We can save our brethren!

Belief starts in the wilderness

Why is this story so important? In Hebrews, we see a very nice picture painted for us of what the Lord brings us through in order to have just a few actually believe in the end. It is in the wilderness that some of use are “Jacob and Caleb” and believe we can go conquer the giants in the land we have been promised.

It is in the wilderness that we see this play out and Faith is a huge miracle in and of itself.

Melchizedek comes to Abram BEFORE the law of Moses was ever in existence, so just like the cloud the leads Israel through the wilderness which we are told was Christ, we too can see here that God has always had His Kings and High Priests who come to bring the gospel of the Lord.

In all this, it is faith that we are finally given and Abram is going to become Abraham the father of the faithful lateàwhich is also Christ we know via scripture. So how do we all relate to this in our lives and God’s hands in them?

Heb 6:10 –  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11 –  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 –  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Heb 6:13 –  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14 –  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15 –  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Heb 6:16 –  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Heb 6:17 –  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
Heb 6:18 –  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 –  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 –  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Did Abram really patiently endure when he and Sarai got the show on the road and conceived Ishmael? Well, they hadn’t been given faith yet. So like them, we diligently work out our salvation through faith and patience as that is INHERITING the PROMISE.

We are just like Melchizedek in that we are spiritually born into a faith that is just s miraculous as a virgin birth. We are suddenly born by a spiritual Father.

As such, we are babies first who are sons who inherit the kingship and priesthood later via enduring the fiery trails of life as we are trained to know it is all of the Lord.

Conclusion of Awesome Hands Part 5

As we conclude part 5 of the awesome hands of God study, we have learned that though the Lord comes to us and we call on His name in the wilderness, it is during this time that we really don’t have much faith to begin with.

We always want to get the show on the road and do something for God once we know He is working in our lives. However, because we want to do it in our way and our time, we will reap what we sow.

Through all of this, it is the Lord who directs our steps to bring good from it because while we are yet not in the fullness of faith, the Lord can and will use us to save our brethren. We are called behind in no gift, but we have yet to move on to have our seed come to fruition.

As we have seen with Abram, we are to go to war and battle those who are our enemies. They will be delivered into our hands but unlike a tenth that was instituted as type and shadow; the promise will be given to those who are completely the Lords …. and that is when we take on His new name… being renamed in Abraham and Sara.

In our next study, we will see how we continue to move towards getting things done quickly in our lives but ultimately the Lord will bring about His will so that His covenant will stand will Christ, His bride starting in Gen 16:6.

We all are God’s and He will mold us all into being all in all.

Psa 139:14 –  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.