The Book of Habakkuk – Hab 2:1-20

[Aired March 22, 2025]

The first chapter of Habakkuk continues in chapter 2 with our Babylonian self-righteousness looking outwardly and down at other poor wretches devoid of knowing the Jesus we know, oblivious that he is the oft repeated term, ‘another Jesus’ (1Co 11:1-4). What we should have been doing is as Habakkuk, the emblematic Elect, pleads with Israel not to rely on the strength of the Chaldeans, similar to Job standing upon his righteousness. To Job’s later God-given credit for acknowledging his sins, he, like the other righteous prophets, begins to be aware that God’s power must somehow powerfully influence the individual than by his own works. 

Job 23:1  Then Job answered and said,
Job 23:2  Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
Job 23:3  Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! 
Job 23:4  I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
Job 23:5  I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. 
Job 23:6  Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. 
Job 23:7  There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge. 
Job 23:8  Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 
Job 23:9  On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: 
Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 

Now we, like Habakkuk and John in Revelation, the watchmen within, standing on the walls of the New Jerusalem, watch, seek, and find our Lord’s revelations to be approved workmen worthy of the hope of glory. Our breasts are like watch towers over our city within, symbolising our Husband’s peace of a unified heart with His.

Son 8:10  I am a wall around a city, my breasts are towers, and just looking at me brings him great pleasure. (CEV) – Jerusalem means ‘peace’, and no greater pleasure is there for a husband than her unified heart of mind, body and spirit with his, signified by her breasts standing guard over his love for her (Pro 5:20). 

Significations

Hab 2:1  I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved [Rebuke; chastisement]. 

Our decreasing harlot ways were raucous in the streets of Old Jerusalem within and of our Babylonian churches, committing wholesale spiritual adultery with one another and encouraged by our first mother and father – the Orthodox Christian church and Satan.

When our alleged spiritual knowledge is unwittingly derived from those two sources, and our responses are like women and children in control, we speak as fools.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 
1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 

Pro 29:11  A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. 

Jas 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 
Jas 1:20  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 

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

The most honourable answer to the Lord’s chastisements is the simplicity of authentically acknowledging our sins.

Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 

Hence, Habakkuk’s first complaint in chapter one, his lamenting of endless suffering and his second grievance of how slow the Lord appears to be in reproving his enemies are answered in the next verses of chapter two.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

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. 

The Babylonian ‘silly women’ churches brag about their visions and dreams, which most laity take with a proverbial grain of salt yet love the theatre. They are not equipped to prove if their visions are truthful. Just as women secretly love romantic lies, the Babylonian churches love emotionally driven spiritual delusions. Christ calls us to discern the truth accurately, testing the spirits of the visions against other scriptures, the “sum of his word” (Psa 119:160 YLT), for us to be reproved and approved upon the tables of our fleshy hearts left and right ventricles sending nourishment to our spiritual Temple.

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent [racously proclaiming their visions and dreams], fierce, despisers of those that are good, 
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 
2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women [40,000 splintered Christian denominations who can’t agree] laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 
2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Hab 2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his [Christ’s] faith. 
Hab 2:5  Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: 

All our self-righteousnesses is our self-styled faith piously portrayed in us, the man of perdition, sitting on God’s throne prematurely presenting himself as God, drunk on the blood (“wine”) of doctrinal lies, now paradoxically the Great Whore herself. Never satiated, death and the grave reside in her heart and soul.

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

Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 

Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. 
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 

Rev 17:4  And the woman [You and I while residing in Babylon] was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 

Woe to the Chaldeans

The Chaldeans ruled as kings of Babylon from 626-539 BC and remain hidden, spiritually violent in the world, spilling the blood of doctrinal lies, decreasingly within Christ’s Elect, to this very day.

Hab 2:6  Shall not all these [The Lord’s Elect against themselves] take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! [The weighty pledge of debt]
Hab 2:7  Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? 

Still under the Old Covenant, unwittingly mostly kept by Orthodox Christianity, they deludedly think, as we once did, that they are free from sin, that Christ did it all for them on the cross, rich and increased with goods, “increasing that which is not his”, not knowing that it is only in this age since the cross, that it is his Elect who fill up behind the same destruction of our old man as did Christ, his. Consequently, that weighty pledge of clay representing our old man has alarmingly bitten us on our posteriors to alert us that its understanding is food, the spoils of plundering our old ways that the ‘booties’ of their destruction represent, to bite us no more.

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. 

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: 
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 

Babylon once kept us from seeing Christ’s truth, and now that the tables have turned, it is his little flock, the remnant, who, at Christ’s hand, take vengeance upon our old man. Woe, indeed, if we fail to be that watchman upon the wall of the New Jerusalem, the “nest” atop the towers of our hearts, causes Christ to be crucified over and over again.

Hab 2:8  Because thou hast spoiled [plundered] many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. 
Hab 2:9  Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! 
Hab 2:10  Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. 

Since the cross, to this very day, Orthodox Christianity, driven by elements of the Old Covenant, has held Christ’s word unrighteously and thus “spoiled many nations” throughout the world. The remnant, the hidden Elect of God, spoils those same Babylonian lying doctrines within themselves by being alert to Babylon’s inhouse, her internal consulting shame comparing her doctrines with her harlot churches doctrines rather than from the sum of God’s word — not that she could have understood since she isn’t called to understand nor given the keys to the mysteries of heaven (Mat 16:19). She thus covers her evil as righteousness to her shame.

Pro 28:13  He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [Christ’s Elect being made as he is] should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices [In Christ] than these [… the old man of sin]. 
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands [The stone tablets of the Covenant] which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 
Heb 9:25  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 
Heb 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

Dying once to our sins feels like an impossible task, and it truly is. Conflictingly, we read that “as often as we sin,” and the question of how many times our Lord forgives can lead the Babylonian within to throw his hands up in confusion over the paradox. However, our maker knows that we are created in weak, corruptible flesh, subject to replaying sins repeatedly. He guarantees the Saints to drink the cup of his wrath in chastisements, expectedly decreasingly until we are given of him to overcome.

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. [We drink unworthily if we rely on our strength to overcome, consequently…]
1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, [if he is a sound watchman trumpeting for Christ’s power and might to kill the enemy within,] and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 
1Co 11:29 [… and if we don’t…]  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 
1Co 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 
1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 

We “consult shame in our house”, the temple we are, by concealing our sins, not seeking the truth of a matter through a multitude of Godly counsel, but rather excusing ourselves to continue pursuing our lusts, now an idol of the heart. That action indicts our conscience, enlivening the stones, even the gems — the jewels (Mal 3:17) of the Bride’s joints, her unified members to cry out, judging herself.

Accordingly, the very joints of the heavenly New Jerusalem, the Bride herself, cry out when wood, hay, and stubble are present in the construction of the Temple within when our works of sweat and blood are discovered and consumed by the chastising fire of God’s word. Accordingly, she has learned not to hold her tongue against her old man and as a witness against those without.

Luk 19:40  And he [Christ] answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these [his disciples chastised by the Pharisees] should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. 

Hab 2:11  For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. 
Hab 2:12  Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! 
Hab 2:13  Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? 
Hab 2:14  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 

When the Bride is fully repented in ravished unification and marriage to her Husband, Christ, it is time for Satan’s release as an occasion for God to destroy her brothers and sisters at the end of the One-Thousand Year reign, followed by the flood of fire baptising the sea of mankind in the Lake of Fire.

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 
2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly [by the counsel of Christ’s own will] are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 
2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment [The Lake of Fire] and perdition of ungodly men. 

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the holy ghost, and with fire: 
Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Hab 2:15  Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! 

To most females’ gratitude, paradoxical discomfort and intrigue, males are primarily visually sexually aroused, to which all women, particularly young women, to varying degrees of impropriety, easily manipulate to their advantage — to which equally dissolute males, abdicating their headship, eagerly consent. Likewise, women are visually stimulated outwardly for all ‘pretty things’ other than male sexuality. Satan was the first emblematic ‘male’ to put a bottle of lust to the woman, Eve, so that he could look upon her utterly innocent nakedness, mostly devoid of God’s spirit. God didn’t deem the graphically designed occasion too vulgar in Habakkuk 2:16 to deliberately illustrate the scene, nor should we with its interpretation. Correspondingly, the Serpent, uncircumcised of heart, not being ‘covered’ by God’s purity, unashamedly spiritually aroused, spewed his spirit of lies into Eve’s fertile mind, in turn inciting Adam to mutually bring forth bastard doctrines through his wife, signifying harlot churches.

The act of consciously inciting another person with alcohol or your effervescent (Scripturally, wine means to sparkle) conversation with the intention of sexual conquest directly corresponds to inflaming him with Christ’s word, knowing that he is unlikely to understand its potency and thus take on immature and rash understandings, him now adrift without a spiritual rudder. His spiritual nakedness is now evident; he relies on you, the perceived greater authority, to be aroused further, incapable without the holy spirit to flourish in truth, feeling compelled to pursue God’s word, possibly without Christ choosing him to endure to the end.

Deu 18:9  When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 
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 18:11  Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer [1. to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require. Vivaciously engaging another person spiritually to incite him; you, now dragging him to Christ]. 

Joh 6:44  No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw [G1670] drag him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Sexual ravishment directly corresponds to the naturally glorious nature of being spiritually ravished by Christ’s word as the Bride is for him, and he, for her, is made clean with circumcised hearts.

The flesh is sin, meaning corruptible and unclean, just as the Old Covenant was and is without the holy spirit, depicted as ‘unclean’ when uncircumcised. Any moist, warm physical environment like the mouth, underarms and enclosed male and female privy biomes needs personal care for cleanliness; hence, and representative of mankind, the uncircumcised foreskin is intentionally designed to represent uncleanliness in the male — him (correspondingly to his wife as one in him) representing Jesus’ ceremonial circumcision and progression to purity in headship and authority. The male member also represents the means of spiritually disseminating Christ’s spirit and truthful doctrine, and while in the flesh, regardless of circumcision, remains ritualistically unclean in that it is responsible for the primary facilitation of creating more corruptible flesh.

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

Luk 2:21  And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel [Christ] before he was conceived in the womb. 

Hab 2:16  Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’S right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. 

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

Astonishingly seen earlier, Satan is the originator of desecrating every detail of what Christ created (Joh 8:43-44) as ‘good’, as good as flesh can be in its first state, beginning sexually. He reflects the intrinsic nature of women’s scheming (Eccl 7) endemic to mankind and Habakkuk 2:16’s outward representation of a male deliberately inventing means to sexually inveigle a female. His inevitable shameful emission upon looking on her nakedness is equal to Satan’s explosive enlivenment of beguiling lies exciting Eve, spiritually, him shamefully glorifying in steering Adam and Eve away from the Tree of Life. It reflects the nemesis of Christ’s “glory” of righteous insemination of truth in our circumcised hearts. It is the last thing the Zionists today want to hear since it destroys their power outwardly and, unwittingly, exceptionally inwardly since it is not their time to understand Christ’s word.

Php 3:2  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 
Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 

Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
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 2:25  For circumcision [OF THE HEART] verily profiteth, if thou keep the law [the NEW COVENANT, CHRIST’S LAW]: but if thou be a breaker [As are Christ and his Christs are…], [and insist on being a keeper] of the [Old Covenant…] law thy circumcision [YOUR self-styled cleanliness] is made uncircumcision. [… in other words, if we insist upon doing our works by our faith, sweat and strength, we are unclean, depicted as uncircumcised]

The biblically definitive theatrics of exploiting an intoxicated person’s nakedness is, of course, Ham’s chance view of his father, Noah, who lay disrobed on his bed with the tent fly carelessly open for the air to cool his wine-wracked body (Gen 9:20-29). The occasion was incredibly opportunistic for Ham not to mock his father before his brothers. Spiritually, Ham’s actions are ours when we misuse our God-given righteous understanding of scripture to ‘spew’ Christ’s truth into the mind of a spiritually uncircumcised brother. 

The symbolism of physical circumcision has futile value due to the impossibility of its advocates adhering to every detail of the Old Covenant Law. Its inevitable failure of its benefactors of Old Israel fixated on circumcision being a necessity for salvation starkly highlights their inherent uncleanliness of depending upon that Law, and are thus considered uncircumcised, dead in your sins since by the Law without the holy spirit, it is impossible to please God.

Rom 2:26  Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? [… counted as righteousness?] 
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? 

Simply put, the Law was necessary to point out that the flesh can’t keep God’s Law. Circumcision was a highly expressive way for God to portray our transition from uncleanliness to a clean, spiritually circumcised heart.

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

Returning to Habakkuk 2:16, an uncovered foreskin highlights two conclusions. Firstly, as we observed, it indicates the physical deliberate impairment of another’s and or your morality to voyeuristically or sexually take advantage, corresponding spiritual degradation of Christ’s word cast before symbolic swine. Secondarily, the natural honour and glory of male arousal is sanctified in marriage alone with one’s wife, and not the shameful vomiting of Christ’s word spiritually inseminating the minds of multiple women representing churches of Orthodox Christianity — the act of harlotry (Rev 17:5).

Accordingly, to keep the Old Covenant, it engenders violence and whoredom in the land, represented by an uncircumcised uncovered foreskin of beast-like men, barbarians, spreading the seed of the Serpent far and wide.

Col 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication [uncircumcised, false doctrine] out of your mouth. 
Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 
Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 
Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Hab 2:17  For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee [as represented by the symbolic nature of a foreskin], and the spoil of beasts [of uncircumcised spewing of falsehoods], which made them afraid, because of men’s blood [representing uncleanness of the flesh], and for the violence of the land, of the city [you and me], and of all that dwell therein. 
Hab 2:18  What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?

The worship of women and sex is an outstandingly dumb idolisation, indicting mostly men, yet probably more so insidiously women idolising women, them seeking the validation of other women more than they do from men. As such, what profits women (or men) from idolising women? (Act 19:24) Outwardly, it is a representation of Orthodox Christianity glorying ‘growing churches’ in other nations, going over land and sea to make a ‘twofold child of hell worse than themselves, their shameful ‘spewing’ the engraving of lies on the hearts and minds of ignorant babes. Such an idol-maker profits disastrously, amplifying personal ignorance. It all is initiated by the father of lies, Satan, our first father, when we, with an uncircumcised heart, trust in the dumb idols of our hearts.

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;

Hab 2:19  Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. 
Hab 2:20  But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

Accordingly, it is formerly we who are ravished by a dumb idol of false doctrines we all zealously pursued and taught to any who would listen when in Babylonian Christianity, defrauding our Lord of his gold and silver (Hag 2:8-9) twisted and engraved in smooth words for the consumption of the equally witless nations agape, violated in silence between the temple and the altar.

Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 
Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 
Mat 23:35  That upon you [the incipient Elect] may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar [… in our journey and transition in being recreated as Christs]. 
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation [… the Elect alone!]

Next week, Lord willing, we will conclude the Book of Habakkuk on a far more positive note.

Isa 30:19-25 Our Eyes Can Now See Our Teachers - Discussion

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Isa 30:19-25 Our Eyes Can Now See Our Teachers

Isa 30:19  For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
Isa 30:20  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
Isa 30:21  And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isa 30:22  Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
Isa 30:23  Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
Isa 30:24  The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
Isa 30:25  And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

Before we begin our study today it will help to remind ourselves who the holy spirit considers to be "the people [who] dwell in Zion at Jerusalem". Let us let God be true and every man a liar. We need to know what the scriptures mean when they speak of 'circumcision', 'a Jew', 'the seed of Abraham', 'the son of the free woman' and 'the Israel of God'. Since the "times of reformation" all those words and phrases have taken on an entirely new spiritual meaning.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Here are a few verses concerning the significance of "the time of reformation", which, if we are given to receive it, will make our study today to take on so much more significance for each of us individually:

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.

Not one Christian in a million believes, "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly." The Christian world proclaims the physical Jews are still the Lord's chosen people, while the scriptures declare they are not even Jews, and they are not circumcised, except for those who are in Christ.

We are told "Zion [is] at Jerusalem", but where is Jerusalem since "the times of reformation"? This is what the scriptures teach is now 'Jerusalem':

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

We are told "cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman".  To whom is Paul referring as "the son of the bondwoman"? The answer of the holy spirit is:

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

The holy spirit, through the apostle Paul, informs us that "Jerusalem which now is" is "the son of the bondwoman" and "is in bondage with her children". We are told:

Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren [Gentile Galatians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

The Gentiles who believe in Christ are now called the children of promise "as Isaac was". These are then called, "Jerusalem above, the mother of us all."

All of this is telling us that we, in Christ, are now "the Israel of God":

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

With all of this in mind we can now begin our study and know who is "Zion at Jerusalem":

Isa 30:19  For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

This verse gives us a simple statement of truth without telling us when, "You shall weep no more." Spiritually we can, in Christ, rejoice even now as we are enduring the most excruciating persecutions. For example

Act 5:40  And to him [Gamaliel - vs 34] they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Act 5:41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

The Lord is indeed gracious to us when we pray to Him. He hears and answers every prayer that accords with His will:

Dan 4:35  And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Christ told us to always pray 'thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven':

Luk 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

The apostle John tells us that when we pray in this manner, the Lord will hear our every prayer:

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:

If our sincere prayer is only to seek and want what is the Lord's will, then all of our prayers will be answered, because we were informed in Dan 4:35 "He does according to His will... and none can stay His hand [and] he [is] very gracious unto us] at the voice of [our] cry; when he shall hear it, he will [always] answer [us] according to His will".

Isa 30:20  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

It is the Lord who gives us "the bread of adversity", and Christ made that very clear. This is what He came to do in our lives:

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

That is "the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction", and both Isaiah and Matthew inform us that it is the Lord who came to bring us that trial for our own good. "Yet shall not [our] teachers be removed into a corner any more, but [our spiritual] eyes shall see [our] teachers".

This is what Christ Himself said of His teachers:

Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

So there it is! That is what this prophecy is telling us, and I repeat:

Isa 30:20  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

Our spiritual eyes spiritually see Christ in each other as we are told:

2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

To say that we know no man, not even Christ, after the flesh is a revolutionary statement. This is what we are being told by these verses:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

In other words, in spiritual terms we should understand that as Christ is in this world, the light of the world, being sent to save this world, bringing His Father's Word to a lost world, in any way Christ serves His Father, "so are we in this world". But is that really what the scriptures teach? The answer is, "Yes that is exactly what the scriptures teach."

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

The message of this verse is exactly what Christ told Thomas and Philip:

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Joh 14:5  Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

If we know Christ, then we also know His Father, and from that point on we know and "have seen" Christ and His Father. That is a spiritual statement, and it is speaking of spiritual eyesight which can and does see Christ spiritually wherever He now abides.

Now we can begin to 'see' and understand how the things of the spirit are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made. Christ tells us how we are able to "see" our teachers, and we should 'see' our teachers only with spiritual eyes. Christ is no longer a physical man who has a physical body. 'Christ' is now spiritually 'seen' within the lives of all of those who spiritually are "His flesh and His bones":

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

"All things are become new" means 'all things are now to be seen through the eyes of the spirit'.  Even Christ Himself is now to be seen in those who make up His body:

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

We no longer 'see' Christ "after the flesh", and yet, "we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones." To the natural man those words are contradictory foolishness.

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.

How does the holy spirit go about "comparing spiritual things with spiritual"? It does so, "not in the words which man's wisdom teaches", but it does use words which sound as if they are speaking of physical things. "The body of Christ" sounds to the natural man as if it is speaking of the physical body of a man who physically walked this earth over two thousand years ago. But those with "spiritual discernment" know that 'Christ's body, His flesh and His bones" are all now to be understood as "His body... which is the church":

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

The physical words "my flesh" convey a spiritual truth. That spiritual message is that our physical bodies are but the mere tabernacles of the spiritual body of Christ. "The things of the spirit" are expressed using words which have a primarily physical meaning, but the mind of Christ within us gives us spiritual eyes and spiritual ears which discern a spiritual message which is foolishness to the natural mind.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Let's read it again:

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.

"Not in words which man's wisdom teaches" is not saying that the things of the spirit are not expressed in words which men understand in their carnal "letter" meaning. What it means is that man's wisdom understands only the primary carnal meaning of the words which the spirit uses to express to us "the things of the spirit". That is the meaning of "the holy spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things, with spiritual".

If I tell you, as Paul tells us all, "I fill up in my [physical] body what is behind of the afflictions of Christ", I am not making the spirit into letter. The mind of Christ knows that all men must be natural before they can become spiritual, and again, the mind of Christ tells us that the secret which has been hidden from the ages is that Christ, a spirit, is temporarily dwelling in "vessels of clay".

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
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:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

The words "Christ in you" mean exactly what they say. Christ, through His Father's spirit, lives within us. However, the natural man cannot see one man living within another man, just as Nicodemus could not conceive of being "born again".  The words "every man" also mean just what they say inwardly, but not at this time, outwardly.

Christ's conversation with Nicodemus is a perfect example of how "the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual". Here is the holy spirit through Christ teaching Nicodemus by 'comparing spiritual things with spiritual':

Joh 3:1  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Joh 3:9  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

'Water' in this instance typifies the 'waters' on which the harlot sits:

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

We must all be born into "the first man Adam" before we can be born into "the last Adam". We must all be naturally born before we can be 'born of the spirit'.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  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.

"That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual" is the meaning of "Except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot inherit the kingdom of God". It has nothing at all to do with being physically baptized in physical water. Christ is comparing spiritual things to spiritual in teaching Nicodemus.

The natural man asks, "How can these things be?" Let's consider that question. This what we are told of our present standing with Christ:

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

How is it possible to tell us "now are we the sons of God" and at the same time tell us "it does not yet appear what we shall be"? Here is how that must be at this present time and in this present age:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [Greek: down payment of a future fullness] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

So yes, we are now sons of God but only in "earnest", only in down payment form, with the great hope of "the redemption of the purchased possession" at a later time:

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Christ was speaking words which Nicodemus heard, but he did not and could not understand anything Christ said to him. Everything Christ spoke to Nicodemus was "for [our] sakes".

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

"Hearing you shall hear, and not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive". That was why Christ taught the multitudes in parables. Christ's parables contains a spiritual message which the natural man simply 'cannot receive because they are foolishness to the natural man' (1Co 2:14).

Isa 30:21  And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Christ explains to us: "it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." And that is the message of this verse. Our ears hear a word behind us saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it..." and in Christ we "acknowledge Him... in all our ways... when we turn to the right hand and to the left." In Christ all we want is "thy will be done".

Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Is that not the exact same message which was given to John as he was given to reveal Christ to us:

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

Christ is in the midst of His church. Seven simply means His complete church. (A link to the study on the number seven is here) He tells us "this is the way walk you in it" when He tells us:

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

As we begin to 'see and hear and keep the things written therein' this is what we do:

Isa 30:22  Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

We are made aware of this inevitable end in the second chapter of this prophecy:

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

The things to which we have in the past returned over and over and over again, finally, in the Lord's mercy become repugnant to the new man who is being formed within us. We are at long last given to begin to reign over our graven images which spiritually symbolize our own carnal-minded flesh, with all the false doctrines to which we spiritually bowed down in worship for so many years. We tell them "get thee hence", and we cast them out of the temple of God, which temple we are:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

As we begin to clean up our spiritual house and rid the Lord's temple of all the idols with which we defiled His temple for so long, the Lord begins to send us so much more of His life-giving words, symbolized by refreshing, life-sustaining rain:

Isa 30:23  Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

Our 'cattle' are the Lord's cattle. Our flocks are His flock of whom we are told:

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.

1Pe 5:2  Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Peter was given every incentive to write these words after the Lord's thrice repeated admonition to Peter for our sakes:

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

Isa 30:24  The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

We are the Lord's oxen, and we are His young asses that plow His ground, and as such we are spiritually fed "clean provender". In other words the food the Lord give us is not defiled with false lying doctrine. It is "winnowed with the shovel and with the fan" and all the chaff is driven away.

Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

"Feed my lambs [and] my sheep... clean provender". It is in service to our brothers and sisters that we most profit and that we grow spiritually. Just ask any of our teachers.

Pro 14:4  Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. [By Christ in us]

We are that ox by which comes "much increase" in the Lord's service, and we will reap what we sow in His service:

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Isa 30:25  And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

It sounds gruesome, but "the great slaughter, when the towers fall" is spiritually speaking of the fall of the high towers of our old man. No flesh will glory in His presence, and the Lord will give no quarter to the wild beast within us.

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

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

The loftiness and pride of our old man is the fall of our towers. Our pride and our towers fall in that day when "the Lord alone is exalted".

It will be our new man, Christ in us, who alone will exalt the Lord in that day. There is no place for our old man in the day when the Lord alone is exalted.

In our next study we will learn the valuable lesson that The Lord's Voice Is Heard With The Flame Of A Devouring Fire.

Isa 30:26  Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
Isa 30:27  Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Isa 30:28  And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
Isa 30:29  Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
Isa 30:30  And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
Isa 30:31  For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
Isa 30:32  And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
Isa 30:33  For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.