Audio Download – Part 2

The Book of Amos – Chapter 1:2-15, 2:1-3

“Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions and for four,
I will not turn away the punishment thereof”

[Aired November 9 and 16, 2024]

In the Introductory Study of Amos 1:1, we come to understand that our symbolic Richter Scale earthquake, rated at a symbolic 10 and multiplied by 10 for each digital increment, releases a 31-fold increase in incremental energy and correspondingly represents a catastrophic emotional event impacting our Old Man of flesh spiritually. This earthquake will shake us with such spiritual violence that it will symbolically liquefy the Old Man, rendering it impossible to piece back together. (The phenomenon of liquefication happens when the ground’s foundation has subterranean saturation, yet with a honeycomb-like relatively solid structure, and when it is shaken violently in an earthquake, all layers combine and literally turn to slop, as happened in Mexico City in 1985. For us, the focus is on it not being possible for us to be reformed in our original evil shape ever again, whether crushed, dashed, liquified or shaken).

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Psa 22:14  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels [That is Christ’s prophesied experience of being ‘spilt on the ground’ that resulted in him never to be re-formed in the flesh, yet never ‘expelled from the Father’].
Psa 22:15  My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

There is tremendous spiritual significance in the way the holy spirit inspired Amos to identify our sins,  aligning us with Egypt, Sodom, Old Jerusalem, Syria and finally, all represented as Babylon. They all cryptically represent Amos’s first six cities and countries he uses, neighbouring Israel symbolically as one replicated in the seventh and eighth, Judah and Israel, where our Lord was crucified (Rev 11:8). They represent the land of our flesh and all that is in the world who cannot inherit the Kingdom and will, in their own time and order, bow down and serve the Christ, the first and last new man.

The Book of Amos is a parallel to John’s astonishment and bitter tribulation of not understanding his ‘little book’ in Revelations that translates to our even greater astonishment for being given the Keys to the Kingdom to understand those tribulations of John’s and keep those revelations given to us, the Seven Churches of Asia (Rev 1:9-20).

The first six nations and cities Amos identified represent our basest of natures in our Old Man of flesh. They are broadly distinguished as Ammonites or Moabites, which Deuteronomy 23:3 covers as “any of their descendants“, meaning Egypt, Sodom, Esau, and Old Jerusalem. They are all exposed as Babylon the Great.

Deu 23:3  No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
Deu 23:4  For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
Deu 23:5  Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you [through chastisements].
Deu 23:6 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.
Deu 23:7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
Deu 23:8 The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.

These verses powerfully express that we are Christ’s spiritual works in progress, ‘we are begotten of them‘, evolving into the New Adam, becoming the embodiment of Christ. We must reflect on our history from Egypt to understand our present and drive future transformation toward becoming precisely Christ under his headship. Consequently…

There are a total of 8 occurrences only appearing in scripture in Amos saying, “For three transgressions… and for four“. The first concerns 6 symbolic Gentile Christian nations within and, finally, her 2 treacherous sisters, supposedly the Lord’s righteous priestly tribes, particularly Judah, yet in collaboration with Israel. They all point to our physical journey to becoming Christ with its accompanying final and violent spiritual earthquake of spiritual understanding.

In this study, all eight of Amos’s listed ethnicities, cities, and nations can symbolise the Seven Churches of Asia since they all, by their precise number, with Judah and Israel as one added to the Gentile six, parallel our transition from the Old Man to the New Man in Christ. Without the holy spirit, they all epitomise itemised aspects of our thorn of unconquered flesh. Geographically, none of them parallels the Seven Churches of Asia in Revelations, particularly since Edom, Ammon, and Moab were nowhere near them; in fact, their origins directly depict Esau and Ishmael and thus more poignantly emphasise our Old Man of the flesh in Esau despising his birthright and dwelling in dry places of spiritual desolation. Nonetheless, Amos’s eight nations directly correspond to the Seven Churches of Asia in Rev 1:4.

Amos’ listed nations:

GENTILES:

DAMASCUS—Southern Syrian Empire. Very prosperous on the crossroads between Mesopotamia-Syria. Not bordering, yet East of the Sea of Galilee. 

GAZA—The land of the Philistines on the Mediterranean Sea coast West of Judah. 

TYRUS—On the Mediterranean Sea coast, relatively close to Jerusalem. Tyrus is another name for the strongly fortified city of Tyre noted for trade and luxurious excess.

EDOM—Edom, Ammon, and Moab were East-Southeast of the Dead Sea and all strongly connected to Esau. 

AMMON   

MOAB  

JEWS:

JUDAH—The treacherous Priests and incipient Elect of God.

ISRAEL—The chosen but not the Elect of God.

Provocatively, the “Seven Churches of Asia“, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, are all north of old Israel and Amos’s list of Gentile nations, indicating that judgment will come from the north upon our old man Israel and Judah in the south. (Isa 41:25. Jer 1:14. 4:6. 6:1. 6:22. 13:20. 46:20. Eze 1:4. Dan 11:24).

Intriguingly, Amos’s eight ethnic groups fit into God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. The first six represent the man of flesh, and the last two, Judah and Israel, illustrate Gentile Flesh by portraying in spiritual order Judah, the Temple and Priests on the Sabbath Day and the number seven, and Israel characterising the Court, the last man of perdition of the Seven but is the Eighth. Through the Seventh and Eighth Old Man, Christ is making the two, being the house of Israel, ONE New Man in him.

Eze 3:7  But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

The Lord’s Elect have been given to likewise have flinty faces against our formally impudent ways within and to not be dismayed at the inevitable hatred of our fleshy households who are yet blind (Mat 10:34-39).

Rev 17:9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains [Nations within and depicted by Amos’s Seven Nations], on which the woman [The Great Whore – you and I] sitteth.

Where the Whore sits is you and I, who is of the Eighth nation, the self-righteous man with the spirit of a different Jesus first physically represented as one in Judah (Jew) and Israel (Gentile). 

Rev 17:10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Rev 17:11  And the beast [You and I] that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition [meaning to be destroyed].

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 

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, [Jew and Gentile made on spiritual man in Christ] 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:

Following is a close quote from Mike Vinson. And since we are all, as “one” in Christ, heartily agree and speak the same thing:

“The positive application of the number ‘8’ is the new man who is resurrected on the 8th day, which happens to be the first day of the week when Christ was resurrected. If our names are written in the Book of Life, we will understand how it is possible for us to “ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition, and through that experience of evil (Ecc 1:13), go on to become “the eighth… the new man”, made into the very image of Christ. All things are ours, including being that man of perdition who goes ahead of our Gentile Brothers and is raised on our eighth day. The rest of humanity gets raised on their eighth day at the end of the GWTJ. The word ‘eighth’ has both a positive and a negative application.”[He] who knew no sin [said] why to call ye me good, there is none good but God” (2Co 5:21 and Mat 19:17).

The scriptures tell us:

2 Th 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 [Greek, 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:

That wicked be[ing] revealed” is “the man of sin be[ing] revealed [as] the son of perdition,” as verse three makes very clear:

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;

“That man of sin” is “the eight [which] is of the seven and goes into perdition” in the negative application of this word, ‘eighth’. The Elect do not escape being the man of perdition; we ARE OF THE EIGHT. We are part of the 7, the whole of mankind who goes into perdition and results in coming out the other end as the eighth. The negative application of the word ‘eighth’ is that we are decaying flesh, and thus we have this treasure in earthen vessels, in earnest, and our Lord Himself, “who knew no sin”, said, “Why call ye me good, there is none good but one, that is God” makes that point. Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. Christ was in human form as a beast. In that form, He was the negative application of “the eighth”. His flesh and blood could not inherit the Kingdom of God any more than our’s can, and while His flesh did not see corruption, it was “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from flesh to spirit, with the ability to pass from one realm to the other at will. That is the positive application of “the eighth… the new man” who will not go into perdition while “the eight [which] is of the seven… goes into perdition” because “there is none good but one, that is God”. 

Remember that even around the throne of God, we are still called ‘seraphim’, serpents (Isa 6:2), and ‘beasts’ in the positive application of those words. The negative ‘eighth’ ‘beast’ goes into perdition, while the positive ‘eighth’ ‘beast’ becomes the new man in “the redemption of the purchased possession”. (Eph 1:14) The ‘dark as night “to them”, and “light by night day to these” nature of the Word of God:

Exo 14:19  And the angel of God [His Word], which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.” [Mike. End] 

The Elect of God is first granted a profound spiritual awakening, that can be referred to as their “earthquake,” that dramatically causes them to realise that they are given to go ahead of their brothers to learn righteousness, just as Christ did for them. Consequently, the Elect are first to perceive themselves as the man of perdition, who escapes from Babylon and is presented to Christ as His Bride immediately before the Seventh Day, which is represented as the One Thousand-Year reign with the rod of iron. This divine understanding is part of their magnificent and powerful “earthquake” of glorious truth.

Eph 1:9  And He has made known to us [in order of his very Elect] the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
Eph 1:10  as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
Eph 1:11  In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
Eph 1:12  in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 
Eph 1:13  And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised holy spirit, 
Eph 1:14  who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.

Significations

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

Amo 1:2  And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. 

For the Israelites, through unbelief their initially unseen ‘earthquake’ comes in the form and outward reality of Amos and his compatriot prophets prophesying Israel and Judah’s sequential exile into slavery; unwittingly, their slave masters are already enslaved to their heathen ways. Interestingly, the first six prophecies of Amos identify with her neighbours, deemed Gentiles outside of the Camp of Israel, whose heathen ways spiritually align with ours in our journey to becoming the New Adam in Christ.

In scriptural terms, there are only two groups of people, and those two groups are Jews and Gentiles. In their own order of utter demolition, and later spiritually beginning at the Temple of God, symbolised by Judah, the Lord spiritually roars from Zion with his voice from the heavenly Jerusalem in the form of a vessel-shattering ‘earthquake’ of spiritual understanding. The “shepherds’ of Judah represent the Priests of God, his Bride, today. Descending in the order of ruination is Israel, represented by the Court. Because of Israel’s God-given harlot ways, she is included with the Gentiles. Hence, there are only two groups of people. Physical Judah is last to be exiled and the new spiritual Jews, the Elect become the first.

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

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city [The Priests; the Two Witnesses: the Bride’s ministery] shall they tread under foot forty and two months [or 3.5 years; “forty and two months” – Rev 22:3]

The phrase “For three transgressions of…, and for four” in Amos 2 refers to the judgment that extends on the six nations from Damascus to Moab and into the seventh of Judah and Israel. The six nations highlight the sins of neighbouring Gentile nations outside the Camp of Israel, yet our Lord sees them as being equal with Israel, inwardly reflecting the Elect’s failings. The Lord will not withhold His punishment from us due to these unique yet relatable sins manifested by these six ethnic groups. Both groups of Jews and Gentiles experience one event for the same symbolised timeframe of “forty and two months” chastisement since every man is but a “beast” (Ecc 3:18. Joh 8:44. Rev 13:14. 2Pe 2:12-15) who speaks great swelling doctrines of blasphemies. It all mirrors Joseph identifying Pharoah’s dreams as ‘one event to all’ (Gen 41:25-26).

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him [The Beast, sitting on God’s throne] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Regarding Amos’s “For three transgressions of…, and for four” statements:

The number 3 represents the process of spiritual progression for the completion of judgment regarding that thing. 

The number 4 represents the whole of a thing and tribulation. It doesn’t matter if it is 4 or 4,000.

Adding up to 7 represents the completion of that process through judgment and is the primary message of Amos judging the Seven, the Priests of God, with all things being theirs (1Co3:21-23).

Jer 29:7  And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Jer 29:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9  For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
Jer 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Therefore, the first six characteristics of Israel’s neighbours are inherently worldly and will remain so, reflecting their fate in the Lake of Fire along with Gentile Israel and Christians who say that they are spiritual Jews and are not. In that place, they will mourn bitterly for a designated time culminating in their earthquake of understanding most gloriously and ecstatic peace for the love of the Father.

Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares [All not in the first holy resurrection, Christ’s Bride] are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [ultimately in the Lake of Fire. However, the Elect are first to go through the fire, but it is not THE Lake of Fire]. 
Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

It is deemed that everyone ever conceived will become righteous and shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. It is just that the very Elect of God is first to experience God’s earthquake of his fiery word and live by his every commandment.

Let us begin to study our disappearing sinful nature as we learn from our timely experiences; we were and sometimes still are equal to our neighbour’s earthy sensualities, stubbornly resisting Christ and thus quenching his spirit.

1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing.
1Th 5:18  In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you [for  the evil experiences that teach us to juxtapose with Christ’s spirit].
1Th 5:19  Quench not the spirit.
1Th 5:20  Despise not prophesyings.
1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Th 5:22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amo 1:3  Thus saith the LORD; [ONE] For three transgressions of DAMASCUS, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: 
Amo 1:4  But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 
Amo 1:5  I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD. 

Remembering that ‘all things are ours’ and beginning with the nature of the people of Damascus, inclusive of the characteristics of the other five to be studied, is the progression and completion of physical judgment flowing into total tribulation perfectly parallels our spiritual earthquake and the journey, which is hopefully soon coming to a close for our redemption.

Damascus is a city in Syria, and it has historically instilled a deep sense of iron-like fear in Israel. It is represented as Gilead’s threshing because Israel never conquered that nation as the Lord required. Nevertheless, in 2 Samuel 8:6, the Syrians within the spiritual Elect are depicted as vanquished, leading to the Syrian’s servitude for our spiritual growth.

2Sa 8:5  And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
2Sa 8:6  Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.

Mic 7:12  In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
Mic 7:13  Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate [mirroring our former spiritual deslolation] because of them that [we previously!]  dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. 
Mic 7:14  Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

What a profound insight this is! It is first understood by the budding Elect through the ‘rod’ of Christ’s teachings and then by those whom Christ has designated to shepherd his people with the guidance of his word. This is especially true for the Gentiles during the One Thousand Year reign when they experience this bewildering frustration without the holy spirit. Later, in the Lake of Fire, they will increasingly receive this chastising guidance with the increasing holy spirit.

The key names and their meaning in verses three to five:

Gilead H1567 means  – ‘a witness heap’, and our sins likewise witness against us.

Hazael H2371 means  – ‘one who sees’.

Benhadad H1130 means  – ‘son of [the false god] Hadad.’

Aven H206 means – ‘vanity’.

Eden H5731 means – ‘pleasure. Luxury, dainty, delight, finery’.

Kir H7024 means – ‘wall. To dig’.

Thereupon, Amos’s prophesy is a ‘witness heap’ against two groups of people: the Gentile neighbours and the Priests of God, parallelling Israel and Judah and, spiritually, the entire Gentile world inclusive of Gentile Christianity and the Elect. The times of Gentile rulership are nearing the end, at which point Christ and his Christs will begin to rule in the One Thousand Year reign with the rod of iron (Luke 21:20-24).

The narrative derived from those names spiritually means that our former ways, aligned with Egypt, Syria, Sodom Old Jerusalem, and collectively represented by Babylon, are a ‘witness heap’ between us and ‘God who sees’ our every thought and action ‘vainly’ worshipping a ‘another Jesus’ while ‘luxuriating in our epicurean ways’,’ living high on the hog behind impenetrable ‘walls’ of self-righteousness, thinking no force can assail us. We dig our own wells to drink our doctrines that sensually delight us more than our new beginnings of small things of understanding symbolised as our Lord’s light bread (Zec 4:10. Num 21:5).

It is the Priests of God who hold his sceptre from ruling righteously in the house of Eden in that they do not swiftly bring justice first to themselves for Israel to mirror. When the foundation, the core of the nation represented by the corrupt Priests, is irretrievable, there is nothing left for the Lord to do but to chastise them in captivity.

Jer 2:18  And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

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?

1Co 5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person [who is you and I, and not some other poor, blind, hapless sinner].

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? [first within?].

Amo 1:6  Thus saith the LORD; [TWO] For three transgressions of GAZA, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom: 
Amo 1:7  But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof: 
Amo 1:8  And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD. 

It is noteworthy that the holy spirit inspired Amos to say “the whole captivity” only twice and nowhere else in the Bible: once for Gaza and once for Tyrus.

Remember that Gaza was the land of the Philistines. During the reign of wicked King Jehoram, the son of King Jehoshaphat, who reigned following his father’s death (2Ch 21), the Edomites (Esau) who were under the dominion of Judah in those days. Because the Edomites revolted against Judah, Jehoram went and slew many of them. Additionally, Jehoram caused Israel to typically go a whoring and commit fornication and compelled Judah to do likewise. In retribution, the Lord caused the Edomites to collaborate with the Arabians to strike against Judah. Scripture recounts…

2Ch 21:17  And they [Edomites] came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

That act of carrying away “all the substance of the substance of the King’s house” to Edom is the very act of taking them all captive, as expressed in Amos 1:6. On that account, the Lord sends a “fire of infamy” upon the wall and strength of those wicked nations within us and devours our high places and tears up the roots of evil worship and take ‘the whole into captivity’. The outcome is the complete destruction of our self-proclaimed leadership for the ‘remnant’ of Philistinean doctrinal intellectualism within. That glorious annihilation of our old man is a gift of chastising grace from God.

Eph 4:7  But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Eph 4:8  Therefore He says, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.”

As with Gaza, similarly is the exact same destruction of Tyrus within for delivering up the whole captivity to Edom, and additionally for a broken covenant.

Amo 1:9  Thus saith the LORD; [THREE] For three transgressions of TYRUS, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant: 
Amo 1:10  But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof. 

What is that “brotherly covenant” that we deem an easy dismissal and of little consequence?

Remember that all six neighbouring heathen-gentile nations of Damascus, Gaza, Tyrus, Edom, Ammon and Moab are one and the same, yet pointedly reflecting upon Edom, who directly represents Jacob’s brother, Esau and Mt Seir. Consequently, it is Jacob’s typically scheming, supplanting ways represented by Israel and Judah who attracted Esau’s hatred and forgetfulness of the peace treaty between him and Jacob for Jacob’s past deceptions over Esau’s birthright and blessings. Consequently, those six nations were always antagonistic towards Israel, representing Esau’s forgetfulness of their ‘brotherly covenant’ of peace (Gen 33).

The following scriptures in Ezekiel 35 portray that saga of our Lord’s wrath against our old Esau within.

Eze 35:1  And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Eze 35:2  Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir [Esau] and prophesy against it.
Eze 35:3  And say to it, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a ruin and a waste. 
Eze 35:4  I will raze your cities, and you shall be ruined, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.
Eze 35:5  Because you have had a never-ending hatred, and have shed the blood of the sons of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that iniquity had an end,

In other words, Jacob, who represents Israel, had received forgiveness from God. However, Esau continued to hold onto resentment and vengeance against him. This situation mirrors how we often struggle to let go of our past sins or harbour bitterness towards our Babylonian wives, preventing us from moving forward in Christ’s loving correction. We must remember that we, too, are often guilty of sin against Christ, just as our Babylonian wives may be seen as intimately indifferent offenders towards us.

Eze 35:6  Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

That verse is similar to the sword never departing from David’s house and ours, spiritually, until all remnants of our heathen neighbours within are made desolate.

Eze 35:7  So I will make Mount Seir [Esau] a ruin, and cut off from it the one passing through, and the one returning.
Eze 35:8  And I will fill his mountains with his dead. In your hills, and your valleys, and all your rivers, those slain with the sword shall fall in them.
Eze 35:9  I will make you ruins forever, and thy cities shall not return. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.
Eze 35:10  Because you have said, These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, we will possess it [the Heavenly Jerusalem above and within]; 
Eze 35:11  therefore, as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I will act by your anger and by your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them. And I will make Myself known among them when I have judged you.
Eze 35:12  And you shall know that I am Jehovah. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, Desolation! They are given to us [The Elect] for food.
Eze 35:13  So with your mouth you have boasted against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me. I have heard them.
Eze 35:14  So says the Lord Jehovah: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a ruin.
Eze 35:15  As you rejoiced at the inheritance of the house of Israel because of desolation, so I will do to you. You shall be a desolation, O Mount Seir and all Idumea, even all of it. And they shall know that I am Jehovah.

Consequently, we forget our ‘brotherly covenant’ Christ has made with us and despise our birthright when we don’t desolate those six nations within. If we don’t forgive for the duration of our unforgiveness, our Lord likewise holds back from forgiving us.

Col 3:13  forbearing one another and forgiving yourselves, if anyone has a complaint against any. As Christ forgave you, so also you do.

Jas 2:13  For he who has shown no mercy shall have judgment without mercy, and mercy exults over judgment.

Amo 1:11  Thus saith the LORD; [FOUR] For three transgressions of EDOM and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother [Esau] with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: 
Amo 1:12  But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. 

The fourth transgression against Edom has been covered, but its second mention is a second witness for the Lord’s assurance of not turning away his punishment. Teman represents the grandson of Esau and directly corresponds to the Lord’s curse against the third and fourth generations of sinners. Bozrah means “sheepfold or fortress” and conforms with our Esau-like stubbornness in sustaining our righteousness of self-proclaimed false doctrines when in Babylonian churches.

Exo 34:6  And the LORD passed by before him [Moses], and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7  Keeping [Chastising] mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 

That revisiting of chastising punishment is carried forward in all eight listed nations to pointedly indict the seventh, Judah, the priests of God, the Elect first for judgment before her sister, Israel, who is subsequently judged in the Lake of Fire on the eighth day.

The next nation for judgment is Ammon, kin to Edom and Moab, yet with a variation of sin that transcribes to us spiritually. Amos says,

Amo 1:13  Thus saith the LORD; [FIVE] For three transgressions of the children of AMMON, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border: 
Amo 1:14  But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind: 
Amo 1:15  And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD. 

We are somewhat dismayed as to why our Lord designed Satan to incite mankind to treat his fellow man with such unspeakable violence. Of course, such barbarism without the holy spirit reflects our true nature of being a beast in our unfinished transition to being recreated as God. Our innate way of endless war, treachery and brutality is designed to etch our minds appallingly to contrast God’s nature. Of course, those beastly ways are to mirror how we, with Christ’s power and might, are to war against the Beast we are and recoil from our image.

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

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. 

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the Beast: and they worshipped the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the Beast? who is able to make war with him? 

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;
2Pe 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
2Pe:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Isa 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isa 2:5  O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Ammon’s ripping up Israel’s pregnant women is an image too horrible to contemplate. Nonetheless, and for our benefit, all the natural and spiritual belong to us as food for transitional growth (Num 14:9, negatively and positively). We save nothing alive in cleansing our land within, and particularly the cuteness of pet sins symbolised as unborn false doctrines growing in pretty pregnant women as churches, ready for Satan to devour and sustain his nature in us, all seemingly paradoxical to non-spiritual eyes. The city of Rabbah means ‘great’, and was the capital city of the Ammonites. and reflects our self-styled headship as the Beast sitting on God’s throne. And of course, as with the other eight nations and cities, we go into captivity for sins unacknowledged (Jer 2:13).

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Amo 2:1  Thus saith the LORD; [SIX] For three transgressions of MOAB, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: 
Amo 2:2  But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet: 
Amo 2:3  And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD. 

Again, Moab is in lockstep with Esau and typifies the Christian churches of this world who all cannot agree on doctrine and thus fight disputes of doctrine within their very own kin, only this time they burned the bones of the King of Edom, their near kin, into lime. That exaggerated expression of utterly burning the King into lime, being a vital product for hardening mortar in the construction of a city’s walls and palaces, characterises our hardened hearts against Christ’s word as we build our temple inwardly where we sit as the Beast on our Lord’s throne profoundly, yet mostly unconsciously presenting ourselves as king! That astonishing measure is represented in 2 Thessalonians,

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 [who is You and I upon the earthquake realisation];
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.

The city of Kerioth is a town in the southern district of Judah, and its location potently points to our Esau-like nature residing in the heart of us and our supposed priesthood represented as treacherous Judah, ruling the laity and fleecing the wealth of Israel into their captivity and destruction. Kerioth and Moab within die with much noisome anguish turned into joy for its chastisement in the hope of the last trumpet for our resurrection to life in and with our husband, Christ. Consequently, and as Amos concludes in 2 verse 3, our order of judgment in this age is cut short in our midst, having had our “princes” of rulership destroyed within.

With our judgment cut short, our sisters in Babylon are immediately ruled by the Lord’s Elect with Christ’s rod of iron in the One Thousand Year Rule. They are utterly frustrated that they cannot consistently keep Christ’s commands since the holy spirit is quenched thus confounding the whole measure and stay of His word.

Isa 3:1  For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water,
Isa 3:2  the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the adviser, and the skilled worker, and the expert charmer.

Until that time and in the interim, it is all happening daily before our eyes with juvenile leadership by men claiming to be leaders but injured in their privy members and stones, effectively making them women. To add insult to our Lord’s headship, women literally are our leaders in high courts and government, and worse, as priests in the Babylonian churches of the world.

Deu 23:1  He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD [Spiritually, such a man and priest, cannot lead the Lord’s flock. Being neutered, he gains female qualities of gentleness and makes judgments based mostly on emotions rather than the seemingly harshness of God’s word].
Deu 23:2  A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
Deu 23:3  An Ammonite or Moabite [like nature, just studied] shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:
Deu 23:4  Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

Isa 3:4  And I will give young boys to be their rulers, and caprices shall rule over them.
Isa 3:5  And the people shall be crushed, every man by another, and every man by his neighbor; the boy shall act proudly against the old man, and the low against the honorable.
Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand; [Ironically, at least some in Babylon can see that their disarray of 40,000+ churches preaching another Jesus disquiets their consciences and seeing it all as a “ruin”].
Isa 3:7  in that day [and most pointedly soon in the rule with the rod of iron] he shall swear, saying, I will not be a healer; there is no bread nor a cloak in my house. You shall not make me a ruler of the people.
Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah has fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of His glory.
Isa 3:9  The look of their faces witnesses against them; and they declare their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it! Woe to their soul! For they have rewarded evil to themselves.
Isa 3:10  Say to the righteous that it is well; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Isa 3:11  Woe to the wicked! For the evil doing of his hand will be done to him.
Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their taskmasters, and women rule over them. Oh my people, your rulers cause you to go astray and destroy the way of your paths.
Isa 3:13  Jehovah stands up to plead His case, and stands up to judge the people.
Isa 3:14  Jehovah will enter into judgment with [upon] the elders of His people, and their kings; for you have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
Isa 3:15  What do you mean? You crush My people and grind the faces of the poor? says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts [vividly happening today in the churches of the world and government].
Isa 3:16  And Jehovah says, Because the daughters [churches] of Zion are proud, and have walked with stretched out necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet;
Isa 3:17  therefore Jehovah will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will make their secret parts naked.
Isa 3:18  In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of ankle-bracelets, and the headbands, and the crescents,
Isa 3:19  the pendants, and the bracelets, and the veils;
Isa 3:20  the headdresses, and the leg ornaments, and the sashes, and the houses of the soul, and the amulets;
Isa 3:21  the rings and nose jewels;
Isa 3:22  the festal apparel and the outer garments; and the mantles, and the purses;
Isa 3:23  the mirrors and the fine linen; and the turbans and the veils.
Isa 3:24  And it shall be, instead of sweet smell, there shall be an odor of decay; and instead of a sash, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a wrapping of sackcloth; burning instead of beauty.
Isa 3:25  Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war.
Isa 3:26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall sit deserted on the ground.

Those verses graphically depict the destruction of the first six nations of our neighbours studied, with whom we have been in lockstep, in preference repudiating Christ’s commands.

In our upcoming study, with the Lord’s guidance, Christ amplifies the alarm and unrest among His people, Judah. Judah symbolises the Elect of God, moving ahead of her elder sister, Israel, to face a greater judgment. This is because Judah was expected to lead with righteousness but instead abused her esteemed position out of lust for power thus establishing pride.

Lev 26:18  And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
Lev 26:19  And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
Lev 26:20  And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
Lev 26:21  And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Accordingly, for those chastisements, the Elect of God is learning to receive them most heartily since we know that they bring forth a ravishing connection with our husband, Christ, and he for us.

Ezekiel 26:1-21  The City of Tyre and Her Judgement

[Study Aired August 5, 2024]

Introduction

Today’s study is about the coastal city of Tyre which was located in present-day Lebanon with historical and biblical significance. This Phoenician city became famous for its maritime trade and production of the luxurious Tyrian purple dye. It played a critical role during the construction of Solomon’s Temple and served as a symbol of arrogance and pride in Biblical history.

In the Book of Psalms, we see Tyre conspiring with other enemies of the Lord’s elect to destroy them. Our enemy in the Bible is Satan or the devil who exercises his power through our flesh. Spiritually, Tyre, therefore, represent our flesh or our old man who hates Christ within us.

Psa 83:1  A Song. A Psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
Psa 83:2  For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.
Psa 83:3  They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. 
Psa 83:4  They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” 
Psa 83:5  For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant—
Psa 83:6  the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
Psa 83:7  Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 
Psa 83:8 Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah (ESV)

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast (our flesh or old man): and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Tyre also signifies Babylon. As indicated in the previous study, a city can represent a church as shown in the following verses:

Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

This assertion of Tyre being Babylon becomes clear in the following verses in Psalms as the church of the firstborn or heavenly Jerusalem or Zion is compared with Babylon and Tyre.

Psa 87:2  The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3  Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
Psa 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.

Despite its past glory, Tyre’s ultimate downfall was prophesied and fulfilled by invading forces, which serves as a testament to the transient nature of our flesh or old man. It also shows us that the destruction of Babylon within and without of us, the Lord’s elect, is imminent. Our study for Today is therefore based on the sins of Tyre and the Lord’s promise of her judgement.

The Need for Tyre to Be Judged

Eze 26:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 26:2  Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: 
Eze 26:3  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. 

The first day of the month of the eleventh year that the Lord came to speak to Ezekiel concerning Tyre is significant. The number eleven means the ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh. This implies that we have come to a time in our walk with Christ that we have just encountered Him and as a result, we are becoming aware of the total darkness we found ourselves in because of our flesh, which the judgement of the Lord is about to deal with in our lives. The fact that it was the first day of the month suggests that all that has happened and will happen to Tyre, our old man is of the Lord (significance of the number one). At this point in our walk, the Lord is preparing us to leave Babylon.

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

As indicated in the introductory portion of this study, Tyre also represent Babylon or the physical churches of this world. In this case, Tyre represent the last stage of our sojourn as the Lord’s elect in Babylon. This becomes more clear when our Lord Jesus referred to Tyre together with Sidon as cities which would have repented if the Lord had performed His mighty works there, instead of Babylon (the cities of Israel) which are not repentant. One of the Lord’s mighty work to us is causing our eyes to see and our ears to be opened. At this stage of our walk, we are beginning to see the darkness we are in and the need for the ruin and disintegration of our flesh in order to worship the Lord acceptably. That is why we are ready to repent.

Mat 11:20  Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 
Mat 11:21  Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 
Mat 11:22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.   

In verse 2, the city of Tyre said that Jerusalem, which is the gateway for the nations is destroyed and its doors are wide opened to her. As a result, she shall be rich because of its ruins. The mindset that the Lord should destroy Babylon so that we can be enriched in Him is an earthly wisdom which comes from our old man.

Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 
Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

What we need to know is that it is the Lord’s mercy that we are being enriched in Him at the expense of Babylon.

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

In verse 3, we are told that the Lord will cause many nations to come up against us, just as the sea causes its waves to come up.  This is another way of saying that we shall be hated by all men for His name’s sake.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

Eze 26:4  And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. 
Eze 26:5  It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations. 
Eze 26:6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 

The destruction of the walls of Tyre and the breakdown of her towers in verse 4 signifies the destruction of our old man or flesh as his defenses are taken away by the Lord. Just as the walls of Jericho were destroyed to pave way for the destruction of the city, the Lord has removed the defenses of our old man to ensure our victory over the flesh.

Jos 6:2  And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 

Jos 6:20  So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

The scraping of the dust from her and making her like the top of a rock means that Tyre shall become a bare land without any plant growing, after her destruction.  In other words, the destruction of our old man is such that it shall not come alive again.

In verse 5, it is stated that Tyre shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. That is to say that the death of our old man or flesh will give birth to the new man who will cause us to become fishers of men.

Eze 47:10  And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

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

In verse 5, we are also told that Tyre shall a spoil for the nations. A spoil refers to the booty or plunder or the precious possession of those who are defeated in battle. During the Biblical times, the spoil serves as the reward for victory won during a battle. This implies that Tyre, our old man, being delivered as a spoil for the nations means that as the Lord’s elect, we shall surely win the victory over our old man or flesh through the Lord’s judgement.

Gen 49:27  Benjamin (representing the Lord’s elect) shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Num 31:53  (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)

Jer 30:16  Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

Verse 6 indicates that the daughters of Tyre which are in the field shall be slain by the sword and that it is through this that the Lord shall be made known. The daughters of Tyre in the field refer to the physical churches in this world who are put to spiritual death or slain by the false doctrines propagated through false apostles. We were victims of this slaying by the sword but thanks be to God who came to us through His elect to make us know the truth of the word of the Lord. This truth of the word of the Lord is what destroys the false doctrines within our hearts and minds.  In verse 6, we are told that it is through this evil experience of being slain by the sword that we come to know Christ. This implies that to know Christ, we must pass through the evil experience of dying spiritually through false doctrines we imbibe in Babylon or Tyre. The destruction of the false doctrines by the truth of the Lord’s words will make us appreciate who the Lord is. The voice of the Lord or His words are the hail stones or the coals of fire which destroys our false doctrines.

Psa 18:13  The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

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

Eze 26:7  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. 
Eze 26:8  He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee. 
Eze 26:9  And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. 
Eze 26:10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. 

The Lord bringing king Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon to Tyre from the north with his army signifies the judgement of our old man by the Lord. The coming of Nebuchadrezzar with chariots and horses means that our time in Babylon is a period of conflict or war as horses and chariots signifies war.

Pro 21:31  The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.   

This war or evil experience that we must go through is clearly defined by Apostle Paul as follows:

Gal 5:17  The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should. (CEV)

Our stay in Babylon is characterized by the conflict between what the spirit desires against our fleshly desires. As a result, we are unable to do what we want to do, that is, please the Lord. It is insightful to also note that the king of Babylon came to Tyre with horsemen, companies (multitude) and much people. These horsemen of Babylon represent the two hundred million false doctrines coming from the horsemen loosed by the four angels who were bound in the great river Euphrates in the Book of Revelation as follows:

Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 

In verse 10, we are told that because of the abundance of Babylonian horses, their dust shall cover Tyre. This dust is the same as the smoke from the bottomless pit which darkened the sun and the air. That is to say that what these false apostles say darkened our understanding concerning Christ (Sun) and our spiritual understanding (air).

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 

Verse 8 states that our daughters in the field shall be slain by the sword of king of Babylon. That is to say that churches of this world (field) of which we were part of at a certain stage of our walk with Christ shall be put to spiritual death through false doctrines propagated by these horsemen or false apostles.

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The making of a fort, the casting of a mount and the lifting up of a buckler against Tyre in verse 8 signifies that there is no escape of our old man concerning the judgement of the Lord.

Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

The setting up of engines of war against our walls and the breaking down of our towers with their axes in verse 9 signifies that we cannot resist the pull of the false doctrines that are propagated in Babylon. We were all swept away by this flood of false doctrine when we were in Babylon. This is reiterated in verse 10 when it says that the walls of Tyre shall be shaken by the noise of the horsemen and of the wheels of their chariots as they enter into the city. The noise of the horsemen and of the wheels of their chariots refers to the false doctrines that these false apostles propagate. What this means is that being overcome with false doctrines in Babylon is an inevitable experience that we must bear at a certain stage of our lives.

Eze 26:11  With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
Eze 26:12  And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water. 

Treading down the streets of Tyre with the hoofs of the king of Babylon’s horses in verse 11 implies that these false doctrines interfere with our walk with the Lord. This interference is through the use of his sword which he uses to slay us. In other words, through false teachings (negative application of sword), we are put to spiritual death. The little truth of the word that we know which serves as our garrison is destroyed or brought down to the ground through the false doctrines of the enemy.

This situation is continued in verse 12 where our walls which represent the truth of the Lord’s words and serves as our defenses against the enemy are destroyed or broken down by the adversary and our pleasant houses demolished. Our pleasant houses refer to our temple or our hearts and minds which are desecrated by our old man who sits in our temple thinking of himself as God.

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?

Laying stones, timber and dust in the midst of our water in verse 12 means polluting the truth of the word of the Lord with false doctrines. What is said here is the same as saying the following:

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

Eze 26:13  And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. 
Eze 26:14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

Causing the noise of our songs and the sound of our harps to cease in verse 13 means being unable to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit in Babylon.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 
Psa 137:4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? 

As indicated earlier, making Tyre like the top of a rock means that the destruction of our old man or flesh is such that it shall not grow again. Tyre being a place to spread nets upon means that the death of our old man shall result in the birth of the new man after the image of Christ who shall make us fishers of men.

Eze 47:10  And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.

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

The Lord’s statement that Tyre shall not be built again affirms the assertion in that our old man or flesh shall not become active again after its destruction.

Rev 18:14  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Eze 26:15  Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? 
Eze 26:16  Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. 
Eze 26:17  And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! 
Eze 26:18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

What these verses are saying is that as we see our old man begins its journey of death through the Lord’s judgement, he becomes filled with trembling, as he sees that his final death is near. The isles shaking at the sound of the fall of our old man, the princes of the sea clothing themselves with trembling and taking up a lamentation are all to assure us that when the Lord starts the death process of our old man through His judgement within us, our old man trembles knowing that his time is short. We must therefore be assured that whatever the Lord starts, He shall surely bring to completion.

Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.    

What verses 15 to 18 say is the same as the destruction of Babylon within us and outwardly in the Book of Revelation as follows:

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.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Rev 18:14  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Eze 26:19  For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee; 
Eze 26:20  When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; 
Eze 26:21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD. 

In these verses, the Lord is telling us that Tyre which represents Babylon shall be ruined such that it shall be no more. It is instructive to note that in verse 19, we are told that the Lord shall bring up the deep upon her such that she shall be covered by great waters. That is to say that the deep sea shall cover Babylon. The deep sea or great waters signifies humanity. This implies that the Lord will cause Babylon to be destroyed by people whom the Lord has prepared for such a purpose. This destruction of Babylon is also foretold in Revelation chapter 17 where the ten horns shall make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh. The ten horns represent the strength of the flesh to carry out what the Lord has put in their hearts, that is, the destruction of Babylon, in the fulness of time. This destruction refers to Babylon within us and without.

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.
Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.  

This destruction is detailed in Revelation chapter 18 as follows:

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.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Rev 18:20  Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Rev 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

May the Lord grant us the grace to endure to the end as He destroys Tyre or Babylon within us. Amen!!