The Male Privy: Signatory of Authority and Life Pointing to Christ and the Father’s Supreme Power and Authority, Part 2

[Study Aired February 21, 2026]

Joints H2542 = 1. curve, curving. From H2559 =  1. to withdraw, turn around, turn away a. (Qal) to turn away b. (Hithpael) to turn about, vacillate, turn hither and thither.  Strong’s: A primitive root; properly to enwrap; hence to depart (that is to turn about): – go about, withdraw self. 

Therefore, a female’s joints exemplify the feminine curvature of her entire hip and thigh assembly, broadly recognized as her loins, encompassing her thighs. Her overall form in this region is highly indicative of the female physique, which varies in size and shape, thereby appealing to a wide range of male preferences. Her arresting feminine form certainly does cause all men to turn their heads and ‘vacillate’, advancing or retracting her enticement righteously or wickedly. Such is the strength and power in the loins of the female form, seizing God’s might and power over men and as the Great Whore, when juxtaposed with Job 40:15—24 in her own right, a kind of Behemoth ruling the hearts and minds of men. Women’s might and power lie in the overall form of her captivating femininity, likewise focused on her walk, with key attributes highlighted for male attention. In contrast, the Behemoth, representing God’s overarching power, where Job, a mere mortal man, effectively usurp, amplifying his imagined perfection in the flesh and, pridefully, equating to God’s righteousness.

The identification of the Behemoth as male, as evidenced by the description of his ‘stones wrapped in sinews,’ signifies his virility, eternal life, regenerative power, and the majesty of his stride, which is centered in his robust thigh and leg muscles. This depiction underscores God’s immense power and authority to create beings of unimaginable proportions. Moreover, it reflects on Job or, indeed, any woman attempting to harness or tame such a creature. Indeed, as the Great Whore depicts, she emblematically rides the Behemoth, since she particularly in the last 2,000 years sits adulterously on God’s throne. 

Solomon predominantly speaks sensuously of his Bride’s alluring form, representative of her submissive walk in harmony with him; however, it is inferred that these remarks are associated with her righteous walk, but sensuality for the moment is represented by her body, as he subsequently states,

Son 7:2  Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. 
Son 7:3  Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. 

Thus, the location where Abraham’s eldest servant placed his hand to swear an oath is under the representative holy place of the testament, namely his loins, which corresponds to the covenant in marriage involving the Bride’s righteously employed loins in harmony with her husband’s.

Gen 46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, [H3409] besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

Similarly, discovering the truth regarding a woman’s unmerited infidelity is directly associated with her reproductive organs, located in the same region as the Behemoth’s sinews of his stones, between his thighs—his two legs or ‘pillars’—which uphold and strengthen his gait. Likewise, a woman’s virtuous pillars—both physically and spiritually—serve to protect the entrance to her womb. When these are not violated, they symbolize the virtuous condition of her breasts, her heart, and her mind, emotionally guiding her conduct. This conduct reflects her singular devotion to her husband.

Num 5:21  Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
Num 5:22  And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

Consequently, the most odious overruling of any man, and particularly a husband, is a woman, and exceptionally a wife, who rules the roost of her home, humiliating her husband’s authority, is her stepping up to assume command over his headship. She can demonstrate it at the dinner table or in social company, where she interjects vociferously or her mannerisms evidence discontent, overruling her husband’s discourse, him already weakened, wounded in his stones since Eden, in silent protest—a most unarousing woman, indeed, effectively taking him by his stones—a symbol for her overruling him on any meaningful occasion, particularly spiritually—as typified by the Great Whore’s commanding doctrines.

Deu 25:11  When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: [Secrets H4016 – 1. private parts, his privates, male genitals a. literally – ‘that excites shame’ From H954; (plural) the (male) pudenda: – secrets.]
Deu 25:12  Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. 

Secrets H4016. From H954 = male pudenda. Transliteration: Buwsh – Phonetic: boosh – Definition: 

– Origin: a primitive root – TWOT entry: 222- Part(s) of speech: Verb – Strong’s: A primitive root; properly to pale that is by implication to be ashamed; also (by implication) to be disappointed or delayed: – (be make bring to cause put to with a-) shame (-d) be (put to) confounded (-fusion) become dry delay be long.

Total KJV Occurrences: 119 

Even though in the above account, this man’s wife is attempting to assist him in winning the fight by literally or figuratively grasping her husband’s opponent’s secrets, an act that will assuredly end the contest, she guarantees a ‘delay‘ for her husband to get the upper hand. She not only humiliated the husband’s opponent in front of all observers and, no doubt, like Queen Vashti’s, rapidly spread her notoriety far and wide as a powerful, commanding woman, but primarily in the eyes of God, her husband’s psychological and spiritual demotion of authority. She is like King Ahab’s wife Jezebel, who held her husband in contempt for not being king and man enough to acquire the coveted vineyard next door to the palace of Naboth, the Jezreelite, for his ancestral inheritance. Jezebel effectively emasculated not only her husband, but Naboth’s lineage, his seed’s inheritance. By ‘delaying’ the contest, she certainly ‘paled’ both men to ‘shame’ in their own eyes and the Kingdom’s. Jezebel also humiliated Israel’s Priests by introducing Baal worship—meaning the deity ‘lord’ or ‘owner’ primarily of fertility, involved elaborate rituals, including sacrifices of cattle, libations (cult drink offerings), and, in desperate times to appease the gods, child sacrifice. It was characterised by sensuality and cultic prostitution and the worship of the female deity, Ashtaoth. By those accounts (1Ki 21:1-29), Jezebel epitomises a wife emasculating her already Adam-weakened husband (representing all men) from the top down, striking the very heart of Israel’s governance, ‘drying its spirit’ by aggressively (emblematically) taking their Priests by their secrets!

When she humiliates him, particularly socially (similar to a female Christian minister praying over him), he is memorably deeply wounded by submitting to forced impotence, effectively drying his standing; his masculinity. For an Elect, Christ’s spirit sustains him as he privately and gently washes her by Christ’s Word, and forgives her.

Pro 18:14  The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? 

Pro 17:22  A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones [H16341. bone, strength, bare?, self? From 1633 1. to cut off, reserve, lay aside, leave, save, break]

Pro 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. 
Pro 15:2  The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

Thus, a woman or wife seizing command of a man’s or husband’s ordained authority is depicted by the audaciously obnoxious imagery of taking him figuratively by his secrets, psychologically, an action physically or emblematically guaranteed to instantly divert his attention from the emblematic ‘fight’ of doctrinal debate and to amplify her power.

Although Eve is pleased with Adam’s decision to leave Eden with her, it represents his expression of a genuinely tender and compassionate apology and apparent assurance of her security. However, while signifying an empathetic acknowledgment of her wounded spirit, deep within her subconsciousness, an uneasy uncertainty arises. Having experienced his dramatic abandonment once, she harbors a persistent concern that her safety remains at risk, which will lead to unforeseen behaviors aimed at restricting intimacy—behaviors that neither she nor he can tolerate, depicting a veritable taking him by his secrets. Nonetheless, owing to her curse, she is compelled to nurture her wound, as it grants her a new sense of power and self-validation. Forever after, men and husbands ingratiate themselves with their wives with all kinds of romanticism, as an utterly unwitting continuation of an apology should her affections be restricted. Without understanding their respective curses, he is now injured in his privy and stones, nannying her wounded spirit in her breasts, the very entry point and gate of amplified intimacies. Typically, it reflects on us individually how we treat our Husband, Christ, powerfully exemplified by the broader masses in Babylonian Christianity.

The only other mention of male ‘stones’ is in the book of Job, where a mighty animal from a bygone era, reminiscent of dinosaurs, is called a Behemoth.

Job 40:15  Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 
Job 40:16  Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 
Job 40:17  He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
Job 40:18  His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. 
Job 40:19  He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. 
Job 40:20  Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
Job 40:21  He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 
Job 40:22  The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. 
Job 40:23  Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 
Job 40:24  He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares. [He can take up poisonous things and eat unclean meats]

Job has recently endured fiery and turbulent trials. The Lord introduces the Behemoth, symbolizing himself, whom Job, in his self-righteousness, and formerly like us, has clandestinely usurped God’s sovereign authority and eminence, unwittingly presuming to sit on God’s throne as a god. It is God who possesses the power of the Behemoth, whose impressive body size, somewhat sarcastically emblematic of Job’s and mankind’s, “his strength is in his loins“, and “his force“, representing his vigor and generative power of the entire anatomical region guarded by equally mighty sinews in his legs like iron bars, is seen as the whole assembly wrapped together, protecting his stones. It all signifies God’s might and sovereign power, vastly and comparatively superceding Job’s vaulting (self)righteousness where he boasted in the gates of the city, his virtuosity of abasing the proud for the sake of the poor and needy.

Most of the Book of Job is dedicated to his discourse, akin to those before God in the Lake of Fire, asserting their virtue as we, too, have done in Babylon, hopefully repented before the First Resurrection. 

However, my point in introducing Job’s escapades is that it is the second of only two places in Scripture where a male’s “stones” are mentioned. Since the Behemoth in the positive sense represents Christ, his description of his almighty power and authority is signified as in his loins, where his stones are central, emphasizing the purpose of a husband’s headship of his wife and priesthood. The first words out of the Lord’s mouth establish that fact when he challenges Job’s self-righteousness.

Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now [Sarcastically…] like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? 

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.

Christ is our signified Behemoth, unhurried, fearful in majesty, commanding honor and respect as should any righteous husband. He forthrightly delivers the ‘testament’ of his word, his spirit, initially in the cool of our day, steadily increasing the fiery heat of our trials in his timeliness (1Sa 11:11).

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

It is a brazen and immensely lewd woman, such as the Great Whore, who is courageous to take such a personage by his “stones”—and figuratively, she does—a phenomenally humiliating drama for all concerned. Possibly, no other act by a wife or any woman could more dramatically highlight her self-appointed rulership.

The designation of a husband’s and his wife’s private areas as “secret places” is based on the clear principle that deliberate sexual arousal is confined to the context of marriage. Representatively of life eternal, a husband holds the emblematic ‘mystery of life’ physically within his stones, where carnal life is created, signifying the eternal life-giving spirit of Christ and the Father.

1Ti 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 

The ‘hope of glory’ of physical life in a newborn Christ directly points to the conception of the holy spirit in him, the New Adam. 

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

Exo 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. 

Exo 28:11  With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones [witness] with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.

A man’s stones, emblematic of creating physical life, are representative of spiritual life in Christ, the rock of our salvation. Interestingly, Jesus used inorganic “stones” to create a generation of children from literally small stones, signifying God’s power to do as he wills.

Mat 3:9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 

Contrasted with the many female bodily members highlighted, this minimalistic notoriety humbly yet powerfully correlates with the term “I am, there is no other God”, thereby ending any contention over authority. Accordingly, as we will soon see, the Bride’s bodily elements, representative of all men, attract far more signatory commentary in scripture than a male’s.

If there is an outward representation of the Father and Christ’s bodies, it is symbolized spiritually as masculinity. Since God has no genitalia, our image, our temporary representation of him, is overwhelmingly influenced by physical genes, so that, and by the things that are made, we identify men as males. It is man’s God-designed genes amplified by his testosterone and other hormones that characterize him as male. On the other hand, as evidenced by scientific studies, estrogen levels in females are elevated. Their testosterone levels are diminished, which endows mankind with her glorious feminine shape and negative and positive responsiveness to males and, designedly, husbands. 

Circumstantially influencing her characteristically emotional impressionability, indeed not unhinged, but more easily beguiled (H5377 – deceived) deceiving her thinking, typified by her interactions with the Serpent, in Eden (Gen 3:13). As expressed in the Introduction, she compares her God-given traits with Adam’s and feels belittled, inferior, unheard, and unimportant — illusorily, Adam gave her a gift of power over him, she couldn’t refuse.

How does the Father denote his authority as masculine? As stated elsewhere in these studies, “for God to initiate the spiritual recreation of humankind, he needed to introduce the outwardly unique phenomenon of sex temporarily.” In doing so, he made the male a symbol of His authority. 

Mat 22:30  For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 

God doesn’t need to prove His “I am” authority paternalistically; He states how it is and ascribes Himself a “He“. As confusing as the pronoun might be to today’s aptly named, Babylonian ideologies, “he” undeniably signifies masculinity, and “she” femininity.

1Co 14:33  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image [Likeness, resemblance]. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

Since God created Adam first, an unfinished image of God from the easily corruptible clay, with the uniquely characteristic male genitalia, it demonstrates that Adam represents God as male. From Adam came Eve, in Adam’s image and likeness, yet with uniquely female adaptations of Adam’s body; God identifies her as female in her extraction. Both are identified as “man” and “mankind.”  

Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 
Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

1Co 11:8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
1Co 11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
1Co 11:10  For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 
1Co 11:11  Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 
1Co 11:12  For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 
1Co 11:13  Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
1Co 11:14  Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 

Just as the Father is the supreme creator God, so, too, in a descending order of authority, is the Word who became Christ. According to this masculine authority, he appointed the physical male as a representative of His headship. Through the things on Earth that are created, in which males of all species, overwhelmingly rule with their strength and authority over generally submissive females (except for arachnids, such as spiders that, and upon copulation, eat the male; indicative of human females already having caught their man in their ensnaring web (Ecc 7:26), they demonstrate their masculinity by life residing in their ‘seed’, incredibly denotative of life eternal living in the Father, and Christ as spirit.

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: [for this cause, there is no excuse in not knowing that masculinity represents the Father and Christ]

Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [spirit] of life; and man became a living soul. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Typically, within the animal kingdom, the herd, flock, or pride is predominantly governed by males who often retain exclusive dominance over subordinate males, as well as over both juvenile and adult individuals of both genders, and, most notably, over females. In natural circumstances in the wild, and evidently seen in controlled flocks or herds where females exist without a male, the females, out of frustration, assume the character of a male, where, observably, cows will mount other cows. In the hen house where there isn’t a rooster, particular hens will dominate other hens, viciously pecking them, apparently out of frustration, and attempting to crow like a rooster. Those situations in ‘the natural’ are powerful representations of the spiritual characteristics of many harlot churches with spiritually emasculated men lounging in servitude, while the women ‘crow’ over the laity.

Signified by Adam, a gelded beast is easily reined and ridden by the ‘weaker vessel’.

1Ti 2:11  Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 
1Ti 2:12  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 
1Ti 2:13  For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 

As no doubt triggering to modern feminists, there you have the irrefutable truth of male headship, symbolic of God’s headship and authority. However, Eve is created more deceivable than Adam. Since her deception, her visual sentimentalities having badly let her down, she now vigorously despises Adam’s headship, being, in a contradictory way, disgusted by his always sensually primed mind, which constantly reminds her of his seat of emotional influence (in reference to his headship); she artfully redirects his interest in her. She doesn’t see that his always eager pudenda is a symbol of Christ’s spiritual authority and eagerness to bless his Bride to ‘know’ him, but as something gross, even loathed. All women in Babylon find it very difficult to be visually attracted to, let alone feel aroused by, that most dramatic symbol of manhood. Disconcertingly, they are constantly aware of its symbolized power, which, not so subtly, expresses dominance over them in a host of ways, all annoyingly signifying authority, headship, and life.

It is the Lord’s will that the Bride today is visually highly aroused by her Husband’s authority and headship, unashamedly going out of her way to ravish him further since she now knows that his spiritual arousal of her will vastly amplify her spiritual sentimentalities as designed originally physically!

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

What a disaster it is for all carnal Babylonian marriages, that wives have a love-hate relationship with their husbands’ physical and sexual virility, centered in his loins, the symbol of his authority. In marriage, her initial intrigue and joy in his masculinity inevitably give way to loathing of his rule over her, compounded by his tedious quest for sensual ministrations.

Pro 12:4  A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones [H6106 – essence, substance, body, limbs, members, mighty].

A husband made ashamed of his loins representations by his wife, is injured in his privy member and stones, his heart, his mind – spiritually, rendered physically impotent to washing her with the word, unable to bring her consistent joy, amorously if at all, indicative spiritually. Because wives reject their husband’s headship, physically and spiritually disunified in body, he struggles to build her a home within him, since she, too, is injured in her heart, symbolized by her breasts. Now, they both, in their secret places, representatively, their minds are wounded to hearing Christ’s spirit.

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 

1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
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. 
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

Yet, like Christ for his love of Old Israel, indeed, all corruptible humanity, although a carnal husband lives mostly in vain hope of her turning to him in espousal reverence, exclaiming, “Rabboni!”, the carnal spouses trudge on despondently directionless. Conversely, Christ, to his Bride’s joy, leaps upon her mountains of spices in her mind and spirit with her Husband’s healing word, as she communes with him all that is in her heart. 

Son 8:14  Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. 

1Ki 10:2  And she [Queen of Sheba] came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
1Ki 10:3  And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba symbolize the Bride of Christ’s deep desire to ‘know’ her Lord’s riches through His kisses and His spirit, “better than [old] wine” of the Old Covenant. 

Joh 2:10  And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba would have been highly experienced, as in all interactions between opposite sexes who recognize micro-sensual expressions, a similarly deep, mindful connection would automatically trigger subconscious sensual arousal in them, which they would secretly and courteously appreciate. Quite different from today’s hookup expectations, predatorily alert to eroticizing every nuanced interaction; the male for sex and the female, her sociopathic mind-games for her whims, sometimes equalling our lingering on some immediately titillating sensuality, paralleling Christian Orthodoxy spiritually.

That prurient culture seems too lewd to be compared righteously to what the very Elect will see in the Study of the Song of Solomon, where the Shulamite Bride and her Husband are presented majestically, those same physical sensualities espousedly, spiritually, and virtuously are centered on His virtuous walk.

2Co 5:9  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

The conclusion is that a husband’s injured privy and stones since Eden have severely limited his dynamic standing and presence, essentially in Christ, in being her head, strong in mind, body, and spirit, and consequently have incredibly inhibited his wife’s ability to desire intimacy from her relatively feminized man. 

There is still a lot of traditionally seen truth in Genesis 3:16 that the translators from a more patriarchal era concluded, that ‘a wife’s desire shall be to her husband’, where women profoundly relied on men to survive. That desire for (“to”) her husband was overwhelmingly physical. It excluded the vital emotional element generated from her heart beneath her breasts to passionately desire intimacy consistently, emblematically, spiritually, as an immensely powerful measure to ‘build her house’ and bless her husband psychologically in power and strength to fiercely love and protect his wife, causing him being always ravishingly satisfied by her breasts signifying her mind, body and spirit as one with his—a concept Solomon bemoaned was severely lacking, his wives ostensively against him, he unwittingly sort to correct with his Shulamite creation, signifying the Bride’s passionate desire Christ’s arousal of her breasts-her heart, interconnectedly, her entire body. 

Pro 5:18  Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Pro 5:19  Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 

However, all men and husbands, bar the male Elect for seven thousand years, are injured in their privy and stones, and validate the next verse of Proverbs 5, “And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?”, and yes, they do; and have spawned 40,000 plus harlot churches to unsatisfyingly cater for their emotional lusts for a more feminized Jesus (2Co 11:4). Of course, the entire sorry saga is God’s design to show his Bride, full of men and women, how lacklustre Laodicean is her desire in carnal marriages, signifying Old Israel, and formerly we were to Him.

Accordingly, male and predominantly a husband’s righteous spiritual vitality, signified by their privy’s healthy functionality, directly denote Christ’s and our Father’s headship.

Next, we will examine our collective breasts, traditionally associated with femininity, which give rise to significantly more complex marital issues stemming from Adam’s wounds causing his wife’s wounds and bruises, symbolised in her breasts, as observed in the much later conclusion of the Song of Solomon Study.

Introduction: The Hidden Language of Stones

[Study Aired December 9, 2025]

Throughout Scripture, God employs the natural realm to reveal spiritual realities, a principle the apostle Paul affirms when he writes, “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). Among creation’s most striking teachers stand the precious stones—gems that capture light, endure through ages, and display beauty that transcends mere earthly value. These minerals, formed in earth’s depths through immense pressure and time, serve as sacred instructors pointing us toward eternal truths about Christ, His people, and the progression from our natural Adamic state to our spiritual transformation in the Last Adam.

The Scriptures present precious stones in three primary contexts, each revealing distinct yet interconnected spiritual truths. First, we encounter them adorning the High Priest’s breastplate, where twelve stones represented Israel’s twelve tribes before God (Exodus 28:15-21). Second, these gems appear covering the anointed cherub in the garden of Eden, as described in Ezekiel’s prophetic declaration concerning the king of Tyrus (Ezekiel 28:13). Finally, they form the foundations of the New Jerusalem, the eternal city descending from heaven where God dwells with His people forever (Revelation 21:18-21). These three appearances—priestly representation, original covering, and eternal foundation—trace God’s redemptive purpose from creation through the present age into the age to come.

Understanding this series requires recognizing a foundational principle that governs all of Scripture’s symbolism: humanity was created subject to vanity, not having fallen from an original state of perfection. As Paul writes, “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). God’s purpose from the beginning was to bring forth creation first in the natural realm—weak, earthly, subject to vanity—so that He might then raise it to the spiritual. The first man Adam was made a living soul; the Last Adam became a life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Paul establishes this pattern explicitly: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). This progression from natural to spiritual, from Adamic to Christic, from earthly to heavenly, governs how we must interpret every symbol in Scripture, including precious stones. The gems we examine were first formed in earth’s crust, extracted from mines, shaped by human hands, and placed in earthly settings—yet their true purpose lies in revealing spiritual realities that belong to “Jerusalem which is above” and “is free, which is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4:26).

Christ the Stone: The Foundation and Fulfillment

Before examining individual gems, we must establish the ultimate truth that all precious stones proclaim: Christ Jesus Himself is the precious, chosen stone upon which everything rests. The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to God’s work, declared, “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” (Isaiah 28:16). This prophecy finds its fulfillment in Christ, as Peter clearly identifies: “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded” (1 Peter 2:6).

The Hebrew word translated “precious” in Isaiah (yiqrah, from yaqar, H3368) carries meanings of “rare,” “valuable,” “honored,” and “costly.” This same root describes the precious stones of the breastplate, the gems in Eden, and the foundations of New Jerusalem, creating an unmistakable connection: all precious stones point toward the One who is supremely precious. When Scripture describes material gems, it consistently uses this language of costliness and rarity to direct our understanding toward Christ, who is of infinite worth and without equal. Solomon, speaking of wisdom, declares, “She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her” (Proverbs 3:15), using this same vocabulary of preciousness to indicate surpassing value.

Yet this precious stone encounters rejection before exaltation. The Psalmist prophesied, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” (Psalm 118:22), and Peter, addressing the religious leaders, boldly proclaimed, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner” (Acts 4:11). The natural, carnal mind—represented by builders who examine only outward appearance—rejects the stone that God has chosen. Peter explains this dual aspect: “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence” (1 Peter 2:7-8). The same stone that provides foundation for some becomes a stumbling block for others, depending not on the stone’s nature but on the beholder’s spiritual state.

The imagery extends beyond foundation to include Christ’s function as the rock that provides living water. When Israel wandered in the wilderness, God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb, and water flowed forth (Exodus 17:6). Paul reveals this rock’s identity: “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). The striking prefigured Christ’s crucifixion, from which flows the water of life to all who believe. Understanding Christ as the stone—cornerstone and stumbling block, foundation and rock of living water—prepares us to rightly interpret every precious stone mentioned in Scripture.

Living Stones: The Transformation of Believers

Having established Christ as the precious, chosen stone, we must now understand how believers relate to this stone imagery through a profound transformation. Peter writes, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). The Greek word translated “lively” (zao, G2198) means “living” or “alive,” distinguishing believers from dead, lifeless rocks. We are not inanimate minerals but living stones, animated by the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.

This transformation involves both removal and renewal. Scripture consistently presents the unregenerate heart as stony—hard, unresponsive, spiritually dead. God promises through Ezekiel, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). The Hebrew word for “stony” (eben, H68) emphasizes complete hardness and unresponsiveness. This stony heart represents the carnal mind, which “is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). Stephen accused the religious leaders: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost” (Acts 7:51).

Yet paradoxically, as our hearts of stone are removed and replaced with hearts of flesh, we simultaneously become living stones. This is not contradiction but progression. The stony heart must be removed, crushed, broken by the law’s demands that reveal our inability. As we are brought to spiritual life in Christ, we become living stones—no longer dead minerals but animated by His life, no longer hardened in rebellion but made alive in obedience, no longer individual fragments but built together as one spiritual house. Paul writes, “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” (Romans 8:29).

The imagery of stones being built together emphasizes both unity and diversity. Paul explains: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19-21). Each stone is unique—different colors, compositions, and characteristics—yet all are fitted together according to God’s design. Just as the High Priest’s breastplate contained twelve distinct stones, each representing a different tribe yet all united on the priest’s chest, so believers maintain their individual identities while being built into one corporate dwelling place for God.

This building process requires shaping and refining. Natural stones extracted from mines arrive rough, unpolished, and unsuitable for their intended purpose. Peter writes, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 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” (1 Peter 1:6-7). The testing of our faith, like the refining of gems, serves God’s purpose of preparing us for our eternal position. Paul expands this principle: “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:12-13). Here precious stones represent doctrine and works that endure testing, contrasting with perishable materials that burn away.

The Three Primary Contexts: Tracing God’s Redemptive Plan

The High Priest’s Breastplate: Representative Stones

The first comprehensive presentation of precious stones appears in God’s instructions for the High Priest’s garments. God commanded Moses: “And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work” (Exodus 28:15). Upon this breastplate, four rows of three stones each were to be set: “And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. And the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper” (Exodus 28:17-20).

These twelve stones correspond to Israel’s twelve tribes: “And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes” (Exodus 28:21). Each stone bore the engraved name of one tribe, and the entire breastplate rested over Aaron’s heart when he ministered before the Lord: “And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually” (Exodus 28:29). Aaron, as High Priest, typified Christ, our great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). Just as Aaron bore Israel’s names engraved on precious stones upon his heart, Christ bears His people constantly before the Father. The fact that each tribe had its own distinct stone emphasizes that God knows each of His children individually, values them as precious, and maintains them eternally in His presence.

The Covering of the Anointed Cherub: Original Adornment

The second major appearance of precious stones occurs in Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the king of Tyrus. God declares: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created” (Ezekiel 28:13). This passage reveals that precious stones originally served as covering for one who held exalted position, described as “the anointed cherub that covereth” (Ezekiel 28:14).

This context teaches several vital truths about God’s sovereign purpose in creation. First, God created all things according to His own will and purpose, including those who would serve as vessels of wrath. As Paul writes, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:21). The adversary was created for the purpose he serves, as Isaiah records God saying, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). Second, the natural must precede the spiritual in all realms of God’s creation. As created beings under the universal principle established in 1 Corinthians 15:46, angels too remain in the natural/carnal state. This truth is confirmed by Paul’s declaration that “the saints shall judge angels” (1 Corinthians 6:3), for only the carnal requires judgment. Third, precious stones that adorned the natural covering must ultimately adorn the spiritual reality in the New Jerusalem.

Ezekiel describes the judgment: “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezekiel 28:16). The expulsion from the “stones of fire” signifies removal from the privileged position originally held, revealing God’s eternal principle: what adorned the first (the natural, carnal covering) will ultimately adorn the Last (Christ and His bride, the New Jerusalem).

New Jerusalem’s Foundations: Eternal Security

The third and final major presentation of precious stones appears in Revelation’s description of the New Jerusalem: “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones” (Revelation 21:18-19). John then lists twelve foundation stones: “The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst” (Revelation 21:19-20).

These twelve foundations correspond to the twelve apostles of the Lamb, as John explicitly states: “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14). Just as the twelve breastplate stones bore the names of Israel’s twelve tribes, these foundation stones bear the apostles’ names. What was once carried upon the priest’s heart is now established as the permanent foundation of God’s dwelling place. The New Jerusalem represents the ultimate fulfillment of God’s purpose—the bride of Christ, the dwelling place of God with His people, the culmination of all redemptive history.

The progression from breastplate to Eden’s covering to New Jerusalem’s foundations reveals God’s redemptive timeline. The breastplate stones represented God’s Old Covenant people, carried into His presence through priestly mediation. The Eden covering stones adorned one who fell through pride, demonstrating that the natural (even in the angelic realm) cannot endure but must be superseded by the spiritual. The New Jerusalem foundations establish God’s eternal dwelling place, built upon apostolic testimony concerning Christ, incorporating living stones who have been transformed from their natural Adamic state into their spiritual Christic nature. This progression moves from representation through corruption to permanence, from the first Adam to the Last Adam, from the earthly to the heavenly.

The Formation of Precious Stones: A Natural Type

Understanding how natural precious stones form provides powerful spiritual insight into how God forms precious character in believers. Gemstones develop through three primary processes, each with spiritual significance.

First, igneous formation occurs when molten rock cools and crystallizes under extreme heat. This parallels the refining fire of trial that believers experience, as Peter writes: “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” (1 Peter 1:7). Second, metamorphic formation happens when existing rocks undergo transformation through immense pressure and heat over long periods. This mirrors the spiritual transformation Paul describes: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Greek word for “changed” (metamorphoo, G3339) indicates complete transformation of nature. Third, sedimentary formation occurs when minerals dissolved in water crystallize gradually. This reflects spiritual growth through steady exposure to God’s word and His Spirit, as James instructs: “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:4).

All three formation processes share common elements: time, pressure, heat, and hidden development. Gems do not form on earth’s surface where all can observe but deep underground, concealed from sight. Similarly, our spiritual formation occurs internally, hidden from public view. Paul writes, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). The transformation happens within, in the secret place of the heart, where only God observes. When the gem finally emerges—when the believer’s character is tested and proven—the beauty that appears reflects the hidden work accomplished in darkness and pressure.

The extraction and preparation of gems also teaches spiritual lessons. Raw stones must be removed from their original matrix through violent breaking of surrounding rock, paralleling our separation from the world. After extraction, gems require cutting and polishing to reveal their beauty—a process that removes rough edges and brings forth hidden brilliance. This refining corresponds to sanctification, where God removes our unpleasant characteristics and develops the beauty of Christ’s character within us.

Colors, Composition and Characteristics: Reading the Symbolism

Each precious stone possesses unique color, chemical composition, and physical characteristics that serve as sacred vocabulary revealing specific spiritual truths. Throughout this series, we will examine how Scripture employs these natural properties as teaching tools, always comparing spiritual with spiritual and allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

Color carries consistent symbolic meaning across Scripture. Red, found in stones like ruby (sardius), represents blood—both the blood of sin and the blood of redemption. God declares, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18), while Paul writes of “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Blue, seen in sapphire, consistently symbolizes heaven and authority, as when Moses and the elders “saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness” (Exodus 24:10). Green, appearing in emerald, represents life, growth, and mercy. Purple, seen in amethyst, signifies royalty and kingship, as when the soldiers mocked him “clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns” (Mark 15:17), unwittingly declaring His true royal nature.

Composition reveals further truth. The hardness of gems instructs us—diamond, the hardest natural substance, speaks of truth that cannot be scratched or marred by any opposing force. Transparency versus opacity offers another layer of meaning. Clear stones like diamond allow light to pass through completely, symbolizing those who are becoming transparent before God, hiding nothing, reflecting His light purely. Translucent stones permit some light while maintaining color, picturing believers who reflect God’s light yet retain their individual characteristics and callings.

Conclusion: The Journey Ahead

We have laid the foundation for understanding precious stones in Scripture, establishing several critical principles that will guide us through the remainder of this series. Christ is the precious, chosen stone, the cornerstone, the foundation, the rock—and every other stone mentioned in Scripture ultimately points toward Him. Believers are living stones, transformed from their natural state with hardened hearts to spiritual stones fit for building God’s eternal house. The three primary biblical contexts—the High Priest’s breastplate, the covering in Eden, and New Jerusalem’s foundations—trace God’s redemptive purpose from past through present into eternity. The natural properties of gems serve as heavenly vocabulary revealing spiritual truths, all following the foundational pattern of progression from natural to spiritual, from Adamic to Christic, from earthly to heavenly.

As we proceed to examine individual gems in subsequent articles, we will discover how each stone reveals particular aspects of Christ’s nature, specific stages of our transformation, and unique facets of God’s eternal purpose. The sardius (ruby) will speak of blood, redemption, and the rights of the firstborn. The sapphire will declare heavenly truth and the throne of God. The diamond will testify of hardness—both the hardness of unbelieving hearts and the hardness of sacred truth that no opposition can mar. Each stone contributes its unique voice to the chorus of testimony about Christ and His people.

The prophet Malachi provides a fitting close to this foundational article, declaring what God says about His own: “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels” (Malachi 3:17). The Hebrew word translated “jewels” (segullah, H5459) means “treasured possession” or “peculiar treasure.” God values His people as precious gems, unique treasures that He has chosen, formed through pressure and heat, extracted from the earth, refined and polished, and will ultimately set in His eternal city’s foundations. We who were once hardened in sin, dead in trespasses, alienated from God, have been made living stones by His grace, fitted together with fellow believers, being built into a holy temple where God Himself dwells. The journey from earth’s darkness where gems form to heaven’s glory where they shine eternally reflects our spiritual journey from death to life, from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom.

Lam 4:1-22 Part 4, Scattered Like Dry Sun-bleached Bones

[Study Aired September 2, 2023]

Our Lord has drawn out His little flock from every nation on Earth. Initially, they were unwitting dry bones, temple stones collapsed, dead in a heap until the Lord began raising them to life in Him. There are 120 accounts of scripture using the term “scatter/scattered”, and almost all refer to the Lord’s people in the Wilderness and having come out of Babylon. (Please see Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones)

Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Joh 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 
Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

That is the Lord’s modus operandi; he destroys our flesh and then sets about rebuilding the new man in his spiritual image.

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

Lam 4:1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 
Lam 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 
Lam 4:3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 
Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 
Lam 4:5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 
Lam 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
Lam 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 
Lam 4:8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 
Lam 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 
Lam 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 
Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the World, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Lam 4:13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 
Lam 4:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 
Lam 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
Lam 4:16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 
Lam 4:17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 
Lam 4:18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 
Lam 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 
Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. 
Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 
Lam 4:22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. 

Interpretations

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

Lam 4:1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 

Our gold is changed to ‘dim’ when we uphold our righteousness. Self-righteousness makes it hard to authenticate integrity without others, particularly Christ, seeing through our falsehoods. While building our temple under our strength in high places, the stones will likely remain crying out, a rubble heap without foundation at the top of every street in our city. Outwardly, Babylonian Christian denominations, and particularly Roman Catholicism, built their churches on the highest point in each town. At the beginning of the One Thousand Years, every edifice enabling magic arts will undoubtedly be made a ruinous heap of stones and wood at the top of their street.

Christ is the stone cut out without hands that will smash the idols of those He has chosen in this age, leave them in a heap, and break our self-made pot by his hand to pieces at the top of our street.

Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Luk 14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him.

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 

Jer 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps [expressed outwardly by the Romans, and now his Elect within], and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. 
Jer 9:12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? 
Jer 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
Jer 9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

Lam 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

Our Lord knows His precious sons of Old Jerusalem within are weak-framed earthen vessels we at first believe are so valuable as we journey to becoming the heavenly Jerusalem, fine gold, at the hands of the Master Potter [Rom 9:20, Jer 18:2-6].

Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. 

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Lam 4:3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 

We are the “sea monsters” coming out of the abussos, the deep, the bottomless pit (Rev 13), all representations of one and the same. We suckle the breast of the harlot and give seed to more evil children within. We become like our former mother from Mt. Sinai who, like female ostriches, abandons her eggs, never to look back, leaving the male (a zoological fact), the other Jesus, Satan, to brood and raise us.

2Co 11:3 But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your thoughts should be corrupted from the simplicity due to Christ. 
2Co 11:4 For if, indeed, the one [you and I in Babylon] coming proclaims another Jesus, whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive another spirit, which you did not receive, or another gospel, which you never accepted, you might well endure these [… and we did]. 
2Co 11:5 For I judge myself to have come behind the highest apostles in nothing.

‘The Jesus’ chooses His disciples, the Elect of God, to be His Church, vagabonds in ragged clothes of no worldly prestige. We were left in the field in our blood, and He found us (as if we never knew we were there) and raised us to become His own beautiful young woman to be His wife.

1Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many wise men according to the flesh are called, not many mighty, not many noble. 
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the World to confound the things which are mighty; 
1Co 1:28 and God has chosen the base things of the World, and things which are despised, and things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are; 
1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.
Eze 16:3 And say, So says the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem, Your origin and your birth is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. 
Eze 16:4 And as for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you. And you were not salted, nor swaddled at all. 
Eze 16:5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these to you, to have compassion on you. But you were thrown out into the open field, because your life was despised in the day that you were born. 
Eze 16:6 And when I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you in your blood, Live! 
Eze 16:7 I have caused you to multiply like the bud of the field, and you are grown, and you are great; and you come in the finest ornaments. Your breasts are formed, and hair is grown, yet you were naked and bare. 
Eze 16:8 And I passed by you and looked on you, and, behold, your time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Jehovah. And you became Mine.

Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 
Lam 4:5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 
Lam 4:6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Those verses support and amplify the decoding of the previous ones. Old Jerusalem, Sodom, Egypt and Babylon, all of whom we were sent in slavery, fed us the most unsatisfying food and drink. We believed what we had was the best spiritual food available, yet the Lord annoyed our consciences by the undecipherable aspect of His word, eminently the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, in fact, ‘endless’ aspects of the entire Bible subconsciously niggled us. We fed most sumptuously on Babylon’s richness, not knowing that we were poor, blind and naked, sitting in our dung (Rev 3:17).

Thankfully, our greater punishment and judgment are now, in this age, as we come out of Sodom and her sister cities, Old Jerusalem and Egypt, collectively called Babylon. We learn quickly to be incredibly grateful that we were overthrown in a moment.

1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. 
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.

Mal 2:1 And now, O priests, this command is for you. 
Mal 2:2 If you will not hear, and if you will not set it on your heart to give glory to My name, says Jehovah of Hosts, then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. And indeed I have cursed it, because you do not set it on your heart. 
Mal 2:3 Behold, I am rebuking your seed; and I will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your appointed feasts. And one shall lift you up to it.
Mal 2:4 And you shall know that I have sent this command to you, to be My covenant with Levi, says Jehovah of Hosts. 

Php 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 
Php 3:8 But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith,
Php 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; 
Php 3:11 if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. 

Lam 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 

That verse is the epitome of sarcasm. We were the Nazarites, the priests of God, saying that we had a husband and were not a widow and would not see death. We dressed ourselves in self-righteous purity and decked ourselves in fine jewelry like Jezebel and Queen Vashti for all to see, and we much later saw our nakedness to our enduring shame (Rev 18).

We begin to see that we have been Old Jerusalem sacked by the Romans, correlating to the Babylonians within. Our spiritual understanding was to us just as black as the Shulamite was to Solomon. We learn to delight that the Lord’s sword never leaves the city’s streets within.

In the positive sense, Christ is the ruddy one, whiter than milk, and as he is, so is the Bride outstanding among her ten-thousand sisters in Babylon.

Son 5:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. 

Pro 3:15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 

Lam 4:8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 
Lam 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 

That verse depicts our judgment today on the household of God in the hope of the First Resurrection. The Lord’s Elect are sustained with oil and wine, the holy spirit that keeps their flame brightly alive for the hope of their marriage to the Lamb of God.

Just as Solomon couldn’t understand the Shulamite’s outstanding purity that defied his God-given wisdom, her visage was black as the tents of Kedar, and she was seen in the streets of Old Jerusalem, Babylon, yet her sisters couldn’t and still don’t know her; she is blacker than coal. She is unknown in their inward streets of Old Jerusalem, and they, like the Elect of God, are slain, each in his own order.

Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The rest in the “field” is the World since Adam until the First Resurrection, who have no whit that they are stricken while feeding luxuriously on the World’s spiritual bread of wokeness; they will be slain in the soon coming age in the Resurrection to Judgment.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. 
Rev 20:3 And he cast him into the abyss and shut him up and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little time.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.

Lam 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden [Boiled; baked] their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 
Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 
Lam 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the World, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.

2Ki 6:26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 
2Ki 6:27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 
2Ki 6:28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 
2Ki 6:29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 
2Ki 6:30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 

Those three verses of Lamentations continue depicting the physical with the spiritual. The “pitiful women” have been the Lord’s very own people who have “come out of her”, that is, Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom and collectively Babylon (Rev 18:4), while their brothers and sisters continue spiritually consuming their children in Old Jerusalem to this very day!

Our brothers and sisters in Babylon emphatically believe that salvation is of the Jews since scripture says so. In the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans, its inhabitants believed that God wouldn’t forsake them, the holy people; until it was too late.

Joh 4:21 Jesus said to her, Woman [addressing our old woman and the Bride of Christ], believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither worship the Father in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem. 
Joh 4:22 You worship what you do not know, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 
Joh 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Nonetheless, by the oligarchy of the financial and political World’s Satan-directed design, the Balfour Declaration finally and firmly established the idol of physical Jews leadership in the World. https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration Babylonian Christianity will not suffer its discretion, not knowing that the Beast will “burn her with fire”.

Salvation is through Christ and His spiritual Jews ~ Christs (plural). That event is profoundly spiritually discerned in the following verses and in cursed strong delusion for adherents of the Balfour Declaration.

 Oba 1:19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau [Our kin brothers and sisters of Mt Sinai, today’s Christianity]; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
Oba 1:20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south [the so-called “holy land”].
Oba 1:21 And saviours [plural] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 
Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 

Lam 4:13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 

In the following verses, Christ speaks of our former ways that morph into the Elect of God by ‘sleight of spirit’ in verse 49.

Luk 11:47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 
Luk 11:48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 
Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: [The “they” is us judging ourselves in this age, slaying our idols within]
Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; [~ the generation within, today if you hear His voice. Heb 3:15].
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation [~ the Lord’s people right now]. 
Luk 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers! [Pastors; ministers, our former unrighteousness of being a two-fold child of hell] for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Those verses above richly depict in hidden minimal detail us coming out of Babylon and seeing that we are becoming the spiritual Jews who were the lying Jews who remain looking to rout the modern Romans from the World’s political establishment.

Mat 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Lam 4:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 

Just as the pure water from Mt Hermon runs down and through the midst of the former physical nation of Israel, so does our righteousness at the top of our streets run down in dead works through Sodom within to the dead sea of our rottenness, purified by salt.

Our spiritual wombs’ “streets” are automatically renewed every four weeks as depicted by the moon’s cycle. Its interior exfoliation has polluted us with blood, and it figuratively purges us of dead works, polluting our spiritual garments by our idols in secret places.

Gen 31:35 And she [Rachel / we becoming the heavenly Jerusalem above] said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images. 

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he [The Father through Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

Just as Rachel didn’t confess to her father, we, too, have hidden our idols beneath our self-righteous clothing, denying our sins and shed the Lord’s blood yet again.

Lam 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 
Lam 4:16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.

Israel and we, in our time, departed like deranged King Nebuchadnezzar for his self-importance, figuratively announcing that he is god, and we, sitting in the Lord’s temple, unwittingly stating that we are God. We could not touch the Lord until he said, “Enough”, and blessed our dragging to himself with His spirit, symbolised by Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration to sanity and our God-given spiritual sanity.

Dan 4:28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan 4:29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 
Dan 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 
Dan 4:31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 
Dan 4:33  The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. 
Dan 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 

Lam 4:17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 

Watching for a nation that cannot save us is a classic example of seeking answers from our many witches of Endor (1Sa 28). When we have suffered long enough with legions of evil spirits in our tombs within and being fearful of our blindness, as was Saul of Tarsus (Paul), our Lord begins setting us free, and we listen to our Elders in the Body who favour our salvation.

Mar 5:1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 
Mar 5:2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 
Mar 5:3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 
Mar 5:4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 
Mar 5:5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 
Mar 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
Mar 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Mar 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mar 5:9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 

Act 20:26 Therefore I [Paul, the Elders and each of us] testify to you on this day that I am pure from the blood of all. 
Act 20:27 For I did not keep back from declaring to you all the counsel of God. 
Act 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock in which the holy spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He has purchased with His own blood. 

Lam 4:18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 
Lam 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 

Our persecutors are evil spirits sent by the Lord, fouls of the air, represented as eagles generically denoting all kinds of raptors, including falcons (a little trivia), the Peregrine falcon being the fastest creature on Earth (dives up to 300 km (186 mph hr) – Rev 22:12-20, “… I come quickly…” with a ministry of 3 years – 300÷100=3)

2Sa 1:23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. 

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Lev 11:13 Of birds these are they which you must not eat, and which are to be avoided by you: The eagle, and the griffon [vulture], and the osprey. [Griffon vulture, incidentally the world’s highest recorded flying bird at 36,000 feet, synonymous with high flying proud- evil spirits]
Lev 11:14 And the kite, and the vulture, according to their kind. (DRB)

Lam 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

Pits are hollows, dungeons, the depths of the abussos we live with, the wilderness of Babylon’s shadow, yet are not partakers of her unclean bird’s ways. The Lord’s people have come out of her yet remain in the world.

Jer 29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 
Jer 29:5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 
Jer 29:6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 
Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD. 
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 

Zec 2:7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. [1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.]
Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. 

Esau, whose land is Edom, is the elder brother of Jacob. The daughter of Edom represents the Lord’s people who despised their inheritance, as typified by Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a pot of red lentils.

Lam 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz [Edom synonymous with Babylon]; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 

Esau’s cup, represented by the daughter of Edom, reflects the Lord’s people’s transition to being the heavenly daughter of Zion that is Jerusalem above.

Lam 4:22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins. 

Just as Rachel’s idols hidden under her secret parts were eventually revealed, so will the Lord see under our skirts and discover our sins revealed in humiliation and horror upon our faces.

Jer 13:25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Jer 13:26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear. 
Jer 13:27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

Lord willing, that time will consummate for his Elect at the First Resurrection.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The Book of Joshua – Part 9, Joshua 8:1-35

“For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope; for what anyone sees, why does he also hope for it? But if we hope for that which we do not see, then we wait for it with patience” – Rom 8:24-25

[Study Aired April 22, 2023]

In Joshua 1, Israel heartily agreed to do all that the Lord said to do and was spoken by Moses and Joshua. The miracles of the Jordan being held back and Jericho’s astonishing fall and capture emboldened Israel’s heart as all-powerful. Yet, it took only one man’s sin (Achan’s) to severely flatten the entire nation’s pride. Mercifully, the Lord had only 36 of Israel’s valiant men of war die for Achan’s crime of lusting and stealing the “accursed thing”. 6×6=36, a double (2 six’s) witness for the number 6 representing all mankind, who dramatically ascend to become the idol as depicted in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2.

Mat 24:15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
Mat 24:16 Then let those in Judea flee into the mountains [to Christ and his Christ’s].
Mat 24:17 Let him on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house;
Mat 24:18 nor let him in the field turn back to take his clothes.

Achan’s sin is part of the Abomination of Desolation, the “accursed thing” sitting in his tent, the inner parts of his personal earthy temple. He precisely turned to bring into his house the accursed Babylonian cloak. Suppose that Joshua hadn’t dealt swiftly with the accursed thing; it would likely have emboldened Achan at some point to stroll through the Camp of Israel sporting his attire; the people no doubt would have likewise relaxed the word of God, and the leaven would have spread throughout all of Israel.

Ecc 8:10 And I have also seen the wicked buried and going away; and such as had acted rightly went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.

Sometimes, to our dismay, wicked people seem to luxuriate in the wealth of their sins forever and eventually die of old age without reproof and get buried with fanfare. We, too, get buried spiritually and “forgotten in the city” since spiritual righteousness isn’t counted in Babylon as virtuous.

Ecc 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to do evil.

If Achan’s sin wasn’t speedily disciplined, the tortuous path of the harlot Israel would have been outrageously prominent at the beginning of their chronicles rather than at their end.

Ecc 8:12 Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, because they fear before him;

What a blessing that understanding is! 

Achan is us after Christ’s death! We do exactly as Achan did with prolonged days in our sins. The difference is that Israel performed in the flesh; we spiritually “little by little” cast out the giants and children of our land since we are given to fear the Lord. Achan wasn’t afforded that mercy of repentance. If we think the Lord delays His coming (within) on a certain sin, we, too, can suffer a swift spiritual stoning.

Ecc 8:13 but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days as a shadow, because he feareth not before God.

The Lord nipped Achan’s sin in its infancy to graphically etch in Israel’s heart not to partake of trifling sins and to utterly trust in the Lord for their needs and to fight their battles. In the fall of Ai, Israel is given easy wins over her enemies to build her faith in God. Knowing the end at the beginning, we know that successive wins over sin embolden pride and joyful internal celebrations that, in turn, often lead to slothfulness and spiritual fornication and whoredoms.

Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem [you and I] compassed with armies [false doctrines – like Achan’s], then know that the desolation [of our old man] thereof is nigh.

The Fall of Ai

Jos 8:1 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear, nor be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
Jos 8:2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take for a prize for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it. 
Jos 8:3 So Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up against Ai. And Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, mighty warriors, and sent them away by night. 
Jos 8:4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, you will be an ambush against the city, behind the city. You shall not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 
Jos 8:5 And I, and all the people with me, shall go toward the city. And it shall be, when they come out against us, as at the first, we will flee before them,
Jos 8:6 (for they will come out after us) until we have drawn them out of the city. For they will say, They flee before us, even as at the first. And we will flee before them.
Jos 8:7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize on the city; for Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand. 
Jos 8:8 And it shall be, when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, according to the command of Jehovah you shall do. See, I have commanded you. 
Jos 8:9 And Joshua sent them out. And they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua stayed that night among the people.
Jos 8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning and called up the people. And they went up, he and the elders of Israel, in the sight of the people of Ai. 
Jos 8:11 And all the people of war with him went up and drew near. And they came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai. And a valley was between them and Ai.
Jos 8:12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
Jos 8:13 And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear ambush on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley. 
Jos 8:14 And it happened, when the king of Ai saw, they hurried and rose up early. And the men of the city went out to do battle against Israel, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the plain. But he did not know that there were some lying in ambush against him behind the city. 
Jos 8:15 And Joshua and all Israel acted as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
Jos 8:16 And all the people in Ai were called together to run after them. And they ran after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 
Jos 8:17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go after Israel. And they left the city open, and ran after Israel. 
Jos 8:18 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear in his hand toward the city. 
Jos 8:19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand. And they entered into the city, and took it, and hurried and set the city on fire. 
Jos 8:20 And the men of Ai looked behind them and saw. And, behold, the smoke of the city went up into the sky, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. And the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 
Jos 8:21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned again and killed the men of Ai.
Jos 8:22  And the others came out of the city against them. So they were in the middle of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And they struck them so that they let none of them remain or escape. 
Jos 8:23 And they took the king of Ai, and brought him alive to Joshua. 
Jos 8:24 And it happened, when Israel had made an end of killing all those who lived in Ai, in the field and in the wilderness where they chased them, and when they had all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were gone, all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 
Jos 8:25 And all who fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, all the men of Ai. 
Jos 8:26 For Joshua did not draw his hand back, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the people of Ai. 
Jos 8:27 Only, Israel took the cattle and the spoil of that city for a prize for themselves, according to the Word of Jehovah which He commanded Joshua. 
Jos 8:28 And Joshua burned Ai, and made it a heap forever, a ruin to this day. 
Jos 8:29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his body down from the tree and throw it down at the entrance to the gate of the city, and raise on it a great heap of stones, to this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

Jos 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah, the God of Israel in Mount Ebal, 
Jos 8:31 as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses, an altar of whole stones over which no man has lifted any iron. And they offered on it burnt offerings to Jehovah, and sacrificed peace offerings.
Jos 8:32 And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the sons of Israel.
Jos 8:33 And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark, and on that side, before the priests the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, the stranger as well as the homeborn among them, half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded before that they should bless all the people of Israel.
Jos 8:34 And afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the Law. 
Jos 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the strangers that walked among them. 

The Study:

Jos 8:1 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear, nor be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.

Particularly for a babe in Christ, it is easy to be dismayed, and even for a long-time Christian, the trials can appear severe. Yet, the Lord will only permit Satan’s hand to try us in accordance with one’s God-given faith. When we first experience the fiery trials, our turmoil can be extreme and sometimes boils up additional filth embedded in the earth of our ‘tent’.

Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. (Eph 4:14-16 “… tossed to and fro carried about by every wind of doctrine…”; Psa 107:23-31 “… They who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters…”)

However, the Lord’s people learn by experience to immutably trust Christ’s strength to afford an expectedly joyous end to their trials. In our spiritual infancy, the Lord gives us the triumph over our imagined most feared king, and we see that he is but Ai (H5857) – ‘a heap of ruins’ who never had any strength against us from the beginning. 

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Jos 8:2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take for a prize for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it. 

No doubt Israel felt exasperated that they were permitted to keep the spoil and cattle this time, which seemed a cruel mockery to the now-dead Achan and his family had he just waited a few days.

Our lesson is to listen closely to what our Lord says, heed all His commands, and note the subtle spiritual differences. If He says something is “accursed”, then believe it. The “goodly Babylonish garment” is innocuous, as is unclean meat. Yet spiritually, it still represents our “accursed” self-righteous clothing. To wear it would give the appearance of evil and possibly offend our brother (1Th 5:24).

If we heed the trumpet blown within our city, that observation is the ambush we lay against our internal old man within.

Jos 8:3 So Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up against Ai. And Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, mighty warriors, and sent them away by night. 
Jos 8:4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, you will be an ambush against the city, behind the city. You shall not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 

Typically we know that the multiple of three by ten (or 100 or 1,000) is the Lord teaching Israel physically, and us spiritually, that routing our land of the enemy is a process for the long-standing completion of becoming one in our Lord.

As the saying goes, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. In kind, the ambushing of our enemies and not going very far from the evil city warns us to pay attention to the machinations of our spiritual enemies. These enemies of a deceitful heart in the darkness of our low spiritual points can conversely ambush us if we are not supported by the symbolic thirty-thousand multitude counselors in the Body of Christ (Jer 17:9; Gen 6:5; Mar 7:21-22). 

Jos 8:5 And I, and all the people with me, shall go toward the city. And it shall be, when they come out against us, as at the first, we will flee before them,
Jos 8:6 (for they will come out after us) until we have drawn them out of the city. For they will say, They flee before us, even as at the first. And we will flee before them. 
Jos 8:7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize on the city; for Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand. 

Even though scripture says that Jehovah said such and such to Joshua, in all likelihood Joshua, as did many men and women of old, audibly heard the Lord. Today, our Lord speaks to us through His word and our thoughts, teachers, and brethren, echoing discernments. He is teaching Israel and us to first search our temple within, kill the accursed thing, and then go to war with the whole armour of Christ.

The battle is the Lord’s, even though in the flesh, under the Law, men were required to brutally kill the enemy. Spiritually we know that the Lord says vengeance is His; turn the other cheek, and that method today is our ambush; meanwhile, we look weak and silly before our enemies as we seem to run away.

1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 and God has chosen the base things of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are; 
1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should glory in His presence.
1Co 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; 
1Co 1:31 so that, according as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Joshua is a type of Christ staying in our midst as we look to Christ for direction and to win our battles. Our enemies will pursue us, but we wait for the Lord’s fiery intervention in the long night and defeat our enemies at dawn.

Deu 32:35 Vengeance and retribution belong to Me. Their foot shall slide in time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come on them make haste. 
Deu 32:36 For Jehovah will bring His people justice; and He shall have compassion on His servants, for He sees that their power is gone, and only the imprisoned and abandoned remain.
Deu 32:37 And He shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted?
Deu 32:38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let it be your hiding place. 
Deu 32:39 See now that I, I am He, and there is no god with me. I kill, and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is no deliverer out of My hand.
Deu 32:40 For I lift up My hand to Heaven and say, I live forever! 
Deu 32:41 If I sharpen My glittering sword, and if My hand takes hold in judgment, I will give vengeance to My enemies and will reward those that hate Me. 
Deu 32:42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the hairy scalp of the enemy. 
Deu 32:43 Rejoice, O, nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His foes and will be merciful to His land, to His people. 
Deu 32:44 And Moses came [being said by Moses before his death at the border of the Promised Land] and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

Rom 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18 If it is possible, as far as is in you, being in peace with all men.
Rom 12:19 not avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Rom 12:20 Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Jos 8:8 And it shall be, when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, according to the command of Jehovah you shall do. See, I have commanded you.
Jos 8:9 And Joshua sent them out. And they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua stayed that night among the people.
Jos 8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning and called up the people. And they went up, he and the elders of Israel, in the sight of the people of Ai.
Jos 8:11 And all the people of war with him went up and drew near. And they came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai. And a valley was between them and Ai.
Jos 8:12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. 
Jos 8:13 And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear ambush on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley. 
Jos 8:14 And it happened, when the king of Ai saw, they hurried and rose up early. And the men of the city went out to do battle against Israel, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the plain. But he did not know that there were some lying in ambush against him behind the city.

The mighty warriors of Ai took the bait and launched a full-scale attack on Israel to the west, not knowing that massive judgment comes from the north. To Ai’s troop’s shock and horror, while out on the plain pursuing a pitiful fleeing band of Israelites, the ‘light’ of realisation from the east dashed all hope of returning to the safety of the city’s walls; they were surrounded!

Psalms 75 seems to contradict that judgment comes from the north, and the light of Christ comes from the east. King David, who wrote Psalms, was an unwitting prophet of spiritual understanding, as was Solomon in the Song of Solomon. Both men unconsciously forecast that the physical represents the spiritual, and in the case of Psalms 75, Christ is the judge regardless of the perfect compass allegory.

Psa 75:1 To the Chief Musician. Do not destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. To You, O God, we have given thanks, to You we have given thanks; for Your name is near, Your wonderful works declared.
Psa 75:2 When I take the appointed time, I will judge uprightly. 
Psa 75:3 The earth and all its people are melting away; I hold up its pillars. Selah. 
Psa 75:4 I said to the proud, Do not boast; and to the wicked, Do not lift up the horn; 
Psa 75:5 do not lift up your horn on high; nor speak with a stiff neck. 
Psa 75:6 For lifting up comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 
Psa 75:7 But God is the judge; He puts down one and sets up another. 
Psa 75:8 For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed; and He pours out from it; but the dregs of it, all the wicked of the earth shall drain its dregs and drink. 
Psa 75:9 But I will declare forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psa 75:10 Also I will cut off all the horns of the wicked; but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Conversely, when surrounded by our enemies and in dire straits, our trust in the Lord is precisely the same as when we, as Israel, were the aggressor against our enemies. In the same environment today as Christ’s Christs, we become the scorn of our Babylonian peers.

Of course, writing the Psalms as Solomon penned the Song of Solomon, David unwittingly prophesied spiritually. David below accurately speaks of Christ on the cross, and we fill up the same spiritual afflictions behind Christ’s flesh spiritually.

Psa 22:11 Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help. 
Psa 22:12 Many bulls have circled around Me; strong bulls Of Bashan have surrounded Me. 
Psa 22:13 They opened wide their mouths on Me, like a ripping and a roaring lion. 
Psa 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all My bones are spread apart; My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels. 
Psa 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; 
Psa 22:16 and You have brought Me into the dust of death. For dogs have circled around Me; the band of spoilers have hemmed Me in, piercers of My hands and My feet. 
Psa 22:17 I can count all My bones; they look and stare at Me. 
Psa 22:18 They divide My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing.
Psa 22:19 But You, O Jehovah, be not far from Me; O My strength, hurry to help Me!
Psa 22:20 Deliver My soul from the sword, My only one from the dog’s hand.
Psa 22:21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth; from the wild oxen’s horns. You have answered Me. 

Heb 12:1 Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 
Heb 12:2 looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God.

Jos 8:15 And Joshua and all Israel acted as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
Jos 8:16 And all the people in Ai were called together to run after them. And they ran after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. 
Jos 8:17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go after Israel. And they left the city open, and ran after Israel. 

Joshua and his armies in the above verses are a near-perfect replication of our daily fight against our spiritual enemies. Little do our Babylonian peers know that an ambush against our sins is set not by us but by Christ as we wait for His delivery while suffering derision. The leering world would like Christ’s Christs, with their coats of many colours, to fall in their sin and be like them. In the negative, the “silly women”:

Psa 35:19 Let not those who are my lying enemies rejoice over me, those who hate me without cause wink with the eye.
Psa 35:20 For they do not speak peace; but they think deceitful things against the quiet ones of the earth. 
Psa 35:21 And they widen their mouths against me; they say, Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen. 
Psa 35:22 You have seen, O Jehovah; do not keep silence; O Jehovah, do not be far from me. 
Psa 35:23 Stir up Yourself and awaken to my judgment, to my cause, my God and my Lord. 
Psa 35:24 Judge me, O Jehovah my God, according to Your righteousness; and do not let them rejoice over me. 

2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 
2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 

Pro 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 
Mat 20:19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Hos 7:11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria [an “ambush”].
Hos 7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

Pro 7:6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 
Pro 7:7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, 
Pro 7:8 Passing through the street near her [a known harlot, or simply an overly sensual friend] corner; and he went the way to her house [it’s the semi-consciousness of an “ambush”].

Of course, you may read the entire account in Proverbs 7 about that young man, who is you and I, not alert enough to the “ambush” Satan has set by the Lord’s hands to see if we will obey His commands.

Not a man left in the heathen city of Ai who didn’t go out to fight Israel is synonymous with Christ and His Christs being scorned and attacked from all sides in Babylon, yet we know that nothing will prevail against God’s spirit. 

Psa 17:8  Keep me as the pupil, the daughter of the eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings, 
Psa 17:9  from the face of the wicked who strip me. Those against my soul, My foes, encircle me. 
Psa 17:10 They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly, 
Psa 17:11 they have now hemmed in our steps, they have set their eyes to bow me to the earth, 
Psa 17:12 their likeness is like a lion that longs to tear, and like a young lion lurking in secret places. 
Psa 17:13 Arise, O Jehovah, disappoint him, bow him down; deliver my soul from the wicked by Your sword, 
Psa 17:14 from men by Your hand, O Jehovah, from men of the world whose portion is in this life, and whose belly You fill with Your treasure. They are satisfied with sons, and will leave their riches to their babes. 
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your image. 

Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Jos 8:18 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear in his hand toward the city. 

The term “stretch out”, a person’s hand, spear, or rod, is a distinct action repeated in scripture that denotes complete trust and faith in the Lord that He will do what He says based on the steadfast trust He has given us without assured evidence of the outcome.

Fledgling Israel’s entire experiences were for their growing faith in their Lord that He would follow through with His blessings if they did all He commanded.

Exo 3:20 And I will stretch out My hand and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst of it. And after that he will let you go.

Exo 8:16 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say to Aaron: Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 

Being saved by hope is only achieved by the fearful experience of repeatedly being surrounded by our enemies, knowing that we do not have the “accursed thing” hidden in our hearts. We need to categorically know we have a clean conscience before the battle. It’s like leaving the house an hour ago and wondering if you turned the iron off. With that certainty, we confidently and patiently wait for the command of the Lord’s raised spear to charge at our enemy for an assured outcome.

Jos 8:19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand. And they entered into the city, and took it, and hurried and set the city on fire. 

Once again, our Lord is our ambush and our spear.

1Sa 17:47 And all this multitude shall know that Jehovah does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah’s, and He will give you [our enemies] into our hands.

Jos 8:20 And the men of Ai looked behind them and saw. And, behold, the smoke of the city went up into the sky, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. And the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 

Just as Lot’s wife turned to see the smoke of the cities of the plain go up, she was turned into a pillar of salt and “had no power to flee this way or that way” (Gen 19:26). However, we strain forward into the battle knowing that our Lord goes before us as we forget our forgiven past failings. 

Php 3:13 My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession [of eternal life], but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before [as if through hope I have already attained the resurrection to life],
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Jos 8:21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned again and killed the men of Ai.
Jos 8:22  And the others came out of the city against them. So they were in the middle of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And they struck them so that they let none of them remain or escape.
Jos 8:23 And they took the king of Ai, and brought him alive to Joshua. 

Many years later, no doubt King Saul read the chronicles of Joshua’s audacious battle against Ai and, in all likelihood, carelessly employed the same battle rules with the Amalekites by keeping the valuable spoils, including King Agag. Joshua’s and Saul’s accounts of engaging the enemy are for our learning. Consistently throughout scripture, we are charged to precisely follow Christ’s word. If we are slothful in that service, we can expect an ambush.

1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. 
1Jn 2:4 He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him. 
1Jn 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked. 

Jos 8:24 And it happened, when Israel had made an end of killing all those who lived in Ai, in the field and in the wilderness where they chased them, and when they had all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were gone, all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 
Jos 8:25 And all who fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, all the men of Ai. 

Just as twelve thousand (number of foundation in darkness and light) enemies of Israel died, in a dual witness, it represents the entire world committed to death at the end of the one-thousand year rule of the rod of iron.

1Co 15:50 And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive. 
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ’s at His coming; 

Jos 8:26 For Joshua did not draw his hand back, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the people of Ai. 
Jos 8:27 Only, Israel took the cattle and the spoil of that city for a prize for themselves, according to the Word of Jehovah which He commanded Joshua. 
Jos 8:28 And Joshua burned Ai, and made it a heap forever, a ruin to this day. 
Jos 8:29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his body down from the tree, throw it down at the entrance to the city gate, and raise on it a great heap of stones, to this day.

The king of Ai is us nailed to our cross as we daily fill up what is behind of Christ’s afflictions. We die and are buried under the great heap of stones that are our brothers and sisters in Christ heaped on Him, the foundational stone.

Deu 21:22 And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and if he is put to death and you hang him on a tree, 
Deu 21:23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree. But you shall surely bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God), so that your land may not be defiled, which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance.

The Elect of God is the first to spiritually die under Christ, our altar.

Rev 6:9 And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held. 
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Until when, Master, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? 
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given to each one of them. And it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, until both their fellow servants and their brothers (those about to be killed as they were ) should have their number made complete

The king of Ai and the world are not cursed by staying hung on the tree overnight as a metaphor for being raised immortal in order of the resurrection to judgment for their dawning of righteousness. That process is depicted in “The Valley of Dry Bones” (Ezekiel 37). 

Joshua Renews the Covenant

Jos 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah, the God of Israel in Mount Ebal [Phon ‘ay-bawl’ meaning a stone or bare mountain], 
Jos 8:31 as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses, an altar of whole stones over which no man has lifted any iron. And they offered on it burnt offerings to Jehovah, and sacrificed peace offerings.

We are Christ’s workmanship of “whole [lively] stones”. The world has created, by their spiritual craftsmanship with iron tools, another Jesus for themselves in their own likeness; unwittingly the man of perdition.

Jos 8:32 And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the sons of Israel.

This is the third copy of the ‘Stone Tablets’ for a witness and completion of judgment against Israel.

Jos 8:33 And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark, and on that side, before the priests the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, the stranger as well as the homeborn among them, half of them over against Mount Gerizim [H1630 – origin H1629 – to cut off; destroyed], and half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded before that they should bless all the people of Israel. 
Jos 8:34 And afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the Law. 

The division of Israel against the two mountains symbolises the coming division of Israel into two women, one from Mt Sinai and the other from the heavenly Jerusalem above. One is destroyed, the other (Christ) is a great (bare) stone mountain. The strangers in Israel’s midst represent the unclean of the world outside of the Camp who would come to represent everybody being acceptable to Christ and salvation as revealed to Peter (“get up and eat” [Acts 10:9-48]).

Jos 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the strangers that walked among them.

The stark account of Achan’s sin is immensely positive because he represents Christ’s Christs (plural). They have learned to keep all the commandments of their Lord as they weep between the porch and the altar in dying daily, thus renewing the covenant spiritually and thus saving their brothers. 

Joe 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 
Joe 2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 
Joe 2:14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 
Joe 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 
Joe 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 
Joe 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 

Rom 8:22 And we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. 
Rom 8:23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body. 
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope; for what anyone sees, why does he also hope for it? 
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that which we do not see, then we wait for it with patience.

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Awesome Hands - part 161: “The mighty hand of the Lord” - Discussion

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Awesome Hands – part 161

“The mighty hand of the Lord”

December 2, 2019

In our previous study we found ourselves seeing ourselves in the story of Rahab and the 2 spies which she helped escape from king Jericho’s men.

In this study, we are going to skip forward a few chapters to Joshua 4. It is here that we finally see the moment the Israelites cross over into the promised land and mark the occasion with stones for a generational memorial.

This marking of the passage through the river Jordan was a command from the Lord via Joshua to the people of Israel.

Jos 4:1  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Jos 4:2  Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
Jos 4:3  And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

Joshua is told to appoint twelve men, one from each tribe, to take a stone from the Jordan where the priests carrying the ark stood, and place those stones in the lodging place.

Jos 4:4  Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
Jos 4:5  And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
Jos 4:6  That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
Jos 4:7  Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

If you are like me, you may be wondering if these stones are still in this place, and the answer is no. It is also an interesting study in and of itself to look into the word “forever” as mentioned here is verse 7, but I will just cover a brief point.

The word used here in English as “forever” is a combination of two words. Those two words are H5704, making the “for” part, and H5769 making the “ever” part.

What is interesting is that H5769, “ever” is the Hebrew word “olam”.

H5769

‛ôlâm    ‛ôlâm

o-lawm', o-lawm'

From H5956; properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always: - always (-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end). Compare H5331, H5703.

Total KJV occurrences: 438

The root of “olam” is H5976 which means veil, hide or concealed.

H5956

‛âlam

aw-lam'

A primitive root; to veil from sight, that is, conceal (literally or figuratively): -    X any ways, blind, dissembler, hide (self), secret (thing).

Total KJV occurrences: 28

H5956

‛âlam

Total KJV Occurrences: 27

hid, 11

Lev_4:13, Lev_5:3-4 (2), Num_5:13, 1Ki_10:3, 2Ki_4:27, 2Ch_9:2, Job_6:16, Job_28:21, Eze_22:26, Nah_3:11

hide, 8

Lev_20:4, Deu_22:1, Deu_22:3-4 (2), Psa_55:1, Isa_1:15, Isa_58:7, Lam_3:56

hideth, 2

Job_42:3, Pro_28:27

secret, 2

Psa_90:8, Ecc_12:14

blind, 1

1Sa_12:3

dissemblers, 1

Psa_26:3-4 (2)

hidden, 1

Lev_5:2

hidest, 1

Psa_10:1

“And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever” is just telling us that God veils His purpose for all things, for only His children to discover and remember.

Obviously, this is not exactly what is said in English, but we know that the physical stones are no longer setup as a memorial for the physical Jews to ask their fathers about, so we can conclude that there is another meaning that is hidden within these passages.

The Israelites are going to do as instructed and gather the stones up.

Jos 4:8  And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
Jos 4:9  And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
Jos 4:10  For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
Jos 4:11  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

This is one of those miracles that captures the imagination. It had to be a momentous occasion for the people of Israel. Yet, we know the miracles done to, for and around the people of God soon wane in their strength to hold their attention.

This isn’t going to happen right away, but the Lord did want to mark the occasion in His own way, and He did so with stones.

Stones have been used throughout scripture for many reasons whether to erect an altar or to mark an occasion such as we read about here. However, the chief cornerstone always comes to mind when speaking about stones in general.

1Pe 2:4  To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:6  Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

The foundation of needing to cross the river Jordan is truly needed for all Christians. It is spiritual for us of course, but we are living stones which follow after THE Living Stone.

It is the same Greek word mentioned above for the word “living” and “lively”, G2198.

The river Jordan is where John the Baptist preached all around it (Luk 3:3), and it is the river Jordan that Jesus was baptized (Mar 1:9-10).

It is straightway coming out of the Jordan water that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove unto Jesus; therefore, the symbolism of the Jordan and the baptism in it is something that all Christians should recognize.

Just like with the foundation of the church by the 12 disciples, these twelve priests established a “monument of stones” which let everyone know that they themselves had witnessed this event and were letting everyone know this by their actions with the stones.

1Jn 1:1  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

As such and keeping in context of our story in Joshua today, we need to recognize that war is imminent and to be prepared for when we are talking about the Jordan river.

Jos 4:12  And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh,     passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
Jos 4:13  About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto   battle, to the plains of Jericho.

Jesus came out of the river and immediately was taken into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The children of Israel show us this in type and shadow as they enter into the promised land.

What does this mean for us as Christians? Are we not supposed to be ready for war as well?

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Are we not to be ready to fight?

Jos 10:24  And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
Jos 10:25  And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Do we not wrestle?

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;

Like the children of Israel, when we cross over into the promised land we are not simply going to have it easy-peasy. We are going to have to wage war against the inhabitants.

Only, the enemies we face are within ourselves AND within others. This is what is meant by we shall be hated by all men for His names sake.

Luk 21:14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
Luk 21:15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

We must be ready to enter into the promised land and lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us so that we can do the will of God.

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

In the awesome hands 160 study given on Saturday, I mentioned Faith a lot. The way we make war and run the race for the prize of the makr of the high calling is to keep our focus on Jesus whom we are “looking unto”.

When we faulter and look away from Jesus for just a second, we sink into the sea of humanity of which we have come from.

Mat 14:24  But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Mat 14:26  And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Mat 14:27  But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Mat 14:28  And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Mat 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Mat 14:32  And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

If we want the wind to cease, we must “come into the ship”, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a storm happening. It just means the tossing to and frow doesn’t affect is and cause us to go off course.

Jos 4:14  On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
Jos 4:15  And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Jos 4:16  Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
Jos 4:17  Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
Jos 4:18  And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

Isn’t it amazing that when we listen to the voice of the Lord, the water takes its perfect course? It is the wind the stirs up or hold back the water.

It was the wind that was contrary to the waves that caused the waves to go to and fro and knock the ship around. It was the Lord who contained the waters of the Jordan in their place until the time was right for the waters to “return to their place”.

It is always the Lord who controls the wind and the water, so what are we concerned about that causes us to fear others when we should be fearing the Lord?

Jos 4:19  And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
Jos 4:20  And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
Jos 4:21  And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
Jos 4:22  Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
Jos 4:23  For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
Jos 4:24  That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.

Notice the message is still the same for us today. “When your children shall ask their fathers in the time to come, saying, What mean these stones?”, it is then that we say it is the Lord who dried up the waters of the Jordan before you ….. that all the people of the earth might know the mighty hand of the Lord! 

We are constantly to remind ourselves, and the children of God, that He is in control of everything. He controls the earth, the water, and the wind. He controls it all.

That is to say, He controls everything we are made of both physically and spiritually. We are made of earth and water and His spirit, His wind, and we are in a good mighty hand.

Psa 102:12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
Psa 102:13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
Psa 102:14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
Psa 102:15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
Psa 102:16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
Psa 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

“My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass, but thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.” My days in this flesh, which is like the grass [of verse eleven], is contrasted with the life of Christ that will “endure for ever” in our opening verse twelve.

Christ will endure forever, and all mankind (every generation) will come to see and be brought into remembrance of how God showed mercy unto Zion (God’s elect) through Christ. It is God’s seed that will be established through the church, typified in the last verse of this Psalm (vs 28) with these words “The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.”

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

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,

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

We are of that generation which is being shown His mercy by being made aware that the flesh must be put off as we are led/dragged “to lie down in green pastures”.

Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

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

Tonight’s verses describe the reverence which God is forming (being formed) within the lives of His people who are granted to have lives that are made to “lie down” and be led “beside the still waters” that restore our souls as he leads us in those paths for his name’s sake. God must lead and bring our souls into alignment with His will where we will learn that we are comforted in green pastures as we endure (while enduring through) the persecutions that come with our walk. It is through judgment which is on the house of God that His love casts out fear in our flesh (of what men may do to us) and replaces that with Godly fear that brings us unto perfection on the third day through much the tribulation and suffering that teaches us to be obedient, to obey God rather than man.

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.

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

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell

Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

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

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

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

As we look again at the mercy of God revealed in how He hears the prayers of those who see themselves as destitute and in need of a saviour, we shall also be reminded of the great promise inherent in His mercy: “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion” of verse 13.

Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luk 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Oba 1:2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.

Oba 1:8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

Oba 1:15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

Oba 1:17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

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.

Psa 102:12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

The Lord and his purposes will “endure for ever”…

endureH3427 [remain/dwell/abode]
for everH5769 = olawm – see http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/sovereignty20.php from “After The Counsel of His Own Will”,

…and what He has done and is doing and will do will be remembered unto “all generations” because Christ is the beginning and the end, the “Alpha and Omega” whom God has blessed to reveal the Father and His all-in-all purpose which is unfolding for all in Adam.

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.

Luk 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father^G3962: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father^G3962; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God^G2316 may be all in all.

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God^G2316, the Father^G3962, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Eph 4:6 One God^G2316 and Father^G3962 of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Psa 102:13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

It is in that day that God arises, or when the day star arises in our hearts, that we learn of his “mercy upon Zion”, “the time to favour her”, “the set time” that “is come”.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

The “set time” spoken of in this verse, and the mercy upon Zion being discussed, also reminds us that many are called but few are chosen at this set time of our calling that has been determined from the foundation of the world, founded upon His mercy.

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

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

Psa 102:14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
Psa 102:15 So the heathen^H1471 shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

We, too, take pleasure in the workmanship of His hands (Php 2:13, Eph 2:10), “her stones” being made acceptable (vs 14), and we make supplication for each other in these earthen vessels that make up God’s temple (1Co 6:19-20), who are not forsaking the assembling of the brethren (“and favour the dust thereof” of vs 14) who are the apple of His eye and our eye, the pearl of great price (2Co 4:7, Rom 8:16-18, Mat 13:46, Mat 12:30).

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

All the kings of the earth within me and the heathen^H1471 within me “fear the name of the LORD” and “thy glory”, as stated in verse 15 of our study, and that means that with that spirit which bears witness that we are children of God, we are called to be subject unto one another as unto Christ, that is the fear of God being reflected in our actions and detailed in Ephesians 5:21-25.

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Christ is our example of arming His mind to do whatever our Father asks of Him, and it was never above what He was able to bear (1Co 10:13, 1Jn 4:17). We are called to be subject to Christ, as Christ was to His Father, and to Christ in one another as these verses in Ephesians clearly state:

Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

In other words, we can’t say we fear God if we don’t have reverence toward one another, just like we can’t say we love God whom we can’t see if we don’t love each other whom we do see, including our enemies (1Jn 4:20-21, Mat 5:44).

God’s servants “take pleasure in her stones”, meaning we rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice in the Lord and his body that he abides in as living stones. We “favour the dust thereof” by following each other as we follow Christ’s example, and see the temple of God as the workmanship of His hands that reflects the decency and order in which God does all things.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

1Co 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
1Co 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

It is so easy to put “the heathen” of verse 15 off on someone else, but as we know, these words are to be taken inwardly primarily and speak of our Gentile or heathen/nations^H1471 within ourselves which must be brought into subjection along with all “the kings of the earth” who will witness of that subjection or reverence and fear of God when we are obedient unto him.

Act 14:16 Who [speaking of God] in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.

Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

The nations within or “the heathen^H1471 (the Gentile part of us) shall fear the name of the LORD; and all the kings of the earth thy glory” is not speaking of “the spirit of bondage again to fear” in (Rom 8:13-15) that is paralyzed and not able to be led of the spirit of God, but rather speaks of a life in Christ which is going on to perfection despite our weaknesses in our flesh, by being given power over those spirits that initially had us in bondage until Christ came into our temple and cried out within us with a Godly fear (Heb 5:7) and bound the strong man of fear in our house (Heb 10:27, Mar 3:27).

To deny this relationship of overcoming through Christ is the spirit of anti-Christ (2Jn 1:7-8). Christ is our example who cried out to His and our Father in order to overcome that spirit of bondage of fear in his flesh and not let that carnal spirit, which is in all flesh, bring him into the bondage of disobedience. He instead showed us that He ruled over it, which is what we are doing when “the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.” This can only be done with Christ in us, and produces what we read in Hebrews 5:7.

Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father [Heb 5:7].

Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh [we are not motivated by the fear of what men can do to us but rather fearful of God whom we don’t want to disobey under any circumstances (Act 5:29, Heb 5:7)], to live after the flesh.

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

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. [why fearful looking? Because judgment has not yet occurred or continued as it must for God’s children and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God where we are judged by (Heb 10:31) the living God (Joh 6:54-55).]

If we have a spirit that is dismissive of God, and not fearful of the consequence of evil actions or don’t even care to know what evil is in God’s mind, then that is the Lord doing that, and He is preserving us unto another day of judgment. This verse in Peter is really talking about the severity and goodness of God mentioned in Romans 11 that does preserve most to that day of judgment in the great white throne judgement, but we brethren are striving for the mark of the prize of the high calling in Him, and God willing are coming out of Babylon as we’re led by His spirit to do so (2Pe 2:9, Rom 11:22, Rom 8:14).

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

The greatest gift we can be given by our Father today in this life is to have His judgments in our earth so that we can learn righteousness, which is the same as saying “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion”.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Isa 26:10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

Psa 102:16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
Psa 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

These last three verses of this study speak of the fruit that is going to manifest in the lives of those with whom God is working in this age. When the Lord builds Zion up within us, He is speaking of Christ increasing within our lives by giving us power to bring our thoughts into subjection unto our Lord so we can worship our Father in spirit and truth (Joh 3:30, 1Co 3:6). It is also speaking of going from glory to glory, because it is his glory within us, the hope of glory, that is making it possible to experience His good pleasure which judges us in our earth and produces the righteousness of Christ, or the “fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (2Co 3:18, Rom 2:4, Rev 19:8).

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;

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

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

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer, not because God is a respector of persons, but rather because He has created the conditions within us, and humbled us under His mighty hand in due time, in the appointed time, that set time, and witnesses to the world (within and without) that it is His judgment upon our first man Adam that makes us see how destitute we are and in need of His mercy.

Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

When it says “this shall be written for the generation to come”, it is speaking of the workmanship of his hands today (the church, Christ’s body) which is witnessing to all the world of his mercy and love toward us. We will praise the Lord because we are blessed to know that we have been given the faith and the power to overcome and believe that his mercy will truly endure to all generations, meaning all men will be saved, and that will happen because “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion”. That is something for which to give great thanks and praise to God.

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:

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the hope-filled conclusion of our study entitled “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion” and how those remaining ten verses apply to His people today, who are the small remnant being prepared today to “come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.”

Psa 102:19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
Psa 102:20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
Psa 102:21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
Psa 102:22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Psa 102:23 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
Psa 102:24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
Psa 102:25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
Psa 102:26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Psa 102:27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Psa 102:28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

Mike,

I would like to make some observations if you would bear with me. Moses had requested that he be allowed to see YHWH’s glory which was refused, but he was allowed to see His back parts as He passed by the crevice in the rock and removed His hand. Verse 29 of chapter 34 records that Moses’s face was aglow because He had been speaking to him. It would appear that the exposure of Moses’ face to that initial sight of His glory in His back parts remained throughout the forty days He instructed him which culminated in His rewriting the Ten Commandments on the two new tablets Moses had fashioned and placing them in Moses’ hands. And of course they are the tablets Paul referred to in 2Co 3.
The Two Laws theory proposed by the Church of God Seventh- day was of course adopted by H W Armstrong. Their reading of Gal 3:19 was that the ceremonial law was “added” to the eternal, immutable, inexorable Law of God, the Ten Commandments, two years after YHWH spoke them when the tabernacle had been completed and Leviticus was written detailing the service of the tabernacle. Actually, the tabernacle was finished after one year, but they wrote two years.
Moffet translated Gal 3:19, “Then what about the Law? It was interpolated for the purpose of producing transgressions till such time as the Offspring arrived to whom the promise was made;” That translation puzzled me and even more puzzling was the word translated “because of” which is charin, the accusative form of charis translated ‘grace’, favor or thank in most places. During my studies years ago I decided to call a university department of Greek and spoke with an associate professor of Greek who also taught at Northwestern College. He said he translated it, “By grace of or by favor of transgressions.” Paul’s statements in Rom 7 would be amplification of his statement to the Galatians. And 1Co 15:56 would give us a further clue that the strength of sin is the Law.
Just a note. Thanks for your time,

A____

Hi A____,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. It is obvious to anyone reading Galatians that “the law” under discussion includes the ten commandments, along with the law of circumcision. It takes the influence of Babylon to blind our eyes from seeing that “after faith is come we are no longer under the schoolmaster… the law”.

Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; [ and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Gal 3:20 Now a mediator is not [ a mediator] of one, but God is one.
Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [ to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

We did not argue in WCG that the ten commandments could give life. I well remember Herbert himself likening the ten commandments to a mirror which could show you your sins, but it could not wash your face for you. That is “the law” which “could not give life, was not of faith, concluded all under sin… under the law, shut up unto the faith [“of Jesus”] which should afterwards be revealed.” That is what “brought us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith”, the faith of Christ. “But after faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster”.
But I am preaching to the choir.
I appreciate what your Greek scholar friend said to you about the Greek word ‘charin’ in Gal 3:19. Yes, that does indeed add great weight to what Paul reveals to us in Rom 7. “We do not produce sin, the law is the strength of sin, and sin is the sting of death.”
That is all blasphemy to anyone who believes in free moral agency.
We are blessed above many to see these truths which are hidden from the eyes of the entire Christian world.
Stay in God’s Word. In doing that you will be staying in the spirit.

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.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

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What the Spirit Says to the Angel of the Church in Pergamos – Part 2

Updated November 3, 2023

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Introduction

In urging us to “keep the things written therein”, the first church addressed by the spirit is Ephesus. Ephesus within us is guilty of “leaving her first love”, but she does “hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans.” Ephesus is therefore reminded that she is being  addressed by “he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.”

Those words are appropriate to how Christ presents himself to us when we have left our first love, but we hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans.

The second church we keep within us is Smyrna, and Smyrna in us is above reproach. Smyrna recognizes “the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Smyrna therefore is reminded that she is being addressed by “the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.”
That is appropriate to how Christ presents Himself to us when we recognize all the false doctrines and blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Neither Smyrna nor Philadelphia are admonished against any wrongdoing. Both Smyrna and Philadelphia are encouraged to maintain their fidelity to Christ and His doctrines and both are promised great blessing for their fidelity.

Pergamos within us has ‘given away the farm’ spiritually speaking. To our credit, we are told by Christ, that on the positive side, “Thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and… Antipas… my faithful martyr… was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth”. The dying daily of Antipas within us is contrasted with ‘the doctrine of Balaam, eating things sacrificed to idols, and committing fornication’ which are also within us. “Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”

This is how Christ presents Himself to us while we are in such a conflicted state. How is it even possible that Christ can tell us that “we hold fast His name and have not denied His faith” and in the same breath tell us that we “hold the doctrine of Balaam [and] the doctrine of the Nicolaitans” (Rev 2:14-15). That apparent contradiction is always cleared up when we are given to know that we all at first ‘receive the Word with joy, but when persecution arises because of the Word, we all fall seven times, teaching us that we of ourselves can do nothing, and then, only after learning that lesson, if it is written in our book to do so, we rise again’:

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

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.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Christ wants the church of Pergamos within us to take hope and to know that even in the face of all of these problems within us, there is still great hope if we will “only acknowledge our iniquity…”

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

That again is the ‘two-edged’ nature of Christ and His fiery words and doctrines. Those doctrines are death and destruction to our old man, and through that death and destruction those same doctrines bring life and peace to our new man:

Rev 2:12  And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

“Satan’s seat” is “Satan’s thronos” in the Greek. It is while we are ‘falling seven times’ that Satan has set up house on the throne of our hearts and minds because we have succumbed to the authority of the Nicolaitans who at their appointed time bear rule over us. We also, at the appointed time, have within us “them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Israel to eat things offered to idols and to commit fornication.” We are “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:15-16), and yet during the Pergamos part of the revelation of Jesus Christ within us, we ‘hold the doctrine of Balaam’ which teaches us that it is good and loving and tolerant to listen to false teachers and to tolerate their false doctrines. We tell ourselves that in so doing we are “bearing the infirmities of the weak” and showing love and maintaining the unity of the body of Christ. Like the apostle Peter in the high priest’s house during the questioning of Jesus, we want to blend in with the crowd. Nothing could be further from this truth. Blending in with Babylon does not preserve unity. Instead it serves only to “leaven the whole lump” with heresies and to increase the factions within the body. It is much to be preferred to be divided by the Truth than to be united in a lie and a false doctrine. Here is the mind of Christ concerning this ‘doctrine of Balaam… meat offered to idols” which produces spiritual fornication.’

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

The commentaries all quote verse 13 and use it as a positive point against which the sins of Pergamos are contrasted.

Rev 2:13  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan’s seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Here is Henry’s comments on verse 13. It is typical:

“1. Christ takes notice of the trials and difficulties this church encountered with: I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, etc., Rev 2:13. The works of God’s servants are best known when the circumstances under which they did those works are duly considered. Now that which added very much lustre to the good works of this church was the circumstance of the place where this church was planted, a place where Satan’s seat was. As our great Lord takes notice of all the advantages and opportunities we have for duty in the places where we dwell, so he takes notice of all the temptations and discouragements we meet with from the places where we dwell, and makes gracious allowances for them. This people dwelt where Satan’s seat was, where he kept his court. His circuit is throughout the world, his seat is in some places that are infamous for wickedness, error, and cruelty. Some think that the Roman governor in this city was a most violent enemy to the Christians; and the seat of persecution is Satan’s seat.”

[Emphasis mine}

Indeed, Satan’s seat, his throne “is in some places that are infamous for wickedness, error, and cruelty”. Those ‘places’ are always the hearts and minds of the ‘the wicked… the man of sin’ within each of us at our own appointed time, before he is revealed to us and we acknowledge our iniquity and repent of our weaknesses, our sins and our proud and rebellious nature:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil [within us].
Pro 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

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; [within us… “Ye are the temple of God” (1Co 3:15-16)]
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 [our hearts and minds], 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 that he might be revealed in his [appointed] time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming [The coming of Christ, the Truth, into our hearts and minds]:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

How devastating is the outward approach to the revelation of Jesus Christ. “This people dwelt where Satan’s seat was” has no personal or inward application to Matthew Henry nor to anyone else who see the Revelation of Jesus in dispensational terms only. Yet that is how this entire prophecy must continue to be understood if God is going to keep this prophecy “sealed with seven seals” from all of us until we are given eyes that see and ears that hear. It is not given to the multitudes of Christianity, the masses of the “many called” of orthodox, Babylonian Christianity to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven:

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.

How effective at blinding us it is when the Lord keeps us from seeing how we fail to see that we are commanded to “keep those things that are written therein.” Those have been given the gift of seeing and hearing Revelation 1:3 know that Satan’s throne is within us all. Satan’s throne is not in any geographical position in the universe. Satan’s throne usurps Christ’s rightful throne. Satan’s throne is in the hearts and minds of all of his “children of disobedience.” According to the apostle Paul, that is all of us at our appointed time.

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

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 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

1Co 1:1  Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
1Co 1:2  Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Both the “Jews which believed on Him” but ‘could not hear His words’, and the Corinthians who were “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints”, both typify each of us when we are yet spiritually “carnal babes in Christ.” This experience is common to “we all” according to the apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

This struggle against our flesh is not simply before we are called; it is also after we are called and while we are as “carnal babes in Christ… reading hearing and keeping… what the spirit saith to the seven churches in Asia.”

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child [Greek: nepios, a toddler], differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

It is only by “hearing what the spirit says to [all seven of] the churches” and by “keeping the things written therein” to all the churches of Asia, that we can ever hope to “receive the adoption of sons.” So we continue:

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

The Greek word for ‘children’ in Galatians 4:3 is ‘nepios’ G3516. A ‘nepios’ is a spiritual baby in diapers. The word translated as ‘Son’ in Galatians 4:4 is ‘huios’ G5207. A ‘huios‘ is the Greek word for an adult child. A spiritual ‘huios’ does not tolerate the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, while a ‘nepios‘, the Greek word for a toddler, considers it cold-hearted and unloving and divisive to “hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans.”

We have covered the Nicolaitans in our study of what the spirit had to say to the church at Ephesus.

Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

We saw that the Nicolaitans bear dominion over our faith, contrary to the words of Christ when He responded to His disciples arguing about who would be the greatest among them. Because this is so very common, we will look again at this doctrine and what Christ thinks of those who practice this doctrine.

Mat 20:20  Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21  And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Mat 20:22  But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Mat 20:24  And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

So we “hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans” at one point as we mature in our walk, and at another point we “have them also” in our very midst. In Ephesus we “hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans”, and in Pergamos we “have also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans”; among many other false doctrines which are brought into our hearts and minds by those who are given to lord it over us in this part of our walk. That is why Christ comes to us as “he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.“

This next verse just logically follows:

Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

The fact that the spirit says “I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them” proves that all of this is taking place within us, and the battle is not outward but is won by Christ with “the sword of My mouth”… that which is written.”

1Co 4:6 Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other. (ACV)

It is given to only a few people to see or hear these things of the spirit, and so we are told again, as with every one of these seven churches of Christ within us:

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

Remember, any time we see that phrase “he that hath and ear,” we are actually being told that very few will understand what is being said.

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it (Rev 2:17B).

What incredible blessings are promised to “him that overcometh.”  It is to the overcomers only that it is given to “eat of the hidden manna.”

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not comparable to the glory that is going to be revealed for us.
Rom 8:19 For the eager expectation of the creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. (ACV)

It is the overcomers only who are “given a white stone, containing a new name, which no man knows  but the man who receives that white stone containing that new name.”

We are told:

Pro 22:1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

‘A good name’ has nothing to do with the verbalizing of any name versus another name. ‘A good name’ has only to do with a good reputation. We do not blaspheme the name of God by calling Him God instead of Yahweh. We blaspheme the name of God among the nations when we disobey Him and do not do the things He tells us to do:

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

Christ could care less whether I call Him ‘Jesus’ or ‘Iesus’. He just wants me to do the things [He] says to do.

Rom 2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Rom 2:23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Rom 2:24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

The ‘new name’ given every man who overcomes is the name “Christ in you the hope of glory”, and no one knows that name but the one to whom it is given.

What are all these promises? Are they not all the same thing? Are they not all nothing less than types of Christ and His words taking up their abode within us? Being given “the spirit of Christ” is “life more abundantly” and is the ultimate gift God can give:

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

It is, of course, the same as “the spirit of God dwelling in you.” Let’s look at how the scriptures define these symbols for us. The definitions are always very illuminating and instructive in and of themselves.

What then, is “the hidden manna?” This phrase comes from the manna which Moses was instructed to place within the ark of the covenant.

Exo 16:32  And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
Exo 16:33  And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
Exo 16:34  As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

What does the spirit tell us is hidden?

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:

1Pe 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Christ, “the Word” (Joh 1:1), His doctrine, is that “hidden man of the spirit” with “the hidden wisdom” which is the “hidden manna”, and the “new name” which is promised to “him that overcometh.”

Christ tells us that He is the bread that came down from heaven which if a man eats he will live forever.

Joh 6:41  The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

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.

Always ask, “What is Christ’s flesh which He gives for the life of the world?” Every time we ask that question about Christ, except when it involves headship, we will always arrive at the same answer:

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

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:

“The testimony” where the hidden manna is “laid up” in Exodus 16:4 is “the ark of the testimony”, and this “hidden manna” was laid up inside the ark, which means that it is laid up inside Christ, who is our testimony just as we are “of His flesh…”

Rev 1:2  Who [John and Christ in John and in you and me] bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

This “hidden manna” was soon lost, just as we all, at one time “leave our first love.”

1Ki 8:1  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

1Ki 8:9  There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

And will give him a white stone,

What is this “white stone?” We will not find a scripture anywhere else where these two words are together as they are here. We can, line upon line and precept upon precept, determine that this white stone, like everything else in scripture, is concerned in one way or another with Him “by whom and for whom all things were made” (Col 1:16, Rev 4:11).

The only other place in which the Greek word “white stone” used here in Revelation 2:17 is in Acts 26:10.

Act 26:10  Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.^{2702 5586}

The use of a white stone as opposed to a black one was to denote acquital or innocence rather than the guilt meant by use of the black stone. This word use falls right into line with the ‘white linen’ the elect are given. The white stone shows our approval in Christ, our acquital, our voice of innocent verdict.

What does the color white tell us? Whose name is best known in connection with this color?

Mat 17:2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Rev 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Rev 3:4  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

It is only Christ, and those who are with Him who “walk in white,” because white is primarily associated with Christ. The white throne and the white stone are both Christ in His people, in His elect.

And in the stone a new name written

What is this “new name” which is written in this “white stone?” Is there any doubt what name is given to Christ’s elect?

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

Mat 18:5  And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

Mat 18:20  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Joh 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

The holy spirit itself comes only in Christ’s name. That name of Jesus is the only name that is above every name that is named, and it is He who is our father and “of whom the whole creation in heaven and in earth is named” (Eph 3:15):

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

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Eph 3:13  Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Eph 3:14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

We are named after our father, and our father is Christ:

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

So we are named after our Father, and our Father is named after His Father, and once again we have to come to see that “as He is so are we in this world.”

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.

Which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

While there are billions of people who claim the name of Christ, there are very few who know that name. The name of Christ, is for the most part “blasphemed among the heathen through those who claim that name:

Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Like the apostle Paul, we all ignorantly blaspheme the name of God for many years before we begin to repent and to quit blaspheming that name.

1Ti 1:12  And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
1Ti 1:13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did [it] ignorantly in unbelief.

Hebrew and Greek vocalizations of names given God are not the subject of any of the verses which mention the name of God. “A good name” has nothing to do with vocalizations of physical names. “A good name” has everything to do with a good life and a pure mind and conscience before God. The only way we can possibly properly name the name of Christ or His Father is to forsake evil:

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

While billions call themselves by Christ’s name, the only ones who know that new name written in that white stone are those who “depart from iniquity” and can honestly call Christ their Lord:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Conclusion

We have reviewed what is signified by the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and we saw that it signifies the point in our walk when we have the doctrine and spirit of the Nicolaitans within us.

Rev 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

So we have reviewed what is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and we say that at this point in our walk we have the Nicholaitans within us.

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

We saw that “I will come to thee and fight again them” proves that this doctrine is within us.

Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them

We have seen that the only way to purge ourselves of this hateful doctrine is through “the sword of My mouth”, the Word of God, which so very few people are willing to obey.

Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Again we saw the phrase “He that hath an ear” reminding us that very few will indeed hear what the spirit is saying to the churches.

Finally, we saw that with all of these problems within us, Christ presents Himself to us “He that has the sharp sword with two edges”, and yet we are still encouraged to be overcomers and we “are given  great and precious promises.”  We saw that the “hidden manna… the white stone… and the name written in that stone” are all “Christ in us the hope of glory”, and we saw that not everyone who claims that name really knows Christ, but only those “who do the will of My Father which is in heaven.”

Next week, Lord willing, we will see even more of what is within us as we learn about the revelation of Christ within us. Here is what the spirit writes to Thyatira within us.

Here are the next “things which are written therein [for us to] read… hear… and keep”:

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass;
Rev 2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than the first.
Rev 2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Rev 2:21  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Rev 2:22  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
Rev 2:23  And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Rev 2:24  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
Rev 2:25  But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.
Rev 2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your insight. I’ve been studying some different work and hope you can help me with your wisdom of Ezekiel 28.
Verse 13 – What do all the stones and diamonds have to do with the King?
Verse 14 – What is the holy mountain of God and the stones of fire?
Verse 16 – Why does he keep calling him a cherub?
I hope you can help me understand this better. Any time you can spend would be appreciated.
Thank You,

M____

Hi M____,

Thank you for your questions. The answer is: it’s all within us.

The stones and diamonds are God’s precious truths given to his “anointed.” King Saul was anointed of God, and yet he sought to kill God’s elect.

1Sa 24:6 And he [David, when God delivered King Saul into David’s hand in the cave] said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.

We are neither King Saul nor King David. Both are within us at our appointed time:

Ecc 3:1 To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecc 3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
Ecc 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

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

Precious stones in scripture are like precious metals. They are given to God’s anointed, and God’s anointed abuse them and act as if they have these riches because of their own efforts. We all do the same thing:

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

All the powers that be are the Lord’s anointed to be such powers:

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

The King of Tyre was “ordained of God,” too. But like King Nebuchadnezzar before him, the King of Tyre considered himself to be the source of his own strength and power.

Dan 4:30 The king [Nebuchadnezzar] spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Dan 4:31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, [saying], O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling [shall be] with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Dan 4:33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ [feathers], and his nails like birds’ claws.

Ezekiel 28 and Isa 14 are saying the same thing.

Eze 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art man, and not God, though thou didst set thy heart as the heart of God;

“Thou hast said…” God answers us “according to the idols of our hearts.”

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

That is the premise for calling the king of Tyre a ‘cherub’ and for calling the King of Babylon ‘son of the morning.’

Isa 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Mountains in scripture are kingdoms. You and I are “the mountain of God.” It is in us that God dwells and His kingdom grows:

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.

When we think that we are responsible for our own salvation, we are at that moment “the King of Tyre [and] the King of Babylon.” Ezekiel 28 and Isa 14, are one and the same, the beast within, the man of sin within, sitting on the throne of God within.

I hope this is of some help.

Mike

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