Jer 1:11-19 I Will Utter My Judgments Against Them Touching All Their Wickedness

[Study Aired December 13, 2020]

Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Jer 1:15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

As I have pointed out earlier, Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 both make it clear that each of us must inwardly personalize all the plural pronouns of scripture if we are to benefit from reading any of these prophecies:

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man [G444: ‘anthropos’, mankind, (you and I)] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Luke gives us our “second witness” to this Truth:

Luk 4:4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Living by every word does not mean performing every word of scripture. What it means is that we are to believe and obey every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We must accept with complete faith “that every imagination of the thoughts of [our natural] heart [is] only evil continually.” Therefore, “[we] are the man” who committed adultery and then murdered the woman’s husband to cover it up. If we believe that every sin of mankind is within our own flesh, then we will understand who Christ was talking to when He said:

Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation [“let him that readeth understand” (Mat 24:15)];

The words of Jeremiah were given to him by “the Lord” to give to us. Therefore, these words have proceeded out of the mouth of God. These words are part of “every word of God” which we will do well to believe and act accordingly:

Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

“You have well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” (??) What, pray tell, does “a rod of an almond tree” have to do with “I will hasten my word to perform it?” That will become much easier to understand when we see the similarity between the Hebrew word for ‘almond’ and the Hebrew word of ‘hasten’. Here is the Hebrew word for ‘almond’:

H8247
שָׁקֵד
shâqêd
shaw-kade’
From H8245; the almond (tree or nut; as being the earliest in bloom): – almond (tree).

The almond tree is the earliest blooming tree in any orchard. I have an almond tree, peach trees, apple trees, pear trees and one apricot tree. The almond blooms in January before any of the other fruit trees.

The Hebrew word for ‘almond’ is ‘shaqed’ to which James Strong has assigned the number H8247. Notice that we are told this Hebrew word, number H8247, is “from H8245”, and when we look up that word, this is what we find:

H8245
שָׁקַד
shâqad
shaw-kad’
A primitive root; to be alert, that is, sleepless; hence to be on the lookout (whether for good or ill): – hasten, remain, wake, watch (for).

Where do we find this word H8245 from which the word ‘almond’ comes? E-sword tells us it is in the Old Testament twelve times, and one of those twelve times is in the very next verse, verse 12, where this word H8245 ‘shaqad’ is translated as ‘hasten’:

Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten [H8245: ‘shaqad’] my word to perform it.

What the Lord is telling us through Jeremiah is the very same message He gives us in the New Testament via the agency of “the fig tree”:

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.

Here in Matthew 24:32-35 Christ is essentially saying… “I will hasten My Word to perform  it.”

He repeats the same message in:

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.

That is the significance of why the Lord showed Jeremiah an almond rod. The pouring out of His wrath upon His own people was imminent, typifying this spiritual Truth:

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?

Isaiah gives us the same timetable with the same sense of urgency:

Isa 10:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

If we fail to discern the order in which the Lord is judging His creatures, then we will fail to know Him, and we will not know His Son. We will fail to acknowledge that we are being judged in “this present time” and that we are therefore the first of all of mankind to be judged. If we believe this, then we are beginning to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. “Judgment must begin at the house of God” [and] “when the Lord has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem [His elect then, and only then] will [He] punish the stout heart of the king of Assyria…”

Later in this same prophecy, the Lord, through Jeremiah, will repeat the message of Isaiah 10:12. In chapter 25 the Lord will again state that He has already determined He will judge His own people first, and then He will judge the rest of the nations of this world:

Jer 25:15  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18  To wit, [“begin at”] Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;

The Lord has determined to judge His own people first:

Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

The Lord goes on to make it clear He is not speaking only of the judgment which is taking place at this very moment within His elect. He makes clear that after He pours out His wrath upon His saints, then He will also judge the rest of the kingdoms of this world, but always beginning with Jerusalem, His own people, His own “house” (1Pe 4:17):

The reason for starting with His own house is for the very reason of using His own house as His instrument to save all the rest of mankind. Those few who are first judged in this present age, will be sent by Christ “that the world through [their] mercy might receive mercy.”

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

God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved, and Christ says this of those few who are chosen in “this present time” (Rom 8:18) to endure hardship and tribulations to the end:

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

We are also sent by Christ to be the first to be judged so we can be “saviors” who will be the first to judge the world and then the angels:

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

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

‘Saviors’ are righteous, just and merciful judges:

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

That is both the physical and the spiritual significance of showing Jeremiah an almond rod. It signifies both physically and spiritually the eminence of the “rod of [His] anger, and… indignation” which the Lord first brings upon His own house, His own people:

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

The Babylonians were the Assyrian people who typify and signify those whom the Lord has chosen to punish His own people. Like the Egyptians before them, the Assyrians, who are the same people as the Babylonians, are a very self-righteous religious people, who in type have a special hatred for “the Lord and His Christ” (Act 4:26). It is ‘Babylon’ whom the holy spirit has chosen to typify “the great city wherein our Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8) It is the Lord’s own apostate people. It is those who claim to be the Lord’s people who hate the Lord and His Word even more than the nations around them do. These are those whom the Lord calls a spiritual “harlot”:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

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.

“The faithful city” is the subject of this chapter, and it is the subject of this entire prophecy:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

The prophecy of Isaiah revealing “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” to be “a harlot” gives these verses of Revelation much greater meaning within and outwardly than simply seeing “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth” as Judaism, the Anglican church or the Catholic church. “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots” rules over the kings of the earth. Inwardly she rules us with her doctrines. Outwardly she is all the religions of this world all of whom reject the Lordship of Christ.

John was “carried away in the spirit” and made to see this very same ‘harlot’ spoken of in Isaiah 1:21:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. [“…but now murders… lodge in it” (Isa 1:21)]

What exactly is the spiritual significance of this great harlot? This is who she signifies in both the Old and the New Testaments:

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The Lord has divorced and banished His harlot wife:

Isa 50:1  Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away [“banished”].

However, the Lord has devised means by which even His banished are reconciled to Him:

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

The Lord blots out the names of all who sin against Him:

Exo 32:33  And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Since we “have all sinned and come short of the glory of God” we are all at birth ‘blotted out’ of His book and are under His wrath:

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life [“blotted out of His book” (Exo 32:33)]; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

That ‘wrath of God’ is obviously upon all flesh, but it is “[His own] house”, His elect, who are “chastened… and scourged” first:

Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Jer 1:15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

“The north” in scripture typifies impending judgment upon the Lord’s chosen people. Ezekiel uses this same imagery:

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
Eze 9:3  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Eze 9:5  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Eze 9:6  Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

“Begin at my sanctuary” is the foundation for Peter saying:

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

We suffer along with the rest of mankind, but knowing the purpose for our suffering grants us to be the first to be judged. Those who are not given the blessing to see and to hear the things of the spirit, groan in pain together with us in this present time, only to have to do it all over again in the lake of fire:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
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. [“The redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:14)]
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.

These very words are “the mark” which is upon those who are spared. The only reason for which they are spared is that they, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, have judged themselves already, and they are now being used to judge others by remaining faithful to all these thundering judgments of the Lord.

Inwardly the “fiery… words, the hailstones the weight of a talent, the water of life and the light of the world” all come down on all the false doctrines of the great whore which reside within me. Outwardly and dispensationally, the nations of this world will be “dashed to pieces as the vessel of a potter”:

Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

The incense is “the prayers of the saints”:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

When we are yet in rebellion in Babylon we are praying to “another Jesus… unto other gods”:

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

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

This is what is taking place within each of us if we are predestinated to be those “who first trusted in Christ” and upon whom His judgments of this prophecy of Jeremiah are taking place in this present time:

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.

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

We “who first trusted in Christ… have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will.” These words have no application to those who are not the first to trust in Christ. ‘Who first trusted in Christ’ is a phrase which qualifies this group as ‘the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb’:

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

“The voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, …as the voice of a great thunder: and… the voice of harpers harping with their harps” are one and all the words of the Lord in the mouths of His elect. The “many waters” are the Words of the Lord as a whole. The “great thunder” are His judgments in His Words throughout the law, the Psalms and the apostles and the prophets. What John was hearing were the judgments being pronounced upon the house of God by all of His prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and all the other Old Testament prophets are types and shadows of “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” who in the New Testament become “the voice of many waters… the voice of a great thunder”. John is hearing the words of God in the mouths of those who have been given the eyes that see and the ears that hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven and who know that “the hour of His judgment” is the judgment which is now upon the house of God within each of us.

If we are granted to hear and understand the Lord’s word, then this is what we will be found doing:

Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

When in the process of opening Job’s eyes and ears to His words, this is what the Lord twice told Job:

Job 38:3  Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

When Elisha sent his servant Gehazi or one of the children of the prophets to give the Lord’s words to others, He told them:

2Ki 4:29  Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

2Ki 9:1  And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:

Now notice how Peter applies this phrase in the New Testament:

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

The grace of God comes to us only through “the revelation of Jesus Christ”, therefore we are being told to “gird up the loins of your mind” [to] read, hear, and keep the “revelation of Jesus Christ”:

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.

Therefore, the Lord is telling us the same thing He told Jeremiah:

Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

Along with this commission comes these words which are designed to prepare our hearts for the thunderous judgments which are coming down upon the house of God within us:

Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

The only way any of us will be “faithful to the end” is if “the Lord has made us [to be] a defenced city… an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings… the princes… the priests, and against the whole land.” Christ gave us this very same message:

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

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

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Here is the ultimate fulfillment of these words as lived out by “the captain of our salvation”:

Act 4:25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

When Jeremiah was put in the pit with no water and nothing but miry clay, like Joseph before him, he was typically put into his grave. These events both typify the death and resurrection of our Lord. Look at what the Lord has promised us using Jeremiah as a type of Christ and a type of us, ‘the Lord’s Christ’:

Gen 37:23  And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
Gen 37:24  And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Jer 38:6  Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

Both these men, as type of Christ and His Christ, prevailed over their enemies and over the power of the pit:

Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

What the Lord’s own people did to Jeremiah was a type and a shadow of what they would do to their own Creator who also appeared to be a mere man. Indeed, He was man enough to be put to death through crucifixion on the cross. Just look at what that accomplished:

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;

Joseph came up out of the pit into life. Jeremiah came up out of the pit unto life, and Christ came up out of His grave alive.

I remember well when my carnal mind, with absolutely no appreciation of the things of the spirit, thought, “What do you mean, …and was heard in that He feared… He was crucified and He died.” What total spiritual blindness I was bound up in at that time. A physical body, like the body of Lazarus, still must die and return to dust. A resurrected body is no longer subject to death, and a physical body “cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption.” Christ’s prayer was not just, “Father, if you be willing remove this cup from me.” Rather, it was also… “nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done… and He was heard in that He feared… God rather than men.”

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

Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Christ’s flesh identified with our flesh and cried out “Father, if you be willing, remove this cup from me”, but His spirit submitted to His Father’s will, and He also prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will but thine be done… and He was heard in that He feared.” His gift of placing the things of the spirit ahead of the things of the things of the flesh produced life “through death” and gave us a Savior.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

If we are granted to do the same in this present time, then we, too, through Christ, will be made to be “saviors” of this world:

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

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

That is our study for today, and these are the verses for our next study:

Jer 2:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 2:2  Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Jer 2:3  Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
Jer 2:4  Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
Jer 2:5  Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Jer 2:6  Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
Jer 2:7  And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
Jer 2:8  The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Jer 2:9  Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead. Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 81

“The judgments” Part L

July 8th, 2015

We’ve now arrived at chapter 23 of Exodus, and this chapter is the last chapter covering the judgments given to Moses to give to the Israelites.

We are going to cover the first verse of chapter 23 today. While covering this verse, we are going to dive into the topic of righteousness and just what it is that scripture refers to when we talk about righteousness, and its counterpart, unrighteousness.

False reports and unrighteous witnesses

The verse being covered today is stated in the KJV this way:

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked(H7563) to be an unrighteous witness.

The first verse we will cover in this study focuses on a false report and an unrighteous witness. We are also told not to put our hand with someone that is wicked thereby causing us to be an unrighteous witness.

However, the full meaning of this verse is somewhat “hidden from view” when we consider what it is we are being told.

“Thou shalt not raise a false report” is fairly obvious. Don’t tell lies or provide false evidence against someone. Your reasons can never be good enough to lie about someone else even if you think they deserve it in some way.

As an example of this, even if you know that a person is known to do evil things themselves, we should never try to take vengeance to ourselves and lie about that person in a situation where they haven’t actually done the evil they are being accused of by you.

“Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness” is the second part of this admonition to also not join someone else who is “wicked” in a “wicked act” of some sort. When we do this we become an unrighteous witness.

There are a few points I want to focus on in this verse to try and help us have a fuller understanding of what we are to apply to ourselves in our daily lives taken from the admonitions in this verse.

Firstly, what is it to be wicked or who is considered wicked? Instead of relying on my own personal definition of what “wicked” is I am going to look toward scripture for this definition.

H7563 (adjective)
râshâ‛
raw-shaw’
From H7561; morally wrong; concretely an (actively) bad person: –  + condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.

H7563
râshâ‛
BDB Definition:

1) wicked, criminal
1a) guilty one, one guilty of crime (substantive)
1b) wicked (hostile to God)
1c) wicked, guilty of sin (against God or man)
Part of Speech: adjective
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H7561
Same Word by TWOT Number: 2222b

H7563 “Rasha” comes from H7561 which means:

H7561 (verb)
râsha‛
raw-shah’
A primitive root; to be (causatively do or declare) wrong; by implication to disturb, violate: – condemn, make trouble, vex, be (commit, deal, depart, do) wicked (-ly, -ness).

The first Hebrew word H7563 meaning “condemned” or “guilty” is an adjective which comes from the verb H7561 which means to “condemn” or “condemning”.

A perfect example of this can be found in 1 King 8:32.

1Ki 8:32  Then hearH8085 thouH859 in heaven,H8064 and do,H6213 and judgeH8199 (H853) thy servants,H5650 condemningH7561 the wicked,H7563 to bringH5414 his wayH1870 upon his head;H7218 and justifyingH6663 the righteous,H6662 to giveH5414 him according to his righteousness.H6666

1Ki 8:32  Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

You could just as easily exchange the word “wicked” with “condemned” in 1 Ki 8:32 so that it would say, “Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants “condemning the condemned” .

The word “wicked” used in our verse today is used 252 times  in the OT as “wicked”, but if you exchange those words with condemned you’ll still get the full meaning out of what the Holy Spirit inspired to be written for our admonition.

Judgment begins….

So, if this is a spiritual concept which we can see in the Old Testament, then we should be able to confirm it in the New Testament.

Let me ask you who it is that condemns or doesn’t condemn? Judges judge therefore judges condemn or don’t condemn i.e. that execute “judgments”, “condemnations”, etc.

When we search for the word condemn in the New Testament, along with the words “wicked” and “condemned,” we find some very informative verses to think about.

Mat 16:4  A wicked(G4190) and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Mat 16:4 is an example of the word wicked being used, but the majority of the time the word is used as “evil”.

G4190
ponēros
Total KJV Occurrences: 76

evil, 52

Mat_5:11, Mat_5:37, Mat_5:39, Mat_5:45, Mat_6:13, Mat_6:23, Mat_7:11, Mat_7:17-18 (2), Mat_9:4, Mat_12:34-35 (4), Mat_12:39, Mat_15:19, Mat_20:15, Mar_7:22-23 (2), Luk_6:22, Luk_6:35, Luk_6:45 (3), Luk_7:21, Luk_8:2, Luk_11:4, Luk_11:13, Luk_11:29, Luk_11:34, Joh_3:19, Joh_7:7, Joh_17:15, Act_19:12-13 (2), Act_19:15-16 (2), Rom_12:9, Gal_1:4, Eph_5:16, Eph_6:13, 1Th_5:22, 2Th_3:3, 1Ti_6:4, 2Ti_3:13, 2Ti_4:18, Heb_3:12, Heb_10:22, Jam_2:4, Jam_4:16, 1Jo_3:12, 2Jo_1:11

wicked, 17
Mat_12:45, Mat_13:19, Mat_13:38, Mat_13:49, Mat_16:4, Mat_18:32, Mat_25:26, Luk_19:22, Act_18:14, 1Co_5:13, Eph_6:16, Col_1:21, 2Th_3:2, 1Jo_2:13-14 (2), 1Jo_3:12, 1Jo_5:18

bad, 1
Mat_22:10

evils, 1
Luk_3:19

grievous, 1
Rev_16:2

harm, 1
Act_28:21

lewd, 1
Act_17:5

malicious, 1
3Jo_1:10

wickedness, 1
1Jo_5:19

1Jn 3:12  NotG3756 asG2531 Cain,G2535 who wasG2258 ofG1537 that wicked one,G4190 andG2532 slewG4969 hisG848 brother.G80 AndG2532 whereforeG5484 G5101 slewG4969 he him?G846 BecauseG3754 his ownG848 worksG2041 wereG2258 evil,G4190 andG1161 hisG848 brother’sG80 righteous.G1342

1Jn 3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Seeing that “wicked” used in the New Testament can be used interchangeably with the word “evil”, what word conveys the concept we see in Exodus 23:1 of the “wicked” or “condemned”?

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked(H7563) to be an unrighteous witness.

G2632
katakrinō
Total KJV Occurrences: 19

condemned, 8
Mat_27:3, Mar_14:64, Joh_8:10, Rom_8:3, 1Co_11:32, Heb_11:7, Jam_5:9, 2Pe_2:6

condemn, 7
Mat_12:41-42 (2), Mat_20:18, Mar_10:33, Luk_11:31-32 (2), Joh_8:11

damned, 2
Mar_16:16, Rom_14:23

condemnest, 1
Rom_2:1

condemneth, 1
Rom_8:34

Mat 27:3  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

Mar 14:64  Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

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:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned(G2632).

Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned(G2632) if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

You’ll notice that those who are condemned are JUDGED to be condemned. To be “damned” is to be condemned and being condemned comes via the VERB “condemn”, the action of condemning. Why is this important?

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn(G2919) the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The Greek word G2912 is used many times in the NT as “judge”.

G2919
krinō
Total KJV Occurrences: 117

judge, 45
Mat_7:1-2 (2), Luk_6:37, Luk_12:57, Luk_19:22, Joh_5:30, Joh_7:24 (2), Joh_7:51, Joh_8:15-16 (3), Joh_8:26, Joh_12:47-48 (3), Joh_18:31, Act_4:19, Act_7:7, Act_13:46, Act_17:31, Act_23:3, Rom_2:16, Rom_2:27, Rom_3:6, Rom_14:3, Rom_14:10, Rom_14:13 (2), 1Co_4:5, 1Co_5:12 (2), 1Co_6:2-3 (2), 1Co_10:15, 1Co_11:13, 2Co_5:14, Col_2:16, 2Ti_4:1, Heb_10:30, Heb_13:4, Jam_4:11, 1Pe_4:5, Rev_19:10-11 (2)

judged, 26
Mat_7:1-2 (2), Luk_6:37, Luk_7:43, Joh_16:11, Act_16:15, Act_24:6, Act_25:9-10 (2), Act_25:20, Act_26:6, Rom_2:12, Rom_3:4, Rom_3:7, 1Co_5:3, 1Co_6:2, 1Co_10:29, 1Co_11:31-32 (2), Jam_2:12, 1Pe_4:6, Rev_11:18, Rev_16:5, Rev_19:2, Rev_20:12-13 (2)

judgeth, 9
Joh_5:22, Joh_8:50, Joh_12:48, 1Co_5:13, Jam_4:11 (2), 1Pe_1:17, 1Pe_2:23, Rev_18:8

determined, 7
Act_3:13, Act_20:16, Act_25:25, Act_27:1, 1Co_2:2, 2Co_2:1, Tit_3:12

judgest, 6
Rom_2:1 (3), Rom_14:3-4 (2), Jam_4:12

called, 2
Act_23:6, Act_24:21

condemned, 2
Joh_3:18 (2)

esteemeth, 2
Rom_14:5 (2)

judging, 2
Mat_19:28, Luk_22:30

law, 2
1Co_6:1, 1Co_6:6

question, 2
Act_23:6 (2), Act_24:21

at, 1
Mat_5:40

avenged, 1
Rev_18:20

concluded, 1
Act_21:25

condemn, 1
Joh_3:17

condemneth, 1
Rom_14:22

condemning, 1
Act_13:27

damned, 1
2Th_2:12

decreed, 1
1Co_7:37

ordained, 1
Act_16:4

sentence, 1
Act_15:19

sue, 1
Mat_5:40

thought, 1
Act_26:8

Why have I taken all this time to try and point out what being “wicked” is when all we are trying to do is see what the “judgment” is that the Lord gave to Moses to give to the Israelites?

Here is the answer to that question:

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned (JUDGED): but he that believeth not is condemned (JUDGED) already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation (JUDGMENT), that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL(G4190).
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21  But he that DOETH TRUTH cometh to the light, that his DEEDS may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Jesus Christ is said to come not to condemn or judge the world, but why and how can that be true?

Joh 3:17  For God SENT NOT his Son into the world to condemn(G2919) the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joh 12:46  I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Joh 12:47  And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, HATH ONE that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Witnesses in court…

I could speak and preach volumes about the “last day”, the day of the Lord. I could go on and on about judgment beginning at the house of God.

However, what I want to bring home for you today is that if you care at all about the resurrection of the dead, if you care at all about the being “holy and blessed” to take part in the “first resurrection”, then you better be caring about HOW it is we are told WE can take part in it!

There is a clue about this tucked away for us in the verse we started off with today.

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness

Witnesses are very important in scripture. Indeed, we are witnesses for Jesus Christ. If our Head Jesus Christ came not to JUDGE the world, but to save it, what method did He use to do so?

He witnessed to us all what the WILL of God was. He witnessed to us ALL who it was He represented. If we are His body, the church of the living God, then we too have been given this role to live out.

Notice these verses:

Act 24:14  But this I confess unto thee, that after THE WAY which THEY CALL HERESY, SO WORHSIP I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
Act 24:15  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (G2920).

The same word used here as DAMNATION is the word JUDGMENT.

G2920
krisis
Total KJV Occurrences: 48

judgment, 39
Mat_5:21-22 (2), Mat_10:15, Mat_11:22, Mat_11:24, Mat_12:18, Mat_12:20, Mat_12:36, Mat_12:41-42 (2), Mat_23:23, Mar_6:11, Luk_10:14, Luk_11:31-32 (2), Luk_11:42, Joh_5:22, Joh_5:27, Joh_5:30, Joh_7:24, Joh_8:16, Joh_12:31, Joh_16:8, Joh_16:11, Act_8:33, 2Th_1:5, 1Ti_5:24, Heb_10:27 (2), Jam_2:13 (2), 2Pe_2:4, 2Pe_2:9, 2Pe_3:7, 1Jo_4:17, Jud_1:6, Jud_1:15, Rev_14:7, Rev_18:10

damnation, 3
Mat_23:33, Joh_5:29 (2)

accusation, 2
2Pe_2:11, Jud_1:9

condemnation, 2
Joh_3:19, Joh_5:24

judgments, 2
Rev_16:7, Rev_19:2

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver THE GODLY out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Notice, it is one who puts their EFFORTS, their hand, with the wicked who is then called UNRIGHTEOUS.

Who else are the unrighteous?

G94
adikos
Total KJV Occurrences: 12

unjust, 8
Mat_5:45, Luk_18:10-11 (3), Act_24:15, 1Co_6:1, 1Pe_3:18, 2Pe_2:9

unrighteous, 4
Luk_16:11, Rom_3:5, 1Co_6:9, Heb_6:10

Act 24:15  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust (G94).

Luk 16:11  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Rom 3:5  But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Notice one of the spiritual admonitions we have for NOT being unrighteous and BEING righteousness in the “eyes of God”. It is found in Hebrew 6:10.

Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though WE THUS SPEAK.
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:

The lesson from today’s study is that judgment must begin at the house of God. Jesus tells us that He came not to judge the world and that the world has one that judges them.

Judgment will take place for the entire world when their DAY of VISITATION comes, but that day is NOW for the House of God and must be so if we are to obtain unto the resurrection of the just… the righteous.

However, we are indeed JUDGED NOW but we JUDGE ourselves with what the Word of God says our deeds should be versus what they are.

We are not to give a false report which is judging improperly. We are also not to “put our hand with the condemned” and become an unrighteous witness for the Lord.

Our “ job” after coming to the knowledge of our Lord and God is to hearken diligently to the Words of the Lord and BELIEVE the Word of God when we are told things such as BELIEVE on Him and that He does indeed know how to deliver the Godly out of temptations.

Faith is integral to this process because the Faith of Christ Jesus is the righteousness of God. I’ll sum up this study with these verses:

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF GOD BY FAITH:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I FOLLOW AFTER, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Greetings Mike in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

It’s been a long time since I emailed, but I am back now.

Can you please explain the spiritual significance of Deuteronomy chapters 12 and 13. Exactly what is God trying to say to me? I know some time ago in my time of prayer I sensed that the Lord was saying it is my season of territory expansion. But I know that He has to expand my spiritual territory first before my physical territory, so that I can be able to handle the weight of the physical territory

And now, The Lord led me to this scripture in my time of prayer recently. Hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,

N____

Hi N____,

It is good to hear from you again.

It is especially good to be able to answer this question for you.

You ask:

Can you please explain the spiritual significance of Deuteronomy chapters 12 and 13. Exactly what is God trying to say to me?

What the Lord is telling us in Deuteronomy 12-13 is to “possess the land”, and in doing so we are to make no alliances with the inhabitants of the land, but rather “destroy everything that breaths” within the land.

Deu 20:16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
Num 33:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
Deu 1:8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
Deu 1:21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
Deu 2:24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

“Contend with him in battle” because “I have given [ him] into thy hand”.

“The land” is nothing physical, the things that “breath” are not physical things, and the battle in which we are contending is “not against flesh and blood” as it was in the types and shadows of Deu 12-13 and 20.

Deu 12:1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
Deu 12:2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
Deu 12:3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
Deu 12:4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.

“You shall not do so unto the Lord your God”, means that we are to “learn not the way of the heathen”, and we are not to follow after the ways of the heathen among whom we live, because we are now contending with “spiritual wickedness in the heavens” of our hearts and minds, even though what is in our heart is always manifested in our way of life.

So we are told:

Jer 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

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.

The word ‘places’ is not in the Greek in Eph 6:12, and the word ‘high’ is translated from the Greek word ‘epouranios’, which appears often, but in this verse translated simply as ‘heaven’, ‘heavenly’ or ‘celestial’. This word appears 20 times in the New Testament Greek. This one verse is the only time it is translated as ‘high places’, and it should simply read ‘in the heavens’ of our hearts and minds.

A very great part of “the rulers of darkness of this world” are the very “ways of the heathen” which we have “learned” and have adopted as our own in all of the holidays of the western societies. We tell our children lies in the name of Christ during Christmas and Easter, and we dress them up as little devils at halloween, and tell ourselves that we are not “learning the ways of the heathen”, and we are not doing so “unto the Lord [ our] God”.

One of the main reasons given in scripture for our Lord’s condemnation by the church of His day is the fact that He “esteemed every day alike”, and in the process of establishing His New Covenant, His New Testament, He rejected the very days He Himself had given to Israel in the form of the weekly Sabbath and the annual holy days of the Jews.

Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Mat 12:6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Mat 12:7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

The “esteem[ ing] of one day above another” (Rom 14:9), is called “bondage [ to] weak and beggarly elements” in these verses:

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after [ the example of] Christ.

To this day, anyone who attempts to follow in Christ’s steps will be ostracized and cast out of the synagogues of this world, for the ‘sin’ of “esteeming every day alike”, in a society which is in bondage to the observance of pagan “days, months, times and years”.

Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
Psa 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
Psa 85:13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Observing the customs of the heathen around them was Israel’s most addictive sin which constantly came between them and their God, just as it does to this very day.

1Kg 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

This is “the sins of Jereboam the son of Nebat” which are so often referenced in the Old Testament.

1Ki 16:26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
1Ki 16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
1Ki 21:22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.
1Ki 22:52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:

This is what Israel wanted, and that is what God’s people want to this very day, but God says it is an abomination to Him. Do we really believe we can do the exact same thing and not “make Israel to sin, [ and] provoke the Lord to anger”?

Deu 12:29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

“You shall not do so unto the Lord your God”, and yet that is exactly what orthodox Christianity has done and is doing to this very day. They have adopted the “ways of the heathen” and claim they are “doing so unto the Lord [ their] God”.

Chapter 13 continues that same theme but adding to that theme the revelation that God Himself will given false prophets the power to deceive us if we do not have a love of His word which supersedes our love of “the ways of the heathen”. God Himself will give false prophets the ability to foretell the future, but then also tell us not to walk in the customs of the heathen for no other reason than to show us just how weak we are:

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

In Christ we are to “love our enemies [ and] turn to him the other cheek also”. Nevertheless this is how we are now to deal with such false prophets who would have us to forsake our own Lord in exchange for avoiding persecution in a heathen society which still uses the name ‘Christian’:

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Paul reiterates this same process:

Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

“We who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak” who “eats herbs, [and] esteems one day above another”. We all are in the process of living our lives after the traditions of men when we first hear about the True Shepherd. The Lord received us “while we were yet sinners”, but He commands us to “come out of her my people, that you partake not of her sins” (Rev 18:4), and we are told to “receive… them that are weak in the faith”, but in the very same verse we are told that “We that are strong” are not to permit “them that are weak in the faith” to ‘argue about discernments’. The King James says “not to doubtful disputations”, but that is not what the Greek says.

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations [ not to arguing about discernments].

So we let those who are still observing days continue to do so, as long as they are not attempting to argue that following the traditions of men is ‘the strong meat of the Word’. If that were so, then Christ most certainly would not have left us the pattern of breaking the weekly sabbath (Mat 12:1-8 and Joh 5:18).

1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

I hope that I have given you a better understanding of how we are called to “possess the land which the Lord has given [ us].” We do so by following His example and walking in His footsteps.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Hey Mike,

I certainly believe, like you, that there is a literal Satan, etc. I am not so sure about so- called demons. Let me assure you, I do not know enough about it to make a strong stand either way. It just seems so absurd that we would wrestle with these deities and yet they are doing the will of God. The e- mail I sent you was just to point out that, if these demons exist, then aren’t these people doing the will of God to war with them. I do not know anybody that cast demons into animals like Christ and then they ran into a body of water. I have never truly seen anybody walk up to a person with these demons and then they were liberated from them miraculously. I know your stance on gifts, etc., and I agree with you that these were for the infant church. Mike, please explain to me, though, about these demons that nobody seems to have a complete grasp on or their whereabouts.

In the original Greek, the word, demon, is neutral gender, is it not? Did Jesus not rebuke “self or auto” in the man who had seven spirits? I truly do not understand this issue, and it is ironic to me that we have made it this far without really dealing with these demons with understanding. In other words, if we are hearing and obeying God, how do these demons play into our existence?

Thanks,

J____

Hi J____,

The truth of God’s Word is there whether we are aware of it or not…:

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].

You see that; “not… flesh,… but … spiritual wickedness in heaven?” Yes, as you can see, the word, ‘places,’ is in brackets because it is not in the Greek. The “spiritual wickedness … we wrestle against,” is in epouranios. This is the exact same Greek word that is translated ‘heaven’ in 1Co 15:

1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly [ Gk. – epouranios], such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

This is the exact same word used in Mat 18:

Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly [ Gk. – epouraniops] Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

This word, ‘heavenly’ is used only of things in heaven, and it is used three times in these two verses in 1Co 15. According to Eph 6 and the book of Job, and according to Micaiah in 2Ch 18, ‘heaven’ is exactly where Satan gets his orders on a daily basis. Evil spirits come form the same source as all other things “in heaven and in earth.” They come from God!

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

And again:

2Ch 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

So while doctors call diseases and deafness by scientific names, the scriptures call all these things “evil spirits.”

Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

“But has anyone believed our report?”

But there is another way evil spirits manifest themselves. And that is through false doctrines. Here is the Word of God for that statement:

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

You ask me:

It just seems so absurd that we would wrestle with these deities and yet they are doing the will of God. The e- mail I sent you was just to point out that, if these demons exist, then aren’t these people doing the will of God to war with them?

It takes very little “trying of the false doctrines” of these people to see that they are the very “false prophets” that are being spoken of in 1Jn 4:1. It is these very people who believe that we are to ‘save this world for Christ,’ who are also urging our president to “go up to Ramoth- Gilead.”

2Ch 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

The Lord has spoken evil against every nation on earth:

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Anyone who denies this verse is simply one of “his angels [ which] were cast out with him.” These very men urge God’s people to take up arms and kill their enemies. They have not been given the faith to receive Christ’s words telling us to “love thine enemies.” As I told you before, just “try their spirit”. Ask them if they believe we should love our Arab enemies. It is certainly daring to do such a thing in these times.

These people are not “doing war with demons.” They are the very servants of the “lying spirit” that God has put in the mouths of all who refuse to obey the words of Christ to “Love thine enemies.” Of course they “appear as angels of light.” They say they are here to do spiritual warfare. In truth they cannot recognize a false prophet. How then can they possibly “try the spirits to see whether they be of God?”

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

You ask me:

I truly do not understand this issue, and it is ironic to me that we have made it this far without really dealing with these demons with understanding. In other words, if we are hearing and obeying God, how do these demons play into our existence?

Since you asked, the way they ‘play in our existence’ is exactly how I am answering you now. This is true spiritual warfare. This is battling principalities in the heavens. This is trying the spirits of the false prophets.

Christ said:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

If Christ’s words are spirit, are not the words of false prophets also evil spirits? Of course they are. That is why John cautions us “believe NOT every spirit.” When you believe a false doctrine, you are believing an evil spirit. As I said before, just e- mail me when your mayor calls for a national day of repentance in a public forum, and I will repent of all I have written to you. God is not trying to save any city in this world. Here is the Truth of God’s Word concerning His plans for the cities of this world:

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This verse is also a prophecy of these men who are asking you to believe that they are doing spiritual warfare by declaring spiritual warfare over any certain city when God has already declared it and all others will fall. These men are “great Babylon,” and they have “come in remembrance before God.”

Just as in the days of Jeremiah, when anyone points to the prophecies of the inevitable judgments that God has decreed, the fallen people of God, the established Church, declares the exact opposite:

Jer 28:1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Jer 28:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jer 28:3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
Jer 28:4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

It is all a lie! Hananiah typifies all these ministers who say we are witnessing a great revival in our land. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or any other city will not turn to God. And neither will we ever withdraw from ‘Babylon,’ until God has punished us for putting Him out of our lives. Try that spirit and see whether it is of God. What these ministers call ‘a great revival’ is in reality a “great falling away.”

2Ch 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee [ the leaders of God’s people].

Mike

Hello Mike, I was reading some of your e- mail responses and you were telling somebody that, “Only then does He give us strength we did not have before though we sought it for many years and continued to blaspheme His name among the heathen, while we claim His name.” This really hit home.  I am that person right now in my life.  This past summer, Christ began to draw me to Him in a far different path than I had ever experienced.  For the first time in my life, I was living by the doctrine of Christ and no other doctrine.  I had dominion over sin that I had struggled with for so long.  Every day I had the power of Christ working in me, and I didn’t live a single moment – rather, I was dying moment by moment.  And the ironic thing is – these were very stressful months of my life – and yet Christ gave me the ability to comfort others rather than whine about my own problems.  It was a completely different life – a night and day change happened overnight and I thanked God every moment with singing. Then something shifted – I sank into the deepest valley of my life – of which I am still in.  Rather than having dominion over sin, I feel I am worshiping sin.  I have lost my love for the Truth.  I have lost all happiness or contentedness.  Death is a constant thought – I feel like I am going insane – deep depression that completely takes away all rationalism.  My loneliness is kept hidden from my family, and I have no friends.  I have become so ashamed of who I am I can’t function in social settings.  In my mind, I feel as if I am fully convinced that I am completely sin.  In my mind, I have witnessed the beast within me, and yet I feel powerless to this beast.  Because I am so convinced that I can do nothing, I do nothing.  And here is my problem – my concern. I have cried out to God in anger many times that he would keep me from spiritual rest for nearly six months now.  I have cried out for understanding as to what God is doing.  I desire change, and there is never change.  I have gotten to the point where I see myself capable of far worse things.  I have these thoughts and fears that I am turning into the kind of person we call our worst sinners in society.  Do you understand?  If this is God’s process of showing me how completely sinful I am, then that purpose is being achieved.  So much, that I know I will never see myself the same again and that the only road left is Christ. I hope.  I don’t suppose I have any question.  It was just important for me to share this.  You talk many times on your website about the process of realizing our complete sinful nature.  And I just wanted to “submit” this as a testament to that process.  I had no idea the depths of sin. Come to think of it, I can’t tell you how much it means to be able to write all of this to somebody.  I come to your site and read your words, and they provide a wellspring in my heart – a moment of refreshment and Truth.  The few times I have corresponded with you, I felt like I was speaking with a brother – one of the few people in this world that I could identify with.  I feel like I am hearing your voice from afar, though.   N____

Good morning N____,

I want you to know that I am and I will continue to be praying for you.

I think that you and I both know that what you are enduring at this time is not just a struggle with your flesh, it is rather nothing less than spiritual warfare. Here is what is right now taking place within you:

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven [ in the mind and heart of N__]; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [ to] his throne.

The fact that “his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven” tells us that this is a process you are enduring. The number three in God’s word signifies a process. We are not completed in a moment. Even after we are finally brought out of the wilderness and given strength to fight the giants in our land, we still must “endure to the end.” Even in the “land of promise” we find that it is yet in down- payment and not in the fullness of the inheritance. The struggles against “powers and principalities” actually intensify after we come out of the wilderness. The Lord is still showing us where we are. He knows where we are, but we must yet come to see ourselves as He sees us. “Dying daily” continues right up to the day we die. This is a process, and it takes time just to come to the point that sin does not have dominion over us. I know what you are going through. I too, thought that I had dominion over sin long before that was so.

But rest assured that day does come, and only then have we entered into His rest. Only then have we come to see deeply that nothing we do is of ourselves:

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members [ as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [ as] instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
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.

“Free from sin” is the power and dominion over sin. It is the power to say no to Potiphar and to the captain of the prison, who only yesterday were your masters. But this too, is a process.

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

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

But now I want you to notice the comparison of this great red dragon with the beast which is in us all:

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.

Both have seven heads and ten horns. What this tells us is that we are completely (7) given to the desires of the flesh (10 – see the series of studies on Numbers In Scripture). Every one of our seven heads is given power to resist the law of Christ by our ten horns. But look at who, at this time, empowers our flesh:

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [ the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat [ Greek – throne], and great authority.

So the truth of this verse is confirmed in us:

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].

This struggle is within us all. This “spiritual wickedness” is in the heavens of you and me. It was all ordained from “before the foundation of the world.”

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

“The Christ” of Christ are all “in Him.” As such they partake of all of His sufferings:

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [ as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [ received] by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Col 1:24 Now, am I rejoicing in the sufferings on your behalf, and am filling up the things that lack of the tribulations of the Christ, in my flesh, in behalf of his body, which is the assembly,

Both Peter and Paul had, in their own way, denied Christ and had placed stripes upon Him. Both had an appreciation of what He had done for them. We too, have denied our Lord, and we too, must come to appreciate what He has done and is doing for us.

It was for us that “the things in the heavens themselves” had to be cleansed with better things then the blood of calves and goats:

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [ the hearts and minds of His elect] with better sacrifices than these.

“In Him… For you!” And Here is what He can and will do “in Him, and for you:”

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

I want you to remind yourself of the Truth of that verse all day every day. You really are a conqueror of your flesh and spirit “through Christ.” Any evil spirit which trys to convince you otherwise is a liar.

I will close with Paul’s advice to us all right after reminding us that we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickedness in our heavens:

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

I am praying with and for you. “You can do all things through Christ.”

Mike>

Demons and How They Work

[Updated March 27, 2026]

The Truth of God’s Word is, whether we are aware of it or not:

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].

You see that; “not… flesh,… but … spiritual wickedness in heaven?” Yes, as you can see, the word, ‘places,’ is in brackets because it is not in the Greek. The “spiritual wickedness … we wrestle against,” is in epouranios. This is the exact same Greek word that is translated ‘heaven’ in 1 Corinthians 15:

1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly [Greek: epouranios], such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

This is the exact same word used in Matthew 18:

Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly [Greek: epouranios] Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

This word, ‘heavenly’ is used only of things in heaven, and it is used three times in these two verses in 1 Corinthians 15.

According to Ephesians 6, and the book of Job, and according to Micaiah in 2:18, ‘heaven’ is exactly where Satan gets his orders on a daily basis. Evil spirits come from the same source as all other things “in heaven and in earth.” They come from God!

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

And again:

2Ch 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

So while doctors call diseases and deafness by scientific names, the scriptures call all these things “evil spirits.”

Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

“But has any one believed our report?”

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

There is also another way evil spirits manifest themselves, and that is through false doctrines. Here is the Word of God for that statement:

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

It takes very little “trying of the spirits” to discern the false doctrines of most people and to see that the doctrines of the masses of orthodox Christians are the very “false prophets” that are being spoken of in 1 John 4:1. It is these very people who believe that we are to ‘save this world for Christ,’ who are also urging our president to “go up to Ramoth- Gilead.”

2Ch 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

The Lord has spoken evil against every nation on earth:

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Anyone who denies this verse is simply one of “his angels [which] were cast out with him.” These very men urge God’s people to take up arms and kill their enemies. They have not been given the faith to receive Christ’s words telling us to “love thine enemies.” As I told you before, just “try their spirit.” Ask them if they believe we should love our Arab enemies. Or do you dare to do such a thing?

Orthodox Christianity is not “doing war with demons.” They are the very servants of the “lying spirit” that God has put in the mouths of all who refuse to obey the words of Christ to “Love thine enemies.” Of course they “appear as angels of light.” They say they are here to do spiritual warfare. In truth they cannot recognize a false prophet. How then can they possibly “try the spirits to see whether they be of God?”

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

The way demons play in our existence is exactly how I am telling you now. This is true spiritual warfare. This is battling principalities in the heavens. This is trying the spirits of the false prophets.

Christ said:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

If Christ’s words are spirit, are not the words of false prophets also evil spirits? Of course they are. That is why John cautions us “believe NOT every spirit.” When you believe a false doctrine, you are believing an evil spirit. As I said before, just email me when the mayor of Nashville calls for a national day of repentance in a public forum, and I will repent of all I have written to you. God is not trying to save Nashville, or any other city in this world. Here is the Truth of God’s Word concerning His plans for the cities of this world:

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

‘Three parts’ signifies that the process of judgment is under way. This verse is also a prophecy of these men who are asking you to believe that they are doing spiritual warfare by declaring spiritual warfare over Nashville, a city which God has already declared will “fall.” These men are “great Babylon,” and they have “come in remembrance before God.”

Just as in the days of Jeremiah, when anyone points to the prophecies of the inevitable judgments that God has decreed, the fallen people of God, the established Church, declare the exact opposite:

Jer 28:1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Jer 28:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jer 28:3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
Jer 28:4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

It is all a lie. Hananiah typifies all these ministers who say we are witnessing a great revival in our land. Nashville will not turn to God. And neither will we ever withdraw from ‘Babylon’ until God has punished us for putting Him out of our lives. Try that spirit, and see whether it is of God. What these ministers call ‘a great revival’ is in reality a “great falling away.”

2Ch 18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee [against the leaders of God’s people].