“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he”

(Pro 29:10-18)

[Study Aired May 21, 2026]

Pro 29:10  The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.
Pro 29:11  A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
Pro 29:12  If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
Pro 29:13  The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.
Pro 29:14  The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.
Pro 29:15  The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Pro 29:16  When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.
Pro 29:17  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

This eighteenth verse of our study declares, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he”.  Each proverb we will look at is in some way connected to this verse, (Pro 29:18), seeing we know that it is God’s word that is a lamp unto our feet (Psa 119:105) that gives us “vision”.

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Psa 119:105  NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Christ is that lamp, He is the word, and you and I are that lamp to each other if God’s holy spirit is within us as our hope of glory (Col 1:27). Simply put, what we are learning is that to be the light of the world we must have God’s spirit within us, and we are commanded to let that light shine in this dark world, and in so doing we will glorify our Father in heaven (Mat 5:14-17).

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:

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. “but he that keepeth the law, happy is he”

Pro 29:10  The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just^H3477 seek his soul.

H3477 yâshâr yaw-shawr’
From H3474; straight (literally or figuratively): – convenient, equity, Jasher, just, meet (-est), + pleased well right (-eous), straight, (most) upright (-ly, -ness).
Total KJV occurrences: 119

Saul of Tarsus comes to mind when I read this proverb. He kept the law of God, but not in the spirit, only in the letter. The fruit of his carnal obedience to a carnal commandment had him breathing slaughter against all who were of this way. “This way” of course refers to following Christ who is, “the way, the truth, and the life” (Heb 7:14-16, 1Ti 1:9, Act 9:1, Joh 14:6).

Heb 7:14  For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
Heb 7:15  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
Heb 7:16  Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

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 17:3)

This new doctrine was a threat to Saul as it is to all Christianity today. Saul just represents us in our days in the churches of this world, where we defend the law for the lawless, and the myriad of idols that are tightly wrapped around our hearts, having no power to obey the spirit of the law even if we considered ourselves to be spiritual Jews (Rev 2:9, Rev 3:9).

Rev 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

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

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

There is a right time and a right way to witness, and continuing our reflection with the life of Saul who has been knocked down on the road to Damascus (Act 9:3-6), we learn of what has to happened to each of God’s elect in order to effectively be used of God in whatever capacity He has ordained for us to be a light in this world (Act 9:8-16). Initially we are that “fool [who] uttereth all his mind” and then after we are knocked down to the ground and come to see that we are blind (Joh 9:41), we then arise from the earth, which represents the church in the wilderness, to then see ourselves as the persecuted manchild (Rev 12:13) who by God’s grace and the faith of Christ will no longer know any man after the flesh: “And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: (2Co 5:16) but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus”. It is in the typical city of Damascus where we are going to begin to mature by being “three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink”. It’s only after we have been chastened and scourged of God that we begin to learn how to hold our tongue and “keepeth it in till afterwards”, that being the word of God that we cast before those who the Lord would have us do so, “afterwards”, and to no one else (Mat 7:6).

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

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

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Pro 29:12  If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.

There are many examples of this proverb in God’s word but I would like to focus on King Ahab whose four hundred prophets spoke in agreement with him. Ahab is typical of the mother of harlots and the four hundred prophets represents the whole [4] of Babylon whose mantra is ‘unity in the essentials, in non-essentials liberty, in all things love’. In saying this, Babylon has determined that parts of God’s word is non-essential, which we know is a lie of the devil (Mat 4:4, Joh 8:44, Psa 119:160, Psa 139:17).

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

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.

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

Psa 139:17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

Pro 29:13  The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.

The Lord does “make his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mat 5:45), He does  “lighteneth both their eyes”. It’s two men, the poor and the deceitful man, giving us a witness of what we must come to see ourselves as (Pro 16:1, Pro 16:4) if He is working with us in this age.

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. [Both “The poor and the deceitful man”]

Pro 29:14  The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

Inwardly we need to continue to acknowledge our blindness without Christ giving us eyes to see and ears to hear (Joh 9:41), and that there is none so blind as God’s servant (Mat 19:27-28) because he knows the poverty that is ours in our flesh. The reward for being blessed to judge ourselves in this age, to die daily, and lose our lives is “his throne shall be established for ever”(Isa 42:18-19).

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

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

Pro 29:15  The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

If judgement was not upon God’s elect we would naturally bring shame to our mother, Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26). It takes God’s judgement therefore to bring us to be children who are pleasing in God’s sight (1Pe 4:17, Mat 18:3-5). Christ who is our wisdom (1Co 1:30), increases in our lives via that judgement, “The rod and reproof give wisdom”.

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?

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.[1Pe 5:6]
Mat 18:5  And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

Pro 29:16  When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.

A little leaven does leaven the whole lump, and God allows heresies to manifest to show who is approved in our midst (1Co 11:19). The wicked are multiplied for our sakes, both within and without. God willing we see their fall within us as God leads us unto repentance in this age (Rom 2:4).

1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

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

Pro 29:17  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

We are a delight to God’s soul because of the correction He gives us, and if we are as Christ in this life we are also learning obedience by the things that we suffer through judgement (1Jn 4:17), and being His sons and daughters together in this age, we are also learning to judge spiritual matters in the body of Christ, in love (Mat 7:5, Mat 18:3, Mat 18:15-17).

Mat 7:5  Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Mat 18:3  and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 18:15  And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established.
Mat 18:17  And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican.

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

This is the title of our study, and vision is of the utmost importance for the body of Christ. We’ve looked at where it comes from, but in this last verse I want to look at a very important parable that ties all of what we’ve looked at today. Vision comes from knowing God and Jesus Christ (Joh 17:3), and this story in the book of Acts (Act 6:8-15, Act 7:56-60) expands for us the meaning of what that vision is, and how powerful a role it plays in bringing us to be dedicated to God to our last breath (Mat 24:13, Heb 10:25-26).

Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Act 6:9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Act 6:12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Act 6:13  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:[same pattern of false accusations against Stephen as was against Christ (1Jn 4:17)]
Act 6:14  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Act 6:15  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.(Joh 17:3)
Act 7:57  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Our initial inability to acknowledge our sufficiency that is given to us of God (2Co 3:5) results in our forsaking the assembling of the brethren (Heb 10:23). The context is extremely important here, in (Heb 10:23-31). We are that sacrifice for sin for each other along with Christ (Lev 16:10), and as such we provide vision for each other by coming together and giving each other hope to endure the cross to the end, and in so doing be saved and not perish for the lack of vision in our lives (Mat 24:13).

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:[1Co 6:3]
Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins”
Heb 10:30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.(Lev 16:10)

Christ has all power over heaven and earth within each member of the body of Christ (Mat 28:18) and that is where the strength of the fit man spoken of in (Lev 16:10, 1Co 10:16) resides for each of us, if we are blessed to avail ourselves of that communion, the cup of blessing which we bless, which is the communion of the blood of Christ, and the bread which we break, which is the communion of the body of Christ, which we are (Mat 24:13, Pro 29:18, Eph 5:30).

Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. [the fruit of iniquity is to separate ourselves from one another, and to say I have no need of the body of Christ, which will lead to blindness and no vision]
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Matthew 17:1–27 The Transfiguration

Today’s study is about the transfiguration, the healing of the boy with a demon,  Jesus foretelling of His death and resurrection, and finally, the payment of the temple tax. 

The Transfiguration

Mat 17:1  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 

It was after six days that Jesus took Peter, James and John to a high mountain. The word “apart” in verse 1, according to Strong’s Dictionary, means pertaining to self, that is, one’s own. By implication, it means private or separate. Verse 1 therefore shows us that Jesus took them to the high mountain where they were alone. 

Mat 17:1  Six days later Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. They went up on a very high mountain where they could be alone. (CEV)

In the Bible, six days is the time that we must work while we live in this tent of flesh. It represents our struggle here on earth.

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

As our Commanding Officer, the Lord wants us to see the reward awaiting us after our struggles here on earth so that we shall be motivated to fight a good fight. That was why He took Peter, James and John to a high mountain. The fact that He choose three disciples is to let us know that it is when we become spiritually mature through the Lord’s judgment that we are given to appreciate what awaits us after our struggles here on earth. It is instructive to note that these three disciples were taken to a high mountain. Positively, a high mountain represents the assembly of the Lord’s elect as shown in the following verses:

Isa 2:2  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 
Isa 2:3  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.    

Isa 56:7  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 

What we are therefore being told in verse 1 is that it is in the assembly of the Lord’s elect that we are given a revelation of who Christ is and what He has in store for us.

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

Mat 17:2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 
Mat 17:3  And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 

The Lord being transfigured before the disciples was not to show to the disciples that He is the son of God. This is because, just before this transfiguration, it has been revealed to Peter by God that Jesus is indeed the son of God. It was rather to show to the disciples that we, His elect, shall be transfigured after our walk here on earth when the Lord shall come with His angels as the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.  

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

In verse 3, Moses and Elijah appeared talking to Jesus. In the account of Luke, we were given additional information of what they were talking about as follows:

Luk 9:30  Suddenly, both Moses and Elijah were talking with him. 
Luk 9:31 They appeared in heavenly glory and were discussing Jesus’ approaching death and what he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. (GW)

Moses and Elijah being two, represent us, His elect, as witnesses of Christ. Their appearance in heavenly glory is to attest to the fact that we shall also be changed in the fullness of time as indicated earlier. Talking to Jesus about His impending death, which was to be achieved through suffering, is to make us aware that if we are to be glorified, then we must take up our cross and follow Jesus. 

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

To take up our cross to follow Jesus signifies our willingness to endure suffering or hardship for the sake of knowing Christ. That was not what we heard when we were in the church system of this world or Babylon, where we were taught that coming to know Christ results in the end of our suffering – a false doctrine from the pit of hell. 

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 

Mat 17:4  Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Mat 17:5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Peter telling Jesus that it is good for them to be on the mountain and that if the Lord is willing, they will build him a tabernacle and also build a tabernacle each for Moses and for Elijah shows us that at that time, Peter and the rest of the disciples were not converted. They depict our walk in the churches of this world at a certain stage of our walk with Christ. Peter’s statement of building three tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah shows us that it is not about our good works of the flesh, that is, of building tabernacles for the Lord that matters, but being able to hear Jesus is what matters as we see in the next verse. When we are babies in Christ, our emphasis is on works instead of resting in Christ. It is through rest that we hear the voice of the Lord. This is clearly shown in Psalm 46:10 which enjoins us to be still or to be at rest in order to hear His voice, and it is through hearing His voice that we come to know Him. 

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

The fact that the disciples wanted to build a tabernacle for Jesus implies that the disciples were focusing on making permanent the tent of His flesh and therefore preventing Jesus from going through suffering and to die for us. They did not have a clue that Jesus was groaning to be clothed with His house which is from heaven, just as we are also groaning now to be clothed with the heavenly tabernacle so that we are not found naked.

2Co 5:1  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
2Co 5:2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 
2Co 5:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 

It is also instructive to note that Moses and Elijah represent the law of Moses. Peter’s request to building a tabernacle for each of them means that he wanted to practice the law of Moses even as he had come to know Christ. This is not possible, as the coming of Christ, which is heralded by faith, ends the practice of the law of Moses in our lives. That was why there was a voice out of the cloud which overshadowed them, saying that we must pay attention to Christ’s reformative voice, which is being echoed by His elect (the cloud) in this age. 

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Mat 17:6  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 
Mat 17:7  And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 
Mat 17:8  And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 

To fall on one’s face is a symbol of our coming to appreciate who Christ is to us. This invokes our spontaneous worship. 

Lev 9:24  And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

1Ki 18:39  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

Rev 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

It is important to note that the disciples were sore afraid when they heard the voice from the cloud. This reminds us of the first time that ‘afraid’ was used in the Bible. It was when Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord when he came into the garden of Eden looking for them. That was when Adam became afraid because of sin. 

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

As we have indicated earlier, the disciples here represent our lives in the churches of this world. The disciples being afraid therefore is an indication that they were sinful. This is what happened to us. When Christ came to us with His words, we were parading in the corridors of the churches of this world in our sinful state. We were therefore afraid because of our sins. However, the Lord touched us and commanded us to arise from the ashes of sin and told us not to be afraid. That was the beginning of our deliverance from fear. 

Luk 1:70  As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
Luk 1:71  That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 
Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
Luk 1:73  The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 
Luk 1:74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 
Luk 1:75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 

The verses above show us that our deliverance from our enemies, which represent our flesh which is empowered by the devil, is what makes us to serve the Lord without fear or being afraid. 

In verse 8, the disciples did not see Moses and Elijah again, but only Jesus. This indicates that when Christ comes to us, we are no longer under the law of sin and death or the law of Moses. We are now operating under a new law of the spirit of life, which sets us free from the law of sin and death. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Mat 17:9  And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 

To understand what is being said here, we need to know why Jesus referred to Himself as the son of man. The term has dual meaning – His humanity status and His role as the Messiah. Jesus referring to Himself as the son of man is to emphasize His earthly nature and therefore reminds us that He was just like us in His walk here on earth. In Daniel 7:13-14, the “Son of Man” is a figure who receives an everlasting kingdom and dominion from God. This is connected to the Jewish concept of the Messiah, the promised savior. Jesus referring to Himself as the son of man was also to emphasize his status as the Messiah.

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 

In verse 9 therefore, Jesus charging His disciples to tell no man about this transfiguration experience until He has risen from death is to let us know that it is when we come from death to life in Christ that we are given to understand we shall also be transformed in the fullness of time. During our time in the churches of this world, we were not given to understand our being changed within a twinkling of an eye at the last trump. All we knew was the false doctrine of being raptured.

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Mat 17:10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 
Mat 17:11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 
Mat 17:12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 
Mat 17:13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. 

Elijah lived during a time when the Israelites had turned away from God and were worshipping Baal, a Canaanite god. Elijah boldly challenged this idolatry, calling the people to repent and to return to the Lord. His work was therefore to pave the way for the Lord’s children to be reconciled to the Lord. That is why Elijah must come first to prepare for the Lord’s arrival in our lives.

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

It is important to note that Elijah’s work in the Bible is the same as John the Baptist. That is to say that Elijah or John the Baptist’s work was to prepare us for Christ coming into our lives when we were in the churches of this world. Therefore, spiritually, Elijah is the same as John the Baptist. 

Joh 1:19  And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 
Joh 1:20  And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 
Joh 1:21  And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Joh 1:22  Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 
Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

Mat 17:14  And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 
Mat 17:15  Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 

It was when Jesus came to the multitude that He encountered the lunatic who was possessed by the devil and therefore had no control of his actions. As we have learned from previous studies, the multitudes signify our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world. We were part of this multitude at a certain stage of our walk. In Luke’s account of this episode, he mentioned categorically that the man was possessed with a spirit as follows:

Luk 9:37  And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. 
Luk 9:38  And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. 
Luk 9:39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. 

Being possessed by a spirit spiritually signifies being filled with false doctrines. That was our situation during our time in the churches of this world. It is instructive to note that the lunatic often fell into fire and also into water. We know from the word of the Lord that both fire and water represent the word of the Lord. What we are therefore being told in verse 15 is that when we are possessed by false doctrines, we are not able to walk according to the word of the Lord. We often stumble and fall. The lunatic experience portrays our situation when we were in the churches of this world, where we were inundated with false doctrines. We often fell short of the word of the Lord (the fire and the water).

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 
Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 

Mat 17:16  And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 
Mat 17:17  Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 
Mat 17:18  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

The disciples were not able to heal the lunatic although they had walked with Christ for some time. This was because at that time they had no understanding of the truth of the word of the Lord or mysteries of the kingdom of the Lord. It is the truth that destroys the lies or the false doctrines in our heavens. 

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. 

The hail signifies the truth that destroys the lies of the serpent or false doctrines. When we were in the churches of this world, our situation was just like the disciples. Although we had started our walk with Christ, we were not able to cast out of our heavens, the false doctrines of the enemy. We were therefore the faithless and perverse generation, just like the disciples. Jesus rebuking the devil and the devil departing from out of the man symbolizes the coming of Christ into our lives with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness. It is His brightness which destroys the false doctrines in our hearts and minds.

Mat 17:19  Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 
Mat 17:20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 
Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. 

Here in these verses, Jesus revealed to the disciples that it was because of their unbelief that they could not cast out the devil. This shows that during our walk in the churches of this world, our walk was characterized by unbelief. At that time, we did not have faith. The Lord is revealing to us here in verse 20 that it is not the size of our faith that matters, but our simple faith in Him that does the work. We must remember that it is Christ’s faith that we all operate with. We do not have our own faith. When Christ’s faith is at work, everything is made possible.

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

Now, let’s come to the statement Jesus made in verse 21 about the fact that the devil is cast out only through prayer and fasting. Prayer is our communion with the Lord, and it is a two-way affair. We speak to Him in prayer, and He speaks to us with His words. Therefore, without prayer, it is impossible for us to cast out false doctrines from our heavens. Spiritual fasting involves loosing the bands of wickedness, undoing the heavy burden and setting the oppressed free and breaking every yoke. 

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 
Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 

Deu 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

In a nutshell, spiritual fasting is being set free from our own flesh. When our flesh is dying, then it means that we are being judged, and being judged means that we are given the ability to hear the Lord’s voice in the midst of the fire. It is this voice that dispels the false doctrines in our heavens.   

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

Mat 17:22  And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: 
Mat 17:23  And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. 

It is when we begin to know who Christ is in the spirit that we are given to know about the suffering that Jesus endured resulting in the destruction of His flesh. Being raised the third day means that Jesus went through the process of spiritual maturity through judgment and is the first man to be resurrected after death. His resurrection was what made Him perfect. 

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

As He is, so are we. We are also going through this process of spiritual maturity through judgment as our flesh or old man is gradually being destroyed. This destruction of our flesh is what guarantees the fact that we shall be perfected when we are raised from the dead during the first resurrection. 

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

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 Temple Tax

Mat 17:24  And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 
Mat 17:25  He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 
Mat 17:26  Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 

These Bible verses are what the Lord used to start opening my understanding of the scriptures when I was in Babylon. The temple tax was an annual half-shekel tax imposed on Jewish males over the age of 20 to support the upkeep and maintenance of the temple in Jerusalem. When we were in the churches of this world, the tithes we were paying were spiritually equivalent to this temple tax. Jesus telling Peter that the sons of the kings of this earth are exempt from paying temple tax and that it is only strangers who are required to pay is to let us know that as sons of our King Jesus Christ, we are not required to pay tithes. The fact that our brothers and sisters of the churches of this world pay tithes means that they are strangers or are in bondage and that we, His elect, are free.

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 
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.

Mat 17:27  Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. 

As indicated in previous studies, fishes represent mankind. Therefore, the first fish that is caught represents the Lord’s elect. In our mouth is the precious word of the Lord that is able to solve every problem that we shall encounter in our walk here on earth. The piece of money that was found in the mouth of the fish therefore signifies the word of the Lord in our mouth. 

Rom 10:8  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

In the fullness of time, we shall give to them that receive tribute money (the leaders of our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world), the word in our mouth, for the rebuilding of their temples in the lake of fire age. 

Summary

In summary, it is worth noting that when Peter and the disciples became converted, this transfiguration experience had a significant impact on their lives. This is what Peter said about this experience:

2Pe 1:16  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
2Pe 1:17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 
2Pe 1:18  And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 
2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 

Jesus was also motivated by the reward while He was here on earth.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Just like Peter, we must be motivated by the reward ahead of us as we pay attention to the light of Christ that is shining in this dark world, until Christ rises in our hearts. Amen!!

Dan 10:1-21 “And, behold, an hand touched me”

[Study Aired May 2, 2024]

Dan 10:1  In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
Dan 10:2  In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
Dan 10:3  I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 
Dan 10:4  And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; 
Dan 10:5  Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 
Dan 10:6  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 
Dan 10:7  And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 
Dan 10:8  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 
Dan 10:9  Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 
Dan 10:10  And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 
Dan 10:11  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 
Dan 10:12  Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 
Dan 10:14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 
Dan 10:15  And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 
Dan 10:16  And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
Dan 10:17  For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 
Dan 10:18  Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
Dan 10:19  And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 
Dan 10:20  Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 
Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 

Chapter 9 of Daniel puts great emphasis on the need to pray fervently, and to be steadfast in prayer, the resultant effect being that we would then be given understanding regarding the second section of Daniel 9 that pointed to Christ’s ministry when He was on this earth and cut off in the middle of the week as our Savior (Dan 9:26-27). This prophecy is paramount to understand for God’s elect as it is Christ’s body who will fill up what is behind of the afflictions of our Lord in a time frame represented by the second half of that week. That last part of the week typifies the time that the saints will mature in this life through the ministry God has ordained through the church of which Christ is the head of (Col 1:24, Rev 1:3). 

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Christ died for the sins of the world (1Jn 2:2). However, He placed all the sin of the world on the scapegoat [Lev 16:21 the trespass offering Lev 16:22] that He, the fit man, would take into the wilderness (Php 2:12-13) where God’s elect would fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body’s sake, being as He is in this world, and through that judgment upon the elect (1Pe 4:17), they would be made ready as Christ was (Heb 2:17, Heb 3:1, Heb 4:14-15, Heb 5:1, Heb 5:5) to be raised as saviors who come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21).

Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 

[It behooves God’s elect now to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ in order to become merciful and faithful kings and priests of God. (Rom 12:1-2, Col 1:24, Oba 1:21)]

Heb 3:1  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

In chapter 10, the emphasis is on the process of judgment God’s elect must go through in this life in order to have the light of Christ break forth and deliver us from the power of sin [(Joh 8:36, 1Co 15:1-2, 2Pe 2:14) God’s elect are the first to go from being unstable, spiritually, to being established strengthened and settled in the Lord (1Pe 4:1, 1Pe 5:10). It is made very clear in this chapter of Daniel that it is Christ alone who is the author and the finisher of that process in the lives of those who are being judged in this age (1Pe 4:17).

Dan 10:1  In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
Dan 10:2  In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
Dan 10:3  I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 
Dan 10:4  And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;H2313

The significance of something being revealed in the “third year of Cyrus king of Persia” is to remind us that this is a story about overcoming the powers and principalities of this world (Eph 6:12), typified here by “Cyrus king of Persia.” Being the third year of his reign is a symbolic number revealing that in order to overcome those powers and principalities, we must go through a process [3] of judgment. Daniel, as a type of the elect, was blessed and “understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision“, which typifies our being blessed to be able to read, hear, and keep the sayings of the prophecy in this life (Rev 1:3).

In order to overcome these kings within us, Daniel, who typifies the elect of God, “was mourning three full weeks” (Gen 50:10), again pointing to the process of judgment and the need to keep under our bodies as we die daily in this life (1Co 9:27, 1Co 15:31).

Gen 50:10  And they [Joseph and all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house – see v 7-8 – typifying the whole world within us] came to the threshingfloor of AtadH329 [‘thorns’, ‘bramble’; from an unused root probably meaning to pierce or make fast], which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father [Joseph’s father Jacob/Israel typifying our old man that must die] seven days [“three full weeks” (3×7=21)].

Daniel says he abstained and ate “no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” These actions typify for us the need to seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness (Mat 6:33), His bread, His flesh and blood (wine) (Joh 6:51-54) and to live a life that is sacrificial in God’s service (Rom 12:1-2), keeping under ourselves (“neither did I anoint myself at all” 1Co 9:27) as we learn of His faithfulness through a process that settles us in our minds and brings us to a place of acceptance that what God provides for us in this life is what is best for our spiritual growth, and whether it be a little or a lot, we can learn at His hand “both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need”  (Php 4:11-13, 1Ti 6:7-9).

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Php 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 
Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

Right after Daniel talking about his determination in his heart to abstain from bread, flesh and wine, we read that this is happening “in the four and twentieth day of the first month.” The spiritual significance of this statement is that it is after we dedicate our lives to God as a living sacrifice, which can only occur by God dragging us to Christ (Joh 6:44), that we end up being on a sure foundation, the rock Jesus Christ (Mat 16:18, Mat 7:24-25). It takes His judgment, the day of the Lord in our lives, for that foundation to be formed. This is typified by the “the first month” [day of the Lord] and the “four and twentieth day” as a [witness of Christ who is the true foundation that all men must be built upon in time (1Co 3:11) 2×12=24].

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

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

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

These events in Daniel’s life were also occurring “as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel.^H2313” ‘Hiddekel’ or the Tigris river is mentioned in Genesis 2:14 as the third river, again establishing the process of judgment we must go through, the much tribulation of this life, the abstaining from those things that war against our flesh (1Pe 2:11, Act 15:29), in order to then see the light of Christ break forth within our lives, which is the positive use of the word ‘Euphrates’ being the fourth river that follows the Tigris [Hiddekel], also mentioned in Genesis 2:14. The root meaning of Euphrates is to break forth, and this reminds us what happens in our lives when we are granted to be received of God through a process of judgment that makes it possible for us to put off our flesh and see the light of Christ break forth (Gen 2:14, Gal 4:27, Isa 58:4-11). 

H2313 chiddeqel khid-deh’-kel

Probably of foreign origin; the Chiddekel (or Tigris) river: – Hiddekel.

Total KJV occurrences: 2

Gen 2:14  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:^H2313 that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.^H6578

H6578 perâth per-awth’

From an unused root meaning to break forth; rushing; Perath (that is, Euphrates), a river of the East: – Euphrates. Total KJV occurrences: 19

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 
Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 
Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Isa 58:9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 
Isa 58:10  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Isa 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually (Rom 8:14-16), and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

Dan 10:5   Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 

When God’s judgments are in our earth, we will be humbled and learn righteousness, meaning we will learn of Christ who is our righteousness (Isa 26:9, Jer 23:6, Php 3:9). The vision Daniel is given ‘by the great river called Hiddekel’ is that of Christ who is “a certain man clothed in linen” (1Ti 2:5, 1Co 11:3, Joh 19:5, Exo 39:27) and whose “loins [are] girded with fine gold of Uphaz:^H210” (Rev 19:7-8, Rev 14:14, Son 5:11, Son 5:15,  Isa 13:12, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9).  The fine gold represents the tried faith of Christ which God forms within the body of Christ via our head Jesus Christ.

1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; “a certain man”

Rev 14:14  And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 

Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 

Son 5:15  His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 

Uphaz^H210  ‘ûphâz

Definition: Uphaz = desire of fine gold 
Origin: perhaps a corruption of H211
Total KJV Occurrences: 2

Isa 13:12  I will make a man more precious than fine gold;(Dan 10:5) even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir^H211.

Dan 10:6  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 

This is clearly representing Christ and His Christ as He is described in the book of Revelation, only using different terminology (Rev 2:18-19). The vision of Daniel is the opposite of the vision of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’ dream, as Christ in this instance is described as having a body like “beryl“, which happens to be mentioned only once in the new testament as the eighth [8 the number of the new man] of twelve stones that make up “the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Rev 21:10, Rev 21:20).

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire “his eyes as lamps of fire“(Dan 10:6), and his feet are like fine brass “his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass“(Dan 10:6);
Rev 2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

Mat 28:3  His countenance was like lightning “his face as the appearance of lightning” [Dan 10:6], and his raiment white as snow: 

Rev 21:20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; [Dan 10:6] the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth “the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude” [Dan 10:6].

Dan 10:7  And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 
Dan 10:8  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

The vision God gives us today of Christ is seen most clearly when we are putting off our flesh, “and there remained no strength in me.” Daniel retaining no strength in himself is a positive expression telling us that when we get out of the way we will see ourselves as nothing, “for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.” It is in that humbled state that we alone will see “the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision.” Those men who see not the vision represent our old man who says he sees, when in fact he is blinded for the self-righteous condition that is the natural status of all men without God’s spirit within them (Joh 9:41, Php 3:9, Rom 8:9). Our first parents experienced this earthquake, “but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves“, who initially were naked and not ashamed, but then when their sinful condition became exceedingly evident because of their disobedience (Rom 7:8, Rom 7:13-14), then they hid themselves (Gen 2:25, Gen 3:7-8).

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 

Gen 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 
Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 
Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Dan 10:9  Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 
Dan 10:10  And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 

Sleep is likened to death in the bible, symbolized by this moment with Daniel, “then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.“ Now his fleshly reasoning is out of the way as he finds himself in this humbled position with his face toward the ground where God would give him his instruction (Job 33:15-16). It is when we are abased that God will exalt us (baptized into Christ death – resting in the Lord – [Rom 6:3]), and so we read that Daniel is left alone when he sees this vision, as we often feel in this earth very alone in our belief. What he saw represents what we see, a “great vision” which can only be seen when God gets us out of the way and we know we are the chief of sinners (1Ti 1:15): “there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.” It is the evil experiences of this life which God gives His people to be exercised and humbled therewith (Ecc 1:13). All of Christ’s sons must experience this humbling so we will be received by Him (Heb 12:6), “And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.“

Dan 10:11  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord (Heb 10:31), and that is what is happening to Daniel who typifies the highly-favored bride of Christ, the “greatly beloved” who represents the Church (Luk 1:28). Christ tells Daniel to “understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright” and explains to us how this is possible because He is sent into our lives, “for unto thee am I now sent” (Joh 17:25-26, Joh 3:16-17). 

Luk 1:28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women [women representing churches]. 

Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Dan 10:12  Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

When God’s word is sent into our lives, it does not return void, “thy words were heard” (Isa 55:11). It is the power of God’s holy spirit working in our lives that gives us power over fear (1Jn 4:18) because Christ is working in us ‘both to will and to do of His good pleasure’ (Php 2:12-13). We can therefore “Fear not“, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, having from “the first day“, representing the start of ‘the Day of the Lord’, to “set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God.” Chastening ourselves before the Lord is an expression that reveals that we understand and believe these verses that apply to us (Act 14:22, 1Pe 4:12, Heb 12:6).

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

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

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 
Dan 10:14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 
Dan 10:15  And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 

The “prince of the kingdom of Persia” represents Satan who hinders us in this life (1Th 2:18). God gives Satan command to hinder us for this symbolic number of twenty one days that witnesses [2] to the truth that Satan is an instrument in God’s hand which He uses to stretch us in the day of the Lord [1] as we see evidenced with these verses (Satan tries to hinder our coming together [1Th 2:14-20]). ‘Twenty one’ is a multiple of seven as well (3×7=21), which brings to mind  the three [3] sets of seven [7]  seals, trumpets and vials found in the book of Revelation (Rev 5:5, Rev 8:2, Rev 17:1).

“I remained there with the kings of Persia” means that God does not take us out of the trial but rather makes a way for us to bear the burden and go through the experience (1Co 10:13). It is through those who are close to God that we receive our help in time of need in the body of Christ, represented by how “Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Rev 12:7-8).

Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. Then lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; for I had been there alone with the kings of Persia. (AFV)

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Christ strengthens us by His word through the church who brings the word of God that gives us the vision we need in this life so we don’t perish (Pro 29:18), “Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.“

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. 

This knowledge that God brings to us through the church (Eph 3:10), humbles us to our core if Christ is working with us in this life, preparing us to receive His word that brings us to a point of being quiet or still (“and I became dumb” – Job 40:4, Psa 46:10). We now realize that our words, our righteousnesses, are as filthy rags and are of no significance, as opposed to His words of eternal life (Joh 6:68), “And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.“

Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 

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

Dan 10:16  And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 
Dan 10:17  For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 
Dan 10:18  Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,

It is by “the similitude of the sons of men” by which Daniel’s lips are touched, and this touching of his lips signifies his being purified by the word of God that comes from “the sons of men” who are like the angel (Luk 22:43) or messenger that purified the lips of Isaiah (Isa 6:5-8), reminding us that we need someone to teach us, through the church, the manifest knowledge of God being made known so that we can be sanctified in this life by His words (Act 8:30-33, Joh 17:17)

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 
Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

God must humble us in this life in order to have His strength made be perfect through our weaknesses (2Co 12:9), and so the prophet mentions several times how he has no strength in himself and no breath left in him, both signifying that now Daniel is ready to hear the word of God and be strengthened as we see happening in these verses, (Dan 10:18-19). He is out of the way, signified by his strength being taken, and his breath, that symbolizes his own will and not the will of God that can only be accomplished by the spirit of God working in us (Php 2:12-13, Rev 1:17). 

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 

Daniel then asks how can he, the mere servant, talk with one so powerful when he can’t even get his natural breath. This conversation symbolizes for us how we can’t have communion with our Father and Christ unless we are granted to partake of that altar which those who serve the court cannot partake of at this time (Heb 13:10, Rom 8:9). The answer for Daniel in the next verses typify for us how it is through Christ that we are accepted and strengthened and able to have communion with our Father and Christ at that day (Eph 1:6, Joh 14:20):

Dan 10:19  And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 

God is telling us with this verse that we can endure all things through Christ who strengthens us (Php 4:13), and that His peace passes all human understanding (Php 4:7) so that we can go through a process of being perfected, established and strengthened (1Pe 5:10) via the words of God, the truth of God, that reveals promises that confirm to us and ultimately convince us and quicken us in this life (Joh 6:63), becoming more than conquerors through the love of God which He sheds abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5, Rom 5:10, Rom 8:36-37, Joh 8:32-36).

Dan 10:20  Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 
Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 

Daniel does not understand why the angel has come to him, “Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee?” (typifying what we all ask at the onset of our coming to know Christ whom we persecuted [Act 9:5-6]), but we know that Christ has come to win the battle for us and to demonstrate through the weak of the world that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. What will Christ do for us if he will overcome the adversary by praying that we would be given the faith of Christ to do so (Luk 22:32), which is what this sentence symbolizes for us today, “and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” The battle is a lifelong enduring to the end battle that is of the Lord to win within us, and so “the prince of Grecia shall come“, telling us we will drive the beasts out of our land “by little and little” (Exo 23:30).

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

God wants us to know “wherefore I come unto thee” and that is to reveal to His little remnant that it is His good pleasure to give to us the kingdom (Luk 12:32), even as we see that there is no faith in thVie earth to believe in these great things, which is why He tells Daniel, “and there is none that holdeth with me in these things” save “Michael your prince” who represents the remnant for whom Christ has prayed to be given faith that will be needed in order to stand and endure until the end of this age, believing all things, and holding fast to the Lord to the crown of life we’ve been promised (1Co 13:7-8, Mat 6:24, Rev 3:11).

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

[Study Aired October 8, 2020]

Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 
Heb 6:16  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 
Heb 6:17  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 
Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 
Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 
Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

In this week’s study we will start off by reminding ourselves how last week’s study which discussed the “two immutable things” spoken of in Hebrews 6:13-14 is the “strong consolation” God gives to those “who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb 6:18).

Heb 6:13  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

That hope set before us is being able to endure until the end through Christ as we go from glory to glory looking to the joy set before us that is manifest through the author and finisher our faith Jesus Christ who is our hope of glory (Heb 12:1-2, 2Co 3:18, Col 1:27).

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

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

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:

These promises found in Hebrews 6:13-14, as we recently discussed, were declared of our Father who cannot lie so that we could lay hold of this promise (Heb 6:17) that has been made to those whose inheritance is in the Lord (Col 1:12, Luk 17:21, Pro 13:22). “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath” is just another way of saying “fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”, which is where that inheritance is found (Luk 12:32).

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.

Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you [Col 1:27].

Pro 13:22  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Proverbs 13:22 demonstrates for us what “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew” of Hebrews 6:17 is talking about, and is no small inheritance. The “wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just” of Proverbs 13:22 represents those whom God’s elect will judge in the lake of fire, and they in turn will be our inheritance in Christ. So we are Christ’s inheritance, and the world is our inheritance as was typified with Abraham’s promise of “multiplying I will multiply thee” in Hebrews 6:14, and all of these blessings and inheritances are governed by God (Eph 1:11) who will ultimately be “all in all” (1Co 15:28).

God’s elect are indeed the “heirs of promise” being spoken of in Hebrews 6:17, typified by Abraham who was promised “Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” An heir in Christ is someone who is going to receive an inheritance, and a place of honour given to them for having suffered in this life (Php 1:29, 2Ti 2:12). We are being judged and being made ready and going through much tribulation for the express purpose of being made ready (Rev 19:7) to receive the fullness of that inheritance which will occur in the first resurrection (1Pe 4:17, Act 14:22, Rev 20:6).

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

As God’s elect, we are called to endure until the end, losing our life so we might be found with the righteousness of Christ in us (Mat 10:39, Php 3:8-9). God has promised us, His children, that we’ll be able to overcome through a narrow but certain escape by giving us the power to put off our flesh through all the things we can endure through Christ (Php 4:13). He makes it possible for us to be the first to truly trust in God (Eph 1:12) and no longer have confidence in our own flesh (1Pe 4:18-19, Mat 24:24, Mat 7:14, Php 3:3).

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

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.

In this study we’ll look at how we can, through the grace and faith of Christ, patiently endure until the end and in so doing obtain the promises in full (Heb 6:15). We are coming together often to remind each other of the faithfulness of God who continues to show us how He can deliver and will continue to deliver us (2Co 1:10) as He provides the vision we will all need in order to endure until the end of this age (Pro 29:18).

Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

2Co 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

When we have the overview of God’s plan in our heavens, it is easier to be less anxious and to patiently endure, with the vision that comes from knowing our Father and Jesus Christ (Pro 29:18, Joh 17:3).

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

It is through hearing the word in “an honest and good heart” and then keeping it (Luk 8:15), as we go through the afflictions (2Co 12:9), persecutions (2Ti 3:12) and much tribulation (Act 14:22) of this life, that we learn to endure as the body of Christ as the veil of our heavens is ripped so we can enter into the “hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil“. It is through those trials that God prepares our hearts to endure so we can be among those who have “patiently endured” and “obtained the promise” as His power rests upon us so we can go to the Father through “the forerunner” who “is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Eph 1:6, Joh 14:6).

Luk 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

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.

As we just read, it is “after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise” referring to Abraham who is a type of Christ who is our hope of glory within who is making it possible for us to obtain “the promise”. The promise is to receive eternal life, age-abiding life, as a kind of first fruits of God (Psa 133:2-3, Zec 4:6, Joh 6:29, Mat 13:11, Php 1:29, Joh 11:25-26, Joh 6:40).

Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
Psa 133:3  As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Heb 6:16  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 
Heb 6:17  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 

God has to show us that we are beasts (Ecc 3:18), and part of that beastly nature is our inability to keep the promises we make both to God and to man. Presently all these scriptures (2Ti 3:4-7, Rom 11:18-20, Rev 20:8-9, Act 4:27-28) have their present inward application to our daily-dying old man who cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50). Our vision of what God is doing at any given time is dependent on knowing that His word is an eternal is-was-and-will-be word that will not change, and as such we will not be destroyed (Joh 6:68, Mal 3:6). Flesh, on the other hand, and all carnal soulishness will be destroyed (Luk 12:5).

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.

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 laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

[“Silly women” represent the churches of Babylon out of which we’ve come where we were “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph 4:14-16)]

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

As it says, making “an oath” is “for confirmation…to them an end of all strife“, meaning for the time being we can say in our flesh — because of our swearing “by the greater” — that we have peace. Whoever we’re subject to, they are “the greater”, and so now with Christ in us we ought to be subject only to Christ in one another and only knowing Christ, as opposed to being under tutors and governors (Gal 4:2-6). As such we do not have need that any man teach us, meaning any carnal man who is still under the law for the lawless, the tutors and governors that represent the milk of the word that we must be established upon but not remain in (1Jn 2:27, Heb 5:11-14).

Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil [Eph 4:14-16].

The truth is the only lasting peace the world will ever have, and it will come through Jesus Christ abiding in us. God has promised the “heirs of promise” that the oath or promise that He made to us is not dependent on some other power greater than Himself because there is none greater (Isa 45:5-7), and therefore we can rest in the Lord and “the immutability of his counsel” which is confirmed by the two immutable promises spoken of in Hebrews 6:18.

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 

These two immutable promises God has given the elect should cause us to move with fear to the saving of our spiritual house (Heb 11:7) which is what “who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” means. It is possible because God has granted us the grace and faith, or the unction, to do so (1Jn 5:4, Eph 2:8, 1Jn 2:27). Therefore, because of this anointing, “we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge.

1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Our refuge is in Christ in the city of refuge where we flee, and going to that city of refuge (Num 35:15) is another way of saying we go without the camp where our Lord went for us, which is where our “refuge” is (Heb 13:13).

Num 35:15  These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither [Luk 12:5].

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach [Luk 12:5].

We “lay hold upon the hope set before us” by going without the camp where we are “bearing his reproach” of being hated by all men (Mat 10:22) and not by shrinking back (Heb 10:39).

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul [Luk 12:5].

It is through the giants in our land which God will perfectly position in our lives that we will be nourished and given the strength to lay down our lives as we ought for one another (Num 14:9). Laying hold “upon the hope set before us” can also be thought of as simply looking to Christ who is the faithful author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2-3), who for the joy set before him endured the cross.

Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not [Luk 12:5].

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds [Luk 12:5].

Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 
Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

We can’t have any stronger consolation than to know that the One who has promised to bless us and multiply us (Heb 6:14) has sworn by Himself that these things are true, and it is with such a promise we can patiently endure (Heb 6:15) with this “hope” that “we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” that is given to the elect so that we can “entereth into that within the veil“. That veil represents the flesh (Eph 5:30), and Christ, who is our hope of glory within (Col 1:27), is the “forerunner” who “is for us entered, even Jesus” who was “made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec“.

Christ has entered into heaven in the fullness as our resurrected Saviour “after the order of Melchisedec“, and that was the expedient action which had to occur in order for us to receive God’s holy spirit that can and will lead us into all truth if we have that spirit within us (Joh 16:7, Joh 16:13, Rom 8:9). We are therefore raised now in heavenly places (Eph 2:4-6) and the veil or carnal sinful mind is being overcome daily as we die daily and neglect not so great a salvation that is unfolding in this manner: “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).

Salvation has an order to it that starts with our “forerunner” (1Co 15:23-24), then the elect “firstfruits“, and when Christ returns “they that are Christ’s at his coming” who won’t precede those who have already died in the Lord (1Th 4:15-17). When this is all accomplished and the bride of Christ is come together, “then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign [1Co 6:2, 2Ti 2:12], till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” [Rev 11:15].

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

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

Without a clear vision (Pro 29:18) of what “the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” is, we won’t be motivated to press toward that mark (Php 3:14-16). However, if Christ is in us as our hope of glory, then we are bound to the altar, and nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Psa 118:27-29, Rom 8:35-39).

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Php 3:16  Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Psa 118:28  Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
Psa 118:29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Isa 40:11-20 All the Nations Before Him Are as Nothing - Discussion

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Isa 40:11-20  All The Nations Before Him Are As Nothing

Isa 40:11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 
Isa 40:12  Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 
Isa 40:13  Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 
Isa 40:14  With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 
Isa 40:15  Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 
Isa 40:16  And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 
Isa 40:17  All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 
Isa 40:18  To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 
Isa 40:19  The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 
Isa 40:20  He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

This prophecy of Isaiah is founded on all the scriptures which precede it, and in turn, it is the foundation of the prophets who followed Isaiah. This prophecy is the “vision” and understanding of the work the Lord is performing in “Judah and Jerusalem” as types of His elect.

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD , they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Judah and Jerusalem are Old Testament types of the Lord’s elect who were chosen from “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2) to be “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” (Rev 14:4), and to be those “who first trusted in Christ (Eph 1:12).

Neither this nor any other prophecy of scripture was ever intended to be understood by anyone other than the Lord’s elect at “this present time” (Mat 13:9-15 and Rom 8:18). This prophecy of the entire book of Isaiah concerns the apostasy and redemption of the Lord’s first fruits, and it is built upon the truth which had been revealed many years earlier by King Solomon:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Those words being the Truth, it follows that the Lord’s elect, typified by Judah and Jerusalem, should be the first to understand that the Lord has given them an evil experience to humble them. It is for that reason this prophecy is addressed to the Lord’s typical elect who are the first to see themselves as ‘rebellious children… a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.’

God’s elect ones are not His elect because they are any better than other people. The fact is the exact opposite. God’s elect must come to see themselves as “the basest of men… chief of sinners”:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

As we have clearly demonstrated in the scriptures, Jacob was far more offensive to Esau than Esau was to him. King David was far more offensive in taking Uriah's wife and then his life than King Saul was in taking the spoils of the Amalekites. Hezekiah was no better than his wicked father, Ahaz. Yet Jacob, King David, and Hezekiah were all given “place for repentance” and were all given the humility to confess their sins and repent. But the scriptures want us to know that the Lord’s elect, you and I, are “chief of sinners… the basest of men”, and that “no flesh should glory in his presence”. Here are our qualifications as the Lord's elect:

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

The verses above are the Biblical list of the qualifications of those whom “God has chosen” as His elect. The Greek word translated as ‘chosen’ is ‘eklegomai’. It appears in the New Testament 22 times and it is always translated as ‘chosen, chose, or choice’. 

G1586
ἐκλέγομαι
eklegomai

Total KJV Occurrences: 22

chosen, 16
Mar_13:20, Luk_10:42, Joh_6:70, Joh_13:18, Joh_15:16 (2), Joh_15:19, Act_1:2, Act_1:24, Act_15:22, Act_15:25, 1Co_1:27-28 (3), Jam_2:4-5 (2)

chose, 4
Luk_6:13, Luk_14:7, Act_6:5, Act_13:17

choice, 1
Act_15:7

This word has the same root as the word translated ‘elect’, which is the Greek word ‘eklektos’, which is also translated as ‘chosen’ seven times in the KJV:

G1588
ἐκλεκτός
eklektos

Total KJV Occurrences: 23

elect, 13
Mat_24:24, Mat_24:31, Mar_13:22, Mar_13:27, Luk_18:7, Rom_8:33, Col_3:12, 1Ti_5:21, Tit_1:1, 1Pe_1:2, 1Pe_2:6, 2Jo_1:1, 2Jo_1:13

chosen, 7
Mat_20:16, Mat_22:14, Luk_23:35, Rom_16:13, 1Pe_2:4, 1Pe_2:9, Rev_17:14

elect’s, 3
Mat_24:22, Mar_13:20, 2Ti_2:10

This prophecy and all of scripture demonstrate that the Lord is just as merciless on the old man of His elect as He is on the old man in all the rest of mankind. In other words, those who are blessed to “find a place for repentance” do so only because of their election; their being chosen by God for that blessing and for that position, and the Lord wants us to know that if we are given that blessing it has nothing whatsoever to do with our own righteousness or anything that comes of ourselves. That is why this book begins as it does:

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD , they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

It is in spite of our weakness and corruption that we as the Lord’s elect are granted to ‘find a place for repentance’ while all others are not given that grace, even though they might seek to do so:

Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

The entire story of King Hezekiah, starting in chapter 36 with the Assyrian invasion, the deliverance of Hezekiah from that invasion, His ‘sickness unto death’, the turning back of the sundial, his healing and Hezekiah taking the credit for all the Lord’s works for him and through him, typify how the Lord’s elect do the same things, and yet we are ‘given a place for repentance’, while others, who are no worse than we are, are not given that blessing. The entire story of the experience of King Hezekiah is given to us, not just as a history lesson, but as types of us, to let us know just how special we are to our Lord, and to let us know just how powerful He is on our behalf.

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things,

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

The Lord is intent on making His elect aware of the work He is doing in and through them for their good and as His tool to bring salvation to all men:

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 
Eph 3:12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

At the same time He is intent upon making us aware that we bring absolutely nothing to the table. Everything is being done “by the faith of Him… [and it is all being made] known by the church”, signified by ‘Zion’ and ‘Judah’ in the last two verses of the most encouraging words of our last study:

Isa 40:9  O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! 
Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Being given the commission by the Lord to be the bringer of “good tidings… unto the cities of Judah” and assuring them that their success is “His work” is something special and worthy of our greatest “respect”:

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Just as we are being sent to feed and comfort the Lord’s flock, He Himself feeds and comforts us:

Isa 40:11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. 

We are in the very best hands anyone could hope to be. Christ Himself is our spiritual ‘insurance policy’, and to keep us aware of His qualifications to keep us safe in Himself, He asks us to consider:

Isa 40:12  Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 
Isa 40:13  Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 
Isa 40:14  With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 

The answer to every one of those questions is, “Absolutely No one!” So instead, this is what we are given as answers to these questions:

 1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 
1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 
1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 
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. 
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

As our experience has and does and will continue to demonstrate, it is very few indeed who are given to “know the things that are freely given to us of God”.  

Paul drives home this point concerning the promises of God in the second epistle to the Corinthians:

2Co 1:18  But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. 
2Co 1:19  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. 
2Co 1:20  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 
2Co 1:21  Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 
2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

“In Christ”, inwardly and in spirit, we can say with Him, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth:”

Mat 28:16  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 
Mat 28:17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 
Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Here is how we apply these words if we are “in Christ” and as we understand what it means to be “as He is… in this world”.

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

“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” does not give me the power to speed up the Lord’s agenda, or to start at this moment acting as if I have all power in heaven and in earth in an outward manner. That day will NOT arrive until after the first resurrection at the spiritual last ‘trump’, meaning the time of the beginning of the outward judgment of the kingdom of this world as we are plainly told:

Let's put those verses together.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

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

No, “in this present time” (Rom 8:18) we are to ‘be subject to the powers that be [because they] are ordained of God [and if we] resist the power [we are] resisting God… and [we] will reap to ourselves damnation’:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 
Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Here is what “all power in heaven and in earth” empowers the Lord’s anointed to accomplish at this time:

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Rom 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 
Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 
Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

That is what is “freely given to us of God… [at] this present time”:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

At “this present time” we are given power over all sin within. We are not yet given power over all sinners outside ourselves or outside the body of Christ because at “this present time… the kingdom of God is within [us]:

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

Where in those two verses do we read that there will never be an outward kingdom? The answer is, it is not there because that is not true. There will be an outward kingdom of God ruling over all the outward kingdoms of this world and not just “the kingdom… within you”:

Rev 11:15  And, the seventh messenger, sounded; and there came to be loud voices in heaven, saying—The kingdom of the world, hath become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign unto the ages of ages. [The “thousand years” and the “second death/ white throne judgment/ lake of fire]”.

We are not yet given “power over the [outward] nations” as we will be given if we are granted to ‘have part’ in the blessed and holy first resurrection’:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection [“of life” Joh 5:28-29]: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The saints of God have never before been raised up from the dead in “the first resurrection”, and those who are “in Christ” have never before been given “power over the nations [to] rule them with a rod of iron” nor to “dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel”. Nevertheless, that is exactly what will happen at the appointed predestined time, and all those who doubt and deny these Biblical Truths will be just as astonished as the whole world was when the flood of Noah occurred.

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.  

However, there will not be one soul in the first resurrection who has not first been humiliated in this present time and granted to dash in pieces all the nations within themselves. Only after having experienced the death of our old man in the first judgment, which begins at the house of God in “this present time”, will we be granted the blessing of being in the “blessed and holy first resurrection to judge this world and then judge angels.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 
1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 
1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Why would we not “commit the keeping of our souls to him in well doing” after all:

Isa 40:15  Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 
Isa 40:16  And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 
Isa 40:17  All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. 

As the Lord’s elect, those words are just as true and as reassuring to the nations inwardly and spiritually as they are outwardly. If indeed our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, then our inward nations and giants and our passions and our flesh is “counted to him less than nothing and vanity”, and nothing can separate us from Him and His love:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

It is my prayer the Lord will give every one of us the faith of Christ to simply believe the Lord’s inspired words here, and to accept it as a true Biblical fact that the Lord is making everything work together for our good as “the called according to His purpose” whom He foreknew and predestined to be the firstborn among many other brothers, who will come to him through our mercy (Rom 11:31), and that Christ is at this very moment in “this present time” (Rom 8:18) at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us, and that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What more can we ask of the Lord?

Isa 40:18  To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 

The answer is obvious considering what we were just told. There is nothing to which our Lord can be likened. Nevertheless, it was only yesterday that even the Lord’s elect were worshipping the man of sin who had set himself up in the temple of God showing himself to be God with a will that was free from the will of God.

It is spiritual adultery to believe and teach that our salvation depends upon anything other than Christ and His work and His will, but because we at first think only physically, we all deny that we have ever been guilty of our last verses in today’s study:

Isa 40:19  The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 
Isa 40:20  He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

According to the scriptures we are this “goldsmith”, and the ‘gold’ we ‘melt’ and ‘spread’ and the ‘silver’ we ‘cast’ is the Lord's words, which we twist to say what we want to hear:

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,

Joe 3:5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

Idolotrous images in scripture are false doctrines and “idols of the heart”:

Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

In our next study the Lord will again reassure us that He is at the helm, and no one and nothing can deter what He is doing, and nothing anyone does is hidden from Him who is working everything after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11):

Isa 40:21  Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 
Isa 40:22  It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 
Isa 40:23  That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 
Isa 40:24  Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 
Isa 40:25  To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 
Isa 40:26  Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. 
Isa 40:27  Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD , and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Isa 40:28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD , the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 
Isa 40:29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 
Isa 40:30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 
Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 

Isaiah 1:1-3

I Have Nourished and Brought Up Children, and They Have Rebelled Against Me.

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

These first three verses introduce to us the author through whom the Lord has given this “vision” and those to whom this vision is addressed. In the second verse we are made to know that from God’s perspective it is we who are the “heavens” which encapsulates the “earth”, and both must be addressed at this stage of our experience as vessels of clay in the Potter’s hand (Jer 18:4). If we see this vision as being addressed to anyone other than ourselves, then we will be judged out of our own mouths, and we will not be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Eph 1:12; 1Pe 4:17 and Rev 20:6). The truth is that this vision of Isaiah is addressed to God’s elect first and foremost (Mat 4:4; Eph 1:11-12 and 1Pe 4:17).

Knowing these words are addressed to each of us in whom Christ is working His will, let’s begin this very revealing prophecy and vision of what God is doing within us, within these marred vessels of clay which He is in the process of remaking into “another vessel, as it seemed good to the Potter to make it” (Jer 18:4).

Let’s start at the beginning and consider the meaning of this prophet’s name:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Here is what the Matthew Henry Commentary tells us of the meaning of Isaiah’s name:

“Isaiah signifies, “The salvation of the Lord;” a very suitable name for this prophet, who prophesies so much of Jesus the Saviour, and his salvation.”

These are very appropriate words to describe this prophecy, but from Genesis to Revelation the scriptures teach us that “no man can enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels have been fulfilled [in the life of every man]”. “The salvation of the Lord” necessitates that we understand that the Great Potter by His own design must first destroy His marred vessel of clay in order to bring forth “another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it”..

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

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

The fact that Isaiah prophesied during the reign of four kings is also of great significance for those who understand that four signifies the whole of whatever is under consideration. In this case, it is the whole body of Christ which is being considered; all who are given eyes to see and ears to hear the words of this vision and to apply them inwardly instead of placing the judgments of this vision off on someone else.

Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

For a more indepth understanding of the spiritual significance of the number four in scripture read our study on that number at this link:
Numbers in Scripture – Four, The Whole

“The salvation of the Lord” includes our falling into the ground and dying, as the corn of wheat must do before it can bring forth much fruit (Joh 12:24). The vision of Isaiah has much to say about the dying of the old Judah and Jerusalem as a harlot, to be replaced by the New Jerusalem and the making of the man, the new nation (Isa 62:1-2). “The salvation of the Lord” necessitates the fiery trials which judge the house of God first, and which burn out all the wood, hay and stubble within the house of God (1Co 3:13-15; 1Pe 4:12-17). These things all summarize the judgments to be found in this “vision of Isaiah”.

“The salvation of the Lord” necessitates our repentance from dead works to begin walking in newness of life (Rom 6:1-2). We are all brought to that repentance by “the goodness of the Lord”:

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

One of the most insidious, and yet the most appealing, of all false doctrines is the one which makes “His mercy endures forever”, and “…a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ” to mean that Christ died for us so we would not have to “fall into the ground and die” to the sins of our flesh nor concern ourselves with “the righteous judgment of God”.

Psa 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

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

We would never repent if indeed “the goodness of God” and the words of Psa 136:1 and Gal 2:16 meant that God would reward us for our sins. Quite the contrary, as the next verses in Romans 2 demonstrate:

Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

Psalms 107 spells out exactly what is meant by “the Lord[‘s] goodness”:

Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

Psa 107:25 For he [“the Lord”] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Four times in this 107th chapter of Psalms we read the exclamation “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (vs 8, 15, 21, 31). And after each time we are told how the Lord “raises the stormy winds”, and brings us “to [our] wits’ end”, what Paul calls “the righteous judgment of God”.

That is the theme of this prophet. That is the process that is this prophecy of Isaiah, “the salvation of the Lord”. Long before we were informed that the grace of God would abound much more than sin, Isaiah was telling us just that. Isaiah understood that the grace of God chastens and judges us to forsake ungodliness in our lives and to live godly lives in the present age (Tit 2:11-12).

Here is a verse which is the theme of this entire “vision of Isaiah”:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

The previous verse carries the same message:

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

Here is this same message of “the salvation of the Lord” through the judgment and destruction of our old man in the New Testament:

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [Greek: paideuo – chasten, Heb 12:6] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

What we are being told in the Old and in the New Testaments, is that God’s grace operates only through His righteousness operating within us, dominating the rebellious, carnal-minded man of sin who would usurp His throne of righteousness within us.

Paul makes clear to us that grace does not reign within us through “ungodliness and worldly lusts”, but rather:

Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

If Christ, the new man, is living His life within us, then He is at this very moment redeeming us from all iniquity and purifying to Himself a special people, through His judgments upon the kingdom of our old man, the man of sin within us all. We “who first trusted in Christ” are those who must be judged first, must be the first to “learn righteousness” (Isa 26:9), and that is what Isaiah, Paul and Peter proclaim:

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

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?

“The Vision of Isaiah”

This is “the vision of Isaiah”. What does ‘vision’ mean? The word ‘vision’ first appears in this verse of scripture:

1Sa 3:1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

The phrase “there was no open vision” is intended to complement the fact that “the word of the Lord was precious in those days”. When we look at the Hebrew word ‘parats‘, translated “open” here, we discover that it means that there was no ‘increase’ in the knowledge of the Lord. It means ‘increase’, whether in a positive or a negative sense. Here is an example of the positive sense of this Hebrew word ‘parats‘:

Gen 30:43 And the man increased [Hebrew: parats] exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

God had seen fit to increase Jacob’s possessions in spite of all the efforts of his father-in-law to keep him from prospering. In like manner there was no shortage of visions in the days of “the vision of Isaiah”. There is an ‘open vision’, an increase in the knowledge of God in this “vision of Isaiah”.

…which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…

This vision does not concern ‘Samaria and Israel’, or, as it is also called ‘Samaria and Ephraim’. Both terms, ‘Israel’ and ‘Ephraim’ are used to identify the northern kingdom which had split from the southern kingdom during the reign of King Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Isaiah’s prophecy is not addressed to those who had changed the laws of God so they could worship a golden calf in Dan and in Bethel. Both the northern and southern kingdoms turned their backs on their own God, but “Judah and Jerusalem” typify those who, in spite of their rebellion against their God, are chosen to be judged at this time, while the northern kingdom of Samaria and Israel typify those who are not being dealt with by God in this age.

1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

Idols in scripture are “idols of the heart” (Eze 14:1-9). The leaders of the great harlot have made idols from the north to the south numbering two hundred million to make sure that no one returns to Judah and Jerusalem to worship the true God and know His true doctrines (Rev 9:16).

Many are called, but few are chosen to see through the smoke and the locusts which ascend up out of the bottomless pit to block out and darken the light of the Sun (Mat 22:14 and Rev 9:2). It is only those few who are being judged in this age:

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?

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This prophecy is not a vision which judges Babylon in this age, rather this vision concerns those who consider themselves to have come out of Babylon, and have been faithful to their God, as Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, made clear when warring against Jereboam and the northern kingdom of Israel:

2Ch 13:8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.
2Ch 13:9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
2Ch 13:10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:
2Ch 13:11 And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.
2Ch 13:12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

The point being made by the phrase “…which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…” is that this vision concerns those who are “the house of God” and who are the first ones who trusted in Christ and are the first ones to be judged.

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.

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?

There is great apostasy in Judah and in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is said to have committed even greater sins than her sister Samaria, yet this vision and this prophecy is addressed to just such people who can see and confess that it is they who are ‘chief of sinners’, who are simply the first to be judged.

Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

If we refuse to ‘know our abomination’, then our blindness remains, and if our blindness remains our sins remain:

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

So let’s ‘know our abominations’ now, in this age, and not wait and be made to see our abominations in the last harvest.

Eze 16:46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
Eze 16:47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
Eze 16:48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

So has it always been. God has always used “the foolish… the weak… and the base things of the world… to bring to naught the things that are… mighty” (1Co 1:26-29). Jacob was a lying, conniving scoundrel, who sinned against Esau more than Esau sinned against Jacob. King David committed adultery and murdered the woman’s husband to cover up his adultery. He sinned against God, just like King Saul, and Saul of Tarsus persecuted the church and counted himself to be ‘chief of sinners’. That is the lesson for God’s elect to learn. Our qualification as God’s elect is not that we are better than anyone. Rather it is that we have been brought to see ourselves as the least deserving of His love.

These are His words to you and to me:

Deu 9:4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.
Deu 9:5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deu 9:6 Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.
Deu 9:7 Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.

This is the message of the vision of Isaiah to you and to me. It is we who “[were] corrupted more than they in all [our] ways”]. It is we who are ‘the chief of sinners’. Yet God is using the weak and the base of this world to be His servants and to be the channel of His mercy to all the rest of mankind:

Listen closely to these words:

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

“Be not highminded, but fear… otherwise you also shall be cut off.” There is no greasy grace in the gospel of the kingdom of God within you. That is a great part of this “vision of Isaiah”, which is addressed to you and to me if we count ourselves to be those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God. That “mystery” is indeed a secret which has been hidden from the world from the beginning of the ages, but it is now being revealed to us and in us:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

“The deep things of God” include the fact that He has chosen the weakest and basest of men to use as the channel of His grace to be given to all men of all time:

1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

This is all part of a plan God had from before the world began. “The Lord has spoken”, and it is so:

Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: For the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

God does not hold us responsible for what “[He] has declared” and spoken (Isa 48:5). The scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, all reveal that none of us are sinners by choice. We are all just what we are because it was all written in our books (Psa 139:16) before the world began (2Ti 1:9) that we would all be wicked [men] made by God Himself as such for [our own] “day of evil” (Pro 16:4). “It was not [us] but God (Gen 45:4-8) [who] made us to err from His ways and hardened our hearts from [His] fear” (Isa 63:17). “It is not we [who do any of this] but sin that is in [our] members” operating through “the law of sin [which God Himself has placed in our] members” (Rom 7:17-23). We are plainly told there is but “one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy” (Jas 4:12) “after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). Satan certainly did not give himself “the law of sin”. Sin does not emanate with Satan. It emanates from “the law of sin… in [our] members”, and it operates along with “all things after the counsel of His own will”.

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

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

With all of that firmly in mind, we can begin this study into whom God has chosen to be His elect, and to see that He really has chosen the weak and the base people of this world, and people who are despised to bring to naught the things that are highly esteemed in this world. These words are not for someone else. They are for you and for me, and they are telling us what it means to be “marred in the hand of the Potter” (Jer 18:4):

Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

This vision is not speaking to those who are not given eyes that see and ears that hear. Those people will read these words and just naturally assume that these words apply to someone else because they have never been blind or in bondage to sin, and they have always seen and understood the meaning of Christ’s parables and all of His Words. Remember what we read earlier, it is our Lord Himself who tells us that we must first come to see that it is we who have been born blind before we will ever be given eyes that see the things of the spirit:

Isa 48:8 Yea, thou [“You” and I] heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor [spiritually blind] from the womb.

It was to the man who was healed of being blind from his mother’s womb that Christ said this:

Joh 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
Joh 9:36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
Joh 9:37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Joh 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

We will benefit nothing from this study in “the vision of Isaiah” if we do not first acknowledge that we, too, were born spiritually blind as a bat. If we can do that, then we, too, “should have no sin” imputed against us.

If the Lord permits, we will cover the next three verses next week, and we will never make the mistake of thinking that these words are not speaking of each of us individually:

Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isa 1:5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Again, who is the subject of this vision?

Isa 48:8 Yea, thou [“You” and I] heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor [spiritually blind] from the womb.

Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Are Enoch And Elijah In Heaven?

Hello Mike,

I just found your web site, and I have to say, it is very informative. And it has shed some light on some questions that I have had.

Now to the point. For the last couple of days, I have had a question on my mind to which I do not have an answer. I was hoping you may be able to shed some light on the subject.

In Joh 3:13, we read that “No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is, the son of man who is in heaven.”

But if this is true, which I believe it is, how do we account for 2Ki 2:11, in which Elijah was taken up to heaven; Gen 5:24, when Enoch was taken by God; and finally, Mat 17:3, when Peter, James, and John saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus on the mountain?

Thank you, Mike,

C____

Hello C__,

I would first point you to 2 Pe 1:20 “no… scripture is of any private interpretation.” Meaning no scripture stands alone , rather “The sum of thy word is truth,…” (Psa 119:160).

2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private [Greek: idios – self] interpretation.
Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

Armed with these principles, let us look into your first question pertaining to Elijah. Despite the dramatic way in which he was transported, we are given no reason to believe that Elijah was carried up to any other heaven than that in which the birds travel. Indeed it appeared to the sons of the prophets that he must have been deposited on some mountain or into some valley. The fact that he did not leave the Earth altogether is born out by the fact that he sent a letter to Jehoram in 2Ch 21:12 years after Elisha had taken up his mantle.

2Ch 21:4 Now when Jehoram had taken over the kingdom of his father [Jehoshaphat] and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the rulers of Israel also.

2Ch 21:12 Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, “Thus says the LORD God of your father David, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah…”

The writer of Hebrews provides the fullest explanation of Enoch’s fate. Verse 5 reads “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he might not see death; and he was not found because God took him up;” While verse 13 concludes “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises,…” We are not told who was seeking Enoch to put him to death, but there has never been a shortage of opposition to those walking with God.

Heb 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

As for your reference to Mat 17:3, I believe Christ’s own words reveal the true nature of what Peter, James, and John saw. In verse 9, He commands them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

Mat 17:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

While this was all very real to James and Peter and John, it was really just a vision of Enoch and Elijah. They were not really there any more than your dreams are real. It was “the vision.”

In conclusion, I pray that you will be encouraged and strengthened in Christ as your studies of God’s holy word continue; that we might stand together in high places (as Peter, James, and John did) witnessing Christ in all His glory being testified of by both the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), knowing that, through Christ, we can walk closer to God than Enoch, and like Elijah, we will be sustained through drought when the holy rain of God’s spirit is being withheld from the world.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Your servant in Christ,

Mike

Hey, Mike,

Thank you for your commendation! I have a few questions. Jesse Duplantis claims that God took him to heaven and when he was before the throne of God he asked the Father, “where is the Holy Spirit” and an angel told him that he was on the earth. He claims to have talked to David and Paul had red hair, etc. Is it possible that an evil spirit from the Lord gave him a LYING VISION? Do evil spirits have the power to give lying visions that seem real to people like Jesse and Bill Wiese, who claims to have seen Hell? Also, Jesus vanished and ascended into the Heavens.
Everyone teaches that the Father is not on the Earth and that He is in Heaven. Is it true that the Father himself and Jesus Christ are on the Earth in the heavens?

Thanks Mike,

J____
Hi J____,
Thank you for your question. You ask:

Is it possible that an evil spirit from the Lord gave [ Jesse Duplantis] a LYING VISION? Do evil spirits have the power to give lying visions that seem real to people like Jesse and Bill Wiese who claims to have seen Hell?

Yes, it is certainly true as you say, that “evil spirits have the power to give lying visions” as in the example of King Saul seeking out the witch of Endor demonstrates in 1Sa 28.

1Sa 28:10 And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
1Sa 28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
1Sa 28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
1Sa 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
1Sa 28:14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
1Sa 28:15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
1Sa 28:16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
1Sa 28:17 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:
1Sa 28:18 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day.
1Sa 28:19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
1Sa 28:20 Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

King Saul had already prompted the witch to see an “old man with a mantle” when he told her to “bring up Samuel.” So God is answering King Saul “according to the idols of His heart.” Of course, as the book of Job teaches us, evil spirits are subject to God and can only deceive as He dictates. Many bible students are surprised to find that it was God who initiated the evil that Satan put Job through.

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Both Jesse Duplantis and Bill Weise are “thinking above” what is in God’s written Word. This is done in direct opposition to God’s Word:

1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [ of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

This admonition in 1Co should show us, if we have ears to hear, that we must avoid ‘thinking above (or outside the scriptures) “that which is written.”
Scripture teaches us:

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

Christ was, as you suggest in your next question, both on the earth and in heaven at the same time. The written Word also tells us Christ promised:

Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
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:

And since Christ is in us, and we know from scripture that He is now…
1) at the right hand of the Father

1Pe 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

and…

Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [ this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

2) and God dwells in the heavens,

Psa 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high

and

Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and be their God.

and…

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also [ and “be seated with Him in heaven”(Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [ places] in Christ Jesus: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him).]

It becomes clear where the heavens are. Heaven is not a geographical location; Heaven is a spiritual realm which exists in the hearts and minds of God’s people.

Heb 9:23 [ It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [ the blood of bulls and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

It follows that if Christ has promised to always be with us, and he is also with God the Father on His throne, and God dwells in the heavens, then the heavens are in us where God is making his tabernacle with men. God is not limited to a geographical location. He doesn’t need a physical temple to live in. God does not dwell in temples made with hands:

Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

He does dwell in His temple, which is his people. He is in us now through Christ and will be when the physical realm is no longer needed.

Act 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

There it is. “The spirit of God dwells in you.” If Jesse Duplantis, or those that seek to him, would have, or I should say could have, “seen and heard the things of the spirit,” then they would all have known and seen that “the spirit of God dwells in you.” But they have been blinded to these great spiritual truths, and they are incapable of discerning a false lying spirit in Jesse’s words and his teachings. Yes, just like King Saul who saw no one and had to take the word of the witch of Endor that she saw an old man with a mantle, Jesse’s disciples have taken his words in opposition to God’s Words:

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 [ One who claims to speak with dead people].
Deu 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

That is exactly what Jesse Duplantis is doing when he claims to have seen the apostle Paul with red hair, and that is exactly what Bill Weise is doing when he claims to have gone to hell. Both are lying spirits and are “abominations unto the Lord.”
God nevertheless spoke to King Saul through that witch and spoke to him “according to the idols of his heart” as if that witch had raised a man from the dead to speak to King Saul and tell him he was about to die. God had answered King Saul “according to the idols of his heart.”

Eze 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I [ am] the LORD.
Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

That is an incredible revelation! God Himself “has deceived that prophet.” Actually God Himself sent an evil spirit to deceive, but it is the work of the Lord Himself.

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

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

“Being predestinated…” Now there is a verse of scripture which neither Jesse nor Bill will ever understand as long as they continue in the lies they now perpetrate.
All of these abominations are in the angels of the seven churches of Asia within each of us at our appointed time. It is actually very few who are given the honor of coming out of this Babylonian system into the glorious light of the truth of God’s Word. It is only those who have ears to hear:

Rev 2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

God bless you as you continue to be conformed to the spiritual image of His Son.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hello Mike,

In Mat 17:5, God the Father is speaking to the disciples. Isn’t Christ in Joh 5:37 just rebuking them saying God’s word has no place in you rather than saying no one has ever heard God’s voice ever?

Your Brother In Christ, M____

Hi M____,

What was spoken to Adam in the Garden of Eden, God speaking to Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses and all the elders at Sinai and throughout the Old Testament, was a physical voice and form. Christ wrestled with Jacob and ate with Abraham. Just as Christ appeared in a physical body to His disciples after his resurrection, a physical voice and form was needed for those in the Old Testament.

Exo 24:9  Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10  And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
Exo 24:11  And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

Exo 20:18  And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

What the disciples saw and heard was a vision. The answer to your question is:

Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Christ’s point in this instance is not that His word has no place in them; His point is that He has been with and has known the Father and they, on the other hand, have never, at any time, had any such relationship. Your argument robs Christ’s Words of their very force. Christ is contrasting His Witness with that of John and the Old Testament law-bound scribes and Pharisees. You are in effect telling me that the Old Testament saints and John the Baptist knew God just as much and as well as Christ knew Him and thus rob Christ’s words of their very power and force.

Look at the preceding verse:

Joh 5:31  If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
Joh 5:32  There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
Joh 5:33  Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
Joh 5:34  But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.
Joh 5:35  He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

Joh 5:36  But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

Do you really contend with me that “Nor seen His shape…” means simply ‘My word hath no place in you?’ If that is the case, then these words are absolutely meaningless:

Joh 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

It is not my place to convince you that “no one has ever seen the invisible God… or heard his voice at any time.” As always, all I can do is quote His written word and let His spirit do the rest.

There was no Moses or Elijah or literal voice on the mount of transfiguration. It was all a vision.

Mat 17:9  And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

The only people present for this “vision” were Christ, Peter, James and John. The only person to hear the voice at Christ’s baptism was Christ Himself. John “saw” the dove but does not claim to have heard the voice. It certainly was not heard by any others since Christ had not yet begun His ministry and had not yet chosen the twelve:

Mat 3:16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Joh 1:32  And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Joh 1:33  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
Joh 1:34  And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John did not see the Father’s form or hear His voice at any time. All the speaking being done from heaven, while Christ was in the flesh, was done through dreams and visions, and the truth remains:

Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

God the Father is not a literal dove. This too, was a vision. Spirit has no problem being manifested in physical form, just as Christ appeared to His disciples in a locked room after His resurrection.

Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Luk 24:40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.

Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

I hope this helps you to see the truth of God’s Word: “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape,” and that you do not succumb to a false spirit which wants to make Yahweh into God the Father, who was not only seen and heard thoughout the Old Testament, but ate and drank with Abraham, Moses, the elders of Israel, Samson’s parents, and others.

Exo 24:9  Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Exo 24:10  And they saw the God of Israel: and [there was] under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in [his] clearness.
Exo 24:11  And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

Within days of this event, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire unto “the God of Israel” with whom they “did eat and drink,” and they were slain for their carelessness and presumptuousness. They certainly had not seen God the Father. “Neither [had they] heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.” They had met with and heard the voice of and seen the shape of Yahweh, Christ, the God of the Old Testament.

1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

That “spirit of Christ” in all the prophets, including Moses, Abraham, King David and all the other prophets, was the Yahweh of the Old Testament. “No man has seen God.”

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hello there Mike,

I wanted to say hello and thanks for all the effort you put into your site.

The last 2 months of my life have been overwhelming. It’s truly like scales have fallen off my eyes and that I have ears to hear. I’m restless at times, because my mind will not stop thinking. I’m praying that God will continue to reveal his truth to me.

I do have a few questions, if you could spare the time to answer.

In Mat 17:3, it says “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.”

Can you explain how this happens if they are still in the grave awaiting Resurrection?

Thanks, Mike.

D_____

Hi D_____,

Thank you for your encouraging words and for your question. Letters like yours make all the work worth while.

I get this question regularly and it is easy to explain: It was a vision. No one was really there with Christ but Peter, James and John.

There is a response to an email here on this site that deals with this question and with its sister question about where Enoch and Elijah were taken.

Mike