Numbers 33:1-56  Recounting Israel’s Journey in the Wilderness

[Study Aired December 25, 2023]

Introduction

We are going to look at the journey of the Israelites from Egypt up to the land of Moab, where they were camping and getting ready to cross over the Jordan to engage the people of Jericho. Today’s study shows us our life as we leave the world (Egypt) and become part of Babylon, until the Lord starts preparing us to leave Babylon behind to possess our land, which is our bodies. This study highlights the spiritual significance of the names of various locations and how they apply to our walk in the past, present and the future. What we need to understand is that we all go through the same experience in this wilderness of life, although the details are different for each individual. This is what the scriptures tell us about this common experience we all go through:

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. 
Ecc 9:3  This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. 
Ecc 9:4  For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 
Ecc 9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

These verses show us that we all go through the experience of evil resulting in our spiritual death until we are joined to all the living (Ecc 9:4). 

Ecc 1:13  And I gave my heart to seek and to investigate by wisdom concerning all which is done under the heavens. It is an evil task God has given to the sons of men, to be afflicted by it.

The living here is Christ, and it is when we are joined to all (not partially) of Christ that we are given hope of the joy that is set before us. It is in this sense that a living dog is better than a dead lion. That is to say that being in Christ is what makes us a living being, and that in Christ, even though we are the least among men (living dogs), we are far better than the princes of this world (dead lion) who are spiritually dead. 

In Ecclesiastes 9:5, we are shown that it is the living who are aware that they shall die. That is to say that it is those who are in Christ who are aware that they have to die to their flesh through the evil experience the Lord has given them. This is the experience of those who are in Christ:

Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 
Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 
Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 
Psa 107:9  For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

As we go through Israel’s journey in the wilderness, as recounted in chapter 33, we are being shown what has happened to us in our journey in this life with the Lord and His mercies toward us. Our response to the Lord’s mercies is to offer our lives as living sacrifices to Him, which is our spiritual worship.

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

The Command by the Lord to Record the Journeys of Israel

Num 33:1  These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 
Num 33:2  And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.
Num 33:3  And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. 
Num 33:4  For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments. 
Num 33:5  And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

What is instructive about these verses is that it was at the command of the Lord that Moses decided to write down the journeys undertaken by the people of Israel in the wilderness. Why would the Lord ask Moses to record Israel’s journey from one station to another in the wilderness? It was because the Lord wanted us to understand how He had led us through this life in the past so that we can have confidence in Him that what He starts, He is able to bring to completion. That is why when the Lord appeared before Apostle John, the first thing He did was to show Him how He had led him in the past.

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 
Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 
Rev 1:13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Our journey with the Lord started in Rameses in verse 3. Rameses was in Egypt and therefore represents our life when we did not know Christ. We were just like the people of the world in all that we did. Rameses means ‘out of’ or ‘from.’ It was from or out of the world that the Lord called us to come to Him.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

In verse 3, it was on the fifteenth day of the first month that the Israelites left Rameses (Egypt). The number fifteen signifies being given a new life in Christ as shown in the following verses:

Isa 38:4  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, 
Isa 38:5  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 
Isa 38:6  And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

This means that it was when the Lord gave us a new life in Christ that we started our exit from Egypt. Leaving Egypt was possible because the Lord had dealt a blow to the firstborn of the Egyptians as they bury their firstborns in verse 4. The firstborns of the Egyptians represent our old man or our flesh to which the Lord had dealt a deadly wound and therefore could not influence our exit from the world (Egypt).

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

In verse 5, the people of Israel left Rameses and came to Succoth which means ‘booths’ and is part of the land of Egypt. The word “booths” means tents. This implies that one of the first things we learned as we started our exit from the world is to walk by faith just like Abraham. Walking by faith is signified by living in tents as we look for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. This was what happened to Abraham. 

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 
Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

A Summary of Our Journey in this wilderness of life

Num 33:6  And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 
Num 33:7  And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol. 
Num 33:8  And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

From Succoth, the people of Israel came to Etham which means ‘with them’ or their ‘plowshares’ which are creative tools that benefit mankind. Etham was part of Egypt. At this stage in our walk, the Lord has given us the tools we need (the word of God) to leave the world. From Etham, the Israelites went to Pihahiroth which means a place where sedge grows. Sedge is a grass-like plant that grows in wet ground. As we are aware, all mankind is like grass. As His elect, we are like sedge that grows in a place where there is water in the ground, which is the word of the Lord. In other words, at this point of our walk with Christ, we have received little water from the earth. That is, we have started to hear very little of the truth of the word of the Lord from our brothers and sisters from Babylon (earth) to start our growth as we leave Egypt or the world completely. Pihahiroth faces Baalzephon which means ‘Lord of the north.’ This is to say that everything happening to us is under the supervision of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, everything is going according to the purpose of His counsel. Specifically, the people of Israel settled at Migdol, which was a fortified city on the Egyptian border and can be regarded as part of Pihahiroth. Migdol means ‘tower’ and therefore this is to show us that we have come to trust in the Lord as our tower of refuge as we were just about to exit the world (Egypt).

Isa 25:4 But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O LORD, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, or like the relentless heat of the desert. (NLT)

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

From Pihahiroth, the people of Israel passed through the sea into the wilderness of Etham and after three days, they ended up at Marah which means ‘bitter water.’ Passing through the sea means that we are helped by our flesh during this early walk with the Lord just as Abraham was helped by his father Terah (flesh) when the Lord appeared to him for the first time.

Act 7:2  And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
Act 7:3  and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 
Act 7:4  Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, God removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell:

Gen 11:31  And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

Isa 60:5  Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.

The people of Israel journeyed three days from the wilderness of Etham to Marah. Marah means ‘bitter’ (water). This signifies that the judgment of our old man or flesh as part of the process of becoming spiritually mature involves being given bitter water, that is, false doctrines, thus giving the Lord the occasion to come and judge us. 

Num 33:9  And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there. 
Num 33:10  And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.

These verses are to point to us our destination (where we are supposed to end up) in this wilderness of life. Our final destination, after going through the famine of the word of the Lord and drinking polluted water in the churches of Babylon, is the church of the firstborn, signified by Elim which was an oasis of seventy palm trees and twelve springs of water. The number seventy is seven multiplied by ten (70=7×10). The number seven signifies completeness, and the number ten means the fullness of the flesh. Thus, the seventy palm trees represent the assembly of the complete number of the elect who recognize the fullness of their flesh and are being delivered through the Lord’s judgment. The number twelve is the number of Christ and so the twelve wells signify the whole counsel of the word of Christ. In other words, the church of the elect is where we have the pillar and ground of the truth!! That is where we are to encamp in this life.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Encamping by the Red Sea in verse 10 signifies that we are in the world but not of the world. That means we are part of this world just like others, but we are not to follow the world’s standards. 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory 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.

Our lives in Babylon

Num 33:11  And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.
Num 33:12  And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
Num 33:13  And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

The journey of the Israelites up to this point summarizes the path the Lord takes us through to become His sons. The rest of the verses show us the details of our journey. From the Red Sea, the Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin. Sin means ‘thorn.’ They came out of the wilderness of Sin and came to Dophkah which means ‘knocking’, and then they settled in Alush which signifies “I will knead bread.” The settlement in these three stations – wilderness of Sin (thorn), Dophkah and Alush – signifies that when we left the world (Egypt) we came to the physical churches of this world (Babylon) where what we hear causes us to focus on the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, thus, choking the word of the Lord from being effective in our lives. We end up using our strength (knocking) to serve the Lord instead of letting the Lord do His work in us (resting in Him). We therefore become worse off and end up kneading our own bread, that is, having our own gospel instead of Christ’s words. 

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Num 33:14  And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.
Num 33:15  And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.
Num 33:16  And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah.
Num 33:17  And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.
Num 33:18  And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.
Num 33:19  And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez.

From Alush, they encamped at Raphidim, which means ‘resting place’ where there was no water for the people to drink. From Raphidim they came to the wilderness of Sinai which means ‘thorny.’ The next four stops after Sinai were Kibrothhattaavah (Graves of lust), Hazeroth (Settlement), Rithmah (an area of open uncultivated land) and Rimmonparez (pomegranate of the breach). What these locations mean is that in Babylon, we think we have a resting place (Raphidim) but we do not know that the truth of the word of the Lord has eluded us. This is because what we hear are false doctrines (thorny) which rather energizes the lust of the flesh within. As a result, we become spiritually dead due to lust of the flesh (the meaning of graves of lust). We therefore settle down in Babylon in an uncultivated place with no defenses as we become the prey of the enemy. We therefore bear fruits of the evil one who is our father.

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Num 33:20  And they departed from Rimmonparez, and pitched in Libnah.
Num 33:21  And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah. 
Num 33:22  And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.
Num 33:23  And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.
Num 33:24  And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.
Num 33:25  And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.
Num 33:26  And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.
Num 33:27  And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.

From Rimmonperez, the Israelites came to Libnah (out of) and then to Rissah (Ruin). The next six stations that the Israelites encamped were Kehelathah (Assembly), Shapher (Beauty), Haradah (Fear), Makheloth (Place of assembly), Tahath (Station) and Tarah (Delay). Out of the fruits we produce in Babylon, we end up in ruin. We consider our assembly a beauty, but we do not know that we are poor, wretched and miserable. We do not have the fear of the Lord in our place of assembly, and because of our position or station, both the former and the latter rain (the truth of the word of the Lord) are held or delayed from us.

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

1Ki 8:35  When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:

Num 33:28  And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.
Num 33:29  And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.
Num 33:30  And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.
Num 33:31  And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan.
Num 33:32  And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad.
Num 33:33  And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah.
Num 33:34  And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.
Num 33:35  And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Eziongaber.
Num 33:36  And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. 
Num 33:37  And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.
Num 33:38  And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. 
Num 33:39  And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor. 

From Tarah the people of Israel went to Mithcah (Sweetness), departed to Hashmonah (Fatness) and finally came to Moseroth (Bonds). What these locations suggest is that when we follow after the sweetness and fatness of this world, we end up being in bondage to this world. That was what happened to us in Babylon. The subsequent six stations in which the Israelites dwelt were Benejaakan (Sons of twisting), Horhagidgad (Cavern of Gidgad), Jotbathah (Pleasantness), Ebronah (Passage), Eziongaber (Backbone of a man) and Kadesh (Holy). Being sons of twisting the word of the Lord while we were in Babylon, we ended up hiding in our caverns (false doctrines) thinking we were in a pleasant place. We did not know that this broad passage or way is the way to destroying our very spiritual foundation (our backbone).  

Psa 11:3  If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

In spite of our failures, the Lord uses this experience of evil to teach us holiness later as we come to Kadesh. From Kadesh the Israelites came to Mount Hor. Hor means ‘mountain.’ This implies that as far as we were concerned when we were in Babylon, holiness had become a mountain which we cannot climb.  It is instructive to note that Aaron the High Priest died on Mount Hor. Aaron’s death on Mount Hor signifies the death of our Lord Jesus Christ to make holiness accessible to us.

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Num 33:40  And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.
Num 33:41  And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.
Num 33:42  And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.
Num 33:43  And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth. 
Num 33:44  And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab.
Num 33:45  And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibongad.
Num 33:46  And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim.
Num 33:47  And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
Num 33:48  And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. 
Num 33:49  And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.

In verse 40, King Arad of Canaan heard of the coming of the Israelites. This implies that even when we were in Babylon, our flesh can sense that its time is short. From Mount Hor, the Israelites pitched in Zalmonah which means ‘shady.’ They then moved to Punon (Darkness) and ended at Oboth (Waterskins). Our inability to walk in holiness as we came to Kadesh implies that the devil has shaded (blocked) us from seeing the light of Christ. Over time, we are plunged into darkness as our vessels (waterskins) lack water or the word of the Lord in Babylon. From Oboth we came Ije-abarim (Ruins of Abarim) where our relationship with Christ was ruined.  

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
Amo 8:12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

We end up being like our father, the devil, as we continue our walk with Christ and find ourselves in the land of Moab (of his father). 

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.

The Israelites then moved from Iim (from) to Dibongad or Dibon (wasting away). From (Iim) our father, the devil, we waste away during our time in Babylon. As we continue our journey, we come to Almondiblathaim which means ‘concealing the two cakes.’ The cakes here represent the word of the Lord, and the number two means a witness. The concealing of the two cakes means that we are not given to know the principle that where two or three words of the Lord say the same thing, we have a witness and that what is being said is established.

2Co 13:1  This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established

From Almondiblathaim we proceed to Abarim (Regions beyond) facing Nebo (prophet of a Babylonian deity). Because we are not given to know the principles the Lord has given us in His words to guide us, we end up going beyond (Abarim – regions beyond) what is written, and in the process, we come to serve another Jesus (Nebo) without knowing it. 

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

Our final journey takes us from Bethjesimoth (from or out of) to Abel Shittim (Meadows of acacias). Meadows refers to pastures. What is instructive about Acacias is that it has about 160 species of trees and shrubs. This implies that out of serving another Jesus, we finally end up as sheep grazing from many different pastures (meadows of acacias) as we take in 200 million false doctrines in the land of Moab (Babylon). 

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand (200 million false doctrines): and I heard the number of them.

The Need to Drive out the Inhabitants of Canaan

Num 33:50  And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, 
Num 33:51  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; 
Num 33:52  Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: 
Num 33:53  And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
Num 33:54  And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. 
Num 33:55  But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
Num 33:56  Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

In verses 50–52, we are commanded by the Lord to ensure that our old man or our flesh, represented by the inhabitants of Canaan, is totally destroyed, or put to death in our lives. The fact is, we cannot do it in our strength. In verse 53, the Lord told Moses that because He has given them the land, they shall dispossess the inhabitants. This is to tell us that it is Christ who through us shall destroy the old man or the flesh within us. It is not the work of man. The Lord who has started this destruction of our old man or flesh shall see to its completion. However, we need to be patient as He does His work within us.

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

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

In verse 54, the land was to be divided among the families for an inheritance by lot. The lot here signifies that everything that we do to possess our inheritance is the work of the Lord. All we have to do is to believe that He is able to drag us to the finish line!!

Pro 16:33  The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

Joh 6:28  Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Verses 55 and 56 show us the consequences of not completely destroying the inhabitants of Canaan. The inhabitants of Canaan shall become pricks in our eyes and thorns in our sides. Pricks here in verse 55 are the same as thorns. What we are therefore being told is that if the old man or the flesh within us is not completely destroyed, it shall become a thorn in our lives. To understand a thorn in our lives, let’s take a look at what Jesus said about the parable of the Sower where some of the seeds fell on thorns:

Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Mat 13:7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

The thorn in our eyes and on our sides if we do not destroy our old man or the flesh is that we shall focus on the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. These shall choke the word of the Lord sown in our hearts and mind from bearing fruits in our lives. In other words, we shall become worse off.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein (through the thorns in our eyes and on our sides), and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

May the Lord continue to be merciful to us as He destroys our old man or our flesh. Amen!!

Gospels In Harmony – The Trial of “The Christ” – Part 3

Matt 27:13-26, Mark 15:11-15, Luke 23:18-25, John 18:40, John 19:1-16

[Study Aired March 15, 2022]

Matt 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
Matt 27:14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
Matt 27:15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.
Matt 27:16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
Matt 27:17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
Matt 27:18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
Matt 27:19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
Matt 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
Luke 23:18 And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this [man], and release unto us Barabbas:
Luke 23:19 (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 
Luke 23:20 Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.
Matt 27:21 Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
Mark 15:12 What will ye then that I shall do [unto him] whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Matt 27:22 What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? [They] all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
Luke 23:22 And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let [him] go.
John 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
John 19:2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
John 19:3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
John 19:4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
John 19:5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And [Pilate] saith unto them, Behold the man!
Luke 23:23 And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. 
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
Matt 27:24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but [that] rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed [his] hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye [to it].
Matt 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children.
John 19:8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
John 19:9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
John 19:10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
John 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
John 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
Luke 23:24 And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
Mark 15:15 And [so] Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged [him], to be crucified.
John 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led [him] away.

In our last study we investigated the sin of envy and saw how it applies to each of us and what we must do to combat that sin. 

Matt 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
Matt 27:14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
Matt 27:15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.
Matt 27:16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
Matt 27:17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
Matt 27:18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

Today’s study we will see that no matter what Pilate desired, and even Pilate’s wife desired, they cannot convince the chief priests and elders to release Christ.

Matt 27:19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
Matt 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
Luke 23:18 And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this [man], and release unto us Barabbas:
Luke 23:19 (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.)

They all cried out for Barabbas to be released. Let’s look at the meaning of Barabbas, and this will all make sense. 

Barabbas = son of shame, confusion

What is confusion?

Lev 18:22-23 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

Confusion is the lust of the flesh. Spiritually speaking, it is following the doctrines of Babylon. Also it is dealing with how to interpret the scriptures. If not done properly this causes confusion.

1Cor 14:27-33 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

This is what the world chooses. This is the state of mind of mankind without Christ. Christ is the opposite of the desires of the flesh. They chose Barabbas because it was written in their book to do so.

Barabbas = son of shame, confusion

Psa 109:29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

Pilate speaks to them again, advocating for the release of Jesus.

Luke 23:20 Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.
Matt 27:21 Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
Mark 15:12 What will ye then that I shall do [unto him] whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Matt 27:22 What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? [They] all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
Luke 23:22 And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let [him] go.
John 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
John 19:2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
John 19:3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
John 19:4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
John 19:5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And [Pilate] saith unto them, Behold the man!
Pilate mocked the elders by dressing him up as a king which stirred them up even more.
Luke 23:23 And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. 
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

As we saw in earlier studies, they had not established two or three witnesses against Jesus and therefore proceeded with twisting the words of Christ and used them as a confession.

John 5:15-18 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

John 10:31-38 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Here are the laws they accused Christ of breaking:

Lev 24:13-16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

Duet 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

They do not believe Jesus was sent by God as a true prophet, “the Truth”, and therefore they believe He is blaspheming the name of the Lord and was not commanded to speak for God. Pilate sees they will not back down from their decision.

Matt 27:24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but [that] rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed [his] hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye [to it].
Matt 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children.
John 19:8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
John 19:9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
John 19:10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
John 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Jesus proclaims the sovereignty of His Father to Pilate. Christ has not tried to defend himself because He understood His destiny. Everything He was doing is for the sake of the elect to be an example to them. Christ knows that the flesh must die so the new man will live.

Rom 8:1-5 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2Cor 5:14-17 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Finally, Pilate must give in and hand Christ over to them.

John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
John 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
Luke 23:24 And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
Mark 15:15 And [so] Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged [him], to be crucified.
John 19:16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led [him] away.

Notice when this happens – the sixth hour. This symbolizes that the flesh must be destroyed because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom.

John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

1 Cor 5:7-8 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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

This is Christ’s ending of preparing for his death which started in the following verses.

John 12:1-8 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

This is the end of the trial of “the Christ”, and the sentence is death by the cross. We must take comfort in this because we have the same destiny. The following verses describe how we die to the flesh.

Php 2:1-11 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[Study Aired May 31, 2021]

Jdg 10:1  And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. 
Jdg 10:2  And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. 
Jdg 10:3  And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. 
Jdg 10:4  And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 
Jdg 10:5  And Jair died, and was buried in Camon. 
Jdg 10:6  And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him. 
Jdg 10:7  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. 
Jdg 10:8  And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 
Jdg 10:9  Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. 
Jdg 10:10  And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. 
Jdg 10:11  And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? 
Jdg 10:12  The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. 
Jdg 10:13  Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. 
Jdg 10:14  Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. 
Jdg 10:15  And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. 
Jdg 10:16  And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. 
Jdg 10:17  Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh. 
Jdg 10:18  And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead. 

In Chapter 9 of Judges, we learned that God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, which resulted in a conflict between them. This conflict resulted in the death of several men of Shechem and also of Abimelech. Abimelech was put to death by a millstone and a sword by his armor bearer. This implies that it is only the elect, represented here by a millstone, that can put to death the old man through the use of the word of God, which is the sword.

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

Today’s review is focused on Israel coming under different judges and different oppression by the Philistines and the Ammonites.

Jdg 10:1  And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim. 

The name Tola means a worm and the scriptures describe man as a worm.

Job 25:6  How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

Psa 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

The negative application of worm is corruption as follows:

Job 17:14  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

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.

Tola ruling over Israel means that when we start our journey with Christ, we are ruled by our old man who is meant to be taken and destroyed and who shall utterly perish in his own corruption. Tola dwelt in Shamir.  According to Strong, Shamir means thorns, and so it implies that during the period in which we are ruled by our old man or flesh (Tola), we were actually dwelling among thorns.  These thorns are the false doctrines in our heavens which prevent us from understanding the gospel of Christ.

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

Tola is from the tribe of Issachar. When Jacob was blessing his sons, he said this concerning Issachar:

Gen 49:14  Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 
Gen 49:15  And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

What we are being told here is that being of the tribe of Issachar means that we end up loving the world and the things that are in the world.  As a result, we come under bondage to the flesh, which is being described here as lying between two burdens.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
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.

Jdg 10:2  And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir. 

Tola judged Israel for twenty three years and died. The number twenty three is used negatively to suggest a period in our lives where we are ruled by our old man, and therefore we end up doing evil in the sight of God and are disqualified from any inheritance. That is what happened to us under the reign of our old man (Tola).

Tola dying and being buried in Shamir means that holding on to our false doctrines will bring about our spiritual death, that is, we do not come to know the truth in this life. That is why we are commanded to leave Babylon, which is a stronghold of false doctrines.

2Ki 23:31  Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 
2Ki 23:32  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 

Num 26:62  And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Jdg 10:3  And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years. 

After Tola came a judge by name Jair who reigned in Israel for twenty-two years. A reign of twenty-two years depicts a period in our lives when we were under the influence of the old man as signified by the twenty-two year reign of Jeroboam and Ahab, who were wicked rulers who led Israel to worship idols. Jair means an enlightener according to Strong’s dictionary. Thus, Jair represents our Lord Jesus. It is during this period of darkness in our lives, or the experience of evil, that the Lord comes to us to enlighten us to begin to understand the truth.

1Ki 14:20  And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

1Ki 16:29  And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

2Ki 8:26  Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 
2Ki 8:27  And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab.

Jdg 10:4  And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead. 
Jdg 10:5  And Jair died, and was buried in Camon. 

Both Joseph and David became kings at the age of thirty. The number thirty therefore symbolizes the time that our new man starts to reign in our lives as our old man has commenced the dying process. So the fact that Jair had thirty sons who were riding 30 ass colts and having thirty cities is to tell us that the enlightener, who is Christ, has started his work in us to judge us to begin the process of putting the old man to death for the birth of the new man who is to reign in our lives. The death of Jair represents the death of our Lord Jesus for our sins. Jair was buried in Camon. The name Camon means elevation. So the death of our Lord Jesus is to elevate the new man in us to the position of rulership of our bodies in this life and outwardly, over the world when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Gen 41:46  And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

2Sa 5:4  David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Num 4:23  From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.

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

Jdg 10:6  And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him. 

The Israelites turned to the gods of Syria, Zidon, Moab, Ammon and Philistines. As long as we are controlled by our old man or the flesh, we cannot please God. We end up worshiping another Jesus (the gods of this world), therefore setting ourselves up for God’s judgment in this life if we are destined to overcome.

Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

Jdg 10:7  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. 

The anger of the Lord is His judgment. As we know from scriptures, the essence of God’s judgment in our lives is to destroy or put to death our old man, and in the process, bring us to learn righteousness.

Num 32:13  And the LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. 

Lam 2:2  The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. 
Lam 2:3  He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. 

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
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.

In this circumstance, the judgment God meted out to the children of Israel was letting the Philistines and the Ammonites overcome them. In order to understand the kind of oppression posed by these enemies – Philistines and Ammonites – let us take a look at who they were.

The Philistines were people who were very religious and worshiped many gods. Their main god was Dagon who was thought to be the god of grain, and they were comfortable accommodating the worship of God when they captured the Ark of the Lord in battle. The Ammonites, on the other hand, are described as being descendants of Ben-ammi, who was the son of Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and Lot’s younger daughter (Genesis 19:38) and therefore represent our flesh as the Ammonites are related to our father Abraham.  So the combination of the Philistines and the Ammonites oppressing Israel means that God gives our flesh (Ammonites) over to worship another Jesus. We therefore changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped the creature more than the creator when we were in the churches of this world (Babylon).

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 
Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 
Rom 1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 
Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 

Jdg 10:8  And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 

The Philistines and the Ammonites oppressed the Israelites for eighteen years. This is insightful as the number eighteen signifies a period in our lives when we were under satanic oppression resulting in us being powerless before the enemies within and wallowing in our own vomit. Remember, there was a woman in Jesus’ time who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years. Surprisingly, it was Jesus who saw her and came to her aid. In likewise manner, Jesus sees our situation and will not leave us alone to be oppressed by our enemies, if we are destined to overcome.

Luk 13:10  And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 
Luk 13:11  And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 
Luk 13:12  And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 
Luk 13:13  And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 

Luk 13:16  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Jdg 10:9  Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. 

The Israelites were in sore distress as a result of worshiping another Jesus. This experience of evil is like the pains we go through when struck by scorpions with their deadly venom. That is what brings us to our wits’ end when we are judged by the Lord.

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 

Jdg 10:10  And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. 

Our judgment brings us to see who we really are. It is through judgment that we realize that we are the worse sinners and that we cannot help ourselves. This experience of evil therefore brings us to the point of asking for God’s intervention in our lives.

Psa 22:14  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: 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 cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 

Psa 22:19  But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 
Psa 22:20  Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 

Psa 22:21  Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 

Jdg 10:11  And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? 
Jdg 10:12  The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. 

God is always reminding us of His deliverance in our lives in time past to remind us that whatever situation we finds ourselves in, He is able to do exceedingly beyond what we can think or imagine.

Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 

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

Jdg 10:13  Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. 
Jdg 10:14  Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. 

When we are in trouble and we cry to Him, God only comes in when our tribulation has run its course. That is, when we have learned the lessons we need to know from our fiery trials so we can live righteously. In verse 13 it is stated that the Lord said that He will not deliver the Israelites any more. That is not the sum of God’s word. Rather, what our Lord was saying was that the sorrow of this world leads to spiritual death. In other words, there is no deliverance in this life.  However, if we are called and chosen, then our tribulation will result in godly sorrow which will lead to repentance and ultimately our deliverance by the Lord.

2Co 7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 
2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 

Jdg 10:15  And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. 
Jdg 10:16  And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. 

The Israelites here represent the elect as they repented from their sins. What happened to the Israelites is the godly sorrow which leads to repentance and salvation. As we are aware, the judgment of the Lord in our lives is for the purpose of learning righteousness. That was what happened to the Israelites. They learned obedience by the things they suffered just as our Lord Jesus learned obedience through suffering.

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; 

We are all learning obedience through our fiery trials. We are just like the prodigal son who wasted our Lord’s resources in going after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Through tribulation, we repent of our sins and come back to our Lord Jesus who is always waiting for us to go through the full course of our tribulation. That is when we become perfect, complete and lacking in nothing.

Jas 1:2  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 
Jas 1:3  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 
Jas 1:4  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)

Luk 15:14  And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 
Luk 15:15  So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 
Luk 15:16  And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 
Luk 15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 
Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 
Luk 15:20  And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 

Jdg 10:17  Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh. 

It is only when we go through our fiery trials that we are able to take a stand against our enemy within. As David said, “I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them.”

Psa 18:4  The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 
Psa 18:5  The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. 
Psa 18:6  In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. 

Psa 18:35  Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. 
Psa 18:36  Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. 
Psa 18:37  I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 

Jdg 10:18  And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

“What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon?”  The question being asked here is the same as wanting to know who the overcomers are. The overcomers are those who wage war against the flesh or the old man in this life, resulting in the death of the old man and the birth of the new man. This war against the flesh is not won by our effort or anything that we do.  Our Lord fights our battle for us as He has shown us in several places of the scriptures how He won the battle for the Israelites without the Israelites engaging in any fight. For example, Gideon and his three hundred men won the fight against the Midianites by not fighting them in battle.

Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 
Jdg 7:20  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 
Jdg 7:21  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 
Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. 

If we are called and chosen by the Lord, then we are destined to win this war against the flesh. Verse 18 indicates that the man who is able to fight against the children of the Ammonites (our flesh) will be made head of all the inhabitants of Gilead. This is to confirm to us that if we win this war against the flesh or our old man, we shall reign over the earth when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. In this life however, we shall rule over our body.

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. 

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

[Study Aired May 16, 2021]

Jer 9:1  Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jer 9:2  Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
Jer 9:3  And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
Jer 9:4  Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
Jer 9:5  And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Jer 9:6  Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
Jer 9:7  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
Jer 9:8  Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
Jer 9:9  Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer 9:10  For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
Jer 9:11  And I will make Jerusalem heaps, 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?

Jeremiah is the author of two books in the Bible, and both deal with the judgment of the Lord upon His people. There are fifty-two chapters of this prophecy of Jeremiah, and the other book written by this prophet is the book of Lamentations, which gives Jeremiah the title of ‘The weeping prophet’. We are just beginning the ninth chapter of this fifty-two-chapter prophecy. As we progress in this account of our judgment, those who are being judged in this present time will identify with all the rebellions and transgressions revealed to be in our flesh within the pages of this prophecy of our judgment in “this present time” (Rom 8:18). The description of the seven last plagues in Revelation 16 is a condensed version of the books of Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations.

Being given a part in the “blessed and holy… first resurrection” is the benefit and reward of enduring the seven last plagues of the Lord’s judgment upon the kingdom of the beast within each of us in “this present time”:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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.

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

Four times in Psalms 107 the Lord beseeches each of us to be grateful for being given eyes that see and ears that hear the details of our own judgment, which is now upon the Lord’s elect.

Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD  for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

“His goodness” referred to here is the mercy He displays in the chastening He bestows upon us in the verses preceding these four verses.

This prophecy of Jeremiah demonstrates that the Lord chastens and scourges every son He receives (Heb 12:6).

For that reason, the weeping prophet continues his lamentation:

Jer 9:1  Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jer 9:2  Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

“Oh… that I might weep day and night for the daughter of my people” is the same spirit expressed by the apostle Paul when he said:

Rom 9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3  For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

In bewailing the condition of the Lord’s people and saying “Oh… that I might leave my people and go from them! For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men” Jeremiah is essentially saying:

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

“All nations… and the kings of the earth” are all the idols of our hearts which separate us from our Lord. These include our closest associates and friends:

Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Receiving double according to our wicked works is known as:

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

To what is the word “here” referring? What exactly is the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus? The preceding verses are what the word “here” references:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

It is the “worship of the beast and his image, and… the mark of his name which ”lets [restrains]” the coming of Christ  within us:

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [restrains] will let [restrain], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy  with the brightness of his coming:

“Now you know” refers to the previous verses which speak of “the man of sin… the son of perdition” being revealed within the temple of God, which temple is the dominion of our hearts and minds:

2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

What had Paul told these Thessalonians when he was with them? Paul’s gospel was consistent wherever he traveled and preached. He had told these Thessalonians the same exact same thing about the subject of the temple of God that he had told the Corinthian church about “the temple of God”, which was:

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.
1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The human body is the temple of God, and yet, by the Lord’s own design, it is first the temple where Satan’s throne is located:

Rev 2:13  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat [Greek: ‘thronos’, throne] 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.

There it is. “Satan [first] dwells… among [us]. We “hold fast [Christ’s] name” even while we dwell where Satan’s throne is, which ‘throne’ is the dominion which first is given to Satan over our hearts and minds.

For that reason, Jeremiah continues revealing our own judgment:

Jer 9:3  And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

My own ‘process from evil to evil was from the blasphemous ‘God is love, sinners will burn in hell’ doctrine of mainstream Protestant Pentecostalism to the self-righteous, under-the-law doctrines of the ‘Armstrong-centric’ Worldwide Church of God, and from that insidious self-righteous harlot to the even more insidious and self-destructive greasy grace of the Concordant conferences. Every time we think we are making a step in the right direction in hindsight we look behind us and realize that we must:

Jer 9:4  Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
Jer 9:5  And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

“They… will not speak the Truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity” is accomplished through the greasy-grace doctrine being peddled by all the ecumenical seeking Christian denominations, both Protestant and Catholic, who subscribe to the mantra of “Agreement in the essentials; tolerance in the non-essentials; but love in all things.” Being the whores they all are, they will tell you what are “the essentials” and what are “the nonessentials”, and they will even tell you what their definition of the word ‘love’ is. Rest assured it is not in agreement with the scriptures which define love thusly:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

While in the grip of the great harlot she must keep us from knowing that the love of God is defined as ‘keeping His commandments’ because His commandments belie her lying mantra of “Agreement in the essentials, tolerance in the non-essentials, and love in all things”.

It is impossible to love God and keep these commandments and remain faithful to the great whore and her daughters and their lying doctrines.

This is what Christ had to say about the ‘non-essentials’ of the Word of God.

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

What part of this commandment to “live by every Word of God” is “non-essential”???

Here is another commandment which the apostle Paul “beseeches [us]” to keep and obey:

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that  [1] ye all speak the same thing, and that [2] there be no divisions among you; but that [3] ye be perfectly joined together  in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Co 1:13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

This commandment to be of “the same mind” is part of “every Word which proceeds out of the mouth of God.” It is repeated three other times in the New Testament:

Rom 12:16  Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Php 4:2  I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.

Christ is not a legal ‘organization’ of men. Christ, like His Word, is a living spiritual organism which is:

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living, and potent, and sharper, above every two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division both of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and discernible of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

“The Word of God” has discerned that “the thoughts and intentions of the heart” tell us we need denominations among us, while the voice of the True Shepherd commands us “that there be no divisions among you”. When the Lord’s flock is encouraged to do the exact opposite of what the Lord Himself commands us to do, then this is what Christ Himself commands us:

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow,  but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Here is a defense of the indefensible mantra of the ‘great harlot and her daughters’… “Unity in the essentials, tolerance in the non-essentials, love in all things” taken from this site which claims to be the best on the internet on the subject of Christian denominations:

https://www.christianvalour.com/christian-denominations-guide/#whatgetsyououtoftheclub

“What Gets You Out of The Club?

“How do we decide what is a legit Christian denomination, and what is not? After all, anyone can call themselves a Christian.

It comes down to a few core beliefs which are considered clear and fundamental teachings, according to the Bible, by the majority of Christian denominations.

Belief in Jesus, as I described above is one. The other is the doctrine of the trinity.

You may have heard the term before.

The word ‘trinity’ is not in the Bible.

However, the trinitarian view of God best describes the Bible’s words regarding the relationship between the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Generally speaking, it is the Bible’s teaching that there are three personal, unique persons, that make up the One Godhead.

They are God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit.

Three persons – one God.

To deny that any one of them is God is to deny the Bible’s clear teaching about God.

This is what Christians have taught and believed since the very beginning of Christianity.

This is the universally understood nature of the Christian God that is common to all Christian denominations.

So we can say, based on what we’ve discussed, that a group or person is definitely not Christian if they:

1. Deny the trinity, especially if they…
2. Deny Christ’s Deity (and humanity) or they…
3. Deny God’s sovereignty, and finally if they…
4. Distort the Bible’s teaching in any way that, logically leads to a denial of 1, 2 or 3

These are not the only things, but they are super important. No true Christian group would deny any of these teachings.

So the next big question is, if all Christians believe in Jesus, and the Bible teaches us about him, why are there so many denominations?

To understand better the differences between Christian Denominations we need to understand a little bit of Christian history.” (End quote)

“No true Christian [denomination] would deny any of these teachings” is true because ‘denominations’ have no place in the body of Christ:

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Co 1:13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

No, Christ is not divided, but those who believe in a trinitarian God are divided multiple thousands of times, witnessing against themselves that they do not know the Christ of scripture who taught:

Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.

If the God head were indeed a trinity, then Jesus Christ Himself just slapped His so-called “equal” in the face by leaving him completely out of the picture in that statement.

The Catholic Encyclopedia confesses to changing the text of Matthew 28:19 from “in My name” to:

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Here are all the verses in the New Testament which mention the baptismal formula that was originally used by all the apostles. Not once is the holy spirit mentioned as being anything other than the gift of God, and that appears in the very first entry:

Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Act 8:12  But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Act 8:16 For as yet he was fallen upon none of them:  only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Act 10:48 And he [Peter] commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

Act 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Act 22:16 And now why tarriest you? arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

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

1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul? [Posing this question implies that the baptismal formula of Acts was “In the name of the Lord Jesus” – Act 19:5]

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

In Acts 22:16 the apostle Paul poses the question, “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” He did not tell these Ephesians to ‘call on the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’! What this demonstrates is that there is ONLY one name under heaven whereby we can be saved:

Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

It is through the holy spirit of God that we are instructed: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the NAME of Jesus Christ” (Act 2:38).

Yes, the scriptures clearly reveal that “the holy spirit” is not a person at all but is simply “the holy spirit of God”:

Eph 4:30  And grieve not the holy spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

If there were a trinity should not Eph 4:30 read ‘And grieve not God, the holy spirit’ instead of “the holy spirit of God”? The fact is that the ‘holy spirit’ is never once referred to as a person. Using the pronoun ‘he’ does not make the holy spirit a person any more than referring to sin with the pronouns ‘his and him’ makes sin a person:

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

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.

If the holy spirit is equal with God, then why is he not coming to us of his own accord. Why must “the Father… send” him?

Yes, it is true, the apostles were physically baptizing disciples in the first few decades of the church. They simply had not yet been shown that the true and only baptism is:

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

We fail to realize that the apostles had to grow in the knowledge of the Lord just as any of us do. The sum of the Lord’s words reveals that the apostles were still offering blood offerings in the temple at Jerusalem decades after the ultimate sacrifice had been made:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

It was “the holy spirit which made that decision that the Gentiles need not keep the law:

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Where were Christ and His Father at this time? The answer, of course is that Christ comes to us through the holy spirit, and “the holy spirit [is the spirit] of God” (Eph 4:30)!

The apostles were physically baptizing and still living under the law of Moses for the Jews because that was “the present Truth” for them at that time, as we are told there in Acts 15:28.

2Pe 1:12  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

The lie of a trinitarian God is an evil spirit sent to deceive mankind and keep them from coming to know Christ. This lie is the basis and foundation for many other false doctrines. Without the doctrine of a trinitarian God, there could be no trinitarian man with a mortal body of flesh and an immortal soul and an immortal spirit. Without an immortal soul, there could be no Godless eternal hell, or the most heinous and demonic doctrine of eternal torment in literal flames of fire. Yet many Christians will give up the pagan holiday of Christmas before they will relinquish their lying, monstrous, demonic doctrine of eternal hell fire.

I tell the true story of seeing a church marquee which read “God is love” and right under that statement the words “Sinners will burn in hell”.

All the false doctrines of the great harlot are the home of our old man. They are a lying habitation which must be burned up which brings us to the verse from which we took the title of today’s study:

Jer 9:6  Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.

Ezekiel calls the false doctrines of the great harlot “briers and thorns and scorpions”:

Eze 2:6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

It requires His loving chastening grace to judge us and burn all these lies out of each of us (Tit 2:11-12, and Heb 12:6):

Jer 9:7  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

“How shall I do for the daughter of My people?” Isaiah answers this question in no uncertain terms:

Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

Like any loving Father, our Lord chastens and scourges us to forsake the kingdom of our old man:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching (Greek: ‘paideuo’, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

That is what is required by the Lord’s design, because without the seven last plagues of the Lord’s wrath being poured out upon the kingdom of our old man, we are simply what we are made to be, which is:

Jer 9:8  Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
Jer 9:9  Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

“An arrow shot out” is a false doctrine which will tell you that “God is love” and in the same breath the moment you turn your back that same lying spirit is condemning you to eternal torment in literal flames of literal fire… “God is love… sinners will burn in hell.”

Jer 9:10  For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
Jer 9:11  And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

“Jerusalem… a den of dragons” is what is also said of those who are in Babylon:

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
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.

Not one minister in Babylon can understand that he must come out of his connection to this lying daughter of the “great red dragon”, as the next two verses of Revelation 18 demonstrate:

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,  Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Christ has chosen the weak, base and despised of this earth to give His wisdom and understanding:

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?

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

“Who is the wise man that may understand this…that…may declare it?” Daniel answers this question for us:

Dan 12:8  And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Dan 12:9  And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Dan 12:10  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Contrast the closing of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament with the closing of the book of Revelation in the New Testament:

Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

The ends of the ages have come upon us:

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

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

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:
Jer 9:15  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
Jer 9:16  I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Jer 9:17  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
Jer 9:18  And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
Jer 9:19  For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
Jer 9:20  Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
Jer 9:21  For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
Jer 9:22  Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
Jer 9:23  Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
Jer 9:24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Jer 9:25  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

Jer 9:26  Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

Jer 4:1-9 – Break Up Your Fallow Ground, and Sow Not Among Thorns

[Study Aired February 21, 2021]

Jer 4:1  If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
Jer 4:2  And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
Jer 4:3  For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
Jer 4:4  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Jer 4:5  Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
Jer 4:6  Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
Jer 4:7  The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
Jer 4:8  For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
Jer 4:9  And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

The title of this study comes from verse 3 and is in effect an admonition to “occupy till I come”. That is what Christ told His disciples in this parable:

Luk 19:11  And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
Luk 19:12  He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13  And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

The opposite of “occupy till I come” is to leave your ground “fallow”. It is “hiding your talent in the ground, and doing nothing with it:

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

The opposite of fallow ground and the way we ‘occupy and break up our fallow ground’ is “return[ing] unto… the Lord… in truth, in judgment and in righteousness, and seeking first the kingdom of God’. Returning to the Lord means that we are seeking Him and His kingdom before anything and everything else.

That is the admonition we are given here in Jeremiah 4:

Jer 4:1  If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
Jer 4:2  And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
Jer 4:3  For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

These three verses taken alone might lead us to believe we can simply repent of our sins and thereby avoid the fiery judgments of the wrath of God. However, Jeremiah goes on to make clear that is not the case:

Jer 4:7  The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

We will discuss this verse more when we get to it, but suffice it to say “no man can enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled”:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Our next verse here in Jeremiah reveals that the ritual of circumcision was but a type of the spiritual circumcision of the heart:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The Old Testament covenant the Lord made with Abraham was over 400 years prior to His covenant with Israel to keep the law of Moses. It was a covenant to ritually circumcise all the males in Abraham’s house. It was prior to the law of Moses and was a mere symbol of spiritual circumcision which would come only after the law brought us to Christ. This spiritual application is revealed here in Jeremiah even though it was not given them to see that physical circumcision was just a shadow of the coming spiritual reality:

Jer 4:4  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Removing the foreskins of our hearts is breaking up our fallow ground. Spiritual circumcision is the reality which is symbolized by physical circumcision and has the same meaning as physical water baptism. Both symbolize being washed and putting off the filthiness of our corruptible flesh. Notice how the outward physical symbols of the Old Testament and the law of Moses are being replaced with the inward spiritual realities of “the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2) in the New Testament:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

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

When the Lord finally gives the apostles the understanding that they are no longer under the law of Moses, it is also revealed that the only ‘water’ that will wash us clean of our sins is “the washing of water by the word”.

So, we need to know how does our believing Christ and His words cleanse us? How does His word cleanse and purify us? The answer is that it does so through physical and mental pain, symbolized by the fiery trials we endure when “judgment begins at the house of God”:

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

“Fiery trials… [are] to try us”. There is no way to get to the tree of life but to go through the “flaming [fiery] sword [“trials”] which keeps the way [of] the tree of life”:

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

The “flaming sword… turns every way” because it is ever vigilant to burn out of us every false doctrine which is contrary to “the way, the Truth and the Life” which is Christ and His doctrines:

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

If this statement is true, then Christ is symbolized by both the tree of life and by the flaming sword which guards the way of the Tree of Life.

The entire prophecy of Jeremiah is all about this fiery process of being purified by fire, which Paul tells us we are enduring at this very moment if we are Christ’s:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the [fiery] sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body [“The redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:14)].

Peter told us “judgment must begin at the house of God”, but Paul tells us that in time judgment is coming to “every man” and it is described in fiery words:

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.

In our next chapter Jeremiah gives us the Biblical meaning of the symbolism of ‘fire’. This is the meaning, whether it is speaking of “My words in your mouth” or “hell (Gehenna) fire”:

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

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell [Greek: Gehenna] fire.

This entire prophecy of Jeremiah is addressed primarily to the Lord’s elect and concerns their ‘fiery’ judgment for all their sins and iniquities.

The words “sow not among the thorns” admonish us that the fiery words of Christ will devour our old man with all of His rebellious, lying, false doctrines.

Isa 10:17  And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

Isa 27:4  Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Here is the Biblical symbolism of ‘briers and thorns’:

Eze 2:6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns [H5544: sillon/sallon] be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

This same Hebrew word is translated as ‘brier’ (briar) in this verse:

Eze 28:24  And there shall be no more a pricking brier [H5544: sillon, salon] unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn [H6975: qots] all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

In the New Testament the word ‘thorn’ carries the same meaning of false, lying words when Christ says:

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns [G173: akantha] is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Briars and thorns “choke the word” because they are false doctrines and lies which make us to “become unfruitful”.

What the Lord is telling us is that we must stop believing and teaching falsehoods, such as the false doctrine of a substitutionary atonement, or the doctrines which deny His fiery judgments. We should instead be teaching the Truth, which is that “every man’s works shall be… revealed by fire”, and that we are expected of our Lord to “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice… die daily… [and be] crucified with Christ”:

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.

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

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

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

The verbs of 1^st Corinthians 3:13 are all in the future tense, because Paul is speaking of judgment which awaits “every man” and not just the elect. The other three verses in Romans, 1^st Corinthians 15:31 and Galatian 2:20 are all in the aorist tense because he is speaking of a process which must begin taking place before we can begin to enter into our inheritance within the kingdom of God. This process of judgment must begin within us before we can begin to enter the house of our Husband, the temple of Christ (Rev 15:8).

All the doctrines of Christ have been taken away from the Lord’s harlot wife, His harlot church:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! [Rev 17-18] it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

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

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;

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

With this understanding, Jeremiah continues:

Jer 4:5  Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
Jer 4:6  Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
Jer 4:7  The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

“The lion is come up from his thicket” is a type of our adversary the devil:

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The “blow[ing of] the trumpet [and the] evil… and a great destruction [coming] from the north” both symbolize the blowing of the seven trumpets of our judgment which will, in time, “make our spiritual cities desolate” and waste and destroy the kingdom of our rebellious and stubborn old man:

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

Here is the John Mitchell Version of this verse:

1Co 10:11   Now all these things went on progressively stepping together among (to) those folks typically (as examples; figuratively), and it was written with a view toward a placing [of them] into the minds of us: ones unto whom (directed into whom) the ends (conjunctions; or: goals) of the ages have come down to (arrived at) and are now face to face [with us]. (JMV)

Here is our introduction to the seven trumpet judgments, the last of which is the seven bowls which “fill up the wrath of God” upon the great whore within us and upon the entire kingdom of our old man:

Rev 8:1  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Rev 8:5  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Rev 8:6  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

“The destroyer of the Gentiles” is the Gentile king who, as ‘the seed of the serpent’, seeks to devour the ‘seed of the woman’ – the Lord’s elect. Inwardly you and I see this “destroyer” every morning in our mirrors. He is by far the worst enemy you and I will ever meet in this life. He is the “man of sin… standing in the holy place in “the temple… which [we] are”, claiming to be God”:

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.

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 [“the beast” within] be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God [“… which temple ye are…” 1Co 3:16-17], shewing himself that he is God.

Our only hope of defeating this monster is through “the faith of Jesus Christ” and through “the washing of water by the Word”:

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.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

“His heel” means our walk… our way of life… our way of life under his influence. “Thy head” is our way of thinking, which in time will “bruise his head” and will dominate our way of life through “the faith of Jesus Christ”. Remember the Lord has just admonished us:

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:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

This fourth chapter continues with this same theme as we just read:

Jer 4:4  Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

This verse taken by itself deceives us into thinking that if we repent we can avoid being chastened for our sins. The Truth is to be found only in “the sum of [His] words”:

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

“The sum of [His] words” reveals that the Lord “chastens and scourges every son He receives” (Heb 12:6), and “the fire tries the works of “every man”, and “no man might enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled within our lives (Rev 15:7-8):

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

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

This chapter goes on to reveal what “My fury coming forth like fire” means. It means that the trumpet of judgment produces war in our heavens, and that ‘war’ is certain:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;
Rev 12:8  And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. (ASV)

That ‘war’ and the Lord’s fury are unavoidable “because of the evil of [our] doings”. Our judgment is coming “out of the north” via a Gentile who will be used by the Lord to judge our old man. That “destroyer of the Gentiles” is our old man whose own mouth is used by the Lord to judge us. We are all in a net we have prepared for ourselves, and we are caught in our own net with our own words:

Job 18:8  For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.

Job 19:6  Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

Psa 66:11  Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.

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

When we acknowledge our own iniquity and transgressions, we still must endure our own judgment:

Jer 4:8  For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

Verse 8 is a foundation for these words in the revelation of Jesus Christ within each of us:

Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The beast giving the seven vials to the seven angels, the temple filling up with smoke, and the entering the temple are one and all in the aorist tense. Greek has a past, present and future tense just as English has all three tenses, plus the aorist tense (not used in English) which can denote all three, a continuance of what was begun. Therefore, when the holy spirit defers to the aorist tense there is a particularly good reason for doing so. That reason is that the words of this prophecy have been being ‘read, being heard, and have been being kept’ for the past two thousand years:

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation [reading, hearing, and keeping the things written] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

What this is telling us is that the process of being judged continues when these seven vials are being poured out. These seven vials (bowls) are the seventh trumpet, and this is what we are told of the seventh trump:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Both verbs ‘begin’ and ‘sound’ are in the present tense because both have been ‘presently’ taking place within the lives of the Lord’s elect every day since those words were written, and they are taking place within us even now if we are the Lord’s elect. The fact that the word “begin” is used demonstrates a process is taking place.

Our harlot mother taught us that if we simply accept Christ as our savior, then we are good to go. “Christ died for us so we have no need to die”, so she told us. It is called “the doctrine of substitutionary atonement”, and it is one of the most insidious and lascivious lies of the great whore and her daughters. Nothing could be less truthful when the entire message of the scripture is:

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

We are both judged, and we are “saved… by fire”. The Truth of the scriptures is that “No man [is] able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled” in our lives.

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

The Truth of the scriptures is that Christ did not die for us so we would not have to die, rather He died for our sins so we, too, could “be crucified with Him… filling up in our bodies what is behind of His afflictions… for His body’s sake which is the church”:

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

The word translated as ‘behind’ here in Colossians 1:24 in the King James is:

G5303
ὑστέρημα
husterēma
hoos-ter’-ay-mah
From G5302; a deficit; specifically poverty: – that which is behind, (that which was) lack (-ing), penury, want.

If indeed Christ’s death were in substitution for our death, then why are we instructed to “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice unto God”? If Christ’s death is in substitution for our death, then why must we also “die daily” and be “crucified with Christ”? The obvious answer is that there must be something which is “behind… [lacking] of His afflictions”, as we are explicitly told there in Colossians 1:24.

That is exactly what Christ also told us earlier, hidden from this world in these words:

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

Based on these words, it follows that we, too, must be “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20)… and fill up what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake which is the church (Col 1:24).

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

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:

For the benefit of any who doubt that the Greek word ‘husterema’ means “lacking”, here are a couple examples of how this word is used elsewhere in the New Testament:

1Co 16:17  I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking [G5303: husterema, lacking] on your part they have supplied.

2Co 11:9  And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking [G5303: husterema, lacking] to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

After this process of judgment has begun to take place within us…

Jer 4:9  And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

“The heart of the king” is the heart and mind of our old man within us. The ‘princes, priests and prophets’ symbolize all the principalities and powers of all the false doctrines within us. All those false doctrines within us have begun to fall, and this is what they are “wondering”:

Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

When the knowledge of the sovereign God begins to be made known to us, the Lord’s work within us, from the Lord’s perspective, is “a short work”:

Rom 9:28  For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

That is our study for today. Here are our verses for our next study which will reveal more of our sins and more of the details of our judgment at the hands of our jealous Husband:

Jer 4:10  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
Jer 4:11  At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
Jer 4:12  Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
Jer 4:13  Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
Jer 4:14  O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Jer 4:15  For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
Jer 4:16  Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
Jer 4:17  As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 4:18  Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
Jer 4:19  My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Jer 4:20  Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

Isa 32:9-20 Tremble, You Women Who are at Ease - Discussion

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Isa 32:9-20 Tremble, You Women Who Are At Ease

Isa 32:9  Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
Isa 32:10  Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
Isa 32:11  Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
Isa 32:12  They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
Isa 32:13  Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Isa 32:14  Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Isa 32:15  Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
Isa 32:16  Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
Isa 32:17  And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
Isa 32:18  And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
Isa 32:19  When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
Isa 32:20  Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

The "Women at ease [and the] careless daughters" of these verses are the same harlot daughters of the great whore out of whom we all come:

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

What this means is that we are these "careless daughters", who in our own time think we sit as Christ's queen and will see no sorrow:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

You and I might think Revelation 18:7 would give pause and concern to every prosperity evangelism minister in the world, but the exact opposite is true. This is how we all feel just before Christ comes into our life and begins to judge and to destroy the kingdom of our old man in this age. So we are admonished:

Isa 32:9  Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Isa 32:10  Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

This is where we all have our origins, hearing all the smooth things negating judgment and at the same time putting huge burdens on any who dare to differ with the doctrine of this great whore.

Mat 23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

The doctrines of eternal torment and tithing come to mind as grievous burdens which are laid on the shoulders of millions by men who do nothing for those upon whom they place these burdens. You and I have done this in our own time, and in our own way. A person can tithe to a church for decades, yet when that person is in need those same men who are exacting that tithe are no where to be found. 'Social Security takes care of the fatherless and the widows these days', was what we told the poor stuggling tithe payers who were in need.

Our flesh is just naturally unfaithful to anyone other than ourselves:

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

We nourish and cherish our own flesh and yet Christ gives Himself for us while we make ourselves "at ease".  So the Lord admonishes us:

Isa 32:11  Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

The Lord is dragging us all to see our own nakedness because our nakedness is our sins, and we should replace our sins with the clothes of mourning and repentance. This is just another way of telling us that judgment must begin at that house of God:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Isa 32:12  They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

When we are finally brought to see our own self-righteous sins, judgment has then only begun at the house of God.  Breasts, pleasant fields, and the fruitful vine, all provide nourishment, and the lies of Babylon claim to provide that nourishment. However, if the Lord is merciful we are given to see that in reality we are spiritually starving to death. "By little and little" we are shown that everything we ever believed was a lie.

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

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

While being judged we come to see that instead of the nourishment of breasts, pleasant fields and the fruitful vine, what we have all along been living on was nothing more than a starvation diet of spiritual "thorns and briers":

Isa 32:13  Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

This realization and this revelation does not happen overnight. It takes months and years for any of us to see that all of our spiritual bread and all of our spiritual water has been tainted with the heresies of Babylon. It is nothing less than spiritual death and resurrection:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Christ's death was in an earthen vessel, and His resurrection was to execute judgment. Christ was raised to life as a king and a priest. It is called "the resurrection of life":

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

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

What these verses are telling us is that if we never come to see that we were once deceived then "[our] sin remains", and like Job, the Lord's wrath remains upon our life.

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

The only way to "His resurrection" is by being the first to be judged in this age and by dying to sin and to the kingdom of our old man in these earthen vessels in this age. Being judged in this age means the complete destruction of the kingdom we have established in our self-righteous carnal mind, which we are beginning to see is "enmity against God" and must die day by day:

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

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

Isa 32:14  Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

It is the lies and deceits of the adversary that appeal to our spiritual wild beast which is our rebellious carnal minds. These lies and false doctrines are the principalities and powers of "the prince of the powers of the air" which are called "a joy of wild asses, a pasture of [the adversary's] flocks".

Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.
Jer 13:18  Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
Jer 13:19  The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Jer 13:20  Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

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

Judah and Israel being carried away by the Assyrians and Babylonians typifies our slavery to the doctrines of Babylon. Then, at the appointed time, the Lord begins to deliver us from this terrible captivity by opening our eyes to the blindness and deceit under which we have become enslaved. Then all those powers and principalities, "even the crown of [our] glory" is broken to pieces and crushed to powder and blown away by the Truth, which is the words and doctrines of Christ.

Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

That "stone" which destroys Nebuchadnezzar's image is "the stumbling stone and Rock of Offense" which has been growing generation by generation since the death and resurrection of Christ. It is symbolized by 144,000 firstfruits unto God and the Lamb, and it is they who will 'become a great mountain and will fill the whole earth". That is as sure as the rising of the sun!

But that same kingdom is growing within us at this time and as the mind of Christ grows within us the darkness and starvation of the pastures and fruitful fields of the adversary and of our carnal minds are transformed into the 'light that comes out of darkness' (2Co 4:6 and 1Pe 2:9), and the starvation of the doctrines of Babylon are replaced by the truly nourishing pastures and fruitful fields of the mind of Christ which fills all those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

"The poor in spirit" and "the meek" are one and the same, and it is "the kingdom of heaven" which inherits "the earth" and "the kingdoms of this world":

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders [God's elect, the poor in spirit], which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead [in Christ], that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

The Lord Himself explains how the pastures of the wild beasts becomes the pastures of the Lord's flock in these verses:

Isa 42:18  Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?

What the Lord is telling us is that until we recognize our blindness we cannot see or understand His words. That is the very meaning of these words:

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

We have all been there. I thought I was in the only true church for ten years. Why I was in so much 'light' that I was privileged to pay three tithes, attend sabbath services, do no work on the sabbath nor on any of the annual festivals, I could eat only clean meats, I could never mix fabrics, etc. etc. I was so sure my 'light' was truly 'light' because I was at that time keeping the seventh day sabbath. It was Christ's custom to enter into the synagogue on the sabbath, so I must surely be following Him if I did the same thing and made that my custom also:

Luk 4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

I now see that Luke 4:16 is not the sum of God's Word on the subject of the law of Moses, and the Truth is that what I was sure was 'the Truth' was really nothing less than "great... darkness".

But that blindness was only until the Truth of the spirit finally began to be poured out from on high, and that dark wilderness began to be destroyed and replaced by a truly fruitful field, as 'judgment began at the Lord's house' (1Pe 4:17):

Isa 32:15  Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
Isa 32:16  Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

The pouring out of the spirit is instantly evident, but the evidence of speaking with other languages on Pentecost typifies the fact that we only then begin to understand the meaning behind the words of scripture. The apostles were not spiritual giants on the day of Pentecost. They were given great faith and they were given to heal the lame and to work miracles, but doctrinally they were "yet... babes in Christ", still living under the law for the lawless and disobedient:

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

Being converted is not to be understood as the complete revelation of the "many things" which Christ had to show us. The pouring out of the spirit never ends and actually continues all our lives as we are able to bear that light:

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

It is in His great mercy that we are not given to understand all of His Word, all at once. The Lord always waits until He has prepared our hearts and minds to be able to receive His fiery words:

1Ch 29:18  O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Psa 10:17  LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

If our heavenly Father were to give us every truth, which He has prepared to reveal to us, all at once it would have the effect of destroying the wheat with the tares:

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

"While men slept" tells us that we are not as vigilant as we ought to be, and it shows us that heresies creep in when we least expect them and while we are being careless in our overseeing of the Lord's flock. This can only happen when "men sleep". That is why we are told that all of the ten virgins "slumbered and slept":

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

The espousal of the bride and the tarrying of the bridegroom take place now while we are still in "earthen vessels". The bridegroom is Christ and He is at this very moment waiting, 'tarrying' until His Father will give the Word to unleash His outward judgments upon this outward world, and give rewards to His firstfruits to rule over the kingdoms of this world:

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.
2Co 4:11  For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

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

"The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God" because we are already "espoused to one husband [and we are this very moment being] presented... as a chaste virgin to Christ."

But at "the time of harvest", the tares are the first thing to be gathered together to be burned in the fiery words of Christ. "The harvest" is not the resurrection in "the redemption of the purchased possession" form. 'The harvest' is this time of judgment which begins at the house of God during the down-payment form of the resurrection:

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

It is out of the midst of the righteous that the tares are being gathered and burned up during the time of harvest, which is the time of judgment which takes place in this age if we are the "first to trust in Christ":

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

"The ungodly and sinner" of whom Peter speaks will appear in "the second death/lake of fire". The 'fire' of that 'lake' is the same 'fire' of which we are told, "the time is come that [the Lord's fiery] judgment must begin at the house of God." That 'fire' is the Words and doctrines of Christ which consumes the tares which are being burned out of our lives in this time of judgment. But those who die in Christ and who die to their old man in this age will not be "hurt of the second death"/lake of fire" which is prepared for all who are not converted from being of their father the devil in this age.

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment [second death/lake of fire]: but the righteous into life eternal.

The lake of fire will effectuate the all in all, bringing life to all who are not part of the first resurrection, but compared to the blessings of the first resurrection those who are "hurt of the second death/lake of fire" are told "Depart from me you cursed in aionian fire prepared for the devil and his angels".

Let's repeat verse 16 and add verse 17:

Isa 32:16  Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
Isa 32:17  And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. [Hebrew: 'olawn' - the aion]

"The work of righteousness and its attendant peace, quietness, are the fruit of the Lord's judgments upon the kingdom of our old man in this life "in the earth":

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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.

If we are judged "beginning at the house of God" in this age, then we will be the recipients of His peace and His joy even in the midst of the trials of our faith:

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The apostle's advice and the spirit inspiring them was and is the same spirit which inspired the Old Testament scriptures:

Isa 32:18  And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

Christ is our dwelling place just as we are His dwelling place. Of course, we are all ultimately in the Father:

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

There can be no place where the Lord's people could possibly "dwell in a peaceable habitation" more than in Christ at His Father's right hand of power. This is how the spirit describes our place with Christ:

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

What does it mean to "gather together in one all things in Christ"? By whom does Christ do this? It certainly cannot be done by those over whom the second death has been given power. Here are they by whom those who are "hurt of the second death" will be brought into the goal of God being "all in all":

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

Christ's inheritance is in you and in me. It is manifestly not in those who are cast into the second death/lake of fire, who are "the fullness" of Christ. Rather, it is "the church which is His body which is the fullness of Him that fills all in all." That is "the exceeding greatness of His power toward us" who believe. It is the Lord's own plan to 'put all things under His feet and give Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, which is 'the fullness of Him that fills all in all'. Our calling requires being "given the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him [for] the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and... the exceeding greatness of His power toward us" to be appreciated or even understood!

We cannot understand or appreciate our calling until we acknowledge that our own old man must, in this age, die to his own fleshly desires and even witness the destruction of Babylon within each of us:

Isa 32:19  When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

Here is the positive function of 'hail' in scripture:

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Isa 32:20  Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

This blessing is placed upon "Ye that sow beside all waters", and when we accept the Biblical definition of the word 'waters' it becomes clear that this verse is telling us the day is coming when God will make clear that He is no respecter of persons and that it is He who is, even now, through His elect "sow[ing] by all waters":

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

"Peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" is the same description of from whence come the Lord's elect:

Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers [the true Jew] shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

These words are our Lord's words, and He is speaking them to a Samaritan Gentile woman, just as He said He would in His first recorded sermon:

Luk 4:24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luk 4:25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Luk 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luk 4:28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

The blessing of this last verse of Isaiah 32 is placed upon those who "sow beside all waters" and who are sent to both the Jews and to the Gentiles.

Isa 32:20  Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

Notice to whom the Lord was sending a converted 'Saul of Tarsus', the only apostle converted outside of Israel on the road to the Gentile city of Damascus:

Act 9:13  Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Act 9:14  And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
Act 9:15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

The Lord's elect are "redeemed... to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation":

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

It is the Lord's elect who "send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass". Notice what we read just two chapters earlier about these two beasts within us:

Isa 30:22  Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
Isa 30:23  Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
Isa 30:24  The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
Isa 30:25  And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter [of our old man], when the towers fall.
Isa 30:26  Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

As the apostle Paul points out:

1Co 9:9  For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
1Co 9:10  Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

These words here in Isaiah 30 and 32 are also written for our sakes, and not for oxen and asses. There is no doubt that it is we who will "eat provender which has been winnowed with a shovel and with the fan", and it will be clean, nourishing, spiritual food for those in Christ's "every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" elect.

Next week, as the Lord wills, we will find that "[our own] breath, as fire, [will] devour [us]", because the Lord will "judge [us] out of our own mouth":

Isa 33:1  Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
Isa 33:2  O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
Isa 33:3  At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
Isa 33:4  And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
Isa 33:7  Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
Isa 33:8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
Isa 33:9  The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
Isa 33:10  Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
Isa 33:11  Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
Isa 33:12  And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

Isa 27:1-6 The Lord Shall Slay the Dragon in the Sea - Discussion

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Isa 27:1-6 The Lord Shall Slay The Dragon in The Sea

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
Isa 27:3  I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
Isa 27:4  Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
Isa 27:5  Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.
Isa 27:6  He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

The good news of our study today is that leviathan will be punished, that piercing serpent, that crooked serpent, which is in this age "in the sea", in the flesh of every man, shall be slain, and the Lord's elect, His elect 'Jacob', His elect 'Israel', will be kept from harm, and will be "water[ed] every moment... night and day", by the Lord. The Lord's elect will "take root... blossom and bloom and fill the... world with fruit".

That is the good news which will come forth out of all the Lord is doing, but there is a "sore and great and strong sword"  involved in bringing all of this to pass. There are "briers and thorns" to be "burn[ed]... together" before we are dragged to "take hold of [His] strength" and "make peace" with [Him].

Our first verse has a very end-time tone in its words:

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

If we forget that these are the Lord's own inspired words, we might very well think, as some commentators do, that this is a prophecy which refers only to that climactic destruction of the adversary. However, we know that while these words do indeed include that period of time, they also had an application for Isaiah's time, as well as applying to every generation since Christ's physical life on earth. They will continue to be applicable in every future generation of mankind because Christ said:

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

So these words are, were and will be full of instruction for each of us in every generation, including "this generation" in which we live and which is reading these words.

We will get nothing edifying out of this verse of scripture if we miss the significance of the words 'leviathan' and the words 'in the sea'. To whom does 'leviathan' refer, and why are we told that he is "the dragon that is in the sea"?

The Hebrew word translated 'leviathan' is:

H3882
לויתן
livyâthân
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
leviathan, 5
Job_41:1, Psa_74:14, Psa_104:26, Isa_27:1 (2)
mourning, 1
Job_3:8

Notice this Hebrew word appears six times in the Old Testament, and the King James translates H3882 as 'leviathan' five times. Here are those five entries:

Job 41:1  Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

Psa 74:14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psa 104:26  There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Later in Job 41 we are told this of leviathan:

Job 41:31  He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

This is the verse preceding Psalms 74:14, which was noted above:

Psa 74:13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

The only place this Hebrew word is not manifestly connected with 'the sea' is in Job 3:8 where the King James inexplicably translates H3882 livyâthân as 'mourning':

Job 3:8  Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

This is the chapter where, because of the misery which the Lord has placed upon Job for condemning God and for Job's self-righteousness, Job curses the day of his birth. "Who are ready to raise up their mourning" is a terrible translation of what Job is saying here. The Hebrew word translated as 'mourning' is the word 'livyathan'. Many other translations catch this mistake and translate this verse more correctly:

Job 3:8  Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan. (ACV)

The ESV, the ASV, Bullinger, Darby, Concordant Literal, and many other versions, all translate this as "let them curse [the day of Job's birth] who are ready to rouse up leviathan"; meaning Job would rather deal with the Devil himself than to deal with his own pain and misery. He wants to die, but 'death flees from him'. (Rev 9:6)

Verse one states clearly that 'leviathan' is both "the crooked serpent" and "the dragon" who dwells "in the sea" (Isa 27:1). Leviathan is our worst enemy, and it is foolish to "rouse [him] up". Rousing up leviathan is the same as having the Lord harden our hearts (Rom 9:18) or being "delivered unto Satan for the destruction of our flesh" (1Co 5:5).

One last verse which ties leviathan, the dragon and the serpent together is:

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

There it is. "Leviathan" is the great dragon, the serpent, the Devil and Satan. They are all one and the same adversary of Christ and the adversary of His body, the church, which in her backslid state is also called "the woman" here in Revelation 12:

Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

This 'woman' is identified in her repentant positive state by the pronoun 'her', which we will soon see in our next verse, verse 2 of this 27th chapter of Isaiah.

But let's move on to discover the significance of leviathan dwelling "in the sea". If we are being told, "In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword... will slay the dragon that is in the sea" what exactly are we being told?

We know "His... sword" is His Word with which He does everything He does, including healing His people:

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

It is through "His Word" that we will discover the spiritual meaning of "the sea". Once we see clearly the Biblical meaning of "the sea", then we will know what the Lord means by, "[Christ] shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."

To understand what we are being told, let's go back to:

Psa 74:13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Psa 74:14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

The "break[ing] of the heads of the dragon... leviathan [is] meat to the people", just as the enemies of Israel were "bread for [them]":

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

Now let's notice where the beast within us all originates:

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

In scriptural terms our beast "rises up out of the sea". Knowing the beast within us is "out of the sea", this statement by Christ should take on far more significance:

Mar 1:16  Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mar 1:17  And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Mar 1:18  And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

The next two verses tell us Christ went a little farther down the shore of the sea of Galilee, where he also called two more fishermen, James and John the sons of Zebedee:

Mar 1:19  And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
Mar 1:20  And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

Christ was not taking them away from working in the 'sea'. He was simply giving them a new kind of 'fish' to catch and a different 'sea' on which to carry out their profession.

The beast of Revelation 13 symbolically rises "out of the sea" because "the sea" symbolizes the flesh of "the first man Adam" out of which all men rise.

So when we are told:

Psa 74:13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Psa 74:14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

We now know that "the dragon and leviathan" are one and the same, as "that old serpent, the Devil, and Satan", whose doctrines and whose carnal-minded way of life enslaves us from birth. Those "doctrines of devils" are now being broken and destroyed within us by the fiery, truthful words and doctrines of Christ within us, and it is now His fiery words which are proceeding from our hearts and out of our mouths:

Pro 18:4  The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.

Ecc 10:12  The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mat 15:20  These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

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

Here is a link for the spiritual significance of the number two.

Our own words will judge us. If they are Christ's words of wisdom, they will bring us life, and if they are the words of the naturally rebellious carnal mind, they will bring us death.

Job 15:6  Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

We really need to have merciful doctrines and speak words of wisdom and mercy because the Lord will answer us according to the idols of our hearts, and if those idols include an unmerciful God, then that is how He will show Himself to us:

2Sa 22:27  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury

Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

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

Consequently "the lake of fire" is called a 'lake', a small body of water, as opposed to a large vast 'sea', simply because that 'lake' is made up of  the "few chosen", in whose hearts and mouths are His fiery words of Truth, as opposed to the "many called", who will be cast into that fiery 'lake' to be judged and to "learn righteousness", as we are instructed in the previous chapter of this prophecy:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
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.

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

There it is plain and simple; the great white throne "judgment" is the "chastening of the Lord [for all] the [resurrected] dead, small and great":

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

The word of God is the "fire" spoken of here and throughout scripture as that which purifies:

Psa 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psa 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

Pro 30:5  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

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

Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Knowing this, we are now made aware of who it is who has the Lord's fiery words "in [their] mouths" and who it is who "dwells with the devouring fire" of their mouths:

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

The "fire" here is not of the Devil. The "everlasting burnings" are the pure words of our Lord as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times".

"Speaking uprightly" is the "fire" of "the lake of fire", which comes forth "from the heart... out of the mouths" of all who are, in this age, witnesses of the Truth which is all those spiritually flaming fiery words of the Lord:

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

The 'spirit' and the 'fire' are both the words of Christ:

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

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.

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

So now we know the meaning of 'leviathan', and we know why we are told, "He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."

Isa 27:1  In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Our next verse repeats the phrase, "In that day."

Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

"That day" is the day of the judgment of the kingdom of our old man. It is "in that day" we are instructed to "sing unto her", because it is through judgment that the Lord's bride "learns righteousness" (Isa 26:9).

The pronoun 'her' in this verse refers to "Jerusalem above, the mother of us all" of Galatians 4:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

"Sing to her" refers specifically to the symbolic "woman with child" of the previous chapter, who also laments her own barren condition:

Isa 26:16  LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
Isa 26:17  Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
Isa 26:18  We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Isa 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Isa 26:20  Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

Both of these women are the same woman, who has no carnal children in Babylon, but this woman brings forth children from among the dead. I repeat:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Christ and His Christ come out of "the bondwoman" of Revelation 12:

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

It was "the church in the wilderness" which brought forth Christ. Like the church in the wilderness, this woman in Revelation 12 is also "in... the wilderness", and just like ancient Israel, she, too, has a place prepared by God where He pours out His indignation, until it is overpast.

Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

What makes all of this impossible for the natural man to understand is that when we "come out of her" (Rev 18:4), when we come "out of... Babylon", we become the "manchild" who is "caught up to God and to his throne" where we are "seated with [Christ]" in the heavens, and there we become Jerusalem above "which is the mother of...all" those who follow Christ and do the things He says:

Mat 12:46  While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Mat 12:47  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
Mat 12:48  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Eph 2:6  So that we came back from death with him, and are seated with him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus; (BBE)

Now that we are "in Christ" we can say with Christ that we are in the heavens even as we are yet on this earth, as He told Nicodemas:

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

I have heard the question before, "How can you say we are the manchild of Revelation 12 and at the same time say we are the "her" of Isaiah 27:2?" The answer is that it is as simple as being a "son of God" and at the same time being "a chaste virgin... presented to one husband".

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

But Christ is our head, and therefore we can also become His "virgin... bride", even as we are also "the sons of God":

Isa 62:5  For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

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.

In this 27th chapter of Isaiah we are depicted as this "chaste virgin", this "bride", and we are here told:

Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

Our "husband", Christ, tells us this of His care for us, even as we are being judged "in that day":

Isa 27:3  I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

Elsewhere we are also given this same assurance of our husband's protection:

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.

The word has gone out:

Psa 105:14  He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
Psa 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

It really is hard for us to "kick against the pricks" as Saul of Tarsus discovered on the road to Damascus, where he was in the process of touching the Lord's anointed, and touching the apple of the Lord's eye.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

This is what began to happen to Saul of Tarsus at that very moment:

Isa 27:4  Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
Isa 27:5  Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

All of "the briers and thorns" in the heavens of Saul of Tarsus began to be burned out of him at that moment, just as they are being burned out of us here and now.  As the fiery words of Christ begin doing their work in our lives, we can rest in the Lord's peace which He imparts to all who are His, because He is with us and in us, and He is "the root of Jesse" in whom we are grounded:

Isa 27:6  He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

If we are faithful with what the Lord has given us, then we will partake of all the fruits of being "in Him", and He will keep us as His special "jewels".

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

In this sixth verse of our study today, Jacob symbolizes the Lord's espoused virgin bride, out of whom He has burned up all the briars and thorns and has brought her to want peace with Him, as any good wife would want peace with her loving and faithful husband. He has destroyed leviathan, "that old serpent the Devil, and Satan" for our sakes, because we are His faithful and fruitful vineyard for whom He will do battle and will overcome all enemies:

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

In our next study we will return to the judgments of the doomed kingdom of our old man, and we will learn how "the iniquity of Jacob [is being] purged":

Isa 27:7  Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?
Isa 27:8  In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
Isa 27:9  By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.
Isa 27:10  Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.
Isa 27:11  When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
Isa 27:12  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
Isa 27:13  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 36 Discussion

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Isa 7:21-25 For The Abundance of Milk... He Shall Eat Butter

[Updated February 26, 2017]

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25  And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

The detail that is in these prophesies is truly amazing. When we read, as we did last week...

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

...We tend to think that verse refers only to great spiritual earthquakes and the sounding of spiritual trumpets, which propel our spiritual growth. We fail to notice that word "nothing", and we fail to realize that in saying: " Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets", that would include the long drawn-​out period of our lives when, unbeknownst to us, we spiritually are "carnal babes in Christ" (1Co 3:1-4).

Like all of us,​ Saul of Tarsus started out as a carnal babe in Christ. For three days after the Lord blinded him, he was so spiritually and physically immature that he could neither physically nor spiritually see his own hand in front of his physical face. The physical blindness of Saul of Tarsus typified his spiritual condition at that moment. But in the Lord's time, Saul of Tarsus became a spiritually mature son of God whose name was changed to Paul the apostle.

As such he again had to deal with whole churches which were spiritually immature "carnal babes in Christ":

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Is that not how we all first see Christ? All we can first see or accept is that Christ loved us, and He loved us so much He gave His life for us. But in the very next chapter Paul is admonishing these spiritually immature Corinthians to go beyond the milk of the word, and get past being "carnal... babes in Christ":

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? 

It is that stage of our own experience with which the verses of our study this week concern themselves:

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

As we have already demonstrated, whenever and wherever we see the phrase "that day" in the prophets, it is understood as being the day of the Lord's wrath, the day of His judgment, that is under discussion.

This phrase, "in that day", appears 43 times in Isaiah alone and literally dozens more times in the other prophets, where it refers almost exclusively to the day of the Lord's wrath, His day of judgment upon His own rebellious, apostate people.

Here are but the first four entries of this phrase here in Isaiah:

Isa 2:11  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

Isa 2:17  And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 

Isa 2:20  In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

What is so little understood is that "the lofty looks of man... his idols of silver and his idols of gold, [as well as him saying] I will not be a healer", is all done while we are in Babylon where we are completely unaware, at first, that we are living under the wrath of God.

Here is what we are told:

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

What that verse tells us is that we are born under the wrath of God, simply because we are born 'brute beasts... made to be taken and destroyed".

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

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

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

We all, "naturally, as brute beasts... corrupt [our]selves" simply because we are all "marred in the hand of the Potter". We are "marred in the Potter's hand" for the express purpose of being "made to be taken and destroyed". That is the predestined fate of our first man and his body of flesh and blood. That is why we are told explicitly:

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

So how do we get from our hopeless, "marred", sinful condition into a purified spiritual body? We get there only through a long process of being spiritually conformed to the image of our Lord, who is "by little and by little... for a long time" becoming more alive within us. He alone is making us spiritually mature while yet in these dying clay vessels which we call bodies of flesh and blood:

Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The time we spend going from "the first man Adam... made a living soul [to] the last Adam... made a life-giving spirit" is the time the scriptures call "the day of judgment".

This is what Peter tells us about that day:

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

2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

In his first epistle, Peter has already informed us:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Who knew "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God"? The reason for that is that judgment is "for a long time" while the Lord has gone "into a far country" and seems to have left us here to our own destructive ways. This time accounts for a good part of our lives as "carnal babes in Christ" who can only be "fed... with milk and not with meat" (1Co 3:1-4), and it is described for us with the words of our study today:

Isa 7:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

"Everyone...that is left in the land" refers to those who were left behind instead of being taken away into Babylonian captivity. Some of us have thought that we have never been in Babylon only to discover that Babylon is somehow still within us.

The literal fulfillment of this prophecy is found in Jeremiah:

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

It is a very sad and spiritually immature position we are in when pagan leaders are used by the Lord to correct us and rebuke us. Yet that is exactly what happens to the kingdom of God within us at this stage of our "one experience" judgment.

As God's witnesses, we dwell with those whom the Lord has placed as rulers over His people who are left in the land, and in that position our counsel is sought and rejected by the people who are left in the land, just as we ourselves rejected the counsel of the Lord's elect in our own time.

Jer 42:5  Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
Jer 42:17  So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Jer 42:18  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jer 42:19  The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
Jer 42:21  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

This is all of us when we seek to know the mind of the Lord through His Christ and their multitude of counselors. We cannot stand against the fear of being rejected by the powers that be, and we lean unto our own understanding and flee back into Egypt, back into the world.

These are the words used by Isaiah to describe what we do when we are those who are left in the land:

Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25  And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

Just as Adam and Eve and Noah and Abraham, one and all, denied the Lord in their own way, so did ancient Israel, and so do each of us. When we deny the Lord and return back to this world the kingdom of God within us "shall be for briers and thorns and the bows and arrows of the adversary come and replace the truths we once had with the lies and false doctrines until "all the land... become[s spiritual] briers and thorns".

Verse 25 has quite a different meaning than the King James reads.

Isa 7:25  And on all^H3605 hills^H2022 that^H834 shall be digged^H5737 with the mattock,^H4576 there shall not^H3808 come^H935 thither^H8033 the fear^H3374 of briers^H8068 and thorns:^H7898 but it shall be^H1961 for the sending forth^H4916 of oxen,^H7794 and for the treading^H4823 of lesser cattle.^H7716

All the underlined words, while not in italics they are still added by the King James translators, and serve only to confuse the reader. When the underlined, added words are left out, the text tells us 'all hills digged mattock not, [and instead] comes to be the fear of briers and thorns...' The English word 'thither' is translated from the Hebrew word 'hayah',^H8033 meaning 'to be', or 'to exist'. This all makes this verse read quite the opposite of what the King James reads, but it now agrees with the previous two verses:

Isa 7:23  And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. 
Isa 7:24  With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

Now verse 25 agrees with "every place shall be... for briers and thorns, [and three times we are told] all the land shall become briers and thorns". Look at this verse 25 in other versions. These clear up the understanding of this verse.

Isa 7:25  [LITV] And all the hills which were hoed with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of the ox, and for trampling of sheep.

Isa 7:25 [ESV] And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Isa 7:25 [RV] And all the hills that were digged with the mattock; thou shalt not come thither for fear of briers and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.

It also agrees with Isa 5:6 which also tells us the hill of the Lord's vineyard "will not be digged..."

Isa 5:6  And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

We all have the same "one event", and this part of that "one event" is said to take place in "that day", the day when we are being nourished only with milk and milk products:

Isa 7:22  And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

Once again this is all an essential part of "the everlasting gospel" of the necessary long drawn out process of judgment. That judgment is the patience of the saints and is also a part of the faith of Jesus proclaimed by the three angels of Revelation 14:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.