The Spiritual Meaning of God’s Book From Stone to Spirit, Written Upon the Heart

[Study Aired July 1, 2025]

Introduction 

The Scriptures testify that God has a book—yet not one made with hands or filled by scribes, but a spiritual record authored by God Himself, bearing witness to those in whom His life is formed. From the earliest writings of Moses to the visions of John, the idea of God’s book appears repeatedly, carrying profound meaning for those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear. What does it mean to be written in heaven? What is the book of life, and why does Scripture warn that names can be blotted out? The answers lie not in fleshly reasoning, but in the revelation of God’s spirit. Let us discover what it means to be written in God’s book—and why this writing must occur within the heart.

A Book Not Made with Hands

When Moses interceded for the sins of Israel, he prayed with extraordinary boldness, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written” (Exodus 32:32). The Lord answered, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:33). This response reveals that God’s book is His own possession and that entry into it is not inherited but granted according to His righteousness.

David echoes this reality: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous” (Psalm 69:28). The book of the living is not a census of fleshly birth but a register of spiritual life—those who live unto God, as Christ said, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). To be “written with the righteous” is not to be listed in a religious institution, but to be joined to the life of Christ who is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30).

The Writing Must Be Spiritual

How does one come to be written in this spiritual book? The answer lies not in outward observance but in inward transformation. As Ezekiel prophesied, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you… I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). This is not a fleshly surgery but a spiritual circumcision, as Paul teaches: “Ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands… by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11).

Paul further clarifies the nature of this writing: “Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ… written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3). Here, the transformation is not symbolic but real—it is the indwelling of the Word, not merely in thought, but in being. This is why Paul could write to the Galatians, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). The writing in God’s book is the forming of Christ in us.

From the Letter that Killeth to the Spirit that Giveth Life

When God first gave His law, it was written on tables of stone with His own finger (Exodus 31:18): “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Yet even before the commandments were delivered to the people, they were broken—Moses shattered the tablets in response to Israel’s idolatry. This outward breaking of stone reflects the deeper truth that the law, external and imposed, cannot impart life. Paul explains, “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). The law reveals sin but cannot transform the heart. It is only when the Word becomes internal—living and active within—that we are changed.

This transition is central to the gospel. Jeremiah foresaw the new covenant, writing, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). Hebrews affirms this same promise: “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts” (Hebrews 8:10). The emphasis is not on a rewritten law code, but on a rewritten heart—a heart that now moves in harmony with God because it is one with His will.

Written in Heaven

Jesus told His disciples not to rejoice that demons were subject to them, “but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). This writing is not visible to the eye but known to the Father, who sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7): “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” Hebrews speaks of “the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23), emphasizing once again that spiritual birth is the basis of entry, not religious affiliation or earthly lineage.

Those who are written in heaven are those in whom the life of the Firstborn—Christ—is being formed. As Paul says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Their hearts are no longer stone but spirit, no longer bound to the law of sin and death but moved by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.“

The Book of Life: Christ Formed Within

The book of life is not a static list, but the spiritual record of those in whom God’s life is actively dwelling. Paul speaks of “those… whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3). Jesus promises, “He that overcometh… I will not blot out his name out of the book of life” (Revelation 3:5). This implies that names can be added—and removed. What determines whether one remains in the book? Scripture answers: overcoming through Christ. Not outward success, but inward conformity.

In Revelation 13:8, we read of those “whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” These are the worshipers of the beast—those who walk in the flesh and are not born from above. Their names are not found in the Lamb’s book because they are not conformed to His image in this age.

Revelation 20:12–15 culminates this truth with a scene of judgment: “The books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life… and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” This is the ultimate contrast between those who have the life of Christ and those who do not in this age. As John writes, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12). The book of life is the record of those who have the Son dwelling within and chosen as the elect of God.

The Books Opened: The Judgment of Hearts

When Scripture says the books are opened, it is not describing paper archives but the unveiling of every heart before God. Paul declares, “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:16). Likewise, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13). The fire is not carnal torment, but the spirit’s discerning judgment. As Hebrews testifies, “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13).

These are the true “books” that will be opened—the thoughts, intents, and inner workings of the soul. Only the life of Christ formed within will stand in that day.

The Book of Remembrance and God’s Foreknowledge

Beyond the book of life, Scripture mentions a “book of remembrance… for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16). This shows that God’s writing is not merely judicial, but relational. He records not just deeds, but hearts—those who reverence Him and meditate on Him.

David testifies of this same intimate knowledge: “In thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16). This is not a record of physical formation, but divine foreknowledge. As Paul teaches, “Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). The book contains not biographies, but the blueprint of God’s workmanship.

The Scrolls of Prophecy: Eaten, Not Just Read

Ezekiel saw a scroll “written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe” (Ezekiel 2:10). God told him, “Eat that thou findest… and I did eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” (Ezekiel 3:1–3). John experienced the same in Revelation 10:9–10—sweet in the mouth, bitter in the belly. This duality reflects the Word of God itself: it brings joy to the spirit but requires the death of the flesh. As Hebrews says, “The word of God is quick, and powerful… a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

These scrolls are not historical artifacts; they are spiritual instruments of transformation. They must be eaten, digested, and lived. The bitterness comes because the Word judges us, chastens us, and conforms us to Christ.

The Lamb and the Seven-Sealed Book

Revelation 5 shows a book sealed with seven seals in God’s hand. No one is found worthy to open it—“but the Lion of the tribe of Juda… hath prevailed to open the book” (Revelation 5:5). This book is the hidden mystery of redemption; the counsel of God sealed until the Lamb unveils it. It is spiritual truth hidden from the wise and prudent, but revealed to babes (Matthew 11:25). “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

Jesus is “the volume of the book… I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:7–8; Hebrews 10:7). He is the fulfillment of the writing, the revelation of its meaning, and the very life it records. The entire testimony of Scripture points to Him—not merely as the author of life but as the life itself.

The True Rock and Everlasting Engraving

Even Job, in the midst of suffering, longed for permanence in truth: “Oh that my words were now written… graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever!” (Job 19:23–24). He did not know it, but he prophesied of Christ—the true Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4): “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” Upon Him God engraves eternal truth. And those who are in Christ are likewise engraved: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16).

The Final Word: The Book of the Lamb

Revelation 21:27 concludes with this declaration of the New Jerusalem: “And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth… but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” This is the culmination of all divine writing. The Lamb is both the book and the pen. To be written in the Lamb’s book is to be one with the Lamb—to follow Him, to suffer with Him, and to be conformed to His image.

As it is written, “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth… and in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Revelation 14:4–5).

Conclusion

To be written in God’s book is not to have one’s name etched in stone, but to have Christ’s life formed in the heart. It is to be transformed from stone to spirit, from law to life. It is to enter the kingdom of God, which is within (Luke 17:21). It is to pass from death to life, from the flesh to the spirit, from outward ritual to inward reality.

This is the book that will be opened. Not a scroll in heaven, but the inner heart of every man—read and judged by the living Word. May we be among those in whom He has written His name.

“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever” (Psalm 119:160).

Identity in Christ: Who God Says You Are

[Study Aired March 25, 2025]

Introduction: Understanding Identity from God’s Perspective

In a world that constantly pressures us to define ourselves by achievements, possessions, appearance, or social acceptance, Scripture reveals a profoundly different foundation for identity. The source of true identity isn’t found in outward circumstances or personal accomplishments but in an internal, spiritual reality established by God Himself. As Paul affirms, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), showing that our true identity isn’t determined by external factors but through our spiritual position in Christ.

This relationship transforms how we see ourselves, for as Paul declares, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed(ing) away; behold, all things are become(ing) new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our identity in Christ represents the most fundamental spiritual truth about who we really are, transcending temporary circumstances, feelings and worldly labels.

To understand this identity, we must rely not on human wisdom or psychology but on God’s revelation, for “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The truth about who we are in Christ can only be grasped through spiritual understanding, as we compare “spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

Being Made in God’s Image: The Process of Spiritual Formation

Our identity journey begins with God’s ongoing purpose to conform us to His image. When God declared, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26), He was establishing a continuous process rather than an instantaneous creation. The Hebrew word used here suggests an ongoing action of “making” or “fashioning,” revealing that bearing God’s image is not merely our starting point but our destination as we undergo progressive transformation.

Scripture confirms this progressive work throughout the Bible. David understood this when he declared, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalm 17:15), showing that bearing God’s likeness is something to be realized fully in the future. Paul reinforces this understanding when he writes that believers are “being renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10), emphasizing the ongoing nature of this transformation.

This process of being conformed to God’s image represents the essential basis of human identity and worth, revealing that our value comes not from what we have already attained but from the godly purpose being worked out in us. As Paul explains, we are “predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29), showing that conformity to Christ’s image is God’s ultimate purpose for mankind, “for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).

Chosen, Adopted, and Redeemed: Our New Identity in Christ

Building on this foundation, Paul reveals the profound transformation of identity that occurs when we are united with Christ. In Ephesians 1, he unveils multiple dimensions of this new identity:

We are Chosen in Christ: “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” (Ephesians 1:4). Our identity isn’t self-determined but divinely chosen. This election occurred “before the foundation of the world,” revealing that God’s purpose for us predates not only our birth but creation itself.

We are Adopted as God’s Children: “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5). Through Christ, we receive a new family identity – no longer spiritual orphans but children of God with full family rights. John marvels at this transformation: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1).

We are Redeemed and Forgiven: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Our identity is freed from sin’s enslavement through Christ’s redemptive work. This freedom changes who we fundamentally are, as Paul explains: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

We are Sealed with the Holy Spirit: “In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). The Spirit’s presence confirms our new identity, as Paul declares: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). This sealing isn’t just external proof but an internal testimony of belonging.

These aspects of identity aren’t earned through human effort but freely given by God’s grace, for “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This means our identity doesn’t fluctuate based on performance but remains secure in God’s unchanging purpose, as He “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11).

A Royal Priesthood: Called to Represent God

Peter adds another crucial dimension to our identity in Christ when he declares: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9). This verse reveals four interconnected aspects of believers’ identity that parallel Israel’s calling in Exodus 19:5-6.

As a “royal priesthood,” we’re identified both as kings and priests – those who have privileged access to God and authority to represent Him to others. This priestly identity means we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) while also serving as mediators who “offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

Being a “holy nation” emphasizes our collective identity as God’s set-apart people, governed by His principles rather than worldly values. This holiness isn’t primarily about behavior but about belonging – we’re holy because we belong to the Holy One, for “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

As a “peculiar people” or “people for God’s own possession” (ESV), we belong exclusively to God as His special treasure. This ownership identity means we’re not our own but are “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20), which transforms how we view our lives, bodies, and purposes.

This identity carries purpose – we’re called to “shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Our identity isn’t merely for personal benefit but for representing God to the world, declaring His excellence through both words and lives that reflect His character.

Crucified with Christ: Death and Resurrection Identity

Perhaps the most radical aspect of identity in Christ appears in Paul’s personal testimony: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). This verse reveals the paradoxical death-and-resurrection nature of Christian identity.

The phrase “I am crucified with Christ” reveals that through spiritual union with Christ, we as believers have died to our old identities. This death is comprehensive, affecting our relationship to sin: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6), to the law: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ” (Romans 7:4), and to the world: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

Yet this crucifixion isn’t the end of identity but its transformation, for Paul continues: “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Our life becomes Christ’s life expressed through us – not merely imitation but indwelling. This indwelling constitutes the essence of Christian identity: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Our identity becomes so united with Christ that Paul can declare “your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

This resurrection identity means we don’t merely try to follow Christ’s example but experience His life working through us, for “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV). This indwelling life produces what we could never achieve through self-effort, for as Jesus declared, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Temple of the Holy Spirit: God’s Dwelling Place

Another profound dimension of our identity emerges in Paul’s declaration: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). This temple identity reveals that we’ve become God’s dwelling place – vessels that contain His presence.

The implications are staggering – the same God who once dwelt in the Jerusalem temple now makes His home in human hearts. This fulfills God’s ancient promise: “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16, quoting Leviticus 26:12). Our bodies become sacred space where God’s presence dwells.

This indwelling isn’t occasional or temporary but permanent, for Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit “dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). The Spirit’s permanent residence transforms our self-understanding, for our bodies are no longer merely personal property but “the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

This indwelling guarantees divine guidance, for “the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26). The Spirit’s teaching transforms our understanding, enabling us to perceive spiritual truths that natural thinking cannot grasp.

Walking in Your True Identity: From Understanding to Experience

Understanding these truths intellectually differs from experiencing them as living realities. Paul prayed for believers to comprehend their identity through spiritual revelation: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). This knowledge requires divine illumination, not merely cognitive grasp.

Walking in our true identity means first believing what God says about us rather than what our feelings, past experiences, or others’ opinions suggest. This requires ongoing renewal of our thinking, for Paul instructs: “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Our thoughts must align with God’s truth about who we are.

This renewal happens as we immerse ourselves in Scripture, for “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). God’s Word reveals our true identity and corrects false self-perceptions.

Walking in our identity also means rejecting counterfeit identities based on performance, comparison, or past failures. These false identities contradict what God declares is true, yet they often feel more real because of their familiarity. True identity requires trusting God’s declaration over our perceptions, for we must “trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

The process involves daily choosing to reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11). This reckoning means counting God’s truth about our identity as more real than contradictory experiences or feelings.

Conclusion: Living from Identity, Not for Identity

The world teaches us to achieve an identity through accomplishments, relationships, or possessions. God’s approach is radically different – He gives identity as a gift to be received, not a prize to be earned. We don’t work toward an identity; we work from the identity already established in Christ.

This gift-identity transforms our motivation. We no longer serve God to gain His approval but because we already have it. We don’t perform to become something but because we already are something in Christ. This liberation from performance-based identity brings the freedom to live authentically as God’s beloved children.

When we understand and embrace our true identity in Christ, we find stability amid life’s changes and challenges. While circumstances, feelings, relationships, and abilities may fluctuate, who we are in Christ remains secure because it rests not on our performance but on His unchanging work and character.

The message of identity in Christ isn’t self-improvement but self-replacement – not becoming a better version of ourselves but becoming who God already declares us to be. As Paul summarizes: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed(ing) away; behold, all things are become(ing) new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This new identity transforms everything – how we see ourselves, others, circumstances, and God Himself. When we grasp who we truly are in Christ, we begin to live from the reality that our “life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), expressing outwardly the identity already established inwardly through God’s sovereign work, for “he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11).

The Book of Romans, Part 12 – From Sin to Righteousness Through Grace

[Study Aired September 12, 2023]

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 
Rom 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 
Rom 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

———-

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

What is sin?

Sin is rebellion, witchcraft and stubbornness.

1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Sin is looking down on others, pride, engaging in activities or actions that prepare the way for sinful behavior.

Proverbs 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

Sin is knowing how to do good and doing the opposite.

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

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Sin is transgressing the law, especially the law of Christ and all unrighteousness.

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

These verses emphasize the importance of both action and inaction in the context of sin. They emphasize that sin is not limited to actions but also includes attitudes and motivations, such as pride and wicked intentions. They highlight that sin includes failing to do what is right when one knows it is right.

Let’s look at 1 John 5:17 again.

1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

What does “there is a sin not unto death” mean? If all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and death reigns, how is “there a sin not unto death?”

Eze 18:26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
Eze 18:27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
Eze 18:28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Eze 33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 
Eze 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Eze 33:14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 
Eze 33:15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Eze 33:16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

The “sin not unto death” is sin with repentance. 

Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

“Sin is not imputed when there is no law?” What law? The law of Moses. Paul is using the law of Moses and the story of Abraham as a type and shadow of the “law of God”, the “law of spirit of life” and the “law of Christ”.

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

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

Paul’s message is the same as Christ’s. There is by “necessity a change also of the law.”

Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

The law is now a spiritual law written in our minds and hearts.

Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Sin is imputed if you know to do good and you do it not.

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Going back to verse 12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

When does sin enter the “world”? As you all know, we are the “world”. 

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

When do we know to do good?

Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

We know to do good when we receive the “gift by grace”.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12 Teaching us (Chastening us) that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world (age); 
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Just as Christ suffered for our transgression and was caused to sacrifice his life for all, we also are now to do the same for the rest of mankind and especially for the body of Christ. 

Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd myself. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, 
Joh 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I am giving my own life for my sheep. 
Joh 10:16 I have other sheep too that do not belong to this fold. I must lead them too, and they will listen to my voice, and all my sheep will become one flock with one shepherd. 
Joh 10:17 This is why the Father loves me, because I am giving my own life to take it back again. 

Joh 15:12 This is my command to you, to keep on loving one another as I have loved you. 
Joh 15:13 No one can show greater love than this, the giving of his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 You are my friends, if you keep on doing what I command you to do. 

1Jn 3:16 We know what love is from the fact that He laid down His life for us; and so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Continuing with the verses, Paul emphasizes the transformative process of judgment leading to righteousness.

Rom 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 
Rom 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Paul underscores the contrast between Adam’s sin and the gift of grace through Jesus Christ. Adam’s one transgression brought condemnation to all mankind. This condemnation was the result of a single offense, but the free gift of righteousness through Christ justifies us despite the many offenses committed. It’s a process of judgment that leads to our ultimate justification and the privilege of reigning in life through Jesus Christ.

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

These verses depict the consequences of Adam’s and Eve’s sin, including pain in childbirth and the toil required for sustenance. The effects of their disobedience extended to all of mankind, highlighting the universal impact of sin.

Adam broke the first commandment given by God. This commandment from God instructs Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It serves as a clear directive and a test of obedience. Adam and Eve later disobeyed this command, leading to the events described in Genesis 3, where they ate the forbidden fruit and experienced the consequences of their disobedience.

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Paul sums up the cost of the sin of Adam and explains that through this one offense everyone must live out the process of judgment. He goes on to explain that Christ will make us all righteous through grace.

Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:12-21 highlight the introduction of sin into the world through Adam’s disobedience, resulting in death for all. However, they also emphasize the transformative process of judgment leading to righteousness through Jesus Christ. Through Adam’s one offense, condemnation came upon all mankind. Through Christ’s righteousness and the grace (judgment) of God, the free gift of justification came upon all, even though many offenses are being committed. This transformation is compared to the reign of sin leading to death, with grace now reigning through righteousness, offering eternal life through Jesus Christ.

In summary, these passages collectively portray the idea of sin entering the world through Adam’s disobedience and how the law has changed from a physical law to a spiritual law through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The focus is on the process of judgment leading to righteousness, the transformative power of grace, and the promise of eternal life through faith in Christ.

Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 

Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 
Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 

The Book of Romans, Part 4 – Vile Affections

[Study Aired July 4, 2023]

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 
Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
Romans 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. 

Here are our verses from the last study to put this in context.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 

Paul has just given us a clue of how to properly understand the scriptures and the message of Christ. “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” We are to understand that the physical world is a type and shadow of the spirit. He mentions that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven … who hold the truth in unrighteousness … neither were thankful … Who changed the truth of God into a lie” which we should understand this as being “within” each of us. We each have and continue to hold the truth in unrighteousness until our carnal mind is destroyed. The carnal mind is our enemy and must be mercilessly killed. This happens to the called, chosen and faithful until the end in this age, and they are being trained to rule the world during the thousand years with Christ. Paul continues his message in our verses tonight. So, we must keep in mind that there is a deeper spiritual message being delivered.

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 

The carnal man will only see this as women and men having homosexual affairs. However, applying the principle of these words being a type, when Paul states “the things that are made” there is a deeper spiritual meaning. What does this mean according to the spirit? The women and men represent the believers of Christ, and the ‘natural use’ are the actions of those believers. They are following “another Jesus” and keeping the doctrines of their “church”.

2Corinthians 11:3-4 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 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.

Paul now explains why this happens and what God does in his wrath.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

“God gave them over to a reprobate mind.” This is the process of God’s plan for mankind. God is in total control, and women and men cannot do anything to change His mind.

Proverbs 22:1-8 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

We must first experience the “reprobate mind”, which is the natural carnal mind, in orderto fulfill the scriptures and the plan of God.

1Corinthians 15:44-49 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

We are first born “the image of the earthy” so all we can do is the following.

Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 
Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 
Romans 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 

All the above represent false doctrines given to us by “another Jesus” and convince us to believe his lies. We think we are doing good in the churches of the world and do not realize we are under “strong delusion”. 

2Thessalonians 2:1-12 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Paul confirms we all “change the natural use into that which is against nature”.

Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. 

As the elect of God, we look back and see the things of the spirit. We all must see ourselves experiencing what Paul is describing even though we may not have experienced it naturally. These natural evils described while they are sinful are not the full truth of the matter. We must look within and see the spiritual meaning of these sinful deeds. The law of Moses teaches us about natural sin and the law of Christ teaches us about spiritual sin. Mankind will continue to be under “strong delusion” until they are given the ability to understand Christ’s mind. Only if we continue in Christ’s word will we be able to become “disciples indeed” and become free.

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

We must be careful to read the scriptures with the understanding “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made”. Of course, God is in control of this, and we are only living out what has been prepared for us since the foundation of the world. This is all about the final judgment to come upon mankind. As the elect we learn this first and are given the ability to bring the rest of mankind into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 25:31-46 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 

We all are the “sheep and the goat”, the “right and the left hands” and will go through the process of separation. The elect in this age and the rest in the ages to come. The vile affections are the false doctrines of the churches of Babylon which will be destroyed by God in the end.

Here are the verses for our next study.

Romans 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. 
Romans 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 
Romans 2:3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Romans 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 
Romans 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Romans 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 
Romans 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 
Romans 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 
Romans 2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 
Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

2Ki 4:38-44 “For thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.”

[Study Aired September 8, 2022]

2Ki 4:38  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 
2Ki 4:39  And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
2Ki 4:40  So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
2Ki 4:41  But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
2Ki 4:42  And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 
2Ki 4:43  And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
2Ki 4:44  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

This last section of the fourth chapter of 2 Kings looks at another parable that helps us understand how God provides for all our physical and spiritual needs which are met through Christ (Php 4:19). The primary lesson is that the physical provision is not to become an idol of our hearts but rather a reminder that God knows what we need, and the natural provision reveals the spiritual (Rom 1:20). That spiritual provision makes it possible for us to grow in faith and in appreciation of how He miraculously provides all we need through what each joint supplies in love via the body of Christ, until we all come in the unity of the faith via that blessed increase that comes through the vine by way of the Father (Eph 4:16, 1Co 3:6). Christ works through the branches giving us the power to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and Christ is directed by our Father who gives that increase through the body both to will and to do of His, the Father’s, good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom (Php 2:12-13, Luk 12:32).

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

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

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

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

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

These verses below help us understand what God’s spiritual provision is all about. With them in mind we can look at the last few verses of this section of Kings and be reminded of how God worked with a longsuffering spirit with the prophets of old who represent the patience and faith of the saints being accomplished in God’s workmanship which we are today (Psa 132:15-16, Jer 15:11, Jer 15:20-21, Zep 3:13, Zec 8:12, Eph 2:7, Php 4:6-7, Heb 13:20-21)

Psa 132:15  I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. 
Psa 132:16  I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

Jer 15:20  And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 
Jer 15:21  And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

Zep 3:12  I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. 
Zep 3:13  The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Zec 8:12  For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

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

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2Ki 4:38  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

Gigal^H1537 is defined by BDB as “a wheel, rolling” and that wheel represents the “wheel in the middle of a wheel” within the body of Christ found in (Eze 1:16-17, Joh 14:20) where God is showing us how we are connected as a many-membered body through Christ (1Co 12:12, Col 1:27) experiencing in this life how all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose because of that middle wheel, our hope of glory within (Rom 8:28.

H1537 gilgâl ghil-gawl’    BDB: Gilgal = “a wheel, rolling”

The same as H1536 (with the article as a properly noun); Gilgal, the name of three places in Palestine: – Gilgal. See also H1019. Total KJV occurrences: 41

Eze 1:16  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 
Eze 1:17  When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. 

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

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Again it is at that day (Joh 14:20) through Elisha, who typifies Christ, that we learn of this relationship granted to the “sons of the prophets” who typify the elect of God (Jas 5:10, Rev 14:12). What it is that God gives those sons is described as being given through the servant who is given instruction on how to serve the rest, just as we are learning how to serve one another in the body of Christ.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Elisha’s servant is told, “Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.” This food is needed because there is “a dearth in the land” meaning that our life goes through periods of spiritual dearth, but God is faithful to those who are called according to His purpose of election to bring Christ to us and to feed us with spiritual food that is convenient for us and given in due season. Christ is the faithful and true witness within us (Rev 3:14) who makes that provision through the church (Eph 3:10-11) and so the proverb reads, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die.” Christ will not deny Himself, His own body which we are, and will be victorious through the church (Mat 16:18) that He is blessing by answering this prayer, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.” (Mat 24:45-46, Pro 30:7-9, 2Ti 2:13)

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

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

Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? [Joh 21:15-17]
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

Joh 21:15  So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
Joh 21:16  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Joh 21:17  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Pro 30:7  Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: 
Pro 30:8  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: [Joh 21:15-17]
Pro 30:9  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

2Ti 2:13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

2Ki 4:39  And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

This verse reminds us in the early stages of our walk what it is that we gather as the elect of God who have been ordained to be a kind of first fruits from the foundation of the world. We gather herbs in “the field” which represents the world, and we find a wild vine which represents the church in the wilderness that we come out of to become part of the true vine into which we’re grafted (Joh 15:5). The wild gourds^H6498 [wild vine] are a symbol of faith that is untried (or food that is uncooked) and not yet been “shred” in a seething pot, symbols of the fiery trials and judgments brought into our lives (1Pe 4:12) to refine us (Zec 13:9).

H6498   paqqû‛âh   pak-koo-aw’

From the same as H6497; the wild cucumber (from splitting open to shed its seeds): – gourd.

Total KJV occurrences: 1

H6497  peqa‛   peh’-kah

From an unused root meaning to burst; only used as an architectural term of an ornament similar to H6498, a semi-globe: – knop.

Total KJV occurrences: 3:  1Ki_6:18, 1Ki_7:24 (2)

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

Zec 13:9  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Mat 13:32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

The knowledge is indeed Christ’s while yet still in Babylon, symbolized by the herbs and the wild gourds and wild vine, still wild and not yet prepared, like John the Baptist who was preparing the way for Christ with wild honey and locust (Isa 40:3, Mat 3:1-3). All of these food types are instructive for the new Christian, and it will be in the proper preparation and enduring through the process of maturing over time that we will be able to be strengthened with these foods to then partake of the stronger meat spoken of in Hebrews 5 (Heb 5:13-14, Joh 8:31-32).

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

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

2Ki 4:40  So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
2Ki 4:41  But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

Until we’re granted to bring the meal^H7058 that represents our presenting our life to God as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2), the word of God, which is represented by the food within the pot, will not be able to be digested and taken in to nourish our new man and destroy our old man. We can only “pour out for the people” after we are strengthened through Christ to present our lives a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service to God (Rom 12:1).

H7058  qemach keh’-makh  From an unused root probably meaning to grind; flour: – flour, meal. Total KJV occurrences: 14

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

This action of bringing meal to the “great pot” is typical of what happens when we “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luk 6:38). We can’t see clearly how all these ingredients put into the pot are going to work together for the good, but God calls us to trust Him through our trials and much tribulation through which He will deliver us, which will result in our seeing all men “give into your bosom” (Rom 8:28-31, 2Ti 1:9, Jas 1:12).

Luk 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 

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

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

2Ki 4:42  And there came a man from Baalshalisha^H1190, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.

There came a man from “Baalshalisha^H1190“, which is interpreted “thrice-great lord”, who brought two gifts which represent the word of God that is given to us in due season and nourishes us that we may eat (Jas 1:17-18, Joh 6:51, 1Co 10:16). Notice that the food, which represents the word of God, comes from a pagan culture in “Baalshalisha”^H1190 because in God’s eyes we are gentiles and pagan when we have God’s gold, and silver and precious jewels, which are symbols of His word, wrapped around the idol of our hearts and claim ourselves to be spiritual Jews when we are not (Eze 14:3, Rev 3:9). It takes our coming out of “Baalshalisha”^H1190 and being dragged to Christ, who is typified by Elisha (Joh 6:44), to have that word purified in our lives so those idols are destroyed.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 
Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 

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

H1190  BDB Definition: Baal-shalisha = “thrice-great lord”

1) a place in Ephraim near Gilgal
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H1168 and H8031

God’s provision is being described for the elect now with these physical food sources that represent Christ and His Christ and the word of God that sustains us. What is our communion but the body and blood of Christ (1Co 10:16), and we receive this nourishment through the church where “the man of God” (Eph 3:10) is provided with “bread of the firstfruits” (Jas 1:18),”twenty loaves of barley“, which represents the witness of Christ’s undefiled truth we are blessed to be nourished with via the true bread of life who was broken for us. Elisha tells the servant to “Give unto the people, that they may eat” as Christ does for us (Exo 9:31, Isa 53:4, Luk 22:19, Mar 14:22).

Exo 9:31  And the flax and the barley was smitten [Isa 42:3]: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Mar 14:22  And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

Christ’s body, which is the church, is represented by the “full ears of corn in the husks thereof” that are sustained through Christ and blessed to mature to that point so that they can be used to nourish the nations one day with God’s judgments, his words in the earth that will bring healing (Gen 27:37, Psa 107:20).

Gen 27:37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

I’ve taken this excerpt from Mike’s Revelation Series –  Revelation 1:5 – Part 2 – which explains that when we die daily and reckon ourselves buried into Christ’s baptism, we in turn become as that first holy seed (1Jn 4:17) that died and fell into the ground and brought forth much fruit, Jesus Christ (Joh 12:24, Rom 5:17). The first fruits are not just a kind of first fruits. We are also those who have become a holy seed through Jesus Christ Who will be used to populate the world with truth and be given the power through God’s holy spirit to judge the nations in the great white throne judgment so that they can be purified and made one with the body of Christ and our head Jesus Christ.

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

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

Rom 5:17  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

*** Excerpt: 

So we are actually told to “reckon ourselves” both dead with Christ, and yet living “in newness of life” in Christ. But are we actually counted as firstfruits from the dead, as Christ is?

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

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.

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

The wave sheaf of barley, at the days of unleavened bread, immediately after the Passover, was the first of the firstfruits. However, fifty days later was another festival which was called Pentecost. Pentecost was also called “the feast of firstfruits,” because we, the church which was established on Pentecost, was to be “a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

Rev 14:4  These [144,000] 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.

Lev 23:10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Lev 23:11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

“The sheaf of the firstfruits” at Passover, is Christ Himself. The feast of firstfruits, fifty days later, at Pentecost, typifies Christ’s Christ, the church.

Lev 23:15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; [they are] the firstfruits unto the LORD.

Exo 34:18  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.

Exo 34:22  And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks [Pentecost], of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Exo 34:23  Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. [Pentecost is called “the feast of firstfruits”.]

“Thrice [three times] in the year…” are the feast of unleavened bread [passover], the feast of weeks [Pentecost], and the feast of ingathering [tabernacles] at the year’s end. These three seasons typify the three seasons of God’s judgments and His harvest of mankind. They are the first, the barley harvest in the spring, which typifies Christ, the first of the firstfruits; the second, the wheat harvest in the summer, the judgment which is on the house of God; and third, the grape harvest in the fall, when all men are raised up from among the dead and are judged and cleansed in the white throne judgment, lake of fire.

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

So while our Head certainly does have the preeminence in all things, we are still “as he is… the first begotten of the dead and the firstfruits of them that slept.

*** End Quote

2Ki 4:43  And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
2Ki 4:44  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

Our time of need is now in these marred clay vessels of flesh witnessed by “an hundred men” – ten representing the flesh (10×10). The servant provided spiritual meat in due season and “set it before them” and they did eat, because it was all done “according to the word of the LORD“. Elisha’s servant lacks the faith and is typical of us saying ‘Lord help me in my unbelief’, and Elisha, who typifies our Lord, helps his servant accomplish what seems impossible to his flesh:

2Ki 4:43 He asked: »How am I to feed a hundred hungry men with this?« Elisha replied: »Give it to them to eat, because Jehovah says that they will eat and still have some left over.« [Mat 14:20]
2Ki 4:44 So the servant set the food before them. Just as Jehovah said, they ate and had some left over. (NSB – New Simplified Bible version)

It is when things are done “according to the word of the LORD” that we will be properly nourished, not thinking above what is written (1Co 4:6), and believing that there is safety in a multitude of counselors (Pro 11:14, Pro 24:6). It takes becoming like children (Mat 18:3) in order to receive the word of God in due season, and God is humbling our old man for that express purpose of overcoming all the sins of the world within us so that we can fulfill the will of God in this life as His servitors to one another (1Jn 2:16-17, Gal 6:2).

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

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

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

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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

We are called to “give the people, that they may eat“, meaning we are called to ‘feed my lambs, and feed my sheep’, and are assured of God that if we seek Him with all our hearts and minds and souls (Mat 22:37-40) that this promise of provision of His word which nourishes us will always be supplied, “for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.“

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jer 18:1-12  The Vessel Made of Clay was Marred in the Hand of the Potter

[Study Aired September 19, 2021]

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

The last chapter contained the oft quoted ninth verse:

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Our study today reveals clearly why we have all been given a deceitful heart. As is always the case, the Lord makes us to know that we have nothing to do with what He is doing, other than doing the things He causes us to do. In our study today, Lord willing, He is going to cause us to understand that when we “Hear [His] words” we do so only because He “caused [us] to hear [His] words”.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

“The Potter’s house” is the ‘house’ of the Master Potter. It is the Lord’s temple (1Co 3:16). The Master Potter makes no mistakes. As we just learned in our last study, “the first man Adam” was created on the sixth day, and the Lord deliberately made the first Adam of ‘clay’. Both the number ‘six’ and the composition of ‘clay’ cry out to all those who are “caused to hear” that we are incomplete and made of corruptible clay in the form of ‘corruptible… flesh and blood’, which was never intended to “inherit the kingdom of God”:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood [“The vessel that He made of clay”] cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

All the thousands of sermons by all the thousands of false prophets to the contrary will not make a creature which was formed on the sixth day anything more than a beast, a creature made of flesh and blood which can never inherit the kingdom of God. Repeatedly using the phrase “immortal soul” will not place that phrase anywhere in scripture. It simply is not there, but this is in scripture concerning what happens to us at the time of the resurrection and not before that time:

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

As the rules of Hebrew grammar demonstrate, the process of creating mankind in His image is not yet complete:

Gen 1:27  So God created [Hebrew Qal stem… ‘is creating’] man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

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

A “very good” tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a “very good… crooked serpent”, and a “very good… vessel of clay” in the form of “corruptible… flesh and blood”, are not, and were never intended by the Creator to be “the new man which after God is [being] created in righteousness and true holiness”.

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created [Greek: aorist tense… ‘is being created] in righteousness and true holiness.

This is what “the vessel that He made of clay” is designed to show us of ourselves in our present unfinished condition:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

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

Sadly, for most nominal ‘Christians’ church doctrine will always trump scripture, and most ‘Christians’ will continue to believe that man was given an “immortal soul”, a phrase found nowhere in all of scripture because that doctrine is a lying spirit which has ‘gone out into the world to deceive many’:

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

When we try that spirit which teaches us that the phrase “very good” means spiritually perfected, we discover that Hebrew and Greek tenses are completely ignored in most of our English translations so false church doctrines can continue to be foisted off on all those who have not yet been given “eyes that see nor ears that hear” (Mat 13:9-15):

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [Hebrew reads ‘creates He them’, the Qal stem]

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

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

The two verbs in Genesis 1:31, the verbs ‘saw’ and ‘made’, are both in the Qal Stem, which equates to the Greek aorist tense. What this tells us is that the process of ‘seeing’ and ‘making’ is ongoing and unfinished. Six “is the number of mankind” (Rev 13:18) because mankind is unfinished, as his creation on the sixth day indicates. Mankind must “enter into His rest” to be completed, and Christ is our ‘rest’:

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest [into Christ], as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in [“Entered not” into Christ] because of unbelief:
Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest [Christ, our rest, our sabbath] to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief [in Christ].

Hebrews 4:1-11 is the completion of the process of the creation of mankind. No one is complete until he has entered into Christ and confesses that he can do nothing of himself:

Here are those two verses in Genesis 1 in a much more accurate translation:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them. (CLV)

Gen 1:31 And seeing is the Elohim all that He had made [Same Qal stem as the verb ‘seeing’ and should read ‘is making’], and, behold, it is very good. And coming is it to be evening and coming to be morning, the sixth day. (CLV)

The Concordant version renders ‘seeing’ in the Qal stem, but it misses the fact that the phrase “had made” is also in the Qal stem and should have been translated as ‘all that He is making’. In other words, the creation is at this very moment an ongoing process which requires this “experience of evil” in this “vessel that He made of clay” before we can enter into Christ, “enter into His rest” on the seventh day, the day of completion and perfection, the day of rest from  our works:

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, [our rest, our sabbath] and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
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.

Notice that the Concordant translators who miss the Qal stem in translating ‘had made’ in Gen 1:31 catch the Qal stem in translating:

Jer 18:4 and marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he has turned and he makes it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make. (CLV)

We should begin to get the message of the book of Job and all the rest of scripture. The message of all scripture is about two men – the old man and the new man. However, it is about how the old man must begin to die before the new man can begin to enter into Christ, our “sabbath”, our “rest”. When we are being brought into that rest, we begin to see and understand that even our “experience of evil” is of the Lord, and that we have no more to do with our sins than we have with our good works.

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

That is right! If there is “evil in the city… the Lord hath done it” (Isa 45:7)

Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:7  At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

“Clay… in The Potter’s hand” is as basic as the Lord’s work with mankind can be explained. The clay has no say at all about what the Potter will make of it. The hand of a puppeteer can be concealed, but the hand of a potter must be seen as He shapes the clay “after the counsel of His own will”. “As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine hand…” is not an endorsement of the lie of ‘free will’. Rather it is the exact opposite. “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it” is not an endorsement of free will. It is the exact opposite. To clarify this fact, and to make the Potter’s hand even more apparent, we are very plainly told:

Exo 4:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

The Biblical definition of a ‘hardened heart’ is a heart which cannot obey the words of the Lord.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Does the Lord’s use of the word ‘if’ indicate that you and I have been given a will that is free from His influence?

Jer 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:9  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10  If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

In our innate desire to be the captain of our own fate we latch on to verses like these and tell ourselves that these verses prove that we have the ability, through our own fabled ‘free will’, to change the Lord’s mind. We must never forget that ‘key to the kingdom’ which teaches us that Truth is never to be found in just one verse or one section of scripture, rather:

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances  endureth for ever.

Therefore, it behooves us to read on, and come to see that even though the Lord offers us the opportunity to repent, He already knows that we will at first reject Him and His offer to accept our repentance. If anyone doubts that the Lord already knows what mankind will do just read the next couple of verses:

Jer 18:11  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jer 18:12  And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Does that sound as if the Lord has any doubt about what we will do? These two verses confirm the message of verse 4:

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

Yes, indeed, the Lord admonishes us to “return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good”, and with the same breath He tells us “Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you”, followed by a description of that “evil device” He has devised against our old man. That device is to prepare the heart of our old man to say, “There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.”

Where does the heart of our old man get such a thought:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Then the Lord goes on to tell us plainly that His sovereignty extends to our own wicked man:

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

When you and I, or anyone else, sin and do wickedly, why do we do so? If God is sovereign over all things, then He must inform us that it is He who facilitates the most wicked of all acts, including the death of His own Son, and that is exactly what He does. It simply cannot be made more clear:

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

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.

He even admits to being the “one lawgiver” which includes giving us “the law of sin… which is in [our] members”:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Whence comes this “sin that dwells within [our] members”?

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

How did that happen? How did this “law of sin” come to be in our members? Let us “let God be true and every man a liar” and believe these words of God:

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

That is exactly what the Sovereign God is in the process of doing. He is in the process of destroying our old man, who by His design is first “marred in [His] hand”, and through that dissolution of our old man He is saving our new man, just as the worm of a caterpillar is dissolved and comes out of the death of a cocoon as a beautiful butterfly no longer bound to crawl on its belly. It can now mount up to the heavens on beautiful wings, confirming that:

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

What we are being told is that “the law of sin and death” is part and parcel an integral part of being made of the dust of the ground, being “the… marred… vessel made of clay… in the Potter’s hand”:

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

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

What we are being told is that the new vessel… “another vessel”, the Potter is making, is dominated by “another law” other than “the law of sin”. That new law, “the law of my mind”, in that new man is “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus”:

What is the meaning of the word ‘marred’? Exactly what is it about ‘the vessel of clay’ that makes it “marred” and unacceptable to the Potter?

Here is Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word translated as “marred”:

H7843
שָׁחַת
shâchath
shaw-khath’
A primitive root; to decay, that is, (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively): – batter, cast off, corrupt (-er, thing), destroy (-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, X utterly, waste (-r).

‘Shachath’ is the same word translated as ‘corrupt’ when it first appears in:

Gen 6:11  The earth also was corrupt [H7843: ‘shachath’] before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

It appears twice in the next verse:

Gen 6:12  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt [‘shachath’]; for all flesh had corrupted  [‘shachath’] his way upon the earth.

Notice how the translators have rendered this same word in the very next verse:

Gen 6:13  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy [‘shachath’] them with the earth.

Here is how this word is variously translated in the King James Version:

H7843
שׁחת
shâchath
Total KJV Occurrences: 146
destroy, 68
Gen_6:13, Gen_6:17, Gen_9:11, Gen_9:15, Gen_18:28 (2), Gen_18:31-32 (2), Num_32:13-15 (4), Deu_4:31, Deu_9:26, Deu_10:10,
Deu_20:19-20 (2), Jos_22:33, Jdg_6:5, 1Sa_23:10, 1Sa_26:9, 1Sa_26:15, 2Sa_1:14,
2Sa_14:11, 2Sa_20:20, 2Sa_24:16,
2Ki_8:19, 2Ki_13:23, 2Ki_18:25 (2),
1Ch_21:15, 2Ch_12:7, 2Ch_12:12,
2Ch_21:7, 2Ch_25:16, 2Ch_35:21,
Psa_106:23, Isa_36:9-10 (3), Isa_51:13, Isa_65:8 (2),
Isa_65:25, Jer_5:10, Jer_6:5,
Jer_11:19, Jer_13:14, Jer_15:3,
Jer_15:6, Jer_36:29, Jer_48:18,
Jer_49:9, Jer_51:11, Jer_51:20,
Lam_2:8, Eze_5:16, Eze_9:8,
Eze_22:30, Eze_26:4, Eze_30:11,
Eze_43:3, Dan_9:24-26 (4), Hos_11:9, Mal_3:11
destroyed, 22
Gen_13:10, Gen_19:29, Jdg_6:4,
Jdg_20:21, Jdg_20:25, Jdg_20:35,
Jdg_20:42, 2Sa_11:1,
2Sa_24:16, 2Ki_19:12, 1Ch_21:15,
2Ch_24:23,
2Ch_34:11, 2Ch_36:19, Psa_78:38,
Psa_78:45, Isa_14:20, Isa_37:12,
Jer_12:10, Lam_2:5-6 (2), Hos_13:9
corrupt, 11
Gen_6:11-12 (2), Deu_4:16, Deu_4:25, Deu_31:29,
Psa_53:1 (2), Pro_25:26, Eze_20:44,
Eze_23:11, Mal_1:14
corrupted, 11
Gen_6:12, Exo_8:24, Exo_32:7,
Deu_9:12, Deu_32:5, Jdg_2:19,
Eze_16:47, Eze_28:17, Hos_9:9,
Mal_2:7-8 (2)
destroying, 5
1Ch_21:12, 1Ch_21:15, Jer_2:30,
Jer_51:1, Eze_20:17
mar, 4
Lev_19:27, Rth_4:6, 1Sa_6:5,
Jer_13:9
destroyer, 3
Pro_28:23-24 (2), Jer_4:7
marred, 3
Jer_13:7 (2), Jer_18:4, Nah_2:2
corrupters, 2
Isa_1:4, Jer_6:28
destroyeth, 2
Pro_6:32, Pro_11:9
spoilers, 2
1Sa_13:17, 1Sa_14:15
waster, 2
Pro_18:9, Isa_54:16
battered, 1
2Sa_20:15
cast, 1
Amo_1:11
corrupting, 1
Dan_11:17
corruptly, 1
2Ch_27:2
destroyers, 1
Jer_22:7
destroyest, 1
Jer_51:25
destruction, 1
2Ch_26:16
lose, 1
Pro_23:8
perish, 1
Exo_21:26
spilled, 1
Gen_38:9
wasted, 1
1Ch_20:1

This is the same word used back in chapter 13 in reference to the linen girdle which Jeremiah buried in the banks of the Euphrates River:

Jer 13:6  And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
Jer 13:7  Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred [‘shachath’], it was profitable for nothing.

The linen girdle was ‘ruined and destroyed’ because it was made of a corruptible composition. Destruction, corruption, and ruin are the thought behind this Hebrew word ‘shachath’.

Why would the Lord first make man of such a corruptible composition? If “the first man Adam”, ‘the vessel of clay’, (1Co 15:45) was marred (‘shachath’) in the Potter’s hand, then he was made of a corrupting composition which was deliberately designed to lead him into his own destruction “in the Potter’s hand”, just as the scriptures reveal:

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

All the great sermons to the contrary, “the first man Adam” was not spiritual first. Rather:

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy [“The first man Adam… of the dust of the ground… the vessel that He made of clay…”], such are they also that are earthy [“flesh and blood… corruption”]: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; [Pray tell, why cannot flesh and blood inherit the kingdom of God?] …neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

What the Lord says must be “first” will be ‘first’. That which the Lord declares is “not first” will not be first. If we cannot accept those qualifying words, then we simply do not yet know Christ or His Father (Joh 17:3).

If we fail to see the order in which the Lord is completing and perfecting His creation, we can and we will miss the spiritual message in all those verses of scripture which qualify that order in which the Lord is working to bring about the salvation of all.

The previous chapter of Jeremiah, chapter 17, revealed to us that we are cursed with a deceitful heart which we should never, ever trust:

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:6  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat [or “thief”] cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Chapter 18 confirms that a “deceitful heart” is simply a natural heart which is “marred… in the hand of the Potter”, and that this “marred” corruptible composition is the device which the Lord has devised against the kingdom of our old man to destroy it.

All these words of God are simply the fire which tries and burns up the wood, hay, and stubble of the works of our old man. These words are the judgment which begins when our “first man Adam” begins to die and begins to be judged. It is all designed to take place “first”, and it is all integral to the salvation of all men. This is the sequence of events which the Lord desires, and what the Lord desires He is doing:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is  appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man‘s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

The word ‘appointed’ is in the present tense. The judgment which begins after we begin to “die” is in the aorist tense, and is now on the house of God:

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?

The works of our old man are being burned up yet we ourselves, our “new man… shall be saved”. Being given a deceitful heart (Jer 17:9), and being “marred in the hand of the Potter” (Jer 18:4) are just the necessary corruptible beginnings of the Lord’s process of salvation for “every man” (1Co 3:13-15).

That completes our study for today. These are our verses for our next study:

Jer 18:13  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
Jer 18:14  Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Jer 18:15  Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Jer 18:16  To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Jer 18:17  I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Jer 18:18  Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jer 18:19  Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
Jer 18:20  Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Jer 18:21  Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
Jer 18:22  Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Jer 18:23  Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

[Study Aired February 27, 2020]

Psa 145:13  Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. 
Psa 145:14  The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. 
Psa 145:15  The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 
Psa 145:16  Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 
Psa 145:17  The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. 
Psa 145:18  The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 
Psa 145:19  He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 
Psa 145:20  The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. 
Psa 145:21  My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. 

Last week’s verses were primarily focused on what David said he would do for the Lord, with such statements as these below:

• “I will extol thee”
• “I will bless thy name for ever and ever”
• “Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever”
• “I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works”

The exercise of discernment (Heb 5:14) God’s elect are continually going through in this life causes us to remember that He is creating the light and the darkness, the day of evil within us (Isa 45:7, Pro 16:4) so that “all the wicked will he destroy” within me in an appointed time little and by little (Num 14:9). It is for this ongoing work of God that we will extol Him and bless His name and praise Him forever and ever (Psa 107:31). This destroying of our old man and making of the new vessel of honour fit for the master’s use (2Ti 2:20-21, 1Co 3:11-15, Eph 2:10-12) is what David is speaking or prophesying about (1Pe 1:12), as we decrease so that He can increase within us (Joh 3:30, 1Pe 4:17), described as the “glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works” (vs 5) that is His workmanship, His new vessel of honor He is making (Rom 9:21, Jer 18:4).

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

The contrast created with this section of the Psalm becomes bright when we show some of the key phrases that express where God resides within the kingdom of God which is in each of those who have God’s holy spirit within them (Luk 17:21, Rom 8:9).

• Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom
• The LORD upholdeth all that fall
• thou givest them their meat in due season
• Thou openest thine hand
• The LORD is righteous in all his ways
• The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him
• He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him
• The LORD preserveth all them that love him

In this study, we will look at the corresponding verses in the new covenant that bear witness to all these affirming statements about our Father that king David, who is a type of God’s elect, was inspired to write for our benefit as a type of God’s anointed elect (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11).

Last week we talked about how the primary attention today in the life of God’s elect is on the “is”, the present work God is doing in the lives of those who have been called to believe that God is doing this work within us both to will and to do within His little flock to whom He tells us is His good pleasure to give the kingdom today and every day (Php 2:12, Luk 13:32). We are called to forget what is behind us and to press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Php 3:13), and we do that with every breath we take, not by our might or power but by God’s holy spirit giving us the power and ability through Christ to not be anxious about the morrow (Zec 4:6, Mat 6:34) as we consider our lives for what they really are in his service; a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) where there is no condemnation because this living sacrifice which we are is accepted in the beloved (Rom 8:1, Eph 1:6).

The scapegoat of (Lev 16:10) represents that living sacrifice that we are to God, and demonstrates God’s love and mercy working in his kind of first fruits who are being kept humble and abased through the chastening and scourging of this life (Heb 12:6). Through the repentance into which He is leading us (Rom 2:4), we are brought to appreciate and see the “must” part of His workmanship described in these verses (1Pe 4:17, Joh 3:30) that is unfolding for the benefit of all of His creation upon which He continues to have mercy; a mercy that is demonstrated by separating the few in this age for the benefit of all the rest who will see His saviors, His workmanship rule and reign on the earth one day (Rom 11:30-33, Oba 1:21).

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?

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

The symbolic period of time of the one thousand-year reign of the saints (1Co 6:2, Rev 20:6) parallels the time when Christ was on the earth doing many miracles and physical healings that caused the masses to come after him (Joh 6:2). However, there are no disciples indeed at the end of this reign of Christ and His Christ on the earth, just as no one until Pentecost was able to truly continue in His word and be disciples indeed.  It is only those who are able to be crushed under the rock after the holy spirit was given that makes it possible for His disciples indeed to drink the cup of judgment, the “must” part spoken of earlier that accompanies enduring until the end (Mat 21:44, Joh 16:7,  Mat 20:23).

The crushing experience for the world will be in the lake of fire, the great white throne judgment that will burn out the idols of mankind’s heart which say they have done many wonderful works independent of God and His sovereign hand working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Mat 7:22, Eph 1:11).

The symbolic period of time of the one thousand-year reign is also symbolized by that transition period when Christ was resurrected leading up to Pentecost. The events that unfolded for Christ during this specific period reveal to God’s children today an outlay of what we will be doing during that period when we will be seeking an occasion against the flesh of all of mankind (Luk 24:13-25, Joh 20:19-20, Joh 20:15, Luk 24:42), whose lives will be naturally healed and provided for as much as God has ordained, This physical restitution is also symbolic of the spiritual healing which will come in the lake of fire. The natural always precedes the spiritual (1Co 15:46), and that concept is not contradicted by this verse in Psalm 103:3 which tells us He heals all “all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases”. We are simply being told in this instance that God declares the end from the beginning, just as the burnt offering is the first sacrifice spoken of in Leviticus (Lev 1:3) that is the for sins for all the world, or “all thine iniquities”.

All God’s works praise Him, from start to finish, and for those who have been given eyes to see this, we have every reason to rejoice always, and again I say rejoice in the Lord today (Php 4:4) knowing that it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom today, and He is doing this for the good of all those who we will be blessed to bring into a loving relationship with our Father and Jesus Christ, which is what it is to have eternal life, eternal joy in Them (Joh 17:3, Joh 14:20). How we receive that kingdom, which God says is within us and will have an outward fulfillment, is described by the imagery of Christ coming into Jerusalem (Eph 2:6) on the foal of an ass (Joh 12:14, Zec 9:9), symbolizing our flesh that has been humbled through a life that has been brought into subjection under the One who is giving us power and dominion over the proud-filled horses and chariots of Egypt within us which all must be destroyed by the brightness of His coming into our hearts and minds. That destruction of our old man of sin is also symbolized for the elect by the fronds of palms that were crushed under the feet of the foal coming into Jerusalem (2Th 2:8, Joh 12:13, Psa 92:12, 1Ki 6:31-32, Rev 11:3-4, 1Co 3:11).

Psa 145:13  Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

God’s kingdom is “an everlasting kingdom” that begins in earnest (Eph 1:14) in the lives of those who have His holy spirit within them and continues on until the lake of fire where “throughout all generations” will come to an end as all carnal thought will finally be destroyed or devoured, symbolically spoken of in these terms (Rev 20:10-15).

God’s “kingdom is an everlasting kingdom”, however, mankind has not seen this and won’t see it until an appointed time, each man in his order. Christ revealed the Father when He came to earth — and the kingdom of God was within Him (Luk 17:21, Luk 10:24) — just as we do today (1Jn 4:17). The prophets of old also gave witness to the fact that “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” prophesying not unto themselves but unto those who would be the first fruits to have their heavens cleansed and have that “everlasting kingdom” within them (1Pe 1:12, Heb 9:23). Joseph typifies Christ having the kingdom given to Him, and his brothers’ lives were used to bring him to this point that “throughout all generations” of his brothers could now be judged by Joseph, which we know symbolizes the time of the great white throne judgment for all the world (Gen 45:5).

Psa 145:14  The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. 

This statement “The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down” reminds us of (Gen 45:5) that we just read, that tells us that all will fall (Pro 24:16), and be raised up in time, and more importantly God will “upholdeth all that fall” telling us that He has always been working out all the details of every life and has lovingly been in the midst of all the circumstances that he has created and upheld and will uphold from start to finish (Eph 1:11, Col 1:17).

In other words, we have to be “bowed down” and humbled in this life in order to become a vessel of honor that is “meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (Mat 23:12, 2Ti 2:21).

Psa 145:15  The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 

All the creation groans and travails until now, not knowing the reality of the true God who they are waiting upon (Rom 8:22-26), and who is giving them their meat in due season (Mat 5:45). The physical meat precedes the spiritual meat, and both could not be understood when given in due season whether it was manna in the wilderness (Exo 16:4, Exo 16:15) or the true bread of life that came from heaven, Jesus Christ (Mat 16:13-20). Both represent meat being given in due season, but giving does not necessarily mean receiving, just as seeing does not necessarily mean perceiving (Mat 13:14, Mat 15:7-9).

Spiritual perception comes to those who are given to understand the one sign Christ gave to describe those who would be able to see spiritually and receive the word of God and continue in it in this life (Joh 8:31-32), and that sign was the sign of Jonas. These following verses reveal that it is through a process of judgment with Christ in our earth, our bodies, the church (1Co 12:12, Eph 5:23, Eph 5:30) that we can be spiritually nourished so we can endure until the end (Mat 16:4, Mat 12:40).

Being born into this life, we immediately find ourselves in a position where we are physically waiting upon the Lord to give us food in due season. However, like a child we have no concept that God is the one who is creating both the hunger and the nourishment as we “wait upon thee“. Regardless of our ability to perceive and be grateful as we ought to be, God remains faithful and provides “their meat in due season” and works all the various hungers and fulfilling of those hungers to His glory as we learn that the dream is one (Gen 41:20-26).

Gen 41:20  And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
Gen 41:21  And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
Gen 41:22  And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
Gen 41:23  And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
Gen 41:24  And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

Psa 145:16  Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 

God’s hand, as the master potter, knows how to create the desire of every living thing and how to satisfy that desire. We are learning, as the body of Christ, to be content whether we have a little or a lot (Php 4:12). That process of learning to be content and waiting on the Lord to open “thine hand” is the most critical lesson Christ is teaching His children who are learning to possess their souls patiently (Luk 21:19) as they offer up the sacrifice of thanks (Heb 13:15) for how God is faithful to “satisfiest the desire of every living thing” within us, through the process of bringing all our beastly self-centered thoughts into a Christ-centric relationship (2Co 10:5) symbolized by Noah who by God’s power was able to bring all the beasts into subjection onto the Ark which represents the church, the body of Christ (2 by 2 witness) (Gen 7:15).

Psa 145:17  The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. 

Another reason we need to be humbled from time to time, acutally day to day as we die daily (1Co 15:31), is so that we can be brought into remembrance that there is none righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10), and that it is “The LORD” who is “righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works” a work that He will be sure to finish (Php 1:6) and do so in such a manner that no flesh will glory in His sight (1Co 1:26-29)  as He causes us to scarcely be saved as we endure until the end (1Pe 4:18-19, Mat 24:13).

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

Psa 145:18  The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 
Psa 145:19  He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 

If we draw near to Christ, He will draw near to us (Jas 4:8), and when we are dragged (Joh 6:44) to do so, the double-mindedness of our hearts which makes us unstable in all our ways will be cleansed so we can “call upon him in truth” (Jas 1:8, Joh 4:23).

It is that dragging to Christ, that going where our flesh does not want to naturally go (Joh 21:18), which allows our conscience to be cleansed (Heb 10:22) as we are purified by the brightness of Christ coming into our heavens (1Jn 1:7) to tear down the powers and principalities against which we wrestle (Eph 6:12) and will overcome by the gift of grace and faith our Father gives us through Christ (Eph 2:8).

God will “fulfil the desire of them that fear him” because of His love being shed abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5) that makes it possible for us to not fear man and to know that nothing can separate us from His love that gives us power to cast out all fear inside as we come to see all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (1Jn 4:18, Rom 8:28).

God will “hear their cry, and will save them“, meaning the desire of obedience will be fulfilled, and we will drink the cup the Lord gives us (Mat 20:23), but it will not be without great struggle and resisting sin until the shedding of blood (Heb 5:7, Heb 12:4) so that we know it is only the Lord who could have accomplished such a great work of grace and faith in each of our lives (Zec 4:6, Eph 1:21).

Psa 145:20  The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. 
Psa 145:21  My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. 

Our suffering in this life which we endure together (1Co 12:26) is for the perfecting of the saints who will be preserved through that judgement, through the destruction of “the wicked” within us who “he will destroy“.

When all our tears are wiped away, we will be able to do the same thing for the rest of God’s creation (Rev 21:4) having endured so much suffering so that we could learn to discern good and evil and effectively judge the world one day (2Ti 2:12, Heb 5:14, 1Co 6:2).

God’s elect, who have been predestined to endure until the end, will “speak the praise of the LORD” and tell of His many wonderful works unto the children of men (Psa 107:30-31).

All flesh will “bless his holy name for ever and ever” for these works which God has done knowing at some point that God had perfected these saints and preserved them so that those who were reserved unto judgment (2Pe 2:9) could see these saviors come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau. It is all those generations that shall “bless his holy name for ever and ever” and God’s elect will witness how “All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee“.

Isa 28:1-8 The Lord Shall be for a Spirit of Judgment to Him That Sits in Judgment - Discussion

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The Lord Shall Be For a Spirit of Judgment to Him That Sits in Judgment

Isa 28:1  Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
Isa 28:2  Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
Isa 28:3  The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
Isa 28:4  And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
Isa 28:5  In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
Isa 28:6  And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Isa 28:7  But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Isa 28:8  For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

This is a prophecy of the judgment of our proud, carnally-minded flesh. It is our rebellious carnal mind, which is enmity to God... not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be", which is the"glorious beauty" of the flesh which is "a fading flower" on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine". Therefore anyone who teaches others that the kingdom of God will be populated with heavenly citizens who will be possessed of bodies of 'spiritual flesh' will not be ruling over and judging the kingdoms of this world. The false doctrine of "spiritual flesh" is an unscriptural phrase, if ever there has been one!

"The pride of life" is the essence of our flesh. It is the last and most insidious of the three all encompassing categories of sin:

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

As we constantly point out, these three all-encompassing sins were inherent in the flesh of Eve, who came out of "the first man, Adam", who is "of the earth, earthy":

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Here are a few verses which show the lie which is this insidious false doctrine of 'spiritual flesh':

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

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

A "raised... spiritual body" does not want "the pride of life" in a corruptible body of "flesh and blood [which] cannot inherit the kingdom of God", and that is the very message of the first four verses of our study today:

Isa 28:1  Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
Isa 28:2  Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
Isa 28:3  The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
Isa 28:4  And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

Here is the New Testament summation of these four verses:

1Pe 1:24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

What is the opposite of "the glory of man as the flower of grass"?

1Pe 1:25  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

As 1John 2:16 informs us, "the pride of life" is of this world, and it is integral to being flesh and blood. Later in this same prophecy of Isaiah, we read:

Isa 40:6  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isa 40:7  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

"The crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim" is "the pride of life", and pride is as natural to our flesh as breathing air. It is "the pride of life" which intoxicates all men who have not yet been humbled and dragged to Christ by the Father:

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G1670: helkuo - drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

The naturally proud heart of mankind cannot possibly humble itself and come to God without being humbled and dragged to God against its own natural will.

That is why we are told, "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."  Nowhere are we ever told,"There is a spiritual natural body." Neither are we ever told, "There is a natural spiritual body." Instead we are specifically told by Christ Himself the same thing we read here in 1Corinthians 15:44, but He puts it in this way:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

A "spiritual body" is capable of appearing in any physical form as is expedient for any situation, but it can do so only because "it is... a spiritual body". It is the fact that Christ appeared as "flesh and bones" which has confused those who are ordained to that deception.

It is the fact that a spiritual body can show itself in any form which fits the needs of the moment that is the point Christ was making in both the following situations:

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

Later that same day Christ appeared to His disciples as Himself in the form with which they were all familiar, and for their lack of faith He was still in possession of His wounds. He appeared to them in a room with the doors locked, yet He appeared as "flesh and bones", simply because that was the form needed for that situation at that particular moment:

Luk 24:39  Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

Joh 20:19  Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:20  And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

Christ was "raised a spiritual body" capable of appearing "in another form" as "flesh and bones".

When we check the Hebrew, we discover the book of Job tells us the same thing:

Job 19:26  And, though, after my skin is struck off, this followeth, yet, apart from my flesh, shall I see GOD: (REV)

Most of the literal translations understand this verse to say “from my flesh… from out of my flesh… without my flesh”, etc. Here are several examples of the various ways this verse is translated to mean “without my flesh”, which is much more in line with all the New Testament verses tell us.

Here is how several of the literal translations, and even some which are not literal, translate this verse:

(CLV) And behind my skin I will stand erect, And from my flesh I shall perceive Eloah,

(Darby) And if after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see God;

(JPS) And when after my skin this is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God;

(LITV) and after my skin has been struck off from my flesh, yet this, I shall see God,

(Rotherham) And, though, after my skin is struck off, this followeth, yet, apart from my flesh, shall I see GOD:

(RV) And after my skin hath been thus destroyed, yet from my flesh shall I see God:

(YLT) And after my skin hath compassed this body , Then from my flesh I see God:

If indeed this verse refers to the resurrection the dead, then there can be no doubt about how it should be translated because:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

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

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

This is the word translated ‘in’ as “in my flesh” in the King James, and this is Strong’s definition:

H4480
min minn y minne y
min, min- nee’, min- nay’
For H4482; properly a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses: – above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.

“Yet in my flesh I shall see God” is not the best translation for this verse. This particular verse is actually a prophecy of seeing "the invisible God" in the realm of the spirit as Christ made clear to Philip:

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

Christ was obviously not speaking of physically seeing either Himself or His Father. He is rather speaking of "the eyes of our understanding being enlightened" as we are all told in these verses:

Luk 10:23  And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see.

Joh 12:40  He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Rom 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

How does "God... given them the spirit of slumber"? He gives it to them through the great red dragon "that old serpent the devil, which deceives the whole earth" (Rev 12:9).

The same apostle who was used of God to write Rom 11:8 was also inspired to tell us:

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

So we are admonished:

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

What Job is telling us is that we will all see God "apart from [our] bodies" in our new spiritual minds, and in time in our new spiritual bodies, which is the same thing Paul tells us:

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Peter tells us clearly that neither Job nor any of the prophets of the Old Testament fully understood the spiritual meaning of the things they were writing:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

The prophets have "enquired and searched diligently" concerning the  grace that should come to us, and the angels also desire to look into the things we see. They all desire to see what we see, but they were not given spiritual eyes to see or spiritual ears to hear the things of the spirit which we have been given:

1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

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

"The natural man receives not the things of the spirit" and "the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual", so it is so very easy for the Lord to hide His words right out in plain sight. The Truth is right here for anyone to see, "but the natural man receives not the things of the spirit", and he has been given "eyes that see not and ears that hear not".

All the Old Testament people who saw Yahweh were all carnal minded men, and they were really seeing Christ, and they could all say with Job:

Job 42:5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

Here are but a few of those who ‘in their flesh, saw God’.

Gen 18:1 And the LORD [Hebrew: yahweh] appeared unto him [Abraham and Sarah] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

Gen 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Jdg 13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

Of course none of those who ‘saw God’ anywhere in the Old Testament ever saw the form or ever heard the voice of God the Father because we are made to know that by Christ Himself:

Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Christ tells us that He came to “reveal… the Father” to a select few:

Mat 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

In so doing, Christ also revealed to us that He Himself was the “I Am” of the Old Testament, whom the Jews all thought was the Father Himself:

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

So it is Jesus Himself who is talking with and dealing with Satan on behalf of His Father, working in the life of Job, and it all "happened to [him] and it is written for our admonition".

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: tupos - types]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

All these judgments of God upon Israel typify His judgments upon us "in that day", meaning in our day of judgment:

Isa 28:5  In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

"That day" being our day of judgment, it is "in that day [that] the Lord of hosts... shall... be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty" to His elect. But there is more which will take place 'in that day':

Isa 28:6  And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

This is a repeat of the promise given us in the beginning of this prophecy, in chapter two, which also concerns this same day of judgment:

Isa 4:2  In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
Isa 4:3  And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
Isa 4:4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Isa 4:5  And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
Isa 4:6  And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

The "beautiful and glorious... Branch of the Lord" of Isaiah 4 is the "glory and... diadem of beauty " of Isaiah 28. This is the same "branch" revealed to us earlier in chapter 11:

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isa 11:3  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
Isa 11:4  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

This is speaking of "the Lord and His Christ". "The residue of His people" in chapter 4 is those "who remain in Jerusalem" in chapter 28. "The spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and strength to them that turn the battle to the gate" is what "washes away the filth of the daughter of Zion, and purges the blood we shed in Jerusalem... from the midst thereof."

It was you and I who slew the Lord, and it is you and I who must first be judged:

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?

"Turning the battle to the gate" refers to watching and guarding the gate of New Jerusalem and repelling the leaven of the Pharisees, the Lord's enemies, who are constantly attempting to assault Christ and His Christ, "Jerusalem above the mother of us all" (Gal 4:28).

In other words, all of this is Christ and His body, His temple, His Christ. Since "as he is so are we in this world", we also must "fill up in [our] bodies that which is behind [Greek: lacking] of the afflictions of the Christ" for His body's sake, which is the church (Col 1:24).

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

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

There is, there always has been, and there  will continue to be a dire need "for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate" for this simple reason:

Eze 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

And this is the consequences of having no one to protect the Lord's flock:

Isa 28:7  But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. Isa 28:8  For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

As I have said so many times, there are just two men being dealt with throughout scripture. The first is our old man, whose father is that old serpent the devil and Satan, who enthrones the beast within us all. The other is our new man, Christ in us, who is more than willing and more than capable of "turning the battle to the gate" within ourselves, and then, only after we have been that false priest and false prophet who have "gone out of the way... [and have] err[ed] in vision, stumbled in judgment," and have defiled the temple of God with all of our false doctrines and have had the kingdom of our old man destroyed, along with all the lies which are the foundation of that dying kingdom, will we then be given the power to "judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and... smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips slay the wicked."

That is why the Lord has called all of His elect. We are not called simply to be saved, rather we are called to become saviors on Mount Zion and to judge the house of Esau, the Old Testament type of our old man.

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.

In our next study we will see some of the details of how our father the devil deceives us in preparation for dragging us out of our deception and bringing us to "godly repentance, not to be repented of".

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
Isa 28:15  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

Psa 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Psa 104:25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

The verses we will look at here in our Part 6 study entitled “I will be glad in the LORD” will focus on the grandeur of our Lord and how that greatness and grandeur are revealed in the manifold works which He has made in wisdom and are being made known through the church.

Psa 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

Christ’s wisdom is revealed in the earth that is “full of thy riches”, and it is those physical riches in the physical earth (the church) that are all types and shadows of the greater spiritual riches that God is forming in our heavens through Jesus Christ who is our wisdom in the church.

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord [in each other as well as we go from glory to glory through the fire].

2Co 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.

2Co 11:30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

Php 4:13 I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.

In order for us to understand how the physical world reveals the spiritual reality of Christ, our hope of glory within (Rom 1:20, Col 1:27), we need to come out of all our earthly preconceived notions of Christ which are formed and tainted in Babylon (Isa 3:1), and out of which His people are called.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

These sins, which “have reached unto heaven”, are those of which we, too, were partakers, and they are stated as such because “reached unto heaven” means they are deep-seated in our hearts and minds.

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Luk 6:45 A good man [Christ is that goodman in us (Mat 20:11)] out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

We therefore must “reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double” in order to have those heavens cleansed and purified.

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

It must be doubled, because it is only Christ, Who is our wisdom, Who can witness (two) through us to the glory of God that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

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

Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

That miracle of being dragged out of Babylon is a lifelong process which God has granted to the body of Christ to endure through (Joh 6:44, Php 4:13), and promises that this great work of having our heavens judged and coming out of the “earth, earth, earth” is something that He will finish through Christ Who is the author and finisher of this sanctification process to which we are called (Heb 12:2-3, Joh 17:17-18, Rom 10:17-18).

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ [and his Christ] which strengtheneth me.
Php 4:14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate^G4790 with my affliction (breaking bread, not forsaking the assembling of the body of Christ, confessing our faults etc. cleaving to Christ).

G4790 [Heb 10:25, Mal 3:16] soong-koy-no-neh’-o
From G4862 and G2841; to share in company with, that is, co-participate in: – communicate (have fellowship) with, be partaker of.

Jer 22:29 O earth^G1093, earth^G1093, earth^G1093, hear the word of the LORD.
Jer 22:30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. [unless we are the manchild spoken of in Revelation (Rev 12:5), hearing the word of God which comes about by having the word tried in fire through a process of judgment ([3] earth, earth, earth) we will not be nourished by it, and will remain barren, but we are here to “be glad in the Lord” and “Sing, O barren“.

Gen 3:16-19 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust^G1093 thou art, and unto dust^G1093 shalt thou return.

Isa 54:1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

The same Strong’s number is used in Jer 22:29, Gen 1:1 and Gen 3:19 G1093 — for earth and dust. This is telling us we are the marred vessel of dust and the earth which needs to have our heavens cleansed through judgment (1Pe 1:1-8).

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth^G1093. [and both were marred]

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust^G1093 thou art, and unto dust^G1093 shalt thou return.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: [“I will be glad in the LORD“]

The vastness of the sea and the multitude of things that dwell there are put there to the glory of God to show us that we can be more than conquerors through Him Who created all those nephesh-driven beasts which must be taken up in the net and destroyed to be bread for us.

Psa 104:25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

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

Joh 21:4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Joh 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

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

Within that vast sea of our flesh resides the serpent, or leviathan, with whom we wrestle daily and overcome by the spiritual suit of armour which God provides (1Co 15:31). At first he has dominion over us by God’s design, as sin must, in order to show us our need for a saviour to direct and guide all the affairs of our life as we come out of the sea (Rev 13:1-9), and go onto the earth (Rev 13:11-18) and into the heavenly relationship which makes us more than conquerors through Christ as he brings us to do all and stand.

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.
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;

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do [including and having done all, to stand] of his good pleasure.

God is the One who makes us wait upon Him to receive our spiritual meat in due season. The longing is fulfilled when we receive that spiritual meat in due season which He supplies and that is sweet to our souls, just like the fish and honey which He provided to His disciples. It takes the breaking of bread for our unbelieving or blinded eyes to see that only Christ alone can heal through his word that he sends (Psa 107:20).

Pro 13:19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
Pro 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Luk 24:35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Luk 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Luk 24:37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Luk 24:38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. [1Co 10:16]
Luk 24:40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
Luk 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
Luk 24:42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
Luk 24:43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, [he was known of them in breaking of bread]
Luk 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

The verses we’ve looked at in our introduction comfort us because we know that there is a great manifold work unfolding in our heavens which begins “at Jerusalem” (Gal 4:26), and that work is God’s workmanship, which we are and that he has determined to finish within us.

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

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

Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Psa 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

All things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose, and all the manifold works that God has made, the riches that fill the earth, were put there by God to help us see His purpose fulfilled in our life.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

The riches in the earth are used to try and tempt us so we can come to learn what the true symbolic meaning of those physical riches means for us today.

Eze 27:33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
Eze 27:34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.
Eze 27:35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

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

Unless we touch the hem of Christ’s garment, we will not be able to resist the devil and flee fornication or idolatry or youthful lusts or the riches which are in the earth (our issue of blood) that were put there and made by God to serve His purpose in our lives, to tempt us (1Jn 2:16, Jas 1:14), and draw us away into the wilderness of sin (Mat 4:1). We learn we can only overcome and come out of that wilderness through Christ Who sets us free (Mat 9:20-22, Joh 8:36).

A closer look at the word pinnacle^G4419 in (Luk 4:9), where Christ was standing when the devil tempted him to receive all the riches of this world, helps us understand that the true riches are not in the earth but in His word, and helps us to see our need to touch His garment and be sanctified and washed with His word, and understand that this is how we overcome.

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

The garment of the high priest had fringes and borders and is to be looked at as a pattern to tell us we must look to the Lord to overcome; and the woman who has an issue of blood that touches the hem of Christ’s garment is a type of the church who is blessed to be led to repentance, or spiritual healing, in this age, even as we are tempted in all diverse manner of sin as our Lord was without sin (Heb 4:15).

Num 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
[blue representing the spirit of God http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/colors_blue-part-1/ and
http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/colors_blue-part-2/]
Num 15:39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes,[Pro 3:1-5] after which ye use to go a whoring:

Pinnacle Rumination

Luk 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
Luk 4:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
Luk 4:11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Mat 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

pinnacle^G4419 – Transliteration: Pterugion
– Phonetic: pter-oog’-ee-on
– Definition: 
1. a wing, a little wing 
2. any pointed extremity 
a. of fins of fishes 
b. of part of a dress hanging down in the form of a wing 
c. of the top of the temple at Jerusalem 
– Origin: from a presumed derivative of G4420: see below
– Strong’s: Neuter of a presumed derivative of G4420; a winglet that is (figuratively) extremity (top corner): – pinnacle. 
Total KJV Occurrences: 2 
 •pinnacle, 2
 Mat_4:5; Luk_4:9 

Mat 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle^G4419 of the temple,

Luk 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle^G4419 of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

G4420 Transliteration: Pterux
– Phonetic: pter’-oox
– Definition:
1. a wing: of birds

– Origin: from a derivative of G4072 (meaning a feather): see below
– Strong’s: From a derivative of G4072 (meaning a feather); a wing: – wing.
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
•wings, 3

Rev 4:8; Rev 9:9; Rev 12:14

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Rev 9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

^G4072 – Transliteration: Rhantizo
– Phonetic: hran-tid’-zo
– Definition: 
1. to sprinkle 
2. to cleanse by sprinkling, hence to purify, cleanse 

– Origin: from a derivative of rhaino (to sprinkle) 
– Strong’s: From a derivative of ρu788 αu953 ́u957 ωplain  rhainōto sprinkle); to render besprinkled that is asperse (ceremonially or figuratively): – sprinkle.
Total KJV Occurrences: 4
•sprinkled, 3
Heb_9:19; Heb_9:21; Heb_10:22

Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
•sprinkling, 1 Heb_9:13
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Psa 104:25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

This verse gives us a sense of the length and breadth and height in the negative sense of what we are in this life without Christ in us. When we were of our Father the devil we were connected to all of the “wide sea” “wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts” that resided in us, where we were heard of our fellow beasts having the same nephesh that gave us life in that sea (1Jn 4:5, Mat 13:13, 2Co 2:15-16).

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: [positively perishing- dying daily – no longer relying on the breath we once took in the sea]
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death [what we know to be going from glory to glory]; and to the other the savour of life unto life [glory unto glory by the spirit of God (Rom 8:16)]. And who is sufficient for these things?

It takes God’s mercy ruling in our lives to overcome “things creeping innumerable“, and just as we know the wisdom of God is unsearchable, we are being shown here that as long as we are in our flesh, there is something to overcome, something to be conquered as we die daily (1Jn 1:8). We are accounted as lambs for the slaughter all day long, who are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2Pe 3:18) as we come to understand the depth and length and the height that is our salvation in Him. All of this wrestling through the night is transpiring in our life so that we can “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (1Co 13:2-13), and it is “the love of Christ” shed abroad in our hearts that makes it possible for us to say “I will be glad in the LORD”.

Psa 44:22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Next week, God willing, we will look at verses 26 to 29 where we will see how God uses all of His creation for our sakes to form the new man, the second Adam, who must go through the fiery trials and judgments which He brings upon us throughout this life so that we can ultimately be received as mature sons who can say “I will be glad in the LORD“.

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

Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psa 104:26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.
Psa 104:27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Psa 104:28 That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 69 Discussion

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Isa 19:1 The Idols of Egypt Shall Be Moved At His Presence

Isa 19:1  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Isa 19:2  And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
Isa 19:3  And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
Isa 19:4  And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 19:5  And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
Isa 19:6  And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
Isa 19:7  The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

As always we will first discuss the spiritual and inward application of the verse we will be covering today. We will cover just this first verse today in which we are told in a very direct manner who is causing this to happen in Egypt.

Isa 19:1  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

We have seen the phrase "the burden of... " three times previously in this prophecy of Isaiah:

Isa 13:1  The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

Isa 15:1  The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence;

Isa 17:1  The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

We see this same phrase here at the beginning of this 19th chapter concerning Egypt, and we will encounter this phrase five times more in this prophecy of Isaiah.

Isa 21:1  The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

Isa 21:11  The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?

Isa 22:1  The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

Isa 23:1  The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

Isa 30:6  The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.

That happens to be a total of nine times this phrase is used in this book, and while there are many other judgments mentioned in Isaiah, under the phrase "woe unto..." nine is the number by which the spirit signifies the process of judgment which we all must endure, both inwardly as individuals and, in time, outwardly as nations.  There are many more people and nations now than in Jeremiah's day, but as we will see, this whole prophecy concerns the judgment of "all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth", including God's own people as these verses will demonstrate for all who have eyes that see and ears that hear the things of the spirit:

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, 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;
Jer 25:19  Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
Jer 25:20  And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
Jer 25:21  Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
Jer 25:22  And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
Jer 25:23  Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
Jer 25:24  And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
Jer 25:25  And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
Jer 25:26  And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
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.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 25:33  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
Jer 25:37  And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 25:38  He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

Notice how:

Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

That this prophecy is for "all nations" is reaffirmed in:

Jer 49:12  For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

With all of this in mind, let's read:

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

Now if "the kingdom of God is within [us]", then all of the struggles of the kingdom of God against other nations are also "within [us]". That being the Truth, these words are also very true:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them [the kingdom of God] for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

All the nations with whom ancient Israel struggled symbolize all the pulls of our flesh and all of the false doctrines which are so appealing to our flesh. One and all they are the inward kingdoms against whom we are waging spiritual warfare at this very time.

Almost all professing Christians know that the phrase 'the Lamb of God" is a reference to Christ, who is the "lamb without spot or blemish" who was sacrificed for our sins. We have all read:

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,

In like manner, many ministers and Sunday school teachers know that Israel's coming out of Egypt typifies our lives as we are coming out of this world. In both cases they are exactly right.  The passing through the Red Sea is also well understood to be a type of our baptism, as we are plainly told:

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

So when we read:

Isa 19:1  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

We should first acknowledge and see ourselves as Egypt which persecutes the Lord's people.

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

We are called to come out of Babylon, which is also called "spiritual... Egypt" (Rev 11:8 and 18:4), and when we are dragged out of Egypt, then we begin to see ourselves as the Lord's Israel (Gal 6:15-16) coming out of this sinful world and being baptized into Christ "in the cloud and in the sea".

This approach to the Word is what the scriptures call "comparing spiritual things with spiritual":

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We must continue to always "compare spiritual things with spiritual" if we hope to learn what these verses have as admonitions for us. That is what we are plainly told they are:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them [Israel] for ensamples: and they are written for our [Gentile Corinthians in Christ] admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

If indeed 'Egypt' spiritually typifies the religions of this world in rebellion to the doctrines of Christ, then we will know that what Isaiah 19:1 is telling us spiritually and inwardly is that all the "idols" of Egypt are the false doctrines of our former religion. Ezekiel 14 calls all these false doctrines "idols in [our] heart".

Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

"The idols of Egypt", spiritually speaking, are these "idols of the heart". They are false doctrines which lie against the doctrines and words of Christ. One such very common false doctrine teaches us that we can hate and even kill our enemies if they really mean us bodily harm. Such a doctrine is in direct opposition to the doctrine and example of Christ, both of which teach us to "love your enemies..."

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

Another very popular 'idol of Egypt' is that it is just fine to keep the days, months, times and years and to follow all of the traditions of men, which are all an essential part of the religions of this world. These traditions are scrupulously adhered to by every denomination of men in spite of the fact that Christ broke the sabbath and the holy days of the law of Moses:

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 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
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 traditions of men are such a great "idol of [our] hearts" that we willingly overlook or ignore these words of scripture:

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.

And these words:

Col 2:6  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
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 Christ.

"The Lord [who] comes on a swift cloud" comes to us with His doctrines and with His truths which condemn our observance of the doctrines and the "traditions of men [which] shall be moved at [Christ's] presence, and the heart of [our former religion] shall melt in the midst of it." This moving of our idols while we are still in the clutches of spiritual Egypt and the melting of our heart are the destruction of our false doctrines within us by the coming of Christ.  The heart of our old man melts before His truths just as the hearts of the Amorites melted at hearing the truth about how Israel had been brought through the Red Sea, that the Jordan had been dried up for their passage into the promised land and that two Amorite kings had already been destroyed east of the Jordan:

Jos 2:9  And [Rahab] said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
Jos 2:10  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Jos 5:1  And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

Inwardly these verses here in Joshua 2 and 5 describe how the lies of Babylon, "which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt"(Rev 11:8), will be moved at the coming of Christ and His truths, and will be destroyed within us and will be replaced by the fiery baptism of the true doctrines of Christ and of His Words, the Words of God.

Here is the inward fulfillment of these verses here in Joshua 2 and 5 in the New Testament. These verses tell us of the destruction of the idols of Egypt and the idols of our hearts and how those idols are moved and destroyed at the coming of Christ and how the heart of our old man melts at the coming of His truth into our dark Babylonian lives full of all of the lies against the true doctrines of Christ:

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

The Word of God is Christ, who is also the fiery sword which guards "the way of the tree of life". Christ and His Words are both of these. He is "the way... and the life", and He has given His fiery words to His elect, and those words are in the hands and in the mouths of His Cherubims, (Rev 5:8-10), His elect, His witnesses:

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

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

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost [Greek: pneuma, spirit] and with fire:

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.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

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

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

These "kings and priests [are] the swift cloud... of witnesses " upon whom Christ rides, by which He will judge this world, and by which "the idols of Egypt shall be moved... [and by whose] presence...the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it."

Job 36:29  Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?
Job 36:30  Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Job 36:31  For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

This 'melting of the heart of Egypt' is not a painless overnight event. The verses we have quoted in 2 Thessalonians 2 are elaborated upon in:

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

It is only after we are brought to our "wits' end", and after being tried by "the stormy wind" which "He commanded" to come upon us, that "Then [we] cry unto the Lord", and He calms the storm and brings us to our desired haven.

Psalms 107 is expressing the same message we find here in:

Isa 19:1  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. ["at their wits' end"].

This is the same message we find in these verses concerning what it takes to experience "the patience of the saints":

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The worship of the idols of Egypt is the worship of the idols of our hearts. The worship of the idols of our hearts is the same as the worship of the beast and his image. When the Lord rides into Egypt on a swift cloud, He comes to us, and He will come to this world with His words which will judge each of us, and He will also judge the kingdoms of this world:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Making blind those who think they see will be accomplished within and without by a plague of world-wide civil unrest which is expressed to us  in our next verse, which we will cover in our next study.

Our first verse in next week's study elaborates for us one of the tools the Lord will use to go about melting the heart of the Egyptians within us:

Isa 19:2  And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
Isa 19:3  And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
Isa 19:4  And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 19:5  And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
Isa 19:6  And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
Isa 19:7  The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.