[Posted April 5, 2024]

Hello Mike…I hope you and Sandi are doing well!

I was wondering if the IWWB family of elders, brothers, and sisters are all on board with your personal response in concern of… “Is it Wrong to Gather with Family and Friends on Holidays?”

I was always of the belief that to participate by being part of (ie: physical presence) the festivities at any pagan holiday/traditions of men was something to avoid…even if we don’t actually participate in the fanfare of such… I, too, always assumed that we should never get involved in any type of Babylonian worldly matters…even at the cost of being shunned and persecuted for our spiritual understanding of the Word of God.

I, too, missed the point entirely through the years of the fact that God’s Word approves of such practice…meaning being involved to the point of actively being at a ‘traditions of men’ event if invited!

I’m a bit confused over it all and would appreciate any further insight you would care to give.

Thank you very much, Mike, and God bless.

YbitC
M____

Hi M____

The elders have all discussed this subject extensively and have come to see that Christ went to every holy day event just because that was the best time to reach the most people with His message which He knew would be rejected. Nevertheless, He went up in the middle of the feast and declared on the last great day of the feast of Tabernacles that any who would come to Him… “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters” giving life to all men:

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Paul informs us that we can indeed attend a feast ‘if we are so disposed’:

1Co 10:27  If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.

Romans 14 and Galatians 4 make it clear that the Lord’s elect do not themselves keep days, months, times nor years:

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5  One man [who is weak in the faith] esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

It does not require being strong in the faith to observe days, months, times or years. It requires great faith to abstain from following the traditions of men:

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [G4747: stoicheion] of the world, and not after Christ.

These “traditions of men and rudiments of the world are clearly defined in Galatians 4 as “days, months, times and years”:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [G4747: stoicheion], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

If we follow in the footsteps of Christ and His apostles then we will declare Christ to be “Lord of the sabbath” and we willing to be rejected of family and friends, for letting them know that we do not observe days, months, times or years, just as Christ was rejected of His family and the society of His day. Yet we can, and at times we should, attend the feasts of unbelievers “if [we] are disposed to go” for the purpose of serving as an example of the love of Christ for His creatures. It is obviously all a matter of what is in our heart. Are we attending out of fear of rejection or are we attending to display the love of Christ? The Lord only knows the hearts of men, and He is quite capable of judging each of us based upon our motivations.

That is the consensus of our elders, and yes, we are all “speaking the same thing, we are of one mind and of the same judgment.”

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.

YbiChrist, Mike

Hello Mike…Thank you so very much for the spiritual clarification in concern of my inquiry.

I will admit that I have always believed to stay clear of any type of traditions of men in whatever flavor they were made up of… I really do not know how I came to that conclusion but now feel like a “fool” for avoiding all of my family and friends over the many past years for not showing up to holiday/birthday functions when asked!

I do have another question though…

In Job, all of his children were killed on the ‘appointed day’ of one of his sons. I always believed it was a birthday celebration. Were the children destroyed because of the celebration on ‘his day’? If so how can we then attend such activities knowing that day only brings about bondage and spiritual destruction per-se?

Thank you, Mike!

ybitC…M____

Hi, M____,

I am pleased to hear that you realize how Christ and the apostles dealt with this subject. I pray you will continue to follow in the Lord’s footsteps and use the traditions of men as an opportunity to witness against those traditions by simply letting your family and friends know that your presence is not for the purpose of following men. Your presence with your family and friends on their traditional days is for the purpose of showing Christ’s love to them, just as Christ was in the synagogue every sabbath for the very purpose of healing people and telling them to pick up their bed contrary to the law of Moses.

Concerning Job’s sons, it is true they all died on the eldest sons [birth] day:

Job 1:4  And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:13  And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:14  And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15  And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Joseph told Pharaoh’s baker that he would be be hanged, and that took place on Pharaoh’s birthday:

Gen 40:16  When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:
Gen 40:17  And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
Gen 40:18  And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
Gen 40:19  Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
Gen 40:20  And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
Gen 40:21  And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
Gen 40:22  But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

In these stories, we are not the celebrants. We are Joseph, who foresaw what would happen on Pharaoh’s birthday, and we are signified by the messenger who escaped to tell Job of the death of his sons.

It is also incredibly instructive that the holy spirit has not given us the birthdays of even one person in all of scripture; not Adam, not Noah, not Abraham nor any of the patriarchs, judges, kings, prophets, and not even the Lord Himself, nor any of His apostles. There is a reason for that, and here is that reason:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

John the Baptist was beheaded on Herod’s birthday, but John never wavered in his witness of Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Joh 1:36  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

We, too, must be willing to die for what we believe, and the death of John signifies how we die daily, offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, and count ourselves as crucified with Him.

The “souls under the altar” signify all who have died daily with Christ and who have lived out the rejection and persecution promised to all who will be given to stay faithful to the end. They are not all necessarily literally killed for their testimony. The world hates the Lord’s elect, and that is what the Lord counts as murder:

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

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Again, “The Lord looks on the heart” and judges accordingly:

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

So do not be ashamed that you have missed a lot of opportunities to be with your family. You did what you did with a pure heart, and that is what you should continue to do with your new-found understanding. Do all that you do “as unto the Lord.”

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

I have made the very same mistake, but I, too, did it with the desire to please the Lord and to fear Him more than men, and the Lord knows that is still true.

Your brother who struggles with you,
Mike

Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit – Part 18

[Posted July 2009]

Updated March 23, 2034

Adam, along with all his descendants, was created so spiritually blind that he did not even realize that he was created naked and in need of clothing to cover his spiritual nakedness.

Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [realized that I] was naked; and I hid myself.

2Co 5:3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

Heb 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

That clothing for Adam and Eve was provided by God in the form of a sacrifice. Christ shed the blood of animals to use their skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, signifying His own death when “the fulness of the time [came] to redeem them that were under the law.”

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Christ’s blood is the only clothing for our sins, our nakedness, with which we are born. Nakedness, from the very beginning, signifies sin, and sin is defined as transgressing the law:

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

Our nakedness is most pronounced in our own self-righteousness. It is when we think that by keeping the law that we are coving our nakedness that we are the most exposed before God and man:

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:

This is the lesson of the book of Job.  Job thought of himself as a perfect man who feared God and eschewed evil:

Job 1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

There is no doubt that Job did indeed fear God, and there is no doubt that he did eschew evil. There was no doubt in his own mind that he was indeed a good man of great integrity. He certainly thought of himself as such which he vehemently expressed before his “miserable comforters”:

Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
Job 27:8  For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

There is one transgression which is so insidious that no man can see it of himself. We can all see it in others, but without the very mind of Christ, we cannot detect this most insidious transgression within ourselves. It is “the pride of life”, the last and most insidious of the three categories which encompass “all that is in the world”:

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the [1] lust of the flesh, and [2] the lust of the eyes, and [3] the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The law of Moses is a carnal commandment and is nothing more than “the Gentiles [which] are a law unto themselves”:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

Job was a self-righteous Pharisee before there were any self-righteous Pharisees. As is always the case with every man, Job could not see that he was ascribing the work of the Lord to himself. When we take the credit that is due to the Lord, we become guilty before God of the most insidious of all sins. It is the sin of iniquity, and ‘iniquity’ is defined as “trusting in [our] own righteousness”:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

If we agree with Paul that “we are no longer under the schoolmaster …after faith is come (Gal 3:22-25), and that we are “not under the law but under grace” (Rom 6:14-15), are we encouraging disobedience to God? Are we saying, “Let us sin that grace may abound” (Rom 6:1)? Does the doctrine that we are coming out from under the “schoolmaster” suggest that we can now sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? “God forbid.” Does coming of age and leaving home and leaving behind parental authority necessitate becoming a lawless criminal? No! Of course it does not! When Paul says, “We are no longer under the schoolmaster… after that faith is come”, he and we are pointing out that Adam’s earthy composition and naked condition from the hand of the creator necessitated “a schoolmaster… a carnal commandment [to govern us] until faith should come”.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

It is “the faith of Jesus Christ” which justifies us, not “the works of… a carnal commandment.”

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Leaving our parents and becoming a contributing member of society, leaving the schoolmaster behind signifies “the faith of Jesus Christ” as we mature spiritually and grow into “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2).

No longer being under a schoolmaster simply signifies a work in progress:

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. [“Christ in you” (Col 1:27)]
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.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

“The Time of Reformation”

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed [G1945: epikeimai, laid upon, pressed upon] on them [only] until the time of reformation.

The Greek verb G1945, epikeimai, which is translated “imposed” in the KJV, is in the present tense because we are all “under the law” in every generation until “the faith of Jesus” come to each of us. That is why Paul tells us:

1Co 9:19  For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
1Co 9:20  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21  To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

Paul says he is “not without law to God, but under the law to Christ.” Being “under the law to Christ” is what made it possible to minister “to them that are without law.” Paul was certainly not under the law of Moses or he would have encouraged circumcision, and he would have kept “all things written in the book of the law.” So what law was he “under…to Christ?” He was under the “new commandment” (Joh 13:34); he was under “the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2).

None of this was immediately understood by any of the 120 Jewish disciples on the day of Pentecost when the gift of the holy spirit was first given to mankind. Not one single person who was there when the gift of the holy spirit was poured out on those 120 people had so much as a hint that Christ intended to give His spirit to the Gentiles. The gift of the holy spirit does not bequeath instant spiritual maturity. What the gift of the holy spirit does do is to give us the ability to begin to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.

The apostle Paul was the only Jewish apostle who was called into the ministry outside the physical nation of Israel. His calling began just outside the city of Damascus, in Syria.

Here is what Christ told ‘Saul of Tarsus’, who would later become ‘Paul the apostle’, when He first struck him down on the road to Damascus:

Act 9:9  And he [Saul of Tarsus, Paul] was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Act 9:10  And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12  And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
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:

Christ told Ananias that He would send Saul, who later was renamed Paul, to the Gentiles, but that was not where Saul of Tarsus went to begin with.

Act 9:17  And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Act 9:18  And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

Saul began his ministry immediately, but he went to the Jews first:

Act 9:19  And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the [Jewish] disciples which were at Damascus.
Act 9:20  And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.

Saul spent three years preaching to Jewish Christians in Damascus. Then he returned to Jerusalem for “fifteen days” before leaving for his hometown of Tarsus in Cilicia:

Gal 1:18  Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Gal 1:19  But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
Gal 1:20  Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
Gal 1:21  Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

About the time Paul left Jerusalem for Tarsus, the holy spirit gave the apostle Peter the distinction of being the first person to take the gospel to the Gentiles. This was well over three years after the day of Pentecost, and not one apostle had taken the gospel to a single Gentile. Demonstrating how attached the apostles and the entire early church were to being physically descended from Abraham, Peter was forced to defend the fact that he had   preached the gospel to the Gentiles in Caesarea:

Act 11:1  And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
Act 11:2  And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3  Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

“They that were of the circumcision” included the apostles themselves. Peter’s experience while in the home of Simon the tanner left no room to doubt that his actions were a work of the holy spirit telling Conelius in Caesarea to send for a man named Peter 30 miles south of Caesarea in Joppa. Then, just as the three messengers from Cornelius arrived in Joppa the holy spirit, three times Peter was told that he was to call no man common or unclean.

Act 11:2  And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3  Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
Act 11:4  But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
Act 11:5  I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
Act 11:6  Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 11:7  And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
Act 11:8  But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
Act 11:9  But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 11:10  And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
Act 11:11  And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.
Act 11:12  And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:
Act 11:13  And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
Act 11:14  Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
Act 11:15  And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16  Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17  Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

This was three or four years after the holy spirit was first given on the day of Pentecost.

Immediately after Peter had defended his actions in the house of the Gentile Roman centurion these are the very next words we read:

Act 11:19  Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

Leaving the schoolmaster was not an easy thing for the early Jewish Christians to do. This is what the apostle Peter tells us about how difficult it was for the early Jewish Christians, and the Gentile proselytes, to understand the principle of coming out from under “the schoolmaster” of the law of Moses:

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Even after Paul’s first missionary journey with Barnabas, the law of Moses still had such a hold on the early Christians that there was almost a split in the church over the question of whether physical circumcision was required for the salvation of the Gentile converts. The question was resolved by seeking a multitude of counselors from all “the apostles and elders” at Jerusalem:

Act 15:5  But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them [Gentile converts] to keep the law of Moses.
Act 15:6  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

The holy spirit told the apostles Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, that it was not yet time for the Jews to come out from under the law of Moses:

Act 15:21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

It was the holy spirit setting the schedule for spiritual growth of the church, and the holy spirit declared that the Jewish church was not yet ready to come out from under the schoolmaster, the law of Moses:

Act 15:23  And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

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;
Act 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Many years later we find the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem still under the schoolmaster, the law of Moses. It is in Acts 21 that James erases any doubt that the Jewish Christians were still under the law of Moses, even to the extent of still offering blood animal sacrifices as if the death of our Lord were not sufficient to atone for our sins. Paul had been living by the decrees of the apostles and elders to the extent that he had circumcised Timothy and had been keeping the sabbath and holy days. Nevertheless, he was falsely accused of teaching the Jews among the Gentiles to forsake the law of Moses:

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 [“the schoolmaster”]:
Act 21:21  And they are [falsely] 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.

James and the apostles and elders at Jerusalem had already conceived a plan to attempt to prove that Paul himself was keeping the law of Moses:

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.

Paul spent another two years as a prisoner in Caesarea under the charge of the governors Felix and Festus before being sent to Rome. It was only after Paul was a prisoner at Rome that the Lord finally opened the eyes and ears of the rest of the apostles to accept the “some things hard to be understood …” which were even then considered to be scripture:

2Pe  3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Not one Christian in a thousand realizes that all the apostles were living under the law of Moses until Paul was sent to Rome as a prisoner, where the Lord finally gave him this revelation in his epistle to the church at Ephesus:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Even though most people do not realize it, this whole story of the early church struggling to come out from under the law of Moses, signifies each of us today as we struggle to come out from under the doctrines of Babylon with all its widely accepted traditions. This whole story signifies the necessity of a period of transition in the life of every man called “the time of reformation” (Heb 9:10). Christ made it clear to us that there were “many things” even his closest associates could not “bear…now” – could not at first receive:

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

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now” (Joh 16:12). This is a principle that applies to each believer individually. “Peter…and the other Jews dissembled (and) Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation” (Gal 2:11-13) simply because in their own “time of reformation”, that time of transition from the old to the new covenant, they were still “not able to bear” some of the truths of the new covenant even at this late date. When Paul said: “I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem” (Act 18:21), he said that because he had agreed with the apostles in Acts 15, that the holy spirit had decided that the Jewish Christians were not yet able to receive the Truth of the words of our Lord. Jesus had said that the time would come when ‘Neither in Samaria, nor in Jerusalem, would men worship God.’  Peter, Paul and Barnabas were submitting to the consensus of the counsel of the elders in Acts 15. The Jerusalem conference was held many years after the death and resurrection of Christ, and it would be many more years before the truths of Ephesians 2:11-22 would be made known by the holy spirit. At the time of the Jerusalem conference, the Jewish Christians, including most of the apostles, were still unable to accept or “bear” the Truth Christ Himself had declared to the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob:

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 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.

There is now no difference between a Jew and a Gentile before God. The Jewish tradition of esteeming one day above another, of “observing days, months, times and years” enumerated in Leviticus 23 and 25 and in Numbers 28 and 29 was one of the hardest things for the early Christian church to relinquish. Immediately after chastising the Galatians for observing days, months times and years, Paul says “tell me you that desire to be under the law…” (Gal 4:21). Obviously, the days, months, times and years were the Sabbaths, holy days, new moons, land rest and jubilee years cited by Moses in the scriptures in Leviticus and Numbers given above. There are no days, months, times, or years to be observed under the new “law of faith” (Rom 3:27).

Modern day Christians have this very same struggle as they are being dragged by the Lord out from under the law in which they have been brought up as their “schoolmaster… the law of the Gentiles” which is the same as the law of Moses:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Is it Wrong to Gather with Family and Friends on Holidays?

Hi my friend Mike,

It appears to me we have much in common. I am delighted to see that you and I have been battling mutual straw men. I wrongly have imputed motives upon you about what I falsely thought was your carnal attempt to obtain a righteousness by refraining from family get togethers that were organized at socially convenient times.

For years I have enjoyed family gatherings on December 25, Thanksgiving and sometimes the long “easter weekend” because that is when my children come home from college. As the leader in my family, I have often mentioned that these times mean nothing to God; they are man’s ideas. We also do not regard Sunday as any day special, except that often my kids and I are off work together, so it is a good day for fun together or yard work or a time to invite friends over for dinner.

Both my wife and I have for years seen the folly in spending more than we have to impress friends or our children with expensive gifts at ANY time in the year.

Mike, I believe that part of my problem has been a desire to “fit in” with the apparent leaders at IWWB. I have been anxious to somehow impress you guys, but have felt that my enjoying times with my family at xmas, etc. would have left me outside the accepted practice of the group. So I imputed upon you a certain self-righteousness and assumed that you were actively telling your friends that they needed to stop ALL holiday related activities.

Will you forgive me Mike, for assuming wrong motives of you?
I feel that this writing to you and your responses have helped me to work through some of my own areas of idol worship: i.e. seeking to please men rather than pleasing God.

I still have a desire to understand how one rightly divides the word. Discerning the spiritual meaning of a word or phrases and how to know which carnal meanings are still applicable for me is still a puzzle.

Love in our Lord,
J____

Hi J____,

Thanks again for your godly attitude of wanting to help others by what you have experienced. That is what John (the humble one) calls “the testimony of Jesus Christ… the spirit of prophecy:)”

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

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Hey, Mike,

Thank you for bearing with me through the past couple of years. If this current correspondence could be of any value to others, then I say you might publish the exchange in FAQS if you want.

In HIM,
J____

Hi J____,

What a wonderful attitude!

In truth, I personally think that families rarely getting together should always come before coming to a weekly Bible Study. It is not a good witness to be separated from our families just because we do not agree on doctrine. I attend every family function I am invited to, whatever the reason is for being there. I do not exchange gifts, but I do show up. According to Romans 14, this does not amount to the level of heresy, and we are never to attempt to force our level of understanding on others in any event.

Of course, I forgive you. I hope you will forgive me if I have ever said a word that was not in the patience and love that is our Lord. I am far from perfected, and struggle to overcome the flesh and to die daily just as you do.
As far as learning how to rightly divide scripture is concerned, we both know that the understanding of spiritual matters is a gift from God, but there are certain principles that are revealed concerning those who have been gifted with the discerning of spirits and the ability to see the mysteries of the kingdom of God. A few of those principles are to always remember that:

1) Christ’s words are spirit and do not always mean what they say, but rather mean what they mean.
2) Many times, like with all the commandments except the fourth one, the commandments are still in line with the spirit of the commandment. We cannot dishonor God or our brother, and claim to be living in the spirit.
3) We “must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” and “keep the things written therein.”
4) Truth is to be found only in the sum of God’s word and not to be based on one single verse.

Those are just a few very Biblical principles that come to mind.

When it comes to what parts of the Old Testament are to be kept, both Paul and Christ give us the principle of expediency. Christ said it was expedient that He return to the Father:

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Paul says “I can do all things, but all things are not expedient.”

1Co 10:23  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

1Co 6:12  All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
1Co 6:13  Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body [is] not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

It is expedient that we love and honor God and our fellow man, but the world as a whole ignores the Biblical definition of what it means to love our brothers and love God. This, too, is a principle that helps us to rightly divide the word of God.

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.

There is no hope of understanding God’s Word without an understanding of these verses. We cannot confuse the love of our brothers with the love of God. We are not told, ‘By this we know we love God because we love our brothers’, and place what we consider to be love above what God commands. Rather, we are told that the only way to know we love our brothers is to obey God’s commandments.

This is not a complete study on this subject, but I hope this gives you something to consider and will in some way edify you.

In the final analysis, eyes that see and ears that hear are a gift that is either given or is not given to each of us by a sovereign God.

1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

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

If you ask God for wisdom, and if it is according to His will, you will be given that wisdom.

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

I truly believe God is giving you eyes that see, and ears that hear.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Acts 10:24-48  God Hath Shewed Me that I Should not Call any Man Common or Unclean

[Study Aired March 26, 2023]

Act 10:24  And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends.
Act 10:25  And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
Act 10:26  But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
Act 10:27  And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.
Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Act 10:29  Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?
Act 10:30  And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
Act 10:31  And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
Act 10:32  Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.
Act 10:33  Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.
Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Act 10:36  The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Act 10:37  That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
Act 10:38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Act 10:39  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
Act 10:40  Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Act 10:41  Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
Act 10:42  And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Act 10:43  To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Act 10:44  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Act 10:45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 10:46  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Act 10:47  Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Act 10:48  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

In our study today we will find Peter and six other Jews entering the house of a Gentile Roman centurion, which is doing something contrary to the law of Moses. We will see how Cornelius, the Roman centurion, reacts to meeting the apostle Peter and how Peter deals with Cornelius.

Finally, we will be shown that the holy spirit was given to these Gentile converts before they were even baptized, and I will draw your attention to the words used when Peter baptized these converts. Those words are the same words used when baptizing new converts throughout this book of the Acts of the apostles.

We begin our study today in:

Act 10:24  And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends.

If we include the last verse of our last study, we will see that Peter and the six other Jewish men from Joppa, along with the Roman soldier and the two men who were of Cornelius’s household, spent a whole day and part of another day, traversing the 34 miles from Joppa to Caesarea.

Here is the last verse of our last study:

Act 10:23  Then called he [Peter] them [the three men sent by Cornelius] in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

The repetition of “and the morrow after” in the very next verse, verse 24, tells us they spent a whole day and part of another day making that 34-mile trip by foot from Joppa to Caesarea.

Act 10:25  And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.

Peter is the man who the “holy angel” had told Cornelius to send for, and like John did two times in the book of Revelation Cornelius also fell down to worship the Lord’s messenger:

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

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Act 10:26  But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

“The angel which showed me these things” signifies Peter and each of us who are granted to “show these things” to others: “I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” As long as we are in these clay vessels, we are not to be worshiped. However, the day is coming when we will not tell those we rule and judge that we are mere men:

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Act 10:27  And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.
Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

The fact that Peter was in a house by the seaside when the three Gentile men came to get him is as significant as the number of times he was shown his vision. The sea represents all of mankind to whom the gospel is now being given.

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.

The ‘sea’ signifies all flesh, and both Joppa and Caesarea are “by the sea side”.

Act 10:29  Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?
Act 10:30  And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
Act 10:31  And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
Act 10:32  Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.
Act 10:33  Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

This is the beginning of the gospel being preached to the Gentiles. This is the very first indication that being a Jew is now not a matter of being a Jew outwardly. This is the beginning of showing all men, that being a Jew is now an inward matter, and being circumcised is also now a matter of being circumcised of the heart in the spirit.

Rom 2:25  For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Rom 2:26  Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
Rom 2:27  And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
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.

It will take years for even the apostles themselves to relinquish the doctrine of physical Jews having an advantage based upon physical descent and physical pedigree. Jews have always been taught that they, by virtue of their physical pedigree, are the apple of the Lord’s eye by simply being born Jewish. Even today most Christians believe that is still true. What they have always been told was a great advantage has now begun to be seen as ‘transgressing the law’ of Christ, and bringing reproach upon God by being circumcised physically but not being ‘circumcised’ spiritually of the heart in the spirit’:

Rom 2:27  And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law [of Christ], judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

Peter was made to go with the three Gentile men whom the Lord Himself had supernaturally sent to him and told him to go with them to the home a Gentile. Now he finds himself in the house of a Roman Gentile centurion where he is forced to confess that the Lord has shown him that “God is no respecter of persons” simply because of one’s physical descent from Abraham. Nevertheless, and despite having been given this great honor of being the first person to take the gospel to the Gentiles, many years later Peter was still struggling to accept this ‘mighty earthquake’ of a revelation of “things to come” (Joh 16:13 and Rev 16:18-19):

Gal 2:11  But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
Gal 2:14  But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

Peter typifies each of us when we put the fear of men above our fear of God. Think for a moment what confusion such hypocrisy had to have placed into the minds of the Gentiles at Antioch who knew that this was the apostle whom the holy spirit had chosen to be the first to bring the gospel to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius. “And all the other Jews [Christian Jews] dissembled [they all played the hypocrite along with Peter] insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation [their hypocrisy].”

Why did Peter cave to “certain… that… came from James”? The answer is always the same… “fearing them which were of the circumcision.” That is the same as saying in today’s society, ‘fearing those who are still in a Babylonian society “observing days, months, times and years”, and it all boils down to fearing what men will think of us more than we fear what God has told us to do:

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children [G3516: ‘nepios’ “carnal babes in Christ”, 1Co 3:1-4], were in bondage under the elements [G4747: ‘stoicheion’] of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons [G5206: ‘uihothesia’ mature sons of God].
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant [of sin], but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [G4747: ‘stoicheion’], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? [What are these ‘stoicheion’, these ‘elements of the world’?]
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

This revelation by the holy spirit at that time was more than many Jewish Christians could yet accept. Breaking the sabbath as Christ did is something they simply cannot follow yet.

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

The apostles themselves did not consider healing a lame man to be breaking the sabbath, but Christ confesses to “profaning the sabbath day” in Matthew 12:

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3  But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? [What is Christ’s defense? Does He deny profaning the sabbath? Absolutely not! Here is His defense of “profaning the sabbath day”:]
Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Paul makes clear that the law of Moses is a carnal commandment, which is no more spiritual than the law of the Gentiles:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law [“not made for a righteous man” (1Ti 1:9)], do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law [“a carnal commandment” (Heb 7:16)] written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

The keeping of the carnal traditions of the law of Moses was still very much a part of the early church throughout the entire book of Acts. Keeping the traditions of men is still one thing which separates those who fear God from those who fear men:

Pro 29:25  The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

It is the man who “puts his trust in the Lord” and does not fear what men think of him who “esteems every day alike” in:

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not [is weak in the faith] judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest [speaking to the weak in the faith] another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5  One man [who is weak in the faith] esteemeth one day above another: another [who is not weak in the faith, who fears God more than men (Gal 4:9-10)] esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind [“We then that are strong ought to bear [with] the infirmities of the weak” (Rom 15:1)].

The beast within every man wants to please men and fit in with society. It is as natural as breathing. Peter was chosen by the holy spirit to demonstrate to us that we must be willing to go against the traditions of the great harlot system into which we are all born. Peter is also used of the holy spirit to show us that it is a great struggle for him and for us to come out of this world” (Rev 18:4). Peter’s hypocrisy and weakness typify each of us in our natural state.

At this moment, Peter is being made by the spirit to accompany six other Jews to the house of a Gentile Roman centurion, and now Peter is accepting what the Lord is revealing to him and to the whole world:

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.

What is now required to become a part of the household of God, and to become a spiritual ‘Jew’, is to simply fear God and be obedient to the Words of Christ as Peter tells everyone in Cornelius’s house:

Act 10:35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Act 10:36  The word which God sent [first] unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Act 10:37  That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

Peter is well aware that the gospel of Christ, and the witness John the Baptist gave of Christ, was known by Cornelius and by all societies of the Roman Empire because of all the miracles Christ had performed while on this earth, and because of what had happened on the day of Pentecost when the Jews from all over the Roman empire had “heard the wonderful works of God in their own tongue.” Peter is not speaking to people who have never before heard of Christ and His doctrines. Let’s read these last two verses again:

Act 10:36  The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Act 10:37  That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

“The baptism that John preached” was a big ‘splash in the pan’ at that time. However, no one in the history of mankind has affected the lives of all mankind to the extent that the life of Christ has. Christ Himself set an example for all men. His crucifixion and His love for even those who crucified Him is the most powerful weapon against all His enemies and “[Christ] is love”:

1Co 13:4  Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5  doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;
1Co 13:6  rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth;
1Co 13:7  beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

That is the voice of the True Shepherd, but that is not the doctrine of the law of Moses, which taught “an eye for and eye” and “hate thine enemy”. The contrast between the law of Moses and the law of faith, also called the law of Christ, is stark, and the story of the life and doctrine of Christ, at the time Peter was in the house of Cornelius, has been and is being spread all over the Roman empire not just by the apostles, but by those from all over the world who came to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and heard in their own tongue “the mighty works of God” as we are told in:

Act 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place.
Act 2:2  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3  And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them.
Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Act 2:5  Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
Act 2:6  And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language.
Act 2:7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilaeans?
Act 2:8  And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born?
Act 2:9  Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,
Act 2:10  in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Act 2:11  Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.
Act 2:12  And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

What was it all these nations heard that day “In our tongues”? This is what Peter tells us they heard that day:

Act 10:38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Act 10:39  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
Act 10:40  Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Act 10:41  Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

This fulfills Christ’s own words concerning the coming of His kingdom within us (Luk 17-20-21).

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

Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Of course, the drinking of the wine signifies our fiery trials in this life, but it had to be done in the natural realm first.

“Nor to all the people, but… even to us [the] few chosen”:

Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

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

Act 10:42  And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Act 10:43  To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Before this very moment Peter understood those words to apply only to physical Jews. Peter is just now verbalizing the meaning of the thrice repeated vision he had been given in the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa. It is at this point that the holy spirit does something which makes the words Peter just spoke to be undeniably true:

Act 10:44  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Act 10:45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 10:46  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

By this means the Lord has shown Peter and the six Jews who accompanied him that this event in the house of the Gentile, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, is the very same work of the Lord which took place on the day of Pentecost. The only difference being that it is now “they of the circumcision which believed” who are the “unbelievers [for whom] tongues are a sign”:

1Co 14:22  Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

Until this very moment “they which were of the circumcision” did not believe that the gospel was for anyone other than the Jews.

As Peter tells the Jews at Jerusalem in our next chapter:

Act 11:15  And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16  Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17  Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

The Lord has now made it indisputably clear that “ye shall be baptized with the holy ghost” applies to the Gentiles who are in Christ just as much as it applies to “they of the circumcision which believed.”

Nevertheless, it will be decades later, in the book of Ephesian in chapter two, before it will finally be revealed that “the middle wall of partition” between the Jews and the Gentiles is now being taken down:

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made [Aorist tense, ‘is making’] both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances [the ordinances the Jews were still under according to the letter to the Gentiles in Acts 15]; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

It is this same book of Ephesians which revealed that the outward ritual of water baptism is not at all what cleanses us:

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it [“the church” verse 25] with the washing of water by the word,

The whole church has not yet been given to know this and so Peter does what should be done under those immature circumstances:

Act 10:47  Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Act 10:48  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

The only formula given for baptism is “in the name of the Lord”. It is not ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’ as we have been led to believe by the prophets of the great whore. Here is the link to the article which shows The Truth of this question:

Is God a Trinity?

The three thousand who were added to the church on the day of Pentecost were all “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ”:

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 ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The men of Ephesus were “baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”:

Act 19:4  Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

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

Everywhere the formula for being baptized is mentioned in scripture, it is “in the name of the Lord Jesus’ or ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’. There is not one instance in scripture where anyone is baptized ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the holy ghost’!

We can only imagine the sweet fellowship that was shared between Peter and the six Jewish men who had accompanied him to the house of the Gentile, Cornelius, for those “certain days” as they discussed this “wonderful work of the Lord”:

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

Next week we will learn how this all went down with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. It is not exaggerating to call this event one of the “mighty [spiritual] earthquakes, mentioned in the book of Revelation, being lived out in the lives of all the Christian Jews in Jerusalem.

Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

This ‘opened temple’ now includes Gentiles who are not circumcised outwardly but who are circumcised inwardly of the spirit (Rom 2:28-29)]. This undeniable event, which was without any doubt, a work of the holy spirit, was contrary to the law of Moses:

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.

That was a hard pill for the Jewish Christians to swallow, so to speak. It was as hard, or even harder, to believe than “any good thing [can] come out of Nazareth”:

Joh 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Joh 1:46  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

That is what the Lord will say to the whole world when He reveals to them His bride, with whom He will rule this earth for a thousand years, and then ‘judge angels’ in the lake of fire/ white throne judgment/ second death: “Come see what I have made of those who were not wise, mighty, or noble in this world. Come and see how I have made the foolish, the weak, base and despised of this world into My blessed and beautiful bride and wife.”

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.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

DANIEL 12:1-13 For the Words are Sealed and Closed up Till the Time of the End!!

[Study Aired February 28, 2022]

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 
Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 
Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. 
Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 
Dan 12:5  Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 
Dan 12:6  And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? 
Dan 12:7  And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. 
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.
Dan 12:11  And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Dan 12:12  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
Dan 12:13  But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Chapter 12 starts with the statement “At that time shall Michael stand up”. The question is what time is being referred to here? To understand what time is being referred to, we need to go back to chapter 10 of Daniel which is the introduction to the prophecy of both Daniel chapter 11 and 12 regarding what will happen to the elect in the latter days. We, the elect, are the ones of whom the ends of our world are coming.

Dan 10:14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

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.

So, we, the elect, are the ones to whom this prophecy in chapter 12 is applicable.

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

As we indicated in a previous review, the name Michael means “Who is like God?”. It is Jesus who is like God. He is the great prince who stands for the children of His people. The statement “the great prince who stands for the children of thy people” means that Jesus Christ dwells within His people as the word “standeth” means to abide or dwell according to Strong’s Dictionary.

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

The coming of Jesus into our lives to dwell in us is herald by His judgment which is the time of trouble mentioned in verse 1.

Mal 3:1  “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
Mal 3:3  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
Mal 3:4  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
Mal 3:5  Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

This time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation is the period of the judgment that we, the elect, must go through to learn righteousness.

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.

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

The time of trouble or judgment begins when we see the abomination of desolation in our temple which is our bodies. This abomination of desolation is that man of sin or the old man occupying the throne of our hearts and minds.

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

The statement in verse 1 of Daniel 12 that everyone found written in the Book at that time shall be delivered, is to let us know that it is through judgment that we, the elect, whose names are written in the Book of Life, are saved. It is the elect that must first go through judgment here on earth before the rest of humanity.

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?

This time of trouble is also described vividly in Isaiah where the Lord destroys His vineyard which represents the elect. God’s way of salvation is through the destruction of the old man through judgment.

Isa 5:1  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Isa 5:2  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Isa 5:3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
Isa 5:4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
Isa 5:5  And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
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.
Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

This verse is talking about the resurrection from death. As we know in the Book of Revelation, there are two resurrections – the first and the second resurrection. The first resurrection is for God’s elect which will take place just at the time the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. That is the resurrection to everlasting life for the elect.  After a period of a figurative thousand years comes the second resurrection which is the resurrection to shame and everlasting contempt which is the lot of all humanity except the elect.

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 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. 

They that “be wise” are the Lord’s elect. They will shine as the brightness of the firmament. The word “shine” here means to admonish or teach according to Strong. Thus, it is referring to the role of the elect in teaching all humanity to know Christ. This teaching is likened to the brightness of the firmament which means that everyone will come to understand the word of Christ just as the brightness of the firmament is obvious to all. That period is the lake of the fire age when the whole of humanity will come to understand the words of Christ. That is the time that we, the elect, described as desolate in this life, shall give birth to many as all humanity (many) shall turn to righteousness. The righteousness, here being likened to the stars in verse 3, means that all humanity will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ just as we see the stars reflecting the light of the sun which represents Christ.

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.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Rev 7:10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
Rev 7:11  And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 7:12  Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 7:13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 7:15  Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Rev 7:16  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Rev 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

This verse is to let us know that Daniel, representing the prophets of the Old Testament, was not meant to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. What these prophets spoke and saw were all for us, the elect, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

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

According to verse 4, the time of the end is characterized by an increase in knowledge. The time of the end started with the disciples of Jesus, and it was during their lives that knowledge of the kingdom of Heaven increased as they understood the kingdom’s mysteries. We, His elect, are following in the footsteps of all the Lord’s disciples ahead of us as our eyes are being opened and our ears are hearing!!

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Contrary to this exponential increase in the knowledge of the Lord, many shall not be given this privilege of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of God. The statement in verse 4 of Daniel chapter 12, that many shall run to and fro, is referring to all humanity (except the elect) who will wander throughout the earth but shall not find the truth of the word of Christ.

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.

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Dan 12:5  Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.

The two other persons Daniel saw who were standing on the opposite sides of the river’s bank are there to let us know that what Daniel saw is firmly established and shall surely come to pass in the life of every elect of every generation.

Gen 41:32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

The river here is the water of life or the word of Christ. The two standing on either side of the river shows us a principle that helps us understand the truth of the word of Christ. That is, by two or three witnesses every word is established. This implies that we do not stand on one account of the word of Christ to make a doctrine. We must at least have a second witness to establish a scriptural truth or doctrine.

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

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.

Dan 12:6  And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
Dan 12:7  And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

The man clothed in linen is Christ, and He is the one who is upon the waters of the river. The word “upon” used here can mean “a part of” or “from” or “out of” according to Strong’s Dictionary (H4482). What this means is that Christ is the word.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The question was posed to our Lord Jesus Christ regarding the time that this time of trouble will end in our lives. In verse 7, our Lord provides us with the time frame regarding this time of trouble. He says that this time of trouble will last until the power of the holy people is destroyed. The holy people here refer to the elect, and the power of the holy people is the strength of the beast or the old man within us. The destruction of the old man is the end of this time of trouble, which is signified by a time, times and a half. What we need to understand is that symbolic times do not signify the date or duration of actual times, but rather that the period, whenever it may be and whatever it may be in actual years, is within the knowledge and authority of God to determine. Prophetic days, weeks, months, and years are not a code from which to calculate real time periods, but rather a symbol to stand in place of real time periods which are not for men to know in advance. This is what our Lord says about this matter:

Act 1:7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority.

The time, times and half certainly has meaning. The “time” represents a period of trouble in our lives. The “times” signifies the doubling of our trouble. In other words, our trouble is intensified or prolonged. The “half” means the cutting short of our tribulation. Our Lord Jesus told us that the period of tribulation will be cut short for the sake of us, the elect.

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

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.

As we indicated in verse 4, Daniel represents the prophets of the Old Testament who were not meant to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. What they spoke and saw was all for us, the elect, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

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

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.

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.

The many here refers to the elect who, through the time of trouble will be purified as they learn righteousness. On the other hand, the wicked will continue to grow worse.

2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

The statement that the wicked shall not understand means that it is not given to people of the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It is only the few, called and chosen, who are privileged to know these mysteries.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Dan 12:11  And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Dan 12:12  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

A symbolic period such as the 1,290 days or 1335 days as given in verses 11 and 12 indicates that this is a time or season “which the Father has fixed by his own authority” and it is not for us to know (Acts 1:7). The symbol certainly has meaning, nevertheless it is not a code for date setting. The number 1,290 gives us indication of the period in our lives that through our union with Christ (1 means unity), we come to witness the beast within, sitting in the temple of our hearts and mind (the number 2 stands for a witness) and are judged by  the Lord (9 is the number of God’s judgment) with the brightness of His coming.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The number of 1335 days also shows us the period of our lives that in union with Christ, we see the chastening grace of the Lord through faith as part of the process of our spiritual completion. Remember that the number 1 stands for union, the number 3 represents the process of spiritual completion through judgment and the number 5 means grace through faith. As verse 12 stated, it is indeed a blessing to go through this process of our spiritual completion through judgment as we come to understand the Lord’s grace through faith. This is what has happened to all the elect who had gone before us – they were perfected through suffering as they put their faith in Him who is able to keep them from falling and to preserve them faultless until that day!! For example, Paul came to realize that God’s grace is sufficient for him in spite of what he was going through!!

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Dan 12:13  But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. 

The statement “But go thou thy way till the end be” is to remind us that Daniel, like the Old Testament prophets, was not meant to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven and that they were actually serving us on whom the ends of the world are coming.

1Pe 1:10  Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
1Pe 1:11  inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
1Pe 1:12  It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

The statement “Thou shall rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days” is to let us know the fate of Daniel, who represents the Old Testament prophets, at the end of the days. According to the scriptures, this is the lot of Daniel at the end of the days:

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

It is through us that Daniel and all the Old Testament prophets shall be made perfect!! What a wonderful plan of the Lord for us, His elect!!

May the Lord who has started this good work in us, surely bring it to completion!! Amen!! This brings us to the end of the review of the Book of Daniel.

In our next study, we shall start reviewing the Book of Exodus!!

Jer 12:10-17  I Will Bring Every Man to His Heritage

[Study Aired July 4, 2021]

Jer 12:10  Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
Jer 12:11  They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
Jer 12:12  The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
Jer 12:13  They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 12:14  Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
Jer 12:15  And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
Jer 12:16  And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
Jer 12:17  But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.

Let’s begin this study by including the last verse of our last study:

Jer 12:9  Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour [“my people”].

King Saul was the Lord’s anointed, His “heritage”. He was also the Lord’s rejected anointed. King Saul was anointed by Samuel, who was the same prophet who anointed King David to replace King Saul, the Lord’s ‘rejected anointed’ who feared and reverenced the people more than God:

1Sa 15:26  And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

King Saul typifies our self-righteous anointed old man. He had done much of what the Lord had told him to do. He went to war against the people the Lord had sent him to destroy, and he had destroyed every man, woman and child except the king. He had been instructed to destroy everything that breathed but the people wanted to keep the best of the cattle and herds, and King Saul acquiesced to the desires of the people instead of insisting on being obedient to the invisible God. You and I do the same thing when we keep days, months, times and years to please our families and friends. Christ’s example of breaking the weekly sabbath and not keeping the annual holy days is not as influential upon us as is the pressure of appealing to the desires of our families and friends to fit in with society and ignore Christ’s example and the solemn warning of the apostle Paul:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

What are “the weak and beggarly elements [to which we] desire again to be in bondage?”

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Those are not my words. Those are the inspired words of the holy spirit. They are telling us that if we continue in our ‘weak in the faith… esteeming one day above another’ ways, the labor of the Lord in our lives will be “in vain”, as it was in the life of King Saul, the Lord’s “rejected… anointed”, who feared what the people thought of him more than what the invisible God thought of him. King Saul was willing to do “many wonderful works” in the name of the Lord, but he was not given to fear the Lord more than men. That was just asking too much of his weak faith.

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

“Let every man be persuaded in his own mind” is simply an admonition to “receive [and] bear with [the] weak in the faith” with the view of coming to be of “one mouth and one mind”, that being a mature mind which is not ‘weak in the faith’:

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another[even “he that is weak in the faith”], as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Christ received us while we were still keeping days, months, times and years, and we must do as He did. However, Christ did not fear His family or friends and did not become weak in the faith to please His family, friends, or the society of His day. He was very patient with his carnal disciples, but He rebuked them when they attempted to bring Him down to their weak level. He refused to become a “speckled bird” just to accommodate his “yet carnal… babes in Christ” disciples:

Mar 8:31  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mar 8:32  And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
Mar 8:33  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
Mar 8:34  And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mar 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mar 8:37  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mar 8:38  Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

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?

Four times in four verses we are told that we are all “carnal babes in Christ… weak in the faith” before we are “strong in the faith”. A bird may be completely white with just one or two black spots, and it is still “a speckled bird”, a “carnal babe in Christ”, which is rejected by the Lord:

Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Being “without spot” is the opposite of being the speckled bird of Jeremiah 12:9. This “speckled bird” is ‘speckled’ for the very reason that her prophets and pastors are not given to fear the Lord more than the Lord’s spiritually immature, carnal children.

This is why the Lord likens His people to “a speckled bird”:

Jer 12:10  Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
Jer 12:11  They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.

Here is the New Testament version of this statement here in Jeremiah 12:

Mat 26:56  But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

1Ti 1:18  This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
1Ti 1:19  Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20  Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

2Ti 2:14  Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2Ti 2:16  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them  out of the church.

The name ‘Hymenaeus’ means “the god of weddings”. We have all forsaken our Lord in favor of being wed to “another Jesus” who wants his birthday kept on December 25^th. We have been “trodden underfoot” by pastors who do not “lay to heart” the fact that they are making us all spiritually “desolate” by pandering to the people just as King Saul did.

Hymenaeus and Alexander, Phygellus and Hermogenes, and Philetus and Diotrephes one and all wanted the preeminence among the people, and just as with King Saul, the people gave them that desired preeminence. So we see the church which Jesus and His apostles gave their lives for has forsaken them to follow after men who are willing to speak smooth deceits instead of the fiery words of Christ.

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11  Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

At first we all ignore the example of our Lord, and we refuse to give His church ‘[His] whole counsel’ and we “speak unto [them] smooth things”, the things they want to hear, and we encourage ourselves and the Lord’s people to do what we want to do rather than “declare unto [them] all the counsel of God”. That is what King Saul, the Lord’s rejected anointed did. That is the spirit of Hymenaeus, who wants to wed us to “another Jesus”:

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

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.
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  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.

“Another gospel” requires “another Jesus”, and Paul was dealing with this same adulterous spirit of Hymenaeus when writing to the churches of Galatia:

Gal 1:6  I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

When we reject the Lord as our husband, we are automatically “accursed”, and we are being spiritually “spoiled” by the Lord’s adversaries who inadvertently become His “sword” by which He chastens and scourges us:

Jer 12:12  The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
Jer 12:13  They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

It is the Lord Himself and His Word that raises the storms of our lives which drag us to Himself. These fiery trials are “His goodness [and] His wonderful works to the children of men [you and me]” which bring us to repentance.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

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

We simply do not come to repentance without first being brought to our “wits’ end”. That is the inward meaning of “the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.” “The land” is our physical body with all its Philistines and giants which mercilessly rule over and oppress us. Those oppressors are sent to us by the Lord Himself to show us what is in our ‘land’ and to burn it out of us.

“The sword of the Lord has both a positive and a negative application. In the positive sense, the Lord’s sword is “the Word of God:

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

While ‘the Word of God’ certainly helps us to try the spirits and discern false doctrines coming out of the mouths of false prophets in our midst, the primary meaning of “the Word of God… as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”, is that Christ and His Word help us to see what is within ourselves.

It is also at the Lord’s word that His ‘sword’ becomes wicked men whom He sends to chasten and scourge us:

Lev 26:25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

It is the Word of God which convicts us of our own hate-filled and vengeful thoughts and desires against our fellow man. We know that no man can do anything the Lord does not cause him to do. Yet when the Lord sends someone to show us how little we really believe that He is working all things after the counsel of His own will, that is exactly what we discover. So often we discover that we cannot yet “run with footmen” much less ‘men on horses or the swelling of Jordan’.

Psa 17:11  They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12  Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

“The wicked” who are the Lord’s sword, fail to realize that they also are merely a tool of the Lord who is “working all things… yea, even the wicked… after the counsel of His own will”:

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

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:

Inwardly we think that our hate-filled, vengeful rebellion against the Lord’s words is being blessed, and we think we are in His service when the truth is that the exact opposite is true:

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:

These words are the same refrain of the self-righteous whore of Revelation 18:

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.

This is the spirit which the Lord is in the process of burning out of His elect. As we read in Psalms 17, He uses “wicked men” as His sword to chasten and punish His elect. He always then punishes those wicked men for their own wickedness. Inwardly our “evil neighbors” are all the evil passions of our old man. Outwardly our evil neighbors are those whom the Lord uses to tempt us and to try our patience and demonstrate to us just how wicked our own old man really is. In either case, both inwardly and outwardly the enemies of Christ must be banished and destroyed:

Jer 12:14  Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

The Lord uses Babylon to chasten and punish us for our infidelity to Him and to His doctrines. Then He punishes Babylon, and as He punishes Babylon, He drags us out of her.

Jer 25:11  And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jer 25:12  And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Jer 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

“Return to this place” is returning to our “first love”, whom we left when we were carried away by lying false doctrines into Babylon:

Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

It was the Lord Himself who placed us as captives in Babylon “for [our] good”:

Jer 24:1  The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Jer 24:2  One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
Jer 24:3  Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Jer 24:4  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 24:5  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

As the Lord’s elect, we are “predestinated” to that position with Him. We are His “firstfruits, [His] good figs]”. Both the good and bad figs are from the Lord’s fig tree. We are all “evil… figs” before we are dragged to the Lord and are made to become His “good figs”.

Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

The basket of good figs is just God’s way of telling us that some few will be delivered from out of all the false doctrines of that rebellious and oppressive system which rules over us for a symbolic ‘seventy years’. We are all captives in Babylon until the Lord drags us out of her and her lies. All the contradictions in her doctrines are used of the Lord to bring us all to our wits’ end and make us cry out to the Lord for His mercy. The whole “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13 CLV) works together for good for those who are given to love God and who are the called according to His purpose in this present time:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It is verses like these here in Jeremiah 12, as well as all the other prophecies of the Old Testament, which led the apostle Paul to understand the very Biblical doctrine of predestination.

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

It has all been pre-determined and is “being worked after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11):

Jer 12:15  And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

As the Lord’s predestined firstfruits, when we return to the Lord, we do so with a whole heart, and we bring forth “good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them”:

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

The Greek word translated ‘workmanship’ is:

G4161
ποίημα
poiēma
poy’-ay-mah
From G4160; a product, that is, fabric (literally or figuratively): – thing that is made, workmanship.
Total KJV occurrences: 2

This Greek word is a noun, and it appears just twice in the New Testament. It means “thing that is made”. In other words, we are just what the Lord has made us to be. This noun ‘poiema’, G4161, is derived from its verb G4160, ‘poieo’. This word appears almost 576 times, and here is how Strong’s defines G4160:

G4160
ποιέω
poieō
poy-eh’-o
Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct): – abide, + agree, appoint, X avenge, + band together, be, bear, + bewray, bring (forth), cast out, cause, commit, + content, continue, deal, + without any delay, (would) do (-ing), execute, exercise, fulfil, gain, give, have, hold, X journeying, keep, + lay wait, + lighten the ship, make, X mean, + none of these things move me, observe, ordain, perform, provide, + have purged, purpose, put, + raising up, X secure, shew, X shoot out, spend, take, tarry, + transgress the law, work, yield. Compare G4238.
Total KJV occurrences: 576

The most common English translation of this word is ‘do, did, and done’. The next most common is ‘made’, just like G4161. The point the holy spirit is making is that we are what the Lord makes us to be, and we do what He makes us to do. We are His making, and we are His doing, yes, even our sins:

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

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

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

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

After making us to ‘err from His ways and making us wicked for our day of evil’ then:

Jer 12:16  And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
Jer 12:17  But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.

Under the law of Moses, Israel is here commanded ”to swear by [the Lord’s] name”. We know and appreciate the fact that our Great Reformer changed that commandment:

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Any time the word ‘if’ appears in scripture it is not there because God is wondering what might happen next. When the word ‘if’ appears as in “if they will diligently learn… [or] if they will not obey…” it is there just to let us know that God’s sovereignty does not negate the fact that we must “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling”:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Our “fear and trembling” at the thought of disappointing our heavenly Father is as much a part of His sovereign work in us as the good fruit is which that fear produces. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” is simply telling us that we are never to take our election for granted. It is true that God does indeed know exactly what we will do tomorrow because He has already written it in our ‘book, even the days ordained for [us] when as yet there were none of them”:

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

God has a spiritual ‘book’, a day-by-day plan for each and every man who has ever lived. He has the good and the evil in the life of every man written in advance, for each day in each ‘book’ of every man who has or whoever will live:

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

Philippians 2:12 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. However, the words “fear and trembling” do not suggest that the outcome is uncertain from God’s perspective. The word ‘if’ is never to be understood as being from God’s perspective. The very next verse in Philippians 2 gives us God’s perspective of why we must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling”, and why we must be spoken to with the word ‘if’:

Php 2:13  For [G1036: ‘gar’, because] it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

As demonstrated earlier, God makes us what we are, and He makes us do what we do. He works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and it behooves us to get with His program “with fear and trembling”. That is the extent of the sovereignty of God. If we accept the Truth that God has written in His book every day of our lives, then we can possibly find our names in “the book of life”. If we think that we do anything of our own free will, then the beast still sits on the throne of Christ in our heart and in our mind, and our name is not in the book of life.

That is our study for today. We will begin with chapter 13 in our next study:

Jer 13:1  Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
Jer 13:2  So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
Jer 13:3  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
Jer 13:4  Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
Jer 13:5  So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
Jer 13:6  And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
Jer 13:7  Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
Jer 13:8  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 13:9  Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Jer 13:10  This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
Jer 13:11  For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Jer 13:12  Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
Jer 13:13  Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
Jer 13:14  And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

[Study Aired May 30, 2021]

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Jer 10:5  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Jer 10:6  Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is  great in might.
Jer 10:7  Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms,  there is none like unto thee.
Jer 10:8  But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
Jer 10:9  Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
Jer 10:10  But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
Jer 10:11  Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
Jer 10:12  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
Jer 10:13  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Our study today begins with these words:

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Christ informed us that very few have been given eyes which can see or ears that can hear His words concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of God:

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them [“The multitudes” of Christians] it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Understanding that Christ did not want the multitudes to see and hear and understand and be converted reveals to those who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, that Christ did not come to save the world at this time. He certainly did come to save the world, but He will do so only in the order in which He planned it to be accomplished “before the world began”.

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

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Here is that “order” in which all men will be saved:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: [1] Christ the firstfruits; [2] afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. [“The first resurrection” (Dan 12:13, Rev 20:6)]
1Co 15:24  [3] Then cometh the end, [The great white throne judgment “when the thousand years are expired” and Satan leads mankind into one last rebellion against God (Rev 20:7-15)] when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him,  that God may be all in all.

At this present time, Christ has purposely blinded the multitudes of Christians and is dragging to Himself a select few with whom, and through whom, He will save all men of all time through the fiery great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death’:

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

Christ spoke to the multitudes in parables lest they should see any of these “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”. That being the case, the first verse of this chapter is addressed specifically to us, if we have been given eyes that see and ears that hear His words:

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Hearing the Lord’s Word infers that we are doing what those words command. James admonishes us:

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Isaiah tells us this about those to whom the Lord looks to become “kings and priests” to rule the kingdoms of this world with Him during that thousand-year reign.

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look,  even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Isa 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

We are all first babes in Christ before we mature enough to “tremble at His Word”. There were two things about “the Word of the Lord” which made the church and society of Christ’s day “hate [Him, and] cast [Him] out” of their synagogues. Here are those two things:

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because [1] he not only had broken the sabbath, but [2] said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Christ did not break just the weekly sabbath. He also broke the laws concerning the annual holy days when He failed to appear in Jerusalem on the first day of the feast of tabernacles as commanded in the law of Moses:

Lev 23:33  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:34  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
Lev 23:35  On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

Christ was not there for that “first day… holy convocation”:

Joh 7:1  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
Joh 7:2  Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
Joh 7:3  His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
Joh 7:4  For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
Joh 7:5  For neither did his brethren believe in him.
Joh 7:6  Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
Joh 7:7  The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth,  because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Joh 7:8  Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.
Joh 7:9  When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.

Joh 7:14  Now about the midst [Greek: mesoo, middle] of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

The apostle Paul was well aware of these facts when He wrote:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

The apostle Paul had met Christ on the road to Damascus. At that meeting Paul was physically blinded to graphically make him and us aware of just how blind we all are to the Word of the Lord, and how we must be taught to “tremble at His word”, including His Words which said:

Mat 12:6  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Mat 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

The apostle Paul knew the doctrine of Christ even though he was not one of the original twelve apostles, and it was with that knowledge he was given to instruct us:

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child [Greek: nepios, infant], differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children [nepios], were in bondage under the elements [Greek: stoicheion, principles, rudiments] of the world:

We will examine these two Greek words, ‘nepios’ and ‘stoicheion’, in a moment, but first we need to go on to our next verse to discover how these two words will contribute to understanding the judgment we are enduring as it is revealed to us here in Jeremiah ten:

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

What does the Lord mean by, “Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them?” This fear includes the fear which false astrologers place upon how the stars line up in the heavens and ‘blood moons’ and astrological signs. This fear also includes the “dismay… at the signs of the heavens” which is experienced by those who observe “the customs of the people” which customs are all built around “the signs of the heavens” like the weekly sabbath and the holy days and the new moons. Many ‘Christians’ literally fear to miss going to church on Sunday. This is clarified in the very next verse:

Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

“The customs of the people” revolve around “the signs of the heavens” in the previous verse. The cutting of a tree is done for the purpose of observing “the customs of the people”. That was and is as true of the Jewish customs of the law of Moses as it was and is of the pagan holidays of the nations around Israel. Both the Pagan holidays and the holy days given to Israel by the Lord were designed to keep those nations in bondage to “the weak and beggarly elements” of this world. Christ came to deliver us out from under that bondage, and when He, as our example which we must follow, broke those customs, the people of the church of His day wanted to kill Him for doing so:

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

Joh 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

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

Clearly Christ is telling us that the keeping of days, months, times and years, are idols of our hearts which we keep and observe to avoid being rejected of our families and our friends and the entire society in which we live. This is true in every culture on earth. Every holy day and every holiday demand our submission to “the customs of the people”. It may not be direct physical idolatry but it is definitely an “idol of the heart “which is what physical idolatry symbolizes. “His molten image is falsehood…” (Jer 10:14) and this:

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

While this next verse outwardly refers to the construction of a physical idol decked with silver and gold it also typifies the expense we put into “observ[ing] days, months times and years”:

Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Jer 10:5  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

False doctrines are false, regardless of how many people believe them. The doctrine of eternal torment will torment no one when they die because “the dead know not anything (Ecc 9:5). Those ‘idols of our hearts’ destroy our relationship with Christ, but they have no power in the realm of Truth. So much for our “idols of the heart”.

When the Lord toppled the idol of Dagon, the god of the Philistines, Dagon could not even right himself, much less harm anyone. Instead, the Philistines had to place Dagon back on his pedestal:

1Sa 5:2  When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
1Sa 5:3  And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
1Sa 5:4  And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
1Sa 5:5  Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

That is how little the Lord thinks of physical idols. How much less must He think of spiritual idols of our hearts which affect the hearts and minds of men. How much less must He think of His people observing days, months, times, and years, against which he admonished His people Israel:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

The holy spirit gives us this very same admonition in these verses in Galatians four:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [Greek: stoikeion], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? [Here is what is Paul is referring to as “weak and beggarly elements”]:
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Paul emphasizes the need to understand the Lord’s mind on this subject in these verses where that same Greek word ‘stoicheion’ is used in relation to the time we spend as spiritual babes (Greek: nepios, infants) in Christ:

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world [Greek: ‘stoikeion’, “days, months, times, and years”, (Gal 4:10-11)], and not after Christ.
Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Col 2:11  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Col 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Col 2:13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15  And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

This 16^th verse is often used to justify the keeping of “days, months, times and years”, when the exact opposite is its meaning, as is proven by verse 8 in this same chapter and by:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Col 2:17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

The word ‘is’ is not in verse 17 above in the original texts, and what this verse is saying is that we are not to let carnal men judge us, but we are to let the body of Christ be our judge in these matters.

Romans 14 tells us to receive the weak in the faith who are still “esteem[ing] one day above another and are being careful to eat only herbs. These “carnal babes in Christ” have many customs and laws which dictate “touch not, taste not, nor handle” anything other than spiritual herbs which will never bring us to spiritual strength and maturity.

Col 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:19  And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Col 2:20  Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments [stoicheion] of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21  (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Col 2:22  Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

There it is as plainly as it can be written. We are to count ourselves as “dead with Christ from the rudiments, the stoichieon of the world [the] days, months, times, and years” which are “the customs of the people [which] are vain”.

let us examine how these verses accord with what Paul teaches us in Romans 14:

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

Paul is contrasting “We then that are strong [in the faith]” (Rom 15:1) with “him that is weak in the faith”. He goes on to make it clear that those who are weak in the faith “eat only herbs [and] they esteem one day above another”.

Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not [is weak in the faith] judge him that eateth [is strong in the faith]: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou [who are weak in the faith] that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him [that is strong in the faith] stand.
Rom 14:5  One man [who is weak in the faith] esteemeth one day above another: another [who is strong in the faith] esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. [Don’t let the adversary convince you that it takes more strength to keep days than it takes to ‘esteem every day alike’]
Rom 14:6  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Rom 14:7  For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Rom 14:8  For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Rom 14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Verse nine is not telling us to equate ‘dying daily’ with being dead while we live in sin. All of these verses are focused mainly on those who are not spiritually “weak in the faith”, and they are simply instructions for how “We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak”:

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Romans 14 does not instruct the spiritually strong to forgo their “meat of the Word”. Romans 14 teaches us to accommodate “him that is weak in the faith” without despising his weak and immature spiritual condition, while at the same time instructing the weak not to judge and condemn those who are given to “eat all things [and] esteem every day alike”.  Anyone can “esteem one day above another” because that is what the whole world does, but it takes a man who trembles at the word of God and is spiritually strong in that Word to “esteem every day alike”.  The spiritually strong in the faith are instructed to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and they who are weak in the faith are instructed against judging their spiritually strong brothers. It is very difficult for any brother who is “weak in the faith” to acknowledge his spiritual immaturity. All toddlers just naturally think they are adults.

The holy spirit continues instructing us:

Rom 14:10  But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Rom 14:11  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Rom 14:13  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
Rom 14:14  I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Rom 14:15  But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

“Destroy him not with your meat” does not read ‘forsake your meat lest you offend your brother who is weak in the faith’. Again, while Paul is giving instructions to both “We that are strong” as well as “him that is weak in the faith”, his main focus is toward “we that are strong”, and he instructs us “destroy him not with your meat”. There is no hint at compromising the Word, but there is a command in this chapter to “bear with the weak” and never attempt to stuff strong meat down the throat of a “babe in Christ who must be fed with spiritual milk until he is capable of digesting “strong meat”.

Paul applied this principle in dealing with the immature Corinthians:

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?

Look again in Hebrews 5 how Paul addresses those who are weak in the faith:

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

“When for the time you ought to be teachers” tells us that there are some who are very slow to mature, and there are many who never spiritually mature in “this present time” (Rom 8:18). King Saul is a type of such a person. He was much older that the “strippling” who slew Goliath, yet King Saul was incapable of discerning good and evil, and was in fact a spiritual babe, as his sloppy understanding of the instruction he was given demonstrates:

1Sa 15:3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

This is a physical instruction to physically destroy everything pertaining to Israel’s enemy, Amelek. This is how we are to take these words today:

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

Yes, we surely ought to “lay aside every sin that so easily besets us”, but apply those words personally and remember:

Rom 14:12  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Romans 14 ends with these words:

Rom 14:20  For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
Rom 14:21  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Rom 14:22  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

These words: “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” apply both to “him that is weak in the faith [and] we that are strong”. Babes in Christ, which we all are to begin with, require time to mature and come to “tremble at My Word”. If we think we are strong in the faith, then we need to “bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves”.

That is the New Testament spiritual application of “utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” It is addressed inwardly to those who are mature enough and spiritually strong enough to receive it. However, like King Saul, at first we simply do not see the need to be that thorough in our obedience. Also, like King Saul we first bring the sacrifice of our own works and expect the Lord to appreciate our blatant disobedience. We may be willing to give up pagan holidays for “God’s holy days” as we reasoned in the World-Wide Church of God. But we were still keeping “days, months, times and years”, and our knowledge of the Father and His Son was impeded by our ignorance and our disobedience. It took decades before the Lord allowed me to see these very plain statements:

Mat 12:5  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

‘Christ in us’ is the focus of this chapter of Jeremiah. He is our example in whose steps we must follow (1Pe 2:21):

Jer 10:6  Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
Jer 10:7  Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

We all make light of the Lord’s instructions for the same reason King Saul did so:

1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

As in this story of King Saul’s presumptuousness, the Lord instructs us to destroy everything within ourselves which pertains to His enemies. Moses was given the same instructions concerning the enemies of the Lord’s people many years earlier:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Nevertheless, we all first follow in the steps of King Saul and bring a sacrifice to the Lord of the very thing He instructed us not to bring to Him. Our whole life is supposed to be “a living sacrifice unto God” (Rom 12:1). However, just like King Saul, we all first sacrifice to the Lord according to what we deem worthy of His acceptance and we are “deceiving our own selves” (Jas 1:22) that we are being obedient and we are bringing to him a proper sacrifice. After all, we are giving to Him the sacrifice we want to give Him. That is especially true when we want to offer Him “the customs of the people [which] are vain” (vs 3). That presumptuous spirit is the subject and the theme of this chapter of Jeremiah:

Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

My personal journey has taken me from an extremely strict Pentecostal church, where alcohol was of itself a sin, much like many think of guns here in the states. In the Pentecostal Churches of the 50’s and 60’s just touching a beer or a bottle of wine would have been unimaginable. Dancing, card games and theater going were all the devil’s instruments to keep me from going to heaven and to send me straight to an eternal ever-burning hell. However, the observance of Christmas, Easter and the 4^th of July were all wonderful ways of worshiping the Lord in the Pentecostal church.

In His time the Lord took me out of those blasphemous doctrines and into a much more self-righteous, but what I considered at that time, to be a more merciful church, the World Wide Church of God. This organization of men swapped the Pagan holidays for the more Biblical ‘holy days’ of the law of Moses. It is these days to which Galatians 4 refers:

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Just a few verses later in this same chapter Paul asks:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

Earlier in the epistle to the Romans the apostle Paul made it clear that the law of Moses was really, as far as its ability to bring us salvation, nothing more than the spiritual equivalent of the laws of the Gentiles:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

This is the Truth, and keeping Jewish holy days made me no closer to God than keeping pagan holidays. I was blatantly thumbing my nose at the example Christ had set for me, and I was as blissfully ignorant as King Saul of my presumptuous expectation that the Lord should feel honored that I was keeping days, months, times and years to Him. As Paul says in Romans 14:

Rom 14:5  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Rom 14:6  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

When we are in the grips of “the… vain… customs of the people” we read these two verses as if the first verse of this 14^th chapter and the first verse of the 15^th chapter are not even there. However, they are right there before our very blinded eyes:

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

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

We read Romans 14:4-5 as if being “weak in the faith” were a strength to be desired, and we read Romans 15:1 as if it were telling us that being infirmed and spiritually weak and sickly were a desirable sacrifice to present to the Lord (Rom 12:1).

In my own experience, I finally gave up both the pagan holidays and the Jewish holy days, and yet I presumptuously retained the celebration of being made sin, by being made of “corruptible flesh and blood” (1Co 15:50). Sandi and I observed birthdays for the whole ten years we were following the greasy grace doctrines of the Concordant Publishing Concern.  We saw no need whatever to give up observing and celebrating our wedding anniversary. We saw nothing at all wrong with keeping Thanksgiving Day, mother’s day and father’s day. “Surely”, we reasoned, “the Lord did not really mean every day, month, time and year. Why, Thanksgiving Day was a day to give thanks to Him. Surely, we could keep these days and months and years if we were doing it in sacrifice to Him. After all we were doing it all just to glorify Him.” We thought we were giving our whole life to Him and that He would accept our offering of disobedience since we were doing it in sacrifice to Him.

All the while Sandi and I were just repeating the presumptuous sins of King Saul who also proclaimed just how thoroughly obedient He had been in serving the Lord:

1Sa 15:13  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

All the while, Christ remained faithful to His own words and not to ours. All the while He was asking us:

1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What  meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

What then is this singing of ‘happy birthday’ and this greeting of ‘happy anniversary’, etc?

Our next verse gives us our true spiritual diagnosis of our spiritual health when we use the verses of scripture which instruct us to bear the infirmities of the weak for an excuse to bring to the Lord our own presumptuous sacrifices and expect Him to be pleased with us attempting to dictate to Him our agenda:

Jer 10:8  But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.

How true those words are! I saw and heard the founder of CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network, admit that he was certainly aware that Christmas and Easter were of Pagan origin, but he justified keeping these Pagan customs as if they were not “a doctrine of vanities” at all because, as he explained to his audience of Babylonian Christians (spiritual followers of King Saul), “We know that Christmas and Easter were originally pagan holidays but we have Christianized them, and we now keep these days to God and not to pagan gods.” Just like King Saul, this man thinks that God needs to get with his program and accept his sacrifice of blatant disobedience to the very clear instructions from our very Creator.

The Hebrew word translated as ‘stock’ here in verse 8 is H6086, ‘ets’, and it is almost always translated as either ‘wood’ or ‘trees’. It is the same word translated as ‘wood’ in this verse with which we are all familiar:

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 [H6086: ‘ets’], and it shall devour them.

No expense is spared to keep these Pagan days “to our God” when we are in the grips of the great whore:

Jer 10:9  Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
Jer 10:10  But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
Jer 10:11  Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
Jer 10:12  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
Jer 10:13  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

There we have the message of this part of our judgment. ‘The nations [which] shall not be able to abide His indignation” are all the idols of our hearts which we think the Lord should accept as pleasing to Him. We are told, “Learn not the ways of the heathen for they are vain… they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities… But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.”

The founder of CBN the Christian Broadcasting Network, thinks the Lord is pleased with us Christianizing pagan holidays and bringing those pagan holidays in sacrifice to our Lord. What does the Lord Himself have to say about doing such a thing? We read this earlier, but it bears repeating:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

We must be incredibly careful that we do “not add thereto, nor diminish from” His Words:

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life [the first resurrection], and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Yes, indeed, we are to bear with the infirmities and weaknesses and spiritual sickness of those who are weak in the faith, but we do so with this goal in mind:

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Christ did not die for us while we were yet in our sins so we could turn His chastening grace into lasciviousness. He died for us so we could fill up in our bodies what is lacking of His suffering “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:

That is our study for today. Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 10:14  Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
Jer 10:15  They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Jer 10:16  The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
Jer 10:17  Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
Jer 10:18  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
Jer 10:19  Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
Jer 10:20  My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
Jer 10:21  For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
Jer 10:22  Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Jer 10:24  O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
Jer 10:25  Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

[The next study in this series is here.

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Awesome Hands - part 127 Discussion

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Awesome Hands – part 127

"The Cloud guides us all"

January 5, 2018

Our study today takes us to the heart of Israel’s divine guidance. Being that we are spiritual Jews, understanding that we are also led day and night by the Lord, is crucial to us understanding that everything which happens to us is for a purpose in the Lord’s kingdom.

Our verse for consider today are found in Numbers 9.

Num 9:23  At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

There is obviously some context to this verse, and that context gives us some insight on what the Lord is doing with His people “by the hand of Moses”.

Num 9:15  And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
Num 9:16  So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

We have all heard about the cloud that the Lord used to guide the Israelites out of Egypt. We also know that this same cloud was used to protect the Jews form their enemies. So, can we conclude that this is still true today? If so, how do we know if we are being directed by this same cloud?

The first time we see the cloud come into our focus, as it pertains to relating to4 the Lord, is found in Exodus.

Exo 40:33  And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
Exo 40:34  Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

The ark of the covenant was covered with the cloud, and the “tent of the testimony” was covered. What is it we can learn about this cloud aside from what appears on the surface?

H6051

‛ânân
aw-nawn'
From H6049; a cloud (as covering the sky), that is, the nimbus or thunder cloud: - cloud (-y).
Total KJV occurrences: 87

H6049

‛ânan
aw-nan'
A primitive root; to cover; used only as denominative from H6051, to cloud over; figuratively to act covertly, that is, practise magic: -    X bring, enchanter, Meonemin, observe (-r of) times, soothsayer, sorcerer.
Total KJV occurrences: 11

That can’t be right can it? The root of cloud is linked somehow to magic? Well we certainly know that the cloud was supernatural in nature, so that makes some sense. Look at how the root is used in scripture.

H6049
‛ânan
Total KJV Occurrences: 11
observed, 2
2Ch_33:6 (2)
soothsayers, 2
Isa_2:6 (2), Mic_5:12
bring, 1
Gen_9:14
enchanters, 1
Jer_27:9
meonenim, 1
Jdg_9:37
observe, 1
Lev_19:26
observer, 1
Deu_18:10
observers, 1
Deu_18:14
sorceress, 1
Isa_57:3

This all seems a bit out of place to my natural man? How can it be that the cloud that guided the Israelites and crushed the Egyptians be connected to, and have the same Hebrew root meaning, soothsayers, enchanters, sorceress and observers? Observers of what?

In order to better understand the answer, we are going to read some of these verses in their entirety.

2Ch 33:6  And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
2Ch 33:7  And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

Isa 2:6  Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

Mic 5:12  And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:

Jer 27:9  Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

Lev 19:26  Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

Deu 18:10  There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

Deu 18:14  For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

Isa 57:3  But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

Here in Isaiah, we find some verses which will tell us just what the Lord thinks of the hearts of those who are at the root of the words we are reading.

Isa 57:1 (ESV) The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
Isa 57:2  he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.
Isa 57:3  But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
Isa 57:4  Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit,
Isa 57:5  you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?
Isa 57:6  Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they, are your lot; to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have brought a grain offering. Shall I relent for these things?
Isa 57:7  On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
Isa 57:8  Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial; for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have looked on nakedness.

Ahh yes, this doesn’t sound anything like the cloud the Lord have as a symbol for the Israelites to follow or does it?

If we remember how faithful the Jews were, to the Lord, while in the wilderness, then our questions will be abated. Oh yeah, that’s right, the Jews were not faithful at all to the Lord! In fact, they were quite treacherous to the Lord just the same as we all are! These verses are also in the ESV translation.

Gal 4:9  But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Gal 4:10  You observe days and months and seasons and years!
Gal 4:11  I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Luk 11:29  When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

1Co 1:21  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1Co 1:23  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
1Co 1:24  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Why is it the Lord used a cloud, a supernatural sign, “in the heavens”, to guide and protect His people? The answer is easy to say but hard to understand.

The Lord uses His cloud to deceive!

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The cloud is Jesus Christ. What then can we also see happens when a cloud comes to hide or reveal a thing?

Luk 9:32  But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
Luk 9:33  And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.
Luk 9:34  While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
Luk 9:35  And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
Luk 9:36  And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.

When the cloud passes, from which the voice comes, Jesus is found alone.

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Ahh, there it is again. This example listed in Luke is something we have all heard many times over. We rejoice in knowing that the Lord shakes the powers of the heavens. We rejoice in knowing that the second coming of Jesus will be on a cloud and we look up to the sky. How many Christians have come and gone believing Jesus will come back riding on a physical cloud, a physical sign which we can all see?

This alone is not a bad or evil thought, but the cloud Jesus comes back on NOW is a SPIRITUAL cloud and not something we physically see.

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

Given everything I have said already, what can we take away from these thoughts? Even while the Jews were tempted the Lord in the wilderness He was their shelter and guide. He illuminated their path, even at night, by being a fiery pillar in the cloud.

Psa 27:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psa 36:9  For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

Psa 121:5  The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

Joh 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Not only did God guide the Israelites, He did so in all things and that is really what this study is about.

In death we are led, while much of our lives appear to be in darkness:

Psa 48:14  For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Luk 1:79  To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

1Th 3:11  Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.

In light we are led as well:

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

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

We should all take comfort in knowing that no matter what our plans in life are, the Lord is guiding every detail. No matter what valley we are crawling through or what mountain we are trying to scale, the Lord is guiding us the entire way even when we think we are going to take control of our own lives and do things our way.

Peter that He would do the same:

Joh 13:36  Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Joh 13:38  Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Ultimately, the reason that the cloud was instituted for the physical Jews, and why the spiritual cloud is spiritually instituted today for Jews within, is to show us that the Lord is in control, looking out for us and has determined the route of our life for us.

Just as the Lord guided the Israelites through the wilderness, even while they tempted Him over and over, we too are guided through all aspects of our lives to ultimately be led to perfection after we are resurrected from the dead.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 43 Discussion

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Isa 9:8-13 The Lord Sent A Word Into Jacob...[Yet] The People Turn Not Unto Him That Smites Them

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

"Neither did they seek the Lord of hosts" was true because this is what they did throughout the history of ancient Israel:

1Ki 14:22  And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
1Ki 14:23  For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
1Ki 14:24  And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

What those verses tells us is that Israel wanted to follow the customs, the celebrations of the nations which the Lord cast out before them, in direct opposition to this commandment:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Following in the steps of Christ, I certainly do not observe days, months, times or years (Mat 12:1-8; Joh 5:17-18, Gal 4:9-10, Col 2:8). But it so happens that our study this week about 'the Lord sending a word unto Jacob' is being delivered to you on the day this world calls 'Easter Sunday'. Easter Sunday is preceded by a seven day period called 'holy week'. "Holy week" starts on what is called Palm Sunday.  This 'holy week' is part of a 44 day period of time which is called 'lent', and 'lent' begins on what is called "ash Wednesday".

I mention all of this because I was just recently asked about "the true meaning of Palm Sunday", as the question was phrased. Of course I was then compelled to point my questioner to all the verses we are all so familiar with which demonstrate that our Savior did not keep days, months, times or years of any kind. But in the process of answering that question, I also noticed that even the religious scholars acknowledge that no such observances were kept in the church of the first century.

Here are some excerpts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Week on this subject:

"Holy Week in the Christian year is the week immediately before Easter. The earliest allusion to the custom of marking this week as a whole with special observances is to be found in the Apostolical Constitutions (vs 18, 19), dating from the latter half of the 3rd century and 4th century. "

Obviously Christ, whose steps we are commanded to follow, had not kept this "tradition of men" (Col 2:8). I was quite surprised to read this in that same Wikipedia article:

In the Moravian Church, the Holy Week services (Passion Week) are extensive, as the Congregation follows the life of Christ through His final week in daily services dedicated to readings from a harmony of the Gospel stories, responding to the actions in hymns, prayers and litanies, beginning on the eve of Palm Sunday and culminating in the "Easter Morning" or Easter Sunrise service begun by the Moravians in 1732.

Contrast all of that to this story about our Lord and His apostles:

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

Christ appealed to David doing that which was not lawful and to the priest's profaning the Sabbath to justify His and His apostles actions, claiming that He is "greater than the temple, [and that] the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath day".

If there is still any doubt about how the holy spirit has demonstrated how Christ detests outward rituals which have no affect upon our hearts, we are clearly told:

Joh 5:17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Those are some of the rejected "words sent into Jacob [by] the Lord":

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.

This is not a positive application of the names 'Jacob and Israel'. These verses are being addressed to an unfaithful, murderous harlot, who is as shameless of her own Godless and sinful ways as were Sodom and Gomorrah:

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

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

Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

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

These words are not just being addressed to us as God's elect who are granted to come out of that harlot. Just as Christ Himself directly addressed the apostatized religious system of His day, that is what He did hundreds of years earlier, here in Isaiah, to His apostate wife, who He calls 'Jacob and Israel'. That is also what you and I will be made to do at the appointed time.

Yes, it is true that Christ spoke to the multitudes in parables for the express purpose of blinding them to the gospel He had brought to those who were to be His first faithful wife:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

But it is equally true that Christ spoke directly to His adversaries, and He warned them also of His impending judgment which was coming upon them for accusing Him of the very sins they themselves were practicing:

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [spiritually, Babylon, Babylon, Rev 11:8] thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Joh 8:26  I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

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.
Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Joh 8:46  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Joh 8:47  He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

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

The opportunity to minister to you is such a wonderful blessing. Being united in the mind of Christ, is the "good and... pleasant" of which King David spoke:

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Just ask anyone who was at the Australian Conference last week, and just think of how blessed we are to be able to gather around our computers and share the very mind of Christ!

We are admonished to do this as often as we are given to do so:

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

While there are times when I am pressed for time to stay current on my e-mails and still prepare these studies, I must confess that I truly enjoy this ministry the Lord has given me, and it truly is "good and pleasant" to speak to those whom the Lord has given to understand and "receive the things of the spirit" (1Co 2:13-14). I know all of our teachers will say the same thing.

While it is right and proper for us to first apply these words inwardly, let us never be guilty of ignoring these words we have been given:

Mar 13:9  But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

Indeed we ought all to see ourselves as chief... of... sinners (1Ti 1:15). But we need to always be prepared to "speak to the world those things which [we] have heard of him".

Just as we all first ridiculed and rejected Christ and placed our words and works above the Word of God, so will this world react to our proclamation of His judgments in the kingdoms of men:

Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

That is just the old Israeli way of saying, 'We are going to make America great again'. Not one of us, when we first heard that we have no free will, just naturally rejoiced in that Truth.  Maybe we had not gotten exactly what we willed, but we would just try harder, and we were determined to do even better, all in our own strength. We all, at first, reject the Lord's rule in our lives. We are willing to let Christ be our co-pilot, but we are not willing to let Him plan and execute our entire trip and be the pilot of that trip. It is at that point our judgment begins, if it is so ordained, yet even then we are still stubborn and "stout of heart". When Assyria first invaded Israel they did not carry away the whole nation at one time. It happened in stages with the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali being the first. Remember what we just read in this same chapter:

Isa 9:1  Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

An even more graphic example and type of this "stoutness of heart" spirit within us and within the whole religious world is the story of Israel's reaction to Christ's judgment upon Korah and company. This is the history of God's own called-out people. This is how we, and this world, react when we are corrected by Christ for our sins:

Num 16:25  And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Num 16:26  And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
Num 16:27  So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
Num 16:28  And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
Num 16:29  If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
Num 16:30  But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
Num 16:31  And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
Num 16:32  And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
Num 16:33  They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Num 16:34  And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
Num 16:35  And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Num 16:36  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:37  Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
Num 16:38  The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
Num 16:39  And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
Num 16:40  To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

Even carnal logic dictates that any of us would now know what is the Lord's mind concerning those He has anointed to be our leaders and to set us an example of Godly living. The heresy of the heretic has been revealed for what it is, and this is that heresy which afflicts the entire religious world to this day:

Num 16:1  Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
Num 16:2  And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

"All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them" is the exact same spirit which today tells us that we should expect to be 'united only in the essentials, be tolerant in the non-essentials, and show love in all things'.

This "earth" opened its mouth and swallowed up the heretics. The 'earth' is doing the same thing today to the Korahs among us. In the same miraculous way, those who despise the Lord's leadership are swallowed up by the most obvious false doctrines and descend down into the depth of the earth and its darkness and death. And what is the reaction to this miraculous event from the spirit of Korah within us:

Num 16:41  But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
Num 16:42  And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
Num 16:43  And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 16:44  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 16:45  Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
Num 16:46  And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
Num 16:47  And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
Num 16:48  And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Num 16:49  Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
Num 16:50  And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

"The plague was stayed" until the next rebellion of the kingdom of our old man at the waters of Meribah:

Num 20:2  And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
Num 20:3  And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
Num 20:4  And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
Num 20:5  And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

This is us, and this is this world when the Lord's judgments come upon us. We actually have the nerve to refer back to the Lord's earlier correction as if we had not learned a thing. Again we must suffer and die, "by little and by little" (Exo 23:30; Deu 7;22). Even the very best of the kingdom of our old man must not be allowed into the kingdom of God (1Co 1:29, 1Co 15:50).

Num 20:6  And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
Num 20:7  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 20:8  Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
Num 20:9  And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
Num 20:10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Num 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Num 20:12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Num 20:13  This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

In other words:

1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
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.

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

Our own flesh, as well as the flesh of the princes of this world, is slow to learn that we must be very attentive to every word of our Lord. The New Testament tells us this Rock they drank of was a spiritual Rock which followed them throughout their journeys, and we are told "that Rock was Christ"! Asking the people, "Must we fetch you water out of this Rock" and then 'smiting the Rock twice', after being told to "speak to the Rock", is nothing short of rebellion and taking selfish credit for what the Lord was doing, and the Lord will have no part of any such a spirit.

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The next type of our rebellion and the rebellion against our Creator by the princes of this world is during the journey by way of the Red Sea, to avoid going through Edom.

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent [Hebrew: seraph], and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew: nachash] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

It is while we are "in the wilderness" that we receive the types and shadows of the promise of our salvation, regardless of the timing of the fulfilling of that promise.

There are more rebellions and more and more dying out of the kingdom of our old man. It continues until there is no one left to die:

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23  Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

Num 26:63  These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
Num 26:64  But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
Num 26:65  For the LORD had said of them, They shall surelydie in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Or, as Christ puts it:

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

Isaiah tells us this same spirit continues unabated in the flesh of all men, and the Lord's judgments are just as severe as ever.

Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Isa 6:12  And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Which brings us to our last two verses in our study today:

Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him [Ephraim - vs 9, or Israel - vs 12] and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

Amos repeats this same message, telling us what is within our own flesh:

Amo 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand ...plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amo 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Amo 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.

The Lord has sent a word into Jacob, informing us that He gives us our very thoughts (Pro 16:1).

We are devoured by our enemies because "the people turn not to Him that smites them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts". That is why we and the princes of this world are called:

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;

Now let's go back to Isaiah 6, and notice who is sent to tell all of this to the Lord's harlot wife:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

We need not wonder when we are to do this. Just as "the time is come that [we must be judged as] the house of God" (1Pe 4:17), in like manner as these days have come upon us, when the time comes for us to follow our Lord's steps and "speak to the world", as it was with Him, so shall it be with us. It will be unavoidable because:

Mar 13:9  But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

This entire prophecy is True within, and at the appointed time it will be true without as Habakkuk assures us:

Hab 2:2  And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Hab 2:3  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Hab 2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Our faith in these words is a gift from God (Eph 2:8), and it is this gift which causes us to rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer with Christ, knowing that if we do suffer with Him we will also be glorified with Him:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Next week, Lord willing, we will discover the meaning of "the head and the tail" as those words appear throughout scripture.

Here are the verses we will study next week as the Lord provides:

Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

[Questions or comments can be directed to the author at vinsmike@gmail.com]

Dead With Christ From The Rudiments of The World

Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?

Introduction

By the time we finish this study, Lord willing, we will have no doubt what Paul means by the phrase “the rudiments of this world“. The exact same Greek phrase is translated as “the elements of the world” in:

Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

That word which is translated as ‘rudiments’ in the phrase, ‘rudiments of the world’ in Col 2:20, and as ‘elements, in the phrase ‘elements of the world’ in Gal 4:3, is the Greek word ‘stoicheion‘. It is defined by Strong’s as “something orderly in arrangement… basal, fundamental”. Since both verses refer to the “stoicheion of the world”, they are both clearly speaking of that which is ‘basic and fundamental to the orderly arrangement of the things of this world’, as opposed to how Christ and His body would order our lives.

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [Greek: stoikeion], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

This exact same Greek phrase appears a third time earlier in:

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Whatever “the rudiments of the world… the elements of the world” are, we are told they are “the tradition of men… [and they are] not after Christ”, and as we just read in Gal 4:9, these “rudiments of the world, [or] elements of the world” are “weak and beggarly elements [which place us] again… in bondage”.

So exactly which “tradition of men” did Paul have in mind when he used this phrase?

These verses make clear what Paul had in mind while speaking of “the rudiments [and] elements of this world… the tradition of men”:

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Here Paul is speaking specifically of “the handwriting of ordinances [which he informs us were] against us, [and which were] contrary to us…”. He tells us that Christ “blotted out… took it out of the way” and nailed those “handwriting of ordinances… to His cross”. To what specifically is this all referring?

These verses should make that perfectly clear for those who have no personal, doctrinal agenda and who are honestly seeking only the Truth:

Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Paul is referring specifically to what the apostle John referred to repeatedly as “a feast of the Jews” for the express purpose of distancing himself and those who identify with him, from those “days, months, times, and years” (Gal 4:9-11).

Where else do we find this phrase “shadow of things to come”? We find it in this verse:

Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

So it is clear that the “tradition of men… the rudiments of the world… [and] the elements of the world”, are only the “shadow of good things to come, and they are not “the very image of the things, [and] can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year make the comers thereunto perfect”, as Christ only, who is “the very image… the express image”, is the only one who is able to “make the comers thereunto perfect”.

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

So Paul contrasts the tradition of men, the law, the elements of the world, with “the good things to come”, with those who are living the life of Christ, those who are “the body… of Christ” (Col 2:17):

Col 2:17 For these were only temporary rules that ended when Christ came. They were only shadows of the real thing – of Christ himself. (LIV)

Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

But traditions of men die hard. That is especially true when those traditions were given to men by Christ Himself, as were all sabbaths and holy days of Leviticus 23.

Lev 23:1 And the LORD [Christ, Act 2:36] spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
Lev 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

These are the very holy days and sabbaths which Christ broke while He was here on this earth in an earthen vessel (Mat 12:1-8, and Joh 5:17-18). But while setting us the example of “profaning the sabbath, [and] doing that which was not lawful for Him to do” according to the law of Moses, Christ never overtly taught that the law of Moses was now outmoded. He did however say this:

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

This is Jesus Christ Himself speaking and telling us that His own twelve apostles could not at this time bear “Many things [which are part of] all truth”. Exactly what were those “many things” of which Christ told His own apostles “you cannot bear them now”?

One of those “many things”, which the holy spirit later revealed to be unnecessary for salvation, was physical circumcision:

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.

Had Christ Himself ever hinted at this fact? Yes, He did. Though His disciples were still unable to see this truth as late as the time of Paul’s apprehension of the Jews in Act 21, Christ had long ago taught this principle:

Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men [physically circumcised], but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

But even this revelation had to be revealed, and the false doctrine of the preeminence of a physical pedigree had to be driven out “by little and by little” [Exo 23:39; Joh 16:12]. When the holy spirit was given to the Gentiles of the house of Cornelius without benefit of physical circumcision (Acts 10), and prior to water baptism, the Lord’s twelve apostles were still, all those years later, “not [able to] bear” this simple Truth:

Act 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Had Christ Himself ever taught such a doctrine? The fact is that He had taught just that doctrine in His very first recorded teaching following His baptism by John, and it almost cost Him His life.

It was at the baptism of John that “the heavens were opened unto [Christ]”. Immediately after His baptism and open heavens the holy spirit drove Christ into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. It was very soon after His temptation by the devil that Christ returned to Nazareth where He delivered this, the very first teaching of His ministry:

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.

Sidon and Syria were both Gentile nations, and the “woman that was a widow” and “Naaman the Syrian” were both Gentiles. So Christ’s very first teaching was a prophecy that His message was to be rejected by His own people and to be received by the Gentiles.

Nevertheless, even after making this clear to us who now read the scriptures and who can now see what Christ was saying, Christ was very patient in revealing this revolutionary Truth to our founding apostles and to all the outward Jews who made up the entire Christian church up to this point. We have a hard time appreciating how revolutionary a teaching Christ gave to those there in His home town synagogue. Here is just how revolutionary it was:

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.
Luk 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

To teach that outward, physical appearances and that being physically descended from Abraham were no longer to be the deciding factor demonstrating who was God’s chosen people, was nothing short of rank heresy to those Jews in the synagogue at Nazareth, and even to the apostles of Christ, as late as Acts 21 where the very apostles of Christ still differentiated themselves from those who believed among the Gentiles. We must never forget that the apostles, the entire Jewish church at Jerusalem, “and the holy spirit” had agreed to these words in Acts 15 concerning whether the Gentiles were required to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses:

Act 15:19 And so my judgment [the apostle James, the Lord’s physical brother] is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
Act 15:20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.
Act 15:21 For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations. (NLT)

To James and to all the apostles and the whole church at Jerusalem at this time, the fact that Moses was being “preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every sabbath”, was a wonderful blessing, because the point James is making is that the Christian Jews were still under the law of Moses, and were still required to keep that law. But the Gentiles were not held to the same standard, making the church a divided church. One part was Jewish, which must keep the law of Moses, the other part was Gentile, which did not need to circumcise, did not need to eat only clean meats, nor keep the sabbath and the holy days, etc.

Here is what happened at that conference in Acts 15:

Act 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise [the Gentiles], and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Act 15:6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
Act 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Here is Peter speaking Truth which belies the immaturity of the entire church at Jerusalem. While Peter, under the inspiration of the holy spirit, tells all the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, “And [God] put no difference between us and them”, yet they all still go on to write a letter to the Gentiles delineating very clear differences between Gentile and Jewish believers. Here is what the apostles, the church at Jerusalem and the holy spirit agreed to at that time concerning what was expected of the Gentiles who believed on Christ:

Act 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Act 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Act 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Act 15:25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Act 15:26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 15:27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
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;
Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

So just as Christ had foretold, His own apostles were still not yet able to bear the revelation that physical circumcision and physical descent from Abraham was no longer a factor to be taken into consideration in the kingdom of God within or without.

Christ had made this same point for the second time while He was still in this earthen vessel talking to the Samaritan woman at the well:

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 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

When Christ said “the hour cometh, and now is”, He is referring to the fact that He is here and He is “the way, and the Truth”.

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.

He is not contradicting Himself when He said:

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Those words “He will show you things to come” are just as true and applicable today, as they were the day they were first penned. There is no end to the “unsearchable… riches” of the Word of God.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

It was for the very purpose of demonstrating to us how slow each of us are at relinquishing the false doctrines of Babylon in our own lives, that we are given the story of how the apostles and “the whole church… at Jerusalem”, were so slow to permit the Gentiles to be accepted of God without being circumcised. All the apostles were actually doing was acknowledging what the holy spirit had already demonstrated by them coming to the uncircumcised and baptized Gentiles at Cornelius’s house years earlier. By coming to those Gentiles under those circumstances the words, “when he, the spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth”, were being fulfilled, and it was being made perfectly clear that “all Truth” was not yet made known to the original 12 apostles. It was a slow pace at which the original twelve apostles came to understand the depth and the width of the reformation Christ came to inaugurate.

Here is how the holy spirit slowly began, through the apostle Peter, to “lead [us all] into all Truth”:

Act 10:24 And the morrow after they [Peter and the other Jews who had come with him from Joppa] entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends.
Act 10:25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
Act 10:26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
Act 10:27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.
Act 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Act 10:29 Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?

Peter went into these Gentiles knowing that under the law of Moses “it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or to come unto one of another nation”. He did so only because the holy spirit has so instructed him in his vision back in Joppa the previous day. But Galatians 2 reveals to us, for our own admonition, that years later “Peter… Barnabas… and the other Jews”, were still fighting a war in their heavens over this very same subject of considering themselves superior to those of another nation.

Gal 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Gal 2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

So the Jewish church felt it was somehow superior to Gentile believers. In spite of what had happened at Cornelius’ house, Peter, Barnabas and the other Jews separated themselves from the Gentiles. The Truth is that it was the Jewish Christians who were still under “the weak and beggarly elements” of the law of Moses. It was that childish and “weak and beggarly” condition which had made them act in such a hypocritical manner as to separate themselves from their own Gentile brothers in Christ with whom they had just been eating.

But as it turns out, even the apostle Paul, who regularly ate with and ministered to the Gentiles, was still living under the law of Moses, and he himself did not yet realize the extent of Christ’s words:

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

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 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Paul was given the ability to recognize and reject the hypocrisy he had witnessed at Antioch. But this truth was not yet revealed to him:

Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; [the letter to the Gentiles of Acts 15]
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

That is what was missing in that letter to the Gentiles in Acts 15. That is what had not yet been revealed to Paul when he went up to Jerusalem and agreed to pay for the sacrifices of the four other men as well as a sacrifice for himself in Acts 21.

In Acts 15 we read of the conference which was called to decide whether Gentiles had to be circumcised to qualify as followers of Christ. After all Christ was circumcised and He “was … made under the law”. When discussing Christ as our example it is natural to forget that ‘our example’ was a reformer who came at “the time of reformation” making it unmistakably clear that while He was planting the seeds of His reformation during His ministry, there were yet “many things” which were to be revealed to the church only after His death and resurrection for this express reason: “You cannot bear them now”!

Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, [a reformer] like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them [only] until the time of reformation.

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

With all of this in mind it is clear that the apostle Paul was not above having to be “guide[d] into all Truth” in a systematic, very gradual way, along with all the rest of Christ’s early apostles.

Even the apostle Paul was still under “the weak and beggarly elements” he later came to see as “contrary to us”:

Act 18:18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

Act 18:21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

Act 27:9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast [the day of atonement] was now already past, Paul admonished them,

These three verses are all speaking of the apostle Paul before his imprisonment, and we see him keeping the feast, having a vow, shaving his head and referring to the day of atonement, as it related to the timing of their voyage to Rome.

As late as the time of Paul’s apprehension in Jerusalem at the hands of the Jews, he himself was still “walk[ing] orderly and keep[ing] the law [of Moses]” to the extent that Paul was more than willing to offer a blood sacrifice, even as he was teaching the Gentiles that they were not under the law, as these verses make abundantly clear:

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.

There it is as plain as the holy spirit can tell us. God Himself ordained that Christ’s own body was to be a divided body with different requirements for Jews and Gentiles until the revelation that was given to the apostle Paul in the second chapter of Ephesians, and the second chapter of Colossians.

Col 2:8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.

Col 2:14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
Col 2:15 having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, [“the tradion of men” of verse 8].

Either Paul was himself keeping the law of Moses or he was teaching the Jews that were among the Gentiles to forsake Moses. Which was it? According to Paul He was keeping the law of Moses, and He was not teaching the Jews which were among the Gentiles to forsake circumcision and Moses, and he was more than willing to buy the sacrifices of himself and four Jewish men who had a vow for the express purpose of putting this false rumor to rest.

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.

Christ knew His apostles were not yet capable of receiving a commandment to turn their backs on physical circumcision, profane the sabbath and the holy days, and refuse to keep all the laws concerning clean and unclean meats, etc. In other words, Christ realized that natural-born Jews, the apostle Paul included, were not yet “able to bear” the revelation that the law of Moses was nothing different from the law of the Gentiles. They could not then, and they cannot now, accept the Truth that the law of Moses was “not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient”. It was nothing more than “a yoke which neither [the apostles] nor we are able to bear”. It was nothing more than “weak and beggarly elements”. (Gal 4:9)

Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the [Gentile] disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Here are two sections of scripture which are essential knowledge for understanding what the holy spirit means by “the elements… rudiments of the world”, the stoicheion of the world:

Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

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;

The law of Moses “is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient… and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine”. That is who the law is made for. As the apostle made so clear, the very purpose for the law was that “it was added to make the offense abound… that sin might appear exceedingly sinful”.

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Is the law sin? The answer is, no, the law in and of itself is not sin, but it certainly is a sin to think that keeping the law makes one righteous.

Rom 7:9 At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life,
Rom 7:10 and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.
Rom 7:11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. (NLT)

The law of Moses and the law of the Gentiles are both like a mirror which will show us the dirt on our faces. But can that mirror wash that dirt off our face? Of course it cannot. It simply makes us aware of our dirty condition. The mirror is not designed or intended to clean us up. That is to be accomplished by some soap and water after we come to see ourselves for the dirty sinning machine we are. The words of Christ are that ‘water’ which will cleanse us of our sins and give us life:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (ASV)

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,

For a much more in depth discussion of the purpose of the law read the article on that subject entitled The Law of Moses Versus The Law of The Spirit at this link:
The Law of Moses Versus The Law of The Spirit

But there is one thing which both the law of Moses and the law of the Gentiles have in common which we are explicitly told is the “weak and beggarly elements of the world”. This part of the law of Moses was one of two things we are specifically told was one of two main excuses used for the crucifying of our Lord. It is the same to this very day in spiritual terms. If you “come out from among” this one thing and you separate yourself from it, you will be spiritually killed to this very day. What was it that made the church in Christ’s days in the flesh want to kill Him? Did they even attempt to destroy Christ because He had committed murder or adultery? No, of course not. Had Christ dishonored His parents or stolen from any of His friends? No, it was neither of those sins for which the church of Christ’s day wanted to kill Him.

So what was it then that made Christ to be so very hated by the people of His day? What was it that made the very multitudes of people who ate His loaves and fishes to call out for His crucifixion? It was the very same thing then as it is today. Here is what made the people of Christ’s time to want to kill Him, and it is the same thing that causes us to be hated by our own family and friends to this very day:

Joh 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Was it against the law to work on the sabbath day? Yes, it was, but Christ was prophesied to be a reformer “like unto [Moses]” and to make many changes in “many things you cannot bear now”.

Moses and Aaron were types of Christ, and Israel typified Christ’s church. If the Israelites who came out of Egypt had been given to do what they wanted they would have stoned Moses and Aaron and Caleb and Joshua and made themselves a captain, and they would have returned to Egypt when ten of the twelve spies returned and told the people there was no way they could withstand the giants in the land:

Num 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Num 14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
Num 14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Num 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

“Return[ing] to Egypt” is the very temptation which confronts us all at this time each year. We are tempted and pressured to give in and return to the ways of this world. Those ten spies, who concluded that it was impossible to withstand and confront the giants of the land of Canaan, typify our flesh when Christ is not our Head. ‘Canaan’ typifies the blessing we are promised to possess if Christ lives His life within us and if He is our head. But our spouses, children, our extended families and our friends become the ten faithless spies who tell us we cannot win if we insist on remaining faithful to Christ and following in His footsteps.

Even Christ’s own apostles told Him that it was not necessary for Him to be rejected of all and to die to His natural desire to retain His life at the youthful age of 33:

Mar 8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter [“His disciples'” spokesman], saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

So now we need to answer the question as to exactly what “tradition of men” did Paul have in mind when He made this statement:

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

What are the weak and beggarly elements… rudiments of the world, tradition of men” which keep us all “in bondage”? The answer is that whether it is the law of Moses or the law of the Gentiles:

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

When we think that we need not give up our own lives for Christ and His doctrine, He responds to us in the same way today as he did 2,000 years ago. Christ does not accommodate the false doctrines of the timid. Rather He rebukes us at that stage of our walk. If we are timid, we will have our part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone at the great white throne judgment, which takes place “when the thousand years are expired”:

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

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 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 21:8 Yet the timid, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers, and paramours, and enchanters, and idolaters, and all the false – their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death. (CLV)

What we are being told is that those who are not given the faith and who cannot and will not stand against family and friends when it comes to following in the footsteps of Christ, simply will not be in that blessed and holy first resurrection to rule with Christ, making the life and death decisions that will have to be made at that time. Instead of sitting on thrones judging those in the symbolic lake of fire, “the timid” will be in the lake of fire being judged and learning not to be timid.

We will close with these promises given to those who are granted to become overcomers in this age.

1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

[Study Aired December 20, 2015]